Two Iranian air defense personnel killed in Israeli strikes, state TV says
At least two Iranian air defense personnel were killed in Monday’s Israeli strikes before both sides halted their fire, according to the country’s state broadcaster IRIB.
The announcement was Iran’s first acknowledgement of fatalities from the exchange of fire sparked over the weekend by Israeli strikes on a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital.
The Lebanese state broadcaster identified the two men as Bahman Hosseini and Ali Reza Abiri, and said they would be buried outside Tehran.
Israel issues evacuation order for south Lebanon city of Tyre
The Israeli military has issued an evacuation warning for the southern Lebanon city of Tyre, including the Christian Quarter and surrounding camps and neighborhoods.
In a social media post, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed Hezbollah was present in the Christian Quarter and warned that any building used by the group may be targeted.
The evacuation order urges the population to head north of the Zahrani River and warns that any movement below that river would endanger their lives.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew a ceasefire agreement last week, but the Iran-backed Hezbollah paramilitary group quickly rejected it. Tehran has previously said any peace deal with the U.S. and Israel must include a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Trump says talks with Iran in “final throes,” with deal likely in “two or three days”
President Trump said Tuesday that negotiators were in the “final throes” of talks for a peace deal in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel said they were halting fresh hostilities that threatened to reignite the months-long war.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said a peace agreement with Tehran is imminent, but diplomacy has stalled and the two sides have traded fire despite a ceasefire in place since April 8.
Iran and Israel “were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop and we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Mr. Trump told reporters after attending the third game of the NBA Finals at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Asked whether it would be a matter of days or weeks, he said it would take “two or three days.”
Tehran has repeatedly said any deal must include Lebanon — where Israel has been pressing its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah — and fired missiles at Israel on Sunday.
That prompted Israeli retaliation, despite U.S. pressure for restraint.
Iran fired another salvo before announcing it was ceasing military action, and hours later Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the “fire on that front is contained.”
Tehran said on Monday it would attack again if Israel persisted with its strikes in Lebanon, while Netanyahu warned in turn that should Iran “make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force.”
Trump says pilots of U.S. Army helicopter that went down near Strait of Hormuz are fine
A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump said its two pilots were “fine” after the incident involving the waterway that remains under a chokehold by Iran.
The crash’s cause remained unclear Tuesday morning in the Middle East, which was still reeling after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the biggest strain yet on the nominal ceasefire in the Iran war.
Iranian state media, relying on foreign reporting, acknowledged the crash, without elaborating.
Mr. Trump spoke to journalists at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after attending Game Three of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
“The pilots are fine,” he said. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”
The New York Times was first to report that a U.S. helicopter had gone down near the strait, in unclear circumstances.
Trump says U.S. will “declare total victory” within 2 weeks
President Trump predicted the U.S. would be able to “declare total victory” over Iran within the next two weeks, saying Iranian negotiators were “willing to give us everything.”
“You’re really gonna win this over the next two weeks when we declare total victory. It’ll be a total victory, it will happen very soon, and oil prices will come tumbling down,” the president said during a Monday evening tele-rally for GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and gubernatorial candidate Pamela Evette, both of South Carolina.
Mr. Trump has frequently made sweeping predictions that the U.S.-Iran war could end in a matter of days or weeks, starting when the war began in late February. It is unclear, however, where negotiations between the two countries stand.
Trump speaks with Netanyahu after Israel-Iran clash
President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.
It was the second phone call in two days between the U.S. and Israeli leaders, as Mr. Trump urged Iran and Israel to halt their exchange of fire over the weekend. Early Monday, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that the two countries “must immediately stop ‘shooting.'”
In an interview with Axios, Mr. Trump said he informed Netanyahu that several countries in the region wanted Israel to halt its strikes on Iran, and that Iran — which had launched missiles at Israel — “called us and said that they are not doing any more attacks and asked us to tell Israel not to do any more attacks.” He said he also warned the Israeli leader: “Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.”
Both countries said later Monday they had halted their military operations.
