HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• Trump says pilots are fine after US helicopter crashes near Strait of Hormuz. READ MORE BELOW

• Israel and Iran back away from further strikes after they traded fire on Monday. READ MORE BELOW

• Trump expresses renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran. READ MORE BELOW

• Israel issues an evacuation warning for Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre. READ MORE BELOW

• Iran's soccer body claims fans' tickets for World Cup games in the US have been revoked.

IN DETAIL
Trump says pilots are fine after US helicopter crashes near Strait of Hormuz

A US Army helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, but US President Donald Trump said the two crew members aboard were not injured in the incident near the strategic waterway that Iran has effectively closed during the war.

What caused the crash remained unclear on Tuesday morning in the Middle East, which was still reeling after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the biggest blow yet to the straining ceasefire in the Iran war.

Iranian state television reported on Tuesday the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country's air defense units.

Trump, speaking to journalists at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after watching the NBA Finals on Monday night, acknowledged the crash.

"The pilots are fine. Yeah," Trump said. "Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine."

The crash happened about 3.30am local time on Tuesday off the coast of Oman while on a patrol, the US military's Central Command said in a statement.

It said the crew had been rescued within two hours and were in stable condition.

Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal.

The helicopters also have been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones during the Iran war.

Israel and Iran appear to pause strikes after trading fire

Israel and Iran appeared to back away from further strikes after they traded fire on Monday, the first time since the US agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago.

Both countries warned that they were ready to launch retaliatory attacks if provoked.

The renewed hostilities raised concerns that the Middle East could plunge back into a full-scale war.

The new attacks prompted Trump to call for an immediate stop to fighting between Israel and Iran.

Soon after, the Iranian military's joint command issued a statement that said it was halting offensive strikes.

The statement said further "aggression and hostile acts" by Israel and its supporters, including in southern Lebanon, would be met with "much more severe and crushing measures than before".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in a videotaped statement, implied that the current round of fighting was over.

But he also warned that if Iran "makes the mistake and returns to attacking us, we will respond with force".

Netanyahu said Israel is continuing to operate in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, and that Israel "has full right to self-defense, and we will exercise it to the full extent necessary".

Trump insists an Iran deal is coming

Trump also expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran.

"We have a good chance" of signing a deal in "two or three days", Trump said.

But he didn't provide any details on why there was reason for new optimism.

Trump has repeatedly predicted that a deal is near over the two months since the US and Iran agreed to an initial ceasefire.

"We're very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal," the president said.

"If we go and bomb — which we could do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing — they'll have nothing left whatsoever. But you won't have the strait open for months."

He added: "If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don't."

Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line.

However, both Iran and the US have taken hard-line positions.

The US wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed still to be entombed in the country after American airstrikes in the 12-day war in 2025.

But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions.

It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.

Before Trump's comments on negotiations, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on Monday that Trump's remarks so far on a possible deal "contradicted the agreed-upon sections, showing that [the US is] neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue."

The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remains a major Iranian priority as well.

Lebanon's army chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday.

There, he met Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been a key figure in the Iran-US talks.

Haykal's visit comes as Lebanon's government takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah, but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia.

Hezbollah thanked Iran on Tuesday for attacking Israel "in defense of our Lebanese people", suggesting that the Lebanese government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran.

Israel issues warning for Tyre

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which has so far been spared in the destructive airstrikes on the port city.

Last week, Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that it believed Hezbollah members were among them.

Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks.

After last week's warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area.

But Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X on Monday that the Israeli military "will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighborhood soon".