12m ago
07.00 BST
Interim
summary
In case
you’re just joining us, here’s today’s main developments. It is 9.30am in
Tehran, 9am in Jerusalem, 11am in Islamabad and 2am in Washington DC.
Iranian
state media reported that Tehran was not planning to take part in peace talks
with the US, hours after Trump said he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad
for the scheduled Monday meeting. “There are currently no plans to participate
in the next round of Iran-US talks,” state broadcaster IRIB said, citing
Iranian sources.
Donald
Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday, and he again
threatened to destroy its power plants and bridges if no deal is reached. Trump
did not say who would lead the delegation, but a White House official said it
was vice-president JD Vance.
Ratcheting
up the tension, the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship, the M/V
Touska, that tried to run its blockade. Iran has vowed to retaliate. Hours
after the announcement, the US military released footage of incident, including
video of US Marines rappelling onto the vessel.
Despite
all the uncertainty, host Pakistan appeared to be preparing for the US-Iran
talks to proceed. Two giant US C-17 cargo planes landed at an airbase on Sunday
afternoon, carrying security equipment and vehicles in preparation for the US
delegation’s arrival, two Pakistani security sources said. Barbed wire was
rolled out near the Serena Hotel, where last week’s talks were held, and the
hotel has told all guests to leave.
Oil
prices surged after Iran closed the strait of Hormuz at the weekend, just a day
after reopening it. Brent crude climbed to $95.64 per barrel and West Texas
Intermediate increased to $87.90 per barrel. However, equities across Asia rose
in early trading on Monday.
The
Israeli army has confirmed an image circulating on social media that shows a
soldier in Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic. The image
appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a
statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off of a cross.
The
Israel army said it viewed the incident with “great severity”, adding that the
“soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its
troops”.
Iran will
resume international flights on Monday from Mashhad airport in the country’s
north-east, its civil aviation authority said.
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