Iran threatens to retaliate after US strikes; Khamenei said to declare ‘Death to Israel’ as ‘slogan of the Islamic nation’

Iran threatens to retaliate after US strikes; Khamenei said to declare ‘Death to Israel’ as ‘slogan of the Islamic nation’

REUTERS

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they reserve the right to retaliate, after Tehran accused the United States of violating the ceasefire with strikes in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province.

The US military has carried out strikes in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what it described as defensive actions. Iranian media reported early this morning that sounds of explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas in the province.

The IRGC also says air defense units have downed a US drone and fired at another drone and a fighter jet, which they say had entered Iranian airspace over the Gulf region.

In comments posted on his Telegram channel on the occasion of the annual hajj pilgrimage, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei purportedly says: “The clock cannot be turned back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer be a shield for American bases.”

“From now on, the slogans ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ will be the slogans of the Islamic nation and the oppressed people of the world, especially the youth,” the statement adds.

U.S. Military Launches Precision “Self-Defense Strikes” in Southern Iran – Neutralizing IRGC Threats to American Troops After Radical Regime’s Latest Provocations

U.S. Military Launches Precision “Self-Defense Strikes” in Southern Iran – Neutralizing IRGC Threats to American Troops After Radical Regime’s Latest Provocations

Jim Hᴏft

The U.S. military has executed targeted self-defense strikes in southern Iran to protect our troops from escalating threats by the Iranian regime’s terrorist proxies and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the operation Monday night, hitting two IRGC boats mining the critical Strait of Hormuz and a surface-to-air missile site in Bandar Abbas.

According to CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins, the strikes were carried out “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces” while officials insisted the U.S. was still exercising restraint amid the fragile ceasefire environment.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.

According to a senior U.S. official, two Iranian boats were spotted laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while forces also responded after a missile site had targeted U.S. warplanes.

The U.S. military eliminated both IRGC vessels and also struck the SAM, or surface-to-air missile, site in Bandar Abbas.

“These were defensive strikes,” the official told Fox News. The strikes do not indicate the ceasefire with Iran is over, two additional sources said.

This came after explosions were heard Monday in various regions across the Strait of Hormuz, with one explosion heard in Iran’s Bandar Abbas in the country’s south.

Other explosions were reported close to Sirik and Jask near the strategic waterway. The official confirmed Monday that the U.S. strikes were “over for now.”

President Trump had signaled earlier Monday that diplomatic talks with Iran were still progressing, but Tehran appears to have been playing a dangerous game, testing the limits while American negotiators pursued a potential agreement.

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Strong M6.9 earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile

Strong M6.9 earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile

Watchers

A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.9 hit Antofagasta, Chile, at 21:52 UTC (17:52 LT) on May 25, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 101 km (63 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.8 at a depth of 103 km (64 miles). According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), there is no tsunami threat from this event.

The epicenter was located 31 km (20 miles) ENE of Calama (population 143 084), and 165 km (103 miles) ESE of Tocopilla (population 24 460), Chile.

Interior Subsecretary Máximo Pavez said 22 282 homes in Calama were left without electricity and 3 000 homes without potable water because of a broken water main.

BioBioChile reported damage in supermarkets, preventive evacuation of workers at Minera Zaldívar, rockfalls on the road between Antofagasta and Calama, and dust over Chuquicamata in videos shared after the shaking.

The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA) said the earthquake characteristics did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami.

Chile’s National Seismological Center (CSN) reported at least 9 smaller earthquakes after the main event, including an M4.3 at 18:03 LT, 12 km (7 miles) NW of Calama, at a depth of 106 km (66 miles), followed by M4.2 at 18:08 LT and M3.9 at 18:11 LT.

The earthquake caused limited disruption in Antofagasta’s mining sector, with National Copper Corporation of Chile (Codelco) temporarily halting some activities because of poor visibility in pits or power interruptions in specific areas.

BHP Group and Antofagasta plc reported no operational impact, while Ricardo Munizaga, regional director of Chile’s National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED), said there were no injuries or major emergencies and that key infrastructure was otherwise not affected.

Trump’s Iran gamble leaves Israel with troubling questions

Trump’s Iran gamble leaves Israel with troubling questions

Fiamma Nirenstein

A pat on the back is not always reassuring. Thus, US President Donald Trump’s recent phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he reportedly reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program would be dismantled, together with Netanyahu’s confident social media post showing the two leaders united in purpose, has only generated more questions and greater unease: What is really happening?

According to reports, Trump—following the advice of his advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—is retreating toward a memorandum of understanding with Iran, an agreement that would leave the Islamic Republic under the control of the ayatollahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps despite months of military pressure and diplomatic effort.

The arrangement could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and launch a new negotiating process lasting up to 60 days. Yet little is clear about what such a process would actually achieve, except that Tehran is likely to use the time to advance its own agenda.

Israel’s frustration remains largely restrained, but a giant question mark hangs in the air. Why? If Hormuz reopens and sanctions are eased, billions of dollars—some estimates speak of $25 billion—could flow back into the regime’s coffers. Iran would once again be able to expand its oil exports, injecting fresh resources into an economy weakened by years of sanctions. The regime would have reason to celebrate.

At the same time, Tehran would be granted two months to explain how, when and where it intends to dispose of roughly 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, material that is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade enrichment. Yet in Middle Eastern diplomacy, 60 days can stretch like chewing gum. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to exploit negotiations, delays and ambiguities to its advantage.

There is, however, a more fundamental problem. Any genuine negotiation with the regime of the ayatollahs is inherently flawed because the regime’s ideological foundations make a durable agreement impossible. Tehran uses diplomacy as a tactical instrument—to gain time, ease pressure and preserve its strategic ambitions—rather than as a path to lasting compromise. For Israel, which has lived for decades under explicit Iranian threats of destruction, the central question is not the wording of any agreement but whether the regime can ever be trusted to honor one.

Meanwhile, the most dangerous elements of Iran’s military strategy appear largely absent from the discussion. There is little mention of Tehran’s ballistic missile program or the proxy armies that have destabilized the Middle East for decades and made atrocities such as Oct. 7, 2023, possible. Hamas is suddenly treated as a secondary issue. Hezbollah, despite continuing provocations and attacks, seems almost off the agenda.

The paradox is striking. If Tehran accepts Trump’s framework, Lebanon could effectively remain within Iran’s sphere of influence. Hamas, which refuses to disarm, would likely draw encouragement from an American accommodation with its principal patron.

Supporters of an agreement point out that securing the removal of the regime’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium would be a significant achievement. It would. But what about the many tons of uranium enriched at lower levels that could quickly be fed through advanced centrifuge cascades?

What becomes of the missile factories? What becomes of the drone production lines whose weapons kill with the sound of a mosquito? How can the Islamofascist regime be prevented from murdering its own people on a mass scale, numbering in the tens of thousands? And how does the international community prevent an Islamist dictatorship from continuing its repression at home while expanding its influence abroad?

Trump links expansion of Abraham Accords to Iran deal

Trump links expansion of Abraham Accords to Iran deal

i24NEWS

The US president "mandatorily" asks Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan to normalize ties with Israel, but Islamabad rebuffs the demand, and other nations stay silent

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel, as he seeks to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran.

Pakistan rejected the proposal, while none of the other countries publicly responded. 

"I am mandatorily requesting that all countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition," Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

He cited "all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together," and floated the idea of Iran itself eventually joining the accords.

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A Pakistani source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump's statement reflected an attempt to use the Iran ceasefire diplomacy for a wider push around the accords but stressed that the two issues were "not interlinked and cannot be made so." The source added that "Pakistan is under no compulsion to adhere to any such demand." 

According to an Axios report, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan were surprised by Trump's request during a call. "There was silence on the line, and Trump joked and asked if they were still there," one US official said, adding that Trump told the leaders his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would follow up in the coming weeks.

Longtime Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham embraced the idea of linking Iran to the accords, saying it would drive regional integration and create "a powerhouse for economic opportunity." Others were more skeptical.