Live: US strikes Iran again as tensions threaten fragile truce

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use a "softer touch" in Lebanon, in comments made at the close of a G7 Summit in France.

"Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes," Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

"We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say you can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah."

Trump added that he agreed with the description of Israel as being "the very small partner" of the US.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told reporters at the G7 meeting in France that the US, in a parallel effort to the US-Iran deal, will discuss Iran's ballistic missiles and proxies with Gulf nations.

At a press conference, Trump said that Syria's leader would like to target Hezbollah with "precision" inside Lebanon.

The president also said that Lebanon's leader is expected to visit Washington in the coming weeks.

A senior Israeli official has questioned whether Israel would have launched its operation against Iran had it known the political consequences in advance amid growing public anger.

"If we had known that these would be the final results of the operation in terms of political habit, it is highly doubtful that we would have embarked on this event," the official was quoted as saying on Israeli channel i24News.

The terms of the deal reached between Iran and the US underline how Israel’s war on Iran has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing pressure not only from the Islamic Republic, but from inside his own political and security establishment.

Amid sharp Israeli criticism of various government policies regarding the war on Iran, Netanyahu held a press conference on Tuesday where he doubled down on continuing to "neutralise threats in the region".

"For decades, I have been fighting against Iran’s efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I can define it as my life’s mission. I have met this challenge to this day, and I will continue to meet it in the future," he said. 

Read more: Israeli official says Iran war may not have been worth launching

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday urged Israel to be a "positive player" for peace in the Middle East, following a deal between Iran and the US.

"Our goal must be to promote lasting, structural solutions that go beyond the logic of short-term truces," Meloni said as the G7 Summit in France came to a close.

"We expect Israel to now act as a positive player in the peace process, and that the inevitable internal debate, also driven by the election campaign, will not jeopardise the difficult path that the US has begun," she said.

Meloni also spoke of a "very positive climate" at the Evian summit between US President Donald Trump and the other leaders present.

Italy's embassy in Tehran will reopen on Friday after more than three months of closure due to the war in Iran, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

"Our embassy in Tehran will re-open its doors on Friday," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italy's parliament.

After the US and Israel began the war with air strikes on Iran, Italy in early March decided to temporarily close its embassy and move its staff to neighbouring Azerbaijan for security reasons.

"Our ambassador will return to the Iranian capital with all our diplomats and foreign ministry officials," Tajani said.

"In a complex region like the Middle East, caution is essential. But, for the first time, after weeks of war and faltering negotiations, a tangible glimmer of peace is emerging," he said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday that his country's negotiations with Israel in Washington were independent of the US-Iran deal.

"The assurances we have received, and what we insist on, is that Lebanon's path in the negotiations is independent, though we are certainly for a ceasefire and for any country that helps us, including Iran," Aoun said, according to a statement from his office.

But he added that "interference in Lebanese affairs is not permitted".  

"The Lebanese state is sovereign in its decision-making, and for the first time, it is the one conducting the negotiations, and nobody is negotiating for us."

Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks in Washington since April, seeking to end the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and separate their conflict from the wider regional war.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had spoken to Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa about combatting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Asked at the G7 summit in France if Sharaa was willing to take on the Shia group, Trump said he would talk about that later.

Trump’s remarks came after he criticised Israel for killing civilians in Lebanon and not just Hezbollah members.

"I consider that [Lebanon] the minor war, Iran’s a big one, but we have that little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head, and that's Hezbollah," Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

Earlier this year, the US had encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus was reluctant to embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions in Syria and Lebanon.

On Saturday, Sharaa denied the rumours circulating about Syria entering Lebanon.

US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of “bribing” Iran with $1.7bn to agree to the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“The JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] done by Obama - he handed them $1.7bn in cash, green cash from banks, into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran. And they stood at the plane. I have pictures of it,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the G7 summit.

“He tried to bribe his way out. I didn’t try to do that," Trump said, adding, “His deal was a road to a nuclear weapon. My deal, they can't have a nuclear, they get blown up.”

In 2015, former Obama secured a nuclear deal with Iran in exchange for sanctions relief, a process that took two years to finalise. Trump withdrew the US from that accord during his first term.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel will deepen its cooperation with Somaliland, whose officials denied rumours that the Israeli military is building a base there.

Israel was training Somaliland's military and police, but reports on negotiations to establish an Israeli military base in the territory were "rumours", Somaliland's Defence Minister Mohamed Yusuf Ali said, speaking on the sidelines of a business conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi arrived last week in Israel for his first-ever state visit, during which the country opened an embassy in Jerusalem.

The visit comes just weeks after Israel appointed its first ambassador to Somaliland, a reciprocal move after Somaliland named its own envoy to Israel.

In December, Israel became the first country to recognise the independence of Somaliland since it declared its autonomy from Somalia in 1991, following a civil war.

“Israel and Somaliland have a long-standing friendship based on shared interests, democratic values, and a commitment to security and stability. For many years, we have cooperated under the radar in a series of activities that will remain secret,” Israel’s Katz said, according to a statement from his office.

Last month, a retired Israeli general said that "people are not aware, but the Israeli navy has been operating in the area".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke to his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday about the US-Iran deal, and said Moscow was ready to help.

Russia is ready to support efforts to resolve the crisis "based on its unique experience and expertise", the Russian foreign ministry stated.

"The Russian minister expressed support for the understandings reached through effective mediation by Pakistan and Qatar to de-escalate tensions in the region. The importance of compliance by all parties involved in the armed conflict, including Israel, was emphasised," the ministry added.

US President Donald Trump denied recent reports that the US-Iran deal includes provisions for $300bn in investments for Tehran.

“We're not investing, we're not putting up 10 cents,” he said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France. He added that he’s not asking Gulf countries to invest in Iran either, but “if they do it, fine”.

“I would say they won’t be doing it for a while until they find out the behaviour [of the Iranians],” he said.

Earlier this week, US Vice President JD Vance said Iran could gain access to a $300bn reconstruction fund backed by Gulf states if it complies with an agreement with Washington, including dismantling its nuclear programme, eliminating its stockpile of enriched material, and accepting a stringent inspection and enforcement regime.

It was further claimed by a Reuters report that more than half of the promised amount has already been committed and that it will be composed entirely of private-sector funds.

Iranian football players have voiced frustration over recurring World Cup hurdles against their participation in the tournament, pointing to politically driven decisions by US authorities as the source of restrictions.

Team Melli have been subject to travel restrictions since the tournament kicked off last week.

Players and coaching staff say the travel schedules are impacting their match performance.

After their match with New Zealand in Los Angeles on Monday, the team was forced to fly back to their base camp in Mexico on the same day.

It was not the team’s choice to fly back, as they had planned to hold a recovery session in Los Angeles the next day, striker Mehdi Taremi and goalscorer Mohammad Mohebi said in press interviews.

“They have said we have to leave immediately,” head coach Amir Ghalenoei added.

Read more: Iran team blames US for 'disastrous' restrictions at World Cup

US President Donald Trump said that the memorandum of understanding on Iran was not final, and that he could resume bombing Iran if he did not like the agreement.

"It's a memorandum of understanding. And if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head. If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?" said Trump, at the G7 summit in France.

Trump said the Iran memorandum of understanding did not include immediate sanctions relief for Iran, while adding he would talk about this matter later.

US President Donald Trump has criticised Israeli conduct in southern Lebanon, saying the country has been killing civilians and not just Hezbollah members.

Speaking at the G7 summit on Tuesday, Trump said "too many people have been killed in Lebanon" and suggested Israeli tactics were disproportionate and indiscriminate.

"You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody, because there are a lot ​of people in those apartment houses, and they're not all Hezbollah," he said.

He added that overall Israel had been fighting with the Lebanese armed group for "too long".

Trump's comments come amid growing tensions between the US and Israel over the recently announced memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the conflict with Iran.

Numerous Israeli officials have expressed opposition to the deal, in particular terms that suggest an end to Israel's attacks on Lebanon.

On Sunday, Trump excoriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for launching attacks in Lebanon that threatened to derail the final agreement just hours before it was announced.

Read more: Trump criticises Israel killing civilians in Lebanon

As Colombia prepares for its upcoming presidential election on Sunday, Ivan Cepeda, a senator and human rights activist, represents the left’s bid to continue the political legacy of President Gustavo Petro.

His opponent, Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump-endorsed lawyer, businessman, and iron-fisted populist, is meanwhile seeking to “rebuild the miracle homeland” from a more punitive, right-wing perspective.

De la Espriella won the first round of the race, held on 31 May, with 43.7 percent of the vote to 40.9 percent for Cepeda.

Core domestic issues include a persistent internal armed conflict, deep-rooted political corruption, and challenges in the economy and environment, and, as in many recent Latin American elections, Israel is also on the ballot.

Since October 2023, pink-wave politics have driven a wave of pro-Palestine solidarity across Latin America, but Colombia has emerged as Israel’s most vocal critic in the Americas, recalling its ambassador, suspending arms sales, halting coal exports, severing diplomatic ties, and co-founding The Hague Group.

“It is difficult to overstate the significance of Colombia’s stance internationally,” said Francesca Emanuele, a senior international policy associate at the Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

“Colombia helped create political space for other governments to take stronger positions on Gaza and contributed to the growing international isolation of the Netanyahu government,” she told Middle East Eye. 

Read more: The election that could reshape Colombia’s relationship with Israel