Israel intensified strikes in southern Lebanon on May 25 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate operations against Hezbollah.

Netanyahu said Israel would “intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them”, despite a cease-fire that took effect on April 17.

The latest escalation comes as the United States and Iran work to finalize a broader agreement aimed at ending conflict across the Middle East, potentially including the Lebanon front.

Israel and Hezbollah have continued near-daily exchanges of fire since the truce began.

Israeli strikes late on May 25 targeted towns and villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley, with Lebanon’s National News Agency reporting three people killed in attacks on two cars and a motorcycle.

Residents were also seen fleeing Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, following Israel’s evacuation orders for 10 villages.

Israel accused Hezbollah of violating the cease-fire, with Israel Defense Forces spokesman Avichay Adraee saying the army was “compelled to operate against it with force.”

Hezbollah later said it had attacked Israeli military positions “in response to the violation of the cease-fire” by Israel.

Two far-right Israeli ministers also called for an expanded offensive.

“For every explosive drone strike, 10 buildings must fall in Beirut,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon and Israel are due to hold talks in Washington next week, although Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has reiterated his opposition to direct negotiations and dismissed calls for his organization for disarm.

With reporting by AFP

WASHINGTON -- The United States military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran on May 25, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian boats allegedly attempting to lay mines near key shipping routes.

In a statement, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes were aimed at protecting American troops from what it described as threats posed by Iranian forces during a tense ceasefire period.

“US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said.

According to the statement, US forces struck “missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines” in southern Iran.

The strikes appeared to focus on areas near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways for global oil shipments prior to the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Explosions were earlier reported by Iranian news agencies in and around the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency later said the situation was “completely under control” and urged residents not to worry.

Following the strikes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters during a trip to India, defended the US position, insisting the vital shipping route “has to be open one way or the other.”

“What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable,” Rubio said of Iran's actions.

“There’s no country in the world that’s in favor of a tolling system, except the regime in Iran. So that’s not acceptable,” he added, referring to Tehran's announced plans to charge fees for ships to pass through the strait.

Washington Signals Restraint As Talks Continue

The military action comes despite ongoing diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending months of confrontation.

Rubio told reporters that a deal with Tehran was still possible and could be reached soon.

“I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that negotiators were discussing the “final details” of a possible agreement, while Iranian officials said the two sides had reached a preliminary framework on several issues but that no deal was imminent.

Both sides signaled major differences remain.

Trump reiterated on May 25 that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile should either be handed over to the United States or “destroyed in place.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US Atomic Energy Commission should oversee any destruction or transfer of uranium material.

Iran, however, pushed back against reports suggesting it had agreed to suspend uranium enrichment.

A senior Iranian diplomat reportedly dismissed such claims as “pure fabrication”, while the Iranian foreign ministry said that although some conclusions had been reached in negotiations, “that does not mean we’re close” to a final deal.

The US and Iran have maintained a fragile cease-fire since April 8, though sporadic incidents have continued in the Gulf region.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

The enriched uranium possessed by Iran will "either be immediately turned over" to be shipped to and destroyed in the United States or will be destroyed in Iran itself or "any other acceptable location."

This statement was posted on US President Donald Trump's social network Truth Social on May 25 and provided no further details.

Iran's possession of tons of home-made highly enriched uranium that can be upgraded for the use in a nuclear weapon remains among the most contentious items in the ongoing peace talks between the US and Iran.

World soccer governing body, FIFA, has promised that members of Iran’s national team will receive visas to play in the United States at the 2026 World Cup despite the current war in the Middle East, state media quoted Iran’s sports minister as saying.

"The FIFA president promised us that all our players would receive visas. There is no reason why our players should not receive visas," Ahmad Donyamali was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

"I hope that all the conditions will be met so that the national team can participate in the tournament in a calm and orderly manner."

Iranian soccer fans have for months faced uncertainty over whether they will see their national team compete in the sport’s most important event, amid the conflict between the United States and Iran.

On May 23, Iran's soccer federation said the national soccer team will be based in the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on May 25 that the country will allow the Iranian soccer team to be based there to avoid US visa restrictions.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to restore access to the global Internet, according to state media.

Authorities have imposed a nationwide Internet blackout since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign of the Islamic republic on February 28.

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies -- both affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- reported on May 25 that the order was “communicated to the Ministry of Communications by the president."

It was not immediately clear if access to the global Internet would be fully restored and when.

A senior Iranian official has revealed that Tehran imported advanced Chinese technology designed to permanently restrict access to the global Internet, shedding new light on the country’s unprecedented nationwide blackout during the war with the United States and Israel.

Now in its third month, the shutdown affecting Iran’s roughly 90 million people is believed to be the largest government-directed communications blackout in recorded history.

Officials say the restrictions are necessary for security and wartime stability, but critics argue they have deepened psychological strain, economic losses, and social inequality.

Experts warn Iran is developing a cheaper, more easily exportable version of China’s censorship model -- one that other authoritarian governments could replicate without building Beijing’s vast digital infrastructure.

However, the blackout is already costing Iran tens of millions of dollars a day, according to business officials.

RFE/RL's Kian Sharifi has more

Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have traveled to Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, on a potential US-Iran agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East, a source briefed on the visit told Reuters on May 25.

Discussions focused on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Iran’s central bank governor also joined the delegation to discuss the possible release of frozen Iranian funds under a final deal.

Separately, the semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars reported on May 25 that Qalibaf was reelected as Iran’s parliamentary speaker.

US President Donald Trump has said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely” and urged several Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority countries to join the Abraham Accords as part of any future settlement with Tehran.

In a Truth Social post on May 25, Trump said any agreement with Iran would either be a “Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” warning that failure could mean a return “to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”

The Abraham Accords, first brokered during Trump’s previous administration in 2020, established diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Trump said he had discussed the issue with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, and argued that most should “simultaneously” join the accords. He said participation should be considered mandatory for countries seeking inclusion in any broader settlement with Iran.

Trump also claimed regional leaders would be “honored” to eventually have Iran join the accords, calling the potential agreement an “unparalleled World Coalition.”

An Iranian court has issued death sentences to four men over the killing of a member of the pro-government Basij militia during the mass nationwide Women, Life, Freedom protests that rocked the country in 2022.

The case relates to an incident in Ekbatan, a western neighborhood of Tehran, in November of that year. Dozens of people were arrested after Arman Aliverdi was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters.

While some of those arrested were subsequently released, death sentences were announced in November 2024 for four defendants: Milad Armun, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani, and Navid Najjaran.

These sentences were overturned in September 2025, but have now been reinstated.

The US-based HRANA human rights group cited a source familiar with the case as saying the verdicts were verbally communicated to the defendants on May 24 without the presence of their lawyers -- making it impossible for them to appeal.

The 2022 protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, who died in custody after being arrested for violations of Iran’s dress code requiring women to cover their heads in public.