Trump: Iran peace deal is 'largely negotiated', Hormuz included

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Israel’s Education Ministry operated a secretive surveillance body that monitored teachers over political speech, with Palestinian educators emerging as the primary targets, an investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz alleges.

The report detailed the activities of an internal body known as the "Incitement Committee", which allegedly gathered information on teachers’ social media activity, monitored political statements, and recommended disciplinary action against educators accused of criticising the government or expressing pro-Palestinian views.

The committee has investigated around 160 educators since the beginning of the judicial overhaul crisis in 2023, with roughly half of the cases deemed by officials to involve alleged incitement to violence or racism, the investigation states.

Most of those targeted were Arab teachers, though some Jewish educators who opposed the government or Israel’s war on Gaza were also investigated.

The newspaper said the committee operated from the Education Ministry’s Enforcement Administration in Jerusalem and was headed by Lior Tuvia, a former Shin Bet operative.

Iran denies Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz will fully reopen as part of a truce deal, describing it as "far from reality".

"Based on the latest exchanged text, if a possible agreement is reached, the Strait of Hormuz will still be under Iran’s management," Iran's Fars news agency said.

"Although Iran has agreed to allow the number of passing ships to return to the level before the war, this does not at all mean 'free passage' to the pre-war situation."

"The management of the strait, determining the route, time, manner of passage, and issuing permits, will remain exclusively under the control and discretion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, Trump’s claim in this regard is incomplete and does not correspond to reality."

British and Irish activists who were part of a Gaza-bound flotilla seized and deported by Israel returned to London and Dublin on Saturday, following global condemnation over their treatment.

Among the Irish activists who arrived at Dublin Airport via Turkey was Margaret Connolly, sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly.

She recounted being held with the other detained activists in "containers", where she said several people risked hypothermia.

Several supporters sporting keffiyeh scarves and Palestinian flags turned out to welcome the Irish activists, who described being "abused" and "tortured" in detention.

"We were split in groups and the next couple of days were some of the most horrific times I've ever experienced," said activist Tom Deasy.

Seven UK-based activists also landed at London's Stansted Aiport on Saturday, many still wearing Israeli prison tracksuits. They alleged that Israeli forces had shot rubber bullets at them when intercepting the convoy of vessels earlier this week.

"There was a woman in my prison cell who had a big hole in her leg as a result of one of those shootings," said Hannah Schafer, a 62-year-old from Wales.

US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, with the conversation taking place separately from a call with other regional powers amid negotiations for a deal with Iran.

"I had a call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, which, likewise, went very well," Trump said in a Truth Social post, after listing participants in another call that included several Middle Eastern countries, Turkey and mediator Pakistan.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal has been "largely negotiated" with Iran and will open the Strait of Hormuz, with details to be unveiled soon.

"Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," Trump wrote on Trump Social.

Trump posted the announcement after separate calls with the leaders of Muslim majority nations and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iran and Pakistan have submitted a revised proposal to the United States to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, two Pakistani sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters on Saturday.

A US response to the proposal is expected by Sunday, the sources said.

The president of the governing body of Iranian soccer said Saturday that the nation's World Cup training base has been moved from the United States to Mexico after receiving approval from FIFA.

Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, announced the decision Saturday in a statement issued by the federation's media relations official. FIFA has not confirmed the move.

Iran had been scheduled to train in Tucson, Arizona, but a move has been a possibility because of uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and security concerns. Officials at Tucson's Kino Sports Complex had no comment.

The federation says the team will now be based in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego. This year's World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“All team base camps for the countries participating in the World Cup must be approved by FIFA," Taj said in his statement.

"Fortunately, following the requests we submitted and the meetings we held with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as the webinar meeting we had yesterday in Tehran with the respected FIFA secretary general, our request to change the team's base from the United States to Mexico was approved.”

Police detained four people at Bilbao airport in northern Spain on Saturday following clashes that broke out after activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla returned home, officials said.

The incident occurred as supporters gathered in the arrivals hall to welcome six campaigners as they arrived on a flight from Turkey after having been detained by Israeli forces.

When a relative of one of the activists tried to approach them, a police officer forcefully prevented him from doing so, leading to scuffles between both sides, public broadcaster TVE reported.

Images broadcast by the station showed police striking people with batons at the airport and pinning others to the ground while being jeered by onlookers.

Four people were arrested for serious disobedience, resisting arrest and assaulting law enforcement officers, the Basque regional police force, the Ertzaintza, said in a statement.

"Following what happened at the airport, the Ertzaintza internal affairs division has launched an investigation to determine whether the officers' conduct complied with procedures," it added.

An interim deal to end the Iran war is in its final phase and is “fairly comprehensive”, a Pakistani official involved in the negotiations told Reuters on Saturday.

“It is never over till it is done,” the official said.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday a Qatari delegation was currently holding talks with Iran’s foreign minister, adding that Pakistan remained the main mediator in the negotiations.

"An MoU is being fine-tuned" to end the war on Iran, a Pakistani security official who was briefed on the army chief's visit to Tehran and his meetings with Iranian leaders said on Saturday, referring to a memorandum of understanding.

The visit has made "significant progress" on the Islamabad Talks points toward ending the war, he said. He did not elaborate on the points from the Islamabad Talks. 

US President Donald Trump told CBS in a phone interview on Saturday that the United States and Iran are "getting a lot closer" to an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.

But in the interview with the TV network, Trump also warned that if the US and Iran do not come to an agreement, "we're going to have a situation where no country will ever be hit as hard as they're about to be hit."

Meanwhile, Iran said Saturday that it was finalizing a 14-point "framework agreement" for a deal with the US, but signalled that major gaps still remain.

The US president struck a less upbeat tone in another Saturday morning interview with news website Axios, saying that it was a "solid 50/50" chance of a deal being struck.

Trump warned he would "blow them to kingdom come" if a deal wasn't reached, Axios reported.

US President Donald Trump will hold a phone call on Saturday with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, an Arab official told Reuters.

Iran said on Saturday that the nuclear issue was not part of an initial framework it was drafting to end the war with the United States.

"At this stage, we will not discuss the details of the nuclear issue... we have decided to prioritise an urgent issue for all of us: ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon," foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state television.

He added that the nuclear file will be "subject to separate discussions" at a later stage.

Esmail Baghaei added that it has included the ending of a weeks-long US naval blockade and arrangements on the strategic Strait of Hormuz in a draft framework for a deal with the United States.

"The issue of the Strait of Hormuz is among the subjects addressed in this 14-point memorandum of understanding but more importantly, ending the piracy carried out by the United States against international navigation."

Statements from the US, Iran and Pakistan have all indicated that US-Iran talks on ending the conflict between them are progressing, and that a deal may be achieved soon: 

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in India that "there's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say."
• In Iran, Esmail Baghaei, the foreign ministry's spokesperson, said: "The trend this week has been towards a reduction in disputes, but there are still issues that need to be discussed through mediators. We will have to wait and see where the situation ends in the next three or four days."
• Pakistan's military said, following a visit by army chief Asim Munir, that negotiations over the past 24 hours had resulted in encouraging progress towards a final understanding.
• Trump was quoted by Axios as saying he will discuss the latest Iran draft agreement and make a decision to restart the war on Sunday, saying, "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells."
• To CBS, he said "every day it gets better and better," and that the two sides are "getting a lot closer to a deal."

Hezbollah said on Saturday that a message from Tehran showed that Iran would not abandon the Lebanese group and that the Islamic Republic's latest proposal to end the US-Iran war included a ceasefire in Lebanon.

 Hezbollah said in a statement that its chief Naim Qassem had received a message from Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which indicated that Iran "will not give up its support for movements demanding justice and freedom, foremost among them Hezbollah".

In Iran's latest proposal through Pakistani mediators aimed at achieving "a permanent and stable end to the war, the demand to include Lebanon in the ceasefire was emphasised", the statement added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that some progress has been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to say" on the issue in the coming days.

"There's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say," Rubio told reporters during his visit to New Delhi.

Iran said on Saturday that any mechanism concerning the Strait of Hormuz should be agreed between Iran, Oman and the countries bordering the waterway, and that the United States "has nothing to do" with it.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said Iran was focused on finalising a memorandum of understanding through Pakistani-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington, according to Iran's state media.

An Israeli strike killed five police officers in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, said a hospital and the Palestinian territory's police force.

"Five martyrs, all police officers, and a number of wounded - one of whom is in critical condition - arrived following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a police site in the al-Tuam area," said al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

A ceasefire has been in place since October, but Israel continues to violate the truce on a daily basis, killing almost 900 people since it came int o effect.

Lebanon's military said on Saturday an Israeli strike targeted an army barracks in the country's south, wounding a soldier, despite a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"A soldier was moderately wounded due to the hostile Israeli targeting of an army barracks in the city of Nabatieh," the army said, in a statement on social media.

France has decided to ban Israel's police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from access to French territory, said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday, adding that the decision reflected anger over the treatment of Gazaflotilla activists.

"As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory," wrote Barrot on X.

"Along with my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to also take sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir," he added.

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Saturday warned of a "crushing" response if US president Donald Trump resumes hostilities, saying Tehran had rebuilt its armed forces during a ceasefire

"Our armed forces have rebuilt themselves during the ceasefire period in such a way that if Trump commits another act of folly and restarts the war, it will certainly be more crushing and bitter for the United States than on the first day of the war," he posted on social media.

Ghalibaf made the warning after meeting in Tehran with Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, a leading figure in international efforts to negotiate a diplomatic settlement.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Saturday it received reports from various sources of suspicious activity within the Gulf of Aden.

It said there had been multiple reports of vessels being approached by skiffs. UKMTO also said a large skiff with two outboard engines had been observed carrying both ladders and weapons. 

Iran's top negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Pakistani army chief Asim Munir during a meeting in Tehran on Saturday that Iran would not compromise on the rights of its nation and country, state TV reported.

He said that Iran's armed forces had rebuilt their capabilities during the ceasefire and that if the US "foolishly restarts the war", the consequences would be "more crushing and bitter".

Israel warned the residents of 10 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately to avoid planned air strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the [army] is compelled to act forcefully against it. The [Israeli military] does not intend to harm you," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by a distance of no less than 1,000 meters into open areas."

The international outcry over Israel's mistreatment of the Gaza flotilla activists is unlikely to trigger a fundamental shift in Europe's relationship with the Netanyahu government, a former European diplomat has told The New Arab.

European governments have roundly condemned far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he filmed himself taunting hundreds of detained activists seized by Israeli forces in international waters on Monday.

Several countries, including close Israeli ally Italy, summoned Israel's ambassadors on Wednesday and sharply criticised the abuse of European nationals.

Since their release on Friday, activists have alleged they were subjected to severe mistreatment by Israeli authorities, including multiple instances of torture, sexual assault and rape.

But according to a former EU diplomat, the condemnation is unlikely to translate into heavier European sanctions.

You can read the full piece from The New Arab's Matthew Hoare below:

Iran's top negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir in Tehran as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts over regional tensions, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

Munir also held meetings with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in the presence of Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi during his visit to Iran.

Israeli forces have continued launching raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa:

• In the village of Al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, Israeli forces arrested two brothers, Fathi Abu Alia, 13, and Mohammad Abu Alia, 15, during a raid on their home.
• In the village of Anza, south of Jenin, Israeli forces stormed and searched homes, confiscating jewellery and phones.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers carried out attacks on the Khala'il al-Luz area southeast of Bethlehem, pelting homes with rocks.

The foreign ministers of Qatar and Iran have spoken by phone to discuss attempts to de-escalate the ongoing tension between the US and Iran, as the US mulls restarting airstrikes.

Qatar's FM said that all parties to the conflict must respond to current mediation efforts positively in order to achieve peace, adding that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz "will only exacerbate the crisis and jeopardise the vital interests of the region's countries."

The Strait of Hormuz has been closed by Iran since the start of the conflict as a way of leverage against US-Israeli airstrikes. Since the ceasefire, the US has also enacted its own blockade of Iranian ports, stopping Iran-linked shipping via the Straits.

Two Palestinians have been wounded in an Israeli drone strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The strike is the latest in months of ceasefire violations by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2025.

An Israeli strike on the town of Shahabiya on Friday morning killed several people and wounded a number of others, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The foreign ministers of Qatar and Jordan, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani and Ayman Safadi, respectively, called for continued mediation efforts to bring about an end to the war between the US, Israel, and Iran.

According to a post on X by the Qatari foreign ministry, both "discussed ongoing Pakistan-led efforts between the United States and Iran, alongside coordination on broader initiatives to back regional de-escalation."

Qatar and Jordan Discuss Bilateral Relations and Mediation Efforts

Doha | May 22, 2026

The State of Qatar and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have discussed their bilateral relations and ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing regional tensions.

HE Prime Minister and… pic.twitter.com/v2Yl0WVl1Q

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) May 22, 2026

Lebanon's National News Agency is reporting heavy explosions by the Israeli army in the town of Taybeh.

Demolitions were the main reason for the explosions, according to Al Jazeera.