US warns it can resume Iran war, Israel issues evacuation orders for Lebanon villages

HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• The United States warned it was "more than capable" of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons. READ MORE BELOW

• Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said that President Trump was "betraying diplomacy for the third time" by continuing a naval blockade imposed on Iran and making what he described as excessive demands in negotiations.

• Stock markets were mixed while oil prices fell again on investor optimism that the US and Iran would reach a deal to extend their ceasefire - despite Washington and Tehran offering conflicting views on the state of negotiations.

• Israel's military issued evacuation warnings for residents of seven villages in southern Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed deeper into the country. READ MORE BELOW

• Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, as exchanges of fire between the two sides have intensified despite Lebanon-Israel negotiations.

• Israeli strikes in three areas of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Friday killed 11 people including a rescuer and a Syrian national, the health ministry said. Eight people were wounded, including another rescuer, the ministry said, slamming the attacks as a "flagrant violation of humanitarian law."

• The US announced that it is "dismantling a sophisticated Iranian network" used to obtain sensitive military technology. READ MORE BELOW

• The heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Energy Agency warned of the risks to fuel security during peak demand summer months if oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz does not return to normal.

• Kazakhstan has offered to take Iran's uranium stockpile if the US and Iran reach an accord on Tehran's contested nuclear program, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Financial Times.

• Iran will have an answer from US authorities over their World Cup visa applications "this week," their football federation vice-president Mehdi Mohammad Nabi said. The Iranian World Cup squad will be based in Mexico during the tournament in North America, but all three of their group stage matches are due to be held in the US.

IN DETAIL

US 'more than capable' of resuming Iran war

The United States warned it was "more than capable" of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons.

The White House had signaled Trump was close to a decision on an initial deal after weeks of mixed signals in tenuous negotiations, though Tehran denied there was a final agreement on ending the Middle East conflict that has jolted the global economy.

US sources had told reporters the deal was waiting on Trump's sign-off, but the president had made no decision after a two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday in Washington.

Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, while attending a major Asia defence summit in Singapore, said that Washington could restart the war if it wanted. 

"Our ability to recommence if necessary is (that) we are more than capable, our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions," he said.

That echoed the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which posted on X that American forces "remain present and vigilant across the region."

Israel issues evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon

Israel's military issued evacuation warnings for residents of seven villages in southern Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed deeper into the country.

The latest warnings came a day after military delegations from the two countries held landmark security talks in Washington and ahead of US-brokered negotiations early next week - the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted. 

Israel has kept up its heavy bombardment of south Lebanon, with President Joseph Aoun emphasizing in a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "the need to exert all efforts to reach a ceasefire." 

The Israeli military's evacuation warnings included some villages near Nabatieh.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. The group later said it ambushed Israeli soldiers near Ghandouriyeh, southern Lebanon, saying it forced them to withdraw, and fired rockets at a military base in north Israel.

On Friday, Hezbollah had said it launched attacks in northern Israel and Israel's military confirmed intercepting several projectiles from Lebanon, with one hitting near Kiryat Shmona. 

Hezbollah also said it attacked Israeli troops trying to advance near the medieval Beaufort fortress, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, which Israel's forces had used as a base during their two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon ending in 2000.

Netanyahu announced Friday that Israeli forces had advanced beyond a river that runs around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel frontier.

"Our forces have crossed the Litani, they have moved up to the commanding terrain," he said, adding Israel was "hitting Hezbollah head on."

US 'dismantling Iranian network' obtaining military technology

The United States announced that it is "dismantling a sophisticated Iranian network" used to obtain sensitive military technology.

The network "impersonated and defrauded" dozens of US technology companies out of millions of dollars to "acquire advanced equipment - including spectrum analyzers and security detection devices - for Iran's defense sector," State Department Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The statement did not name the technology companies who were lured into doing business through fake websites that "mimicked real American companies, using intermediaries in Dubai to receive shipments, and then smuggling the technology into Iran in violation of US sanctions."

The network was led by Iran-based Ali Majd Sepehr, the State Department spokesman said.

The State Department announced a $15 million reward for any information "leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its various branches."