HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said. READ MORE BELOW

• Iran's South African embassy publicly mocked US President Donald Trump's statement that he could control the Strait of Hormuz alongside Iran's supreme leader.

• Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf denied talks had taken place with the US, contradicting Trump's Monday statements.

• Iranian missiles triggered air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multi-story apartment building. READ MORE BELOW

• Israel said its fighter jets had carried out a large wave of strikes in central Tehran.

• Israel will control the remaining bridges over Lebanon's Litani River and the area south of the river, Defense Minister Israel Katz said. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia would view any spillover of the Iran conflict into the Caspian Sea "extremely negatively", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. READ MORE BELOW

• China urged “relevant parties to immediately cease fire and return to the track of peaceful dialogue as soon as possible." READ MORE BELOW

• Apparent US-Israeli airstrikes hit an Iraqi HQ of an Iran-backed Shi'ite militia. READ MORE BELOW

Iran launches missiles at Israel, mocks Trump claims

Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, a day after US President Donald Trump said there had been "very good and productive" talks aiming at halting the conflict raging across the Middle East.

Three senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump appeared determined to reach a deal, but that they thought it highly unlikely that Iran would agree to US demands in any new round of negotiations.

After Trump's Truth Social comment on Monday, Iran said no such talks had yet been held. Iran's embassy in South Africa posted an image on X showing a child's pink steering wheel placed on a car dashboard in front of the passenger seat, apparently mocking Trump's statement to reporters that he could control the Strait of Hormuz alongside Iran's supreme leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to convene a meeting of security officials for talks on Trump's bid for a deal with Iran, two senior Israeli officials said.

A Pakistani official has said direct talks may be held in Islamabad this week.

The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran's nuclear program, even though mediator Oman said significant progress had been made.

The crisis has since escalated across the Middle East. Iran has attacked countries that host US bases, struck key energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. 

Meanwhile Israel is conducting an escalating air and ground assault on Lebanon, bombing bridges and destroying homes, after Hezbollah launched rockets in retaliation for the US-Israel attack on Iran.

Israel has also targeted the Iranian navy in the Caspian Sea – prompting concerns from Russia, which also borders the body of water.

Iraq has also been hit by airstrikes, including on Tuesday when apparent US-Israeli airstrikes hit the HQ of Iraq's umbrella group for Shi'ite militia and a residence belonging to its leader.

Iran denies negotiations with US

Trump's step-back sent share prices higher and oil prices sharply lower on Monday to below $100 a barrel, a sudden reversal to a market swoon caused by his weekend threats and Iran's vows to respond.

However, early on Tuesday the oil price went back above the $100 mark after Iran's powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf – the interlocutor on the Iranian side, according to an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter – said no talks had taken place.

"No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," he wrote on X.

Gaping holes in Tel Aviv apartment 

On Tuesday, Iranian missiles triggered air raid sirens in Israel's biggest city, Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multi-story apartment building. It was not immediately clear if the damage had been caused by a direct hit or debris from an interception.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Service said they were searching for civilians trapped in one building in Tel Aviv and discovered civilians in a shelter in another damaged building.

Israel's military said its fighter jets had carried out a large wave of strikes in central Tehran on Monday, targeting key command centers, including facilities associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' intelligence arm and the Intelligence Ministry. It said it had also hit more than 50 other targets overnight, including ballistic missile storage and launch sites.

Air defense systems were activated across Tehran as explosions were heard simultaneously in several areas of the capital, according to the Iranian news agency Nournews.

Israel says it will control bridges and area south of Lebanon's Litani River

The Israeli military will control the remaining bridges over Lebanon's Litani River and the area south of the river, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

The Israeli military says ⁠its troops ​in Lebanon are carrying out ground maneuvers and targeted raids on Hezbollah militants and weapons stores, aimed at protecting residents in northern Israel from Hezbollah fire.

The Lebanese government has outlawed Hezbollah military activity and said it wants to engage ​in direct talks with Israel.

On Monday, as Israeli troops bombed bridges and destroyed homes in the area, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel should move its border with Lebanon 30 kilometers north to the Litani.

Smotrich told an Israeli radio program that the military campaign in Lebanon "needs to end with a different reality entirely, both with the Hezbollah decision but also with the change of Israel's borders."

"I say here definitively...in every room and in every discussion, too: the new Israeli border must be the Litani," Smotrich said.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Smotrich's remarks. Katz hinted earlier this month at plans to capture land, saying Lebanon could face "loss of territory" if it did not disarm Hezbollah.

Smotrich's remarks were deeply resonant in Lebanon, which is trying to emerge from a decades-old cycle of invasions and occupations by its neighbor. Israeli forces have launched repeated assaults on Lebanon since 1978 and occupied the south from 1982 to 2000.

Smotrich also called for Israel to annex territory it now controls in the Gaza Strip, up to an armistice line with Hamas. A ceasefire signed in October left Israel in control of 53% of Gaza, where it has ordered residents out and bulldozed buildings.

Russia concerned about conflict spillover into Caspian Sea 

Russia would view any spillover of the Iran conflict into the Caspian Sea "extremely negatively", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Israel said last week its military had carried out strikes on the Iranian navy in the Caspian, hitting dozens of targets including missile boats. A military spokesperson said Israel had managed to take out Iran's naval capabilities there.

Russia and Iran, which signed a strategic partnership treaty last year, both border the Caspian Sea.

On the state of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Peskov said the Kremlin was observing contradictory statements from both parties.

China urges dialogue and ceasefire

Asked about the US intention to postpone planned strikes against Iran's power plants for negotiations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said relevant parties should immediately cease fire and stop the hostility, and return to peaceful dialogue as soon as possible.

"Prolonging the fighting serves no party's interests. And ceasefire and dialog are the only viable way out," Jian told a Beijing press briefing on Tuesday. 

"China is deeply concerned about the continued escalation and spillover of the current situation, which is impacting regional and international peace and stability. We urge relevant parties to immediately cease fire and return to the track of peaceful dialogue as soon as possible," he said.

Airstrikes target HQ and leader of Shi'ite militia in Iraq

Apparent US-Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday hit a headquarters of Iraq's umbrella group for Shi'ite militia and a residence belonging to its leader, in what would be an escalation of US-Israeli strikes on one of Tehran's main regional allies.

Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) leader Falih al-Fayadh was not present when his residence was hit in the northern city of Mosul, which he uses only during visits to the city, according to two security sources.

At least 15 PMF fighters were killed in the airstrikes that hit a headquarters of the group in Iraq's Euphrates valley province of Anbar, according to the sources and a statement from the group.

The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella group of mostly Shi'ite paramilitary factions that was formally integrated into Iraq's state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran.