DIRECT. War in Iran and the Middle East: Tehran accuses the United States of sabotaging peace negotiations

In a post published on Truth Social, the US president indicated that the agreement with Iran includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. “I had a telephone conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which also went very well. The final aspects and details of the agreement are being discussed and will be announced soon. In addition to many other elements of the agreement, the strait of Hormuz will be open, said Donald Trump.

An agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war has been “extensively negotiated”, Donald Trump said on Saturday, but is “subject to being finalized” between the two countries and others in the region.

The draft agreement with Iran includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the American president said in a message on his Truth Social platform, which took place after a telephone discussion with numerous leaders of Gulf states.

The Iranian team, which was initially scheduled to establish its base camp in Tucson, in the United States, during the 2026 World Cup, has obtained the right from the International Football Federation to change and will finally settle in Mexico, the president of the Iranian Federation announced on Saturday.

“Thanks to the meetings we had with FIFA officials (…) our request was accepted (…) We will be based in Tijuana, near the Pacific Ocean,” declared Mehdi Taj in a video relayed by the Iranian press agency Fars.

The Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, announced that he had discussed “the results of the negotiations with the officials of my country after my return from Tehran” with the Pakistani Minister of the Interior, Mohsin Naqvi, also recently returned from discussions in Iran.

“With cautious optimism, we can hope that if the other side shows sufficient commitment, a positive step forward is taking shape,” Reza Amiri Moghadam said on social network X. The Iranian ambassador also thanked Pakistan for its role in the negotiations.

Diplomatic contacts have increased in recent hours to try to bring the discussions to a successful conclusion and avoid a resumption of the war. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, spoke notably on the telephone with Donald Trump and called for “giving priority to peaceful solutions”, according to his office.

Emmanuel Macron spoke this afternoon with several Gulf leaders and with Donald Trump on the situation in the Middle East and in the Strait of Hormuz, BFMTV learned from the French president’s entourage.

Among the Gulf leaders, the Élysée specifies that there were the king of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar and Mohammed ben Salmane, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli army announces the death of Staff Sergeant Noam Hamburger, 23, killed Friday in northern Israel near the Lebanese border.

The soldier died in a drone attack, according to Israeli media including The Jerusalem Post.

Four people were arrested by police at Bilbao airport, Spain, following clashes over the return of pro-Palestinian activists from the “Gaza Flotilla”, Spanish authorities said.

The incident occurred as well-wishers gathered in the arrivals hall to welcome six activists arriving from Turkey after being detained by Israeli forces.

Images broadcast by Spanish media, including El País, show police officers hitting people with batons in the airport and pinning others to the ground, to the jeers of witnesses.

Pakistani Marshal Asim Munir, who served as mediator between Washington and Tehran, left Iran after meeting with senior officials there, report several media including Axios and Al Jazeera.

In a press release cited by the Qatari channel, the Pakistani army spoke of “encouraging progress towards a final agreement”.

The United States and Iran are moving closer to an extension of the 60-day ceasefire, according to information from the Financial Times.

According to the newspaper, the agreement provides for the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the commitment to discuss enriched uranium.

The United States would also ease its blockade of Iranian ports and accept, in stages, sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Tehran’s assets held abroad.

Donald Trump tells CBS News that an agreement with Iran is “coming very close.” “Every day it gets better,” he added.

Questioned by the media Axios, Donald Trump assesses the chances of concluding an agreement with Iran at “50/50”.

“I think there are two possibilities: either I hit them harder than they’ve ever been hit, or we’re going to sign a good deal,” the US president said.

He added that he would meet with his diplomatic envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday afternoon to discuss Iran’s latest reaction.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï, affirmed that his country was in the “finalization phase” of a memorandum of understanding with a view to putting a lasting end to the war in the Middle East.

He told state television Irib that his country had wanted to “first draw up a memorandum of understanding (…) made up of 14 clauses”. “We are currently in the finalization phase of these memorandums of understanding,” he added.

Esmaïl Baghaï spoke of a “trend towards rapprochement” with the United States in the discussions. “After several weeks of bilateral talks, we are observing a trend towards rapprochement,” he told state television Irib.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “a chance” that Iran would accept an agreement to end the war today.

“It is possible that later today, tomorrow or in a few days we will have information to communicate,” Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi, adding that he hoped to have “good news”.

The Lebanese army says an Israeli strike today targeted a barracks in the south of the country, wounding a soldier, despite a ceasefire in the war between Israel and the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement.

“A soldier was injured following a hostile Israeli strike targeting a military barracks in the town of Nabatié,” the army said in a statement published on social networks.

Pakistani army chief Asimu Muni meets with Iranian President Massoud Pezechkian as part of his mediation efforts to find a deal between Tehran and the United States.

The Israeli army announces imminent strikes on several villages in southern Lebanon located north of the Litani River and asks the population to evacuate without delay.

In an “urgent warning” published on social networks, Colonel Avichay Adraee, Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, calls on the homes of around ten villages around the localities of Nabatiyé and Marjayoun to be evacuated “to [leur] security” in anticipation of strikes against the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.

Hezbollah and the Israeli army accuse each other of violating on a daily basis the truce which came into force on April 17. Israel demands that the area south of the Litani River be empty of Hezbollah fighters.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, promises a “crushing” response if the United States resumes its war against Iran, saying his country has “rebuilt” its armed forces during the truce, in force since April 8.

“Our armed forces have rebuilt during the ceasefire period in such a way that if Trump commits another senseless act and restarts the war, (the consequences) will certainly be much more crushing and bitter for the United States than the first day of the war,” he said on social networks.

More than 1.5 million Muslim pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from abroad for the hajj, according to a local official, already surpassing last year’s number of visitors despite the war in the Middle East.

“The total number of visitors now stands at 1,518,153,” Saleh al-Murabba, commander of the hajj border police force, said at a press conference Friday evening. A figure which should increase further by the start of the pilgrimage on Monday.

In 2025, 1,673,320 pilgrims had made the trip, including 1,506,576 from abroad.

The American government is considering new strikes against Iran, Axios and CBS media reported on Friday.

According to CBS News, US military personnel are preparing for possible new strikes over the weekend.

Friday morning, the American president gathered his closest advisors to discuss the war in Iran, says the media Axios. No decision has yet been made, according to CBS.

World stock markets ended the week in the green on Friday, hoping for positive developments in the Middle East, with the craze for technology stocks also providing support.

In New York, the Dow Jones (+0.58% to 50,579.70 points) ended on a record for the second session in a row. The Nasdaq gained 0.19% and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.37%.

In Europe, the Paris Stock Exchange (+0.37%), Frankfurt (+1.15%), as well as those of Milan (+0.70%) and London (+0.22%) all ended higher.

“The stock market seems to rely on the idea that, even if the situation around Iran seems precarious, the two parties are in talks and will eventually conclude a peace agreement”, comments Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com, to AFP.

Donald Trump confirmed Friday that he would not attend the wedding of his eldest son Don Jr on Saturday, and the White House indicated that he would stay in Washington this weekend, instead of going to his golf course in Bedminster (north-east).

While negotiations continue with Iran, the American president indicated that he was being held in the American capital for “reasons relating to state affairs”, but remained evasive.

“I feel it’s important for me to stay in Washington at the White House during this very important moment. Congratulations to Don and Bettina,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.

Hello everyone and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to developments in the conflict in the Middle East this Saturday, May 23.

Iran accuses the United States of sabotaging negotiations to end the war with “excessive demands”.

In a conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi complained about the “repeated contradictory positions and excessive demands” of the United States, reported the Tasnim and Fars agencies.

These factors “disrupt the process of negotiations carried out under the aegis of Pakistan”, estimated Abbas Araghchi, at a time when the head of the Pakistani army, Marshal Asim Munir, is in Tehran as part of this mediation led by his country.