Middle East Today | The National

US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to make a deal and has agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon. His comments came amid reports the US has sent a 15-point plan to Iran aimed at ending the conflict. He said senior US officials – including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – are involved in the talks, expressing optimism that a deal is in sight. The 15-point plan was reportedly delivered to Iran by Pakistan, whose Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to host peace talks between Washington and Tehran. Follow our live updates here.
Israel's Channel 12 and The New York Times said Mr Kushner and Mr Witkoff have shaped a process involving “the declaration of a month-long ceasefire period, during which the sides would negotiate the 15-point agreement”. Following the reports, stocks rose and oil prices fell on Wednesday, reflecting hopes for a resumption of oil exports out of the Gulf.
Despite this, strikes in the region continue. The Israeli army said in a Telegram post it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched attacks against locations in Israel including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as ⁠US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state ‌media reported. Meanwhile, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks. Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties.
Around 1,000 US soldiers with the army’s 82nd Airborne Division are expecting to deploy in coming days to the Middle East, CNN reported citing unnamed sources. Why it matters: This adds to the growing military firepower in the region even as the Trump administration says it is in talks with Iran to end the conflict and has expressed interest in winding down the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned that Mr Trump might strike a deal that falls well short of Israel's war objectives, includes significant concessions and limits Israel's ability to conduct strikes against Iran, Axios reported citing Israeli sources.
Lebanon has declared the Iranian ambassador persona non grata and given him until Sunday to leave, after ordering the departure of dozens of other Iranian nationals including diplomats this month. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah condemned the expulsion as a "sin", and demanded that the government "immediately reverse" the decision.
The Israeli military said a ballistic missile launched from Iran fell in the Lebanese capital Beirut yesterday. It came after explosions and falling debris were reported in a Christian town north of Beirut, an ⁠area that had not yet been targeted in the expanding war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli media said the first missile was intercepted after it was launched by Iran towards an American target in Lebanon. That could refer to the US embassy, which is nearby.
Iraq's National Security Council has ⁠authorised the ⁠Popular Mobilisation Forces ⁠to exercise the right of ⁠self-defence ‌and respond to any attacks on their positions. The green light from the council, chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister ‌Mohammed ⁠Shia Al Sudani, came after a deadly attack ‌on PMF ⁠headquarters in Anbar that killed ⁠at least 15 fighters, including a commander. The PMF accused the US of being behind the attack.
Britain will do as much as it can to help allies in the Middle East "resist the indiscriminate retaliation” from Iran, Vernon Coaker, the Ministry Of Defence’s Minister of State, told The National.

Iran told the UN Security Council and the International Maritime Organisation that “non-hostile vessels” may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they co-ordinate with Iranian authorities, according to a letter seen by The National.
Iran has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer, as its new security chief after the killing of Ali Larijani.
The Iranian threat to the Strait of Hormuz is likely to remain even after the de-escalation of the Iran war, a senior French navy official has told The National.
Gulf states need to reassess their joint regional security system following Iran's drone and missile strikes, the spokesman for the Qatar Foreign Ministry, Majed Al Ansari, said.
A ship using a false ID taken from a scrapped vessel has begun operating a Strait of Hormuz shuttle service of what is believed to be Iranian oil in defiance of sanctions.

Big Oil executives have warned that damage to Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies could send shocks throughout global energy markets, even as their companies' shares surged on the back of $100-a-barrel crude.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's chief executive said that Iran was holding the world economy hostage, calling claims it was only attacking US infrastructure in the Gulf untrue.
The head of President Trump’s Board of Peace initiative, Nickolay Mladenov, called on the UN Security Council to press Hamas to disarm. He told the 15-member council there was a “real opportunity” to shift from conflict to recovery.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and anti-government rebels captured the city of Al Kurmuk in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state on Tuesday. Fighting began on Sunday around the small border city in the far south-east of Sudan, which the Sudanese army considers vital because it sits on one of the few roads to Ethiopia.

Day 26 of the Middle East conflict
UN Human Rights Council holds urgent debate on Iran strikes against Gulf states
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers remarks to press on Middle East
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addresses parliament about Middle East war
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul hosts Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Ali Nafti for talks
Pro-Palestine supporters protest outside British arms factories that supply Israel
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits Algeria