Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Kfar Tebnit, southern Lebanon, May 31, 2026.AFP
The United States and Iran announced on the night of Sunday to Monday, June 1, a series of reciprocal attacks, dealing a new blow to the ceasefire at a time when their negotiations to end the war are slipping. Impatient, Donald Trump wants to toughen his tone against Tehran.
At the same time, the Israeli army intensified its offensive in southern Lebanon, where it carried out new strikes. After crossing the Litani River, IDF soldiers notably announced on Sunday the capture of the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort. A crisis meeting is planned for Monday at the UN, at the request of France.
• Third wave of American strikes on Iran… which responds
The American army announced that it had carried out a new wave of strikes on Saturday and Sunday « défensives » on southern Iran, the third in just over a week. These bombings targeted radar and drone control systems in the city of Goruk and the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, said the American command for the Middle East (Centcom) Sunday evening on X. These operations were carried out “in response to aggressive actions by Iran, including the destruction of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international watersâ€added the same source.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards soon after claimed to have attacked a base used by the US military for strikes against its territory. The location of this base was not specified in the guards’ press release distributed by state media. The Kuwaiti army announced for its part that it was facing a drone and missile attack.
Washington and Tehran had already accused each other on Thursday of violating the ceasefire in force since April 8, after American strikes on southern Iran followed by an attack on Kuwait.
• New American proposal, Tehran procrastinates
These strikes have definitively dampened hopes of an imminent agreement, fueled by Donald Trump himself, to end the war launched on February 28. While the two countries seemed, in recent days, to be moving closer to a dealthe “New York Times” reported on Saturday, without further details, that the American president had toughened his proposal and sent a new version of a possible memorandum of understanding to Tehran.
According to the American site Axios, the American president, whose declared priority is to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program and to restore maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, wants more firmness from Washington negotiators. For its part, the CBS channel reported Sunday evening that the new American proposal provides for an extension of the ceasefire by 60 days with clauses providing for the reopening of Hormuz and a framework for a resumption of nuclear negotiations.
“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been fully guaranteed.”warned the main Iranian negotiator, the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, on Sunday. Iran, which claims its right to carry out a civilian nuclear program, has always denied wanting to acquire atomic weapons, despite suspicions to this effect from the United States and many countries. He wishes to address this issue at a later stage in the event of an agreement with Washington and demands an immediate lifting of the sanctions affecting him. Tehran also insists that any agreement include an end to hostilities in Lebanon.
• Donald Trump is impatient
Donald Trump insisted on Sunday on his social network Truth Social that the draft agreement with Tehran “states very clearly that Iran will not have a nuclear weaponâ€and this “En des termes très fermes”. The nuclear issue would even be, he said, “l’essentiel de l’accord”.
This Monday morning, the American president wrote a new message, affirming that “Iran really wants to make a deal” and that this one will be “Advantageous for the United States”. The problem, according to him? THE « Dumocrates » – contraction of « dumb » (“idiot”, en anglais) and « démocrate » – and some “Apparently unpatriotic Republicans» whose « jacassements négatifs » prevent it from working properly. “Just take a step back and relax, everything will work out in the end– it’s always like thatâ€he says.
• Israel invades South Lebanon, UN meets
In Lebanon, the Israeli army continues to advance in the south where it has carried out new strikes. In retaliation, Hezbollah continued its attacks, particularly in the Israeli North. So many attacks took place despite the truce in force since April 17, but not respected.
For the United States, it is up to Hezbollah to stop the shooting first, in return for which Israel “Would refrain from any escalation in Beirut”according to a plan reported by an American official following interviews conducted on Sunday by the head of diplomacy Marco Rubio with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.
The Lebanese president said this Monday on X that his country was facing “a ferocious and reprehensible aggression by Israelâ€. He also promised to“Work to put an end to the suffering of the Lebanese in general, and of the population of the South in particularâ€. The Israeli Prime Minister on Sunday described the capture of Beaufort Fortress as “Major turning point” and displayed a desire to“Deepening and extending” Israel’s influence “on areas that were under the control of Hezbollahâ€.
France has requested an emergency meeting at the Security Council, which will be held this Monday, according to diplomatic sources at AFP. It will take place immediately after another emergency meeting requested by Romania after the fall of a drone on a building in Galati, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. (9 p.m. in France), these sources said.
