DIRECT. War in Iran: the head of European diplomacy affirms that it is not in the interest "of no one" that the conflict continues

The Israeli ambassador to the UN announces the suspension of relations with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, thus denouncing the not yet public decision to include Israel on the “black list” linked to sexual violence during conflicts.

“We are done with this secretary general,” Danny Danon declared in a video message posted on December 31, 2026.

American Finance Minister Scott Bessent indicates, on X, that the United States wants to block the operations of Iranian airlines to increase pressure on the authorities in Tehran.

“We will cut off the two Iranian airlines’ access to landing sites, refueling and ticket sales,” he wrote.

The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, warn the United States against a “firm response” in the event of a new attack, after American strikes on the south of the country.

“If this action is repeated, the American army will be exposed to a firm response,” write the Guardians in a press release published on their Sepah News site.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait condemns, in a press release, the drone and missile attacks which it attributed to Iran, against the backdrop of new clashes between the United States and Iran.

He notably expressed his “strongest condemnation of the Iranian criminal attacks which targeted the territory of the State of Kuwait with missiles and drones, in a dangerous escalation”.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards had earlier announced that they had targeted an American base, without specifying which one, in retaliation for American strikes in recent days on southern Iran.

The United States Central Command (Centcom) denounces, on X, a “blatant violation of the ceasefire” after Iran’s launch of a ballistic missile towards Kuwait.

This attack “occurred a few hours after the launch by Iranian forces of five unidirectional attack drones which represented a clear threat in and around the Strait of Hormuz”, specifies Centcom.

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, says the United States and Israel are seeking to “bring the nation to its knees.”

“The blind plan of the enemy (…) is to create division and destruction in order to compensate for its military defeats, and to bring the nation to its knees,” he said in a written statement broadcast by state television.

Israeli strikes left at least eleven dead and 21 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, in the south of the country, where Israel designated a new “combat zone”.

A strike targeted a building in the town of Saida at dawn, killing five people, the ministry said. Another on a car traveling in the same region left six people dead, including two children and their parents.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry this morning strongly condemned what it called “violations” of the ceasefire by the United States following American strikes on the coastal town of Bandar Abbas in the south of the country.

Iran will take “all necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty”, assured in a press release the spokesperson for the ministry, Esmaïl Baghaï, denouncing the “threatening rhetoric of American officials against Iran and several countries in the region”, following statements by Donald Trump on Oman.

Donald Trump threatened yesterday to everyone’s surprise to “pulverize” Oman, without it being immediately known whether he really intends to attack the sultanate, an ally of the United States, or whether he said “Oman” instead of saying “Iran.”

The American president confused Iran and Venezuela during the same public intervention, during a cabinet meeting at the White House.

“Oman will behave like the others or they will have to be pulverized. They know it,” he said, comments then republished as is on X by the State Department.

He was questioned about possible future control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz by Oman and Iran, a scenario he rejected. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification from AFP.

Oman, located on the Arabian Peninsula, is an ally of the United States, which is why Donald Trump’s remarks took observers by surprise.

The Israeli army indicated this morning that one of its soldiers had been killed the day before by a Hezbollah explosive drone near the border with Lebanon, bringing to 24 the number of deaths in its ranks since the beginning of March.

Sergeant Rotem Yanaï, 20, “fell during a military operation in northern Israel,” the army said in a short press release.

She was killed by a Hezbollah explosive drone, an army spokeswoman told AFP.

In total, 24 Israelis have been killed, including 23 soldiers and a civilian contractor, since the resumption of hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah in early March.

European stock markets opened slightly lower this morning, reacting without excess to the renewed tensions between Iran and the United States which is resulting in a new rise in oil prices.

After a few minutes of trading, London fell the most sharply (-0.75%), followed by Paris (-0.29%) and Frankfurt (-0.22%). Milan kept its balance point (-0.02%).

“He is redeeming himself for his conduct.” On BFMTV-RMC, Michel-Édouard Leclerc tackles the boss of TotalEnergies on the capping of fuel prices which he has decided to continue for the month of June.

“That does not compensate for the enormous profits he made,” notes the latter, however, who believes that “Mr. Lecornu is not for nothing in the fact that Total does some commercial operations.”

Inflation around 3-4% this summer? On BFMTV-RMC, Michel-Edouard Leclerc confirms his forecasts made a few weeks ago concerning the rise in prices in France, particularly due to the war in Iran.

“We will be around 3% and 4% at the end of the summer. Am I a prophet of doom? I don’t want to be, I’m in reality, I’m anticipating it so that consumers don’t get fooled,” he assures.

Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission and head of EU diplomacy, said this morning that it was in “no one’s” interest for the war between Iran and the United States to continue at a time when Donald Trump is raising the specter of a resumption of hostilities in the event of failure of negotiations.

“They are, at this very moment, in this very dangerous zone between war and peace, and it is in no one’s interest for this war to continue,” she told a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Limassol, on the island of Cyprus.

The Israeli army announced this morning that it had struck the city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, a day after warning that it considered all Lebanese territory south of the Zahrani River, about forty kilometers from the border, to be a “combat zone”.

After ordering residents of several neighborhoods of Tire to evacuate in anticipation of a future “use of force”, the Israeli army confirmed that it had “begun to strike Hezbollah infrastructure in the Tire region”.

The Lebanese National News Agency (ANI) reported two series of strikes this morning on the city and an area east of it, hitting a building and causing a fire in Tyre.

The Israeli army also announced that it had intercepted a “suspicious air target” heading towards its forces in southern Lebanon.

In recent days, Israel has intensified its land and air operations in the east and south of the neighboring country, where the pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah has reported “direct” fighting, despite the ceasefire theoretically in force since April 17, but which both parties accuse each other of violating.

The US Treasury yesterday announced sanctions against the Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority, Tehran’s new agency responsible for collecting navigation fees in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“The latest attempt by the Iranian military to extort global maritime trade proves that (Operation) ‘Economic Fury’ has left the regime in desperate need of cash,” Iran’s foreign secretary said in a statement. Treasure, Scott Bessent, referring to the economic counterpart of the military offensive called “Operation Epic Fury”, which began on February 28.

The Treasury press release extended the threat of sanctions to all those paying these rights, because they “could provide support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and benefit from their services.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they targeted a US base in retaliation for earlier US strikes in the south of the country, according to state television Irib.

Kuwait is facing missile and drone attacks, the emirate’s army said, shortly after the United States announced strikes against southern Iran.

“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently repelling attacks carried out by enemy missiles and drones,” the Kuwaiti army wrote on the social network X.

Iranian forces fired on four ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, state television (Irib) reports.

“Four ships attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz and enter the Persian Gulf without coordination with security forces,” Irib wrote on Telegram, specifying that the incident had occurred around 11 p.m. (French time) but without providing details on the type of ships or their nationality.

Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the evolution of the war in Iran and the Middle East, now three months into the conflict.

The American army shot down four Iranian drones and carried out strikes on a ground base in the south of the country, several American media and an American official told AFP last night, which constitutes the second American operation of this type this week.