live Trump Accuses Iran Of Violating Cease-Fire With Hormuz Drone Attacks

US President Donald Trump said the Israeli attack on Beirut "should not have happened," adding that the timing of the strikes coincided with a "special day" when Washington and Tehran could reach a deal to end the war in the Middle East.

"Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless, nobody was hurt, injured, or killed, and should not disrupt this important process," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on June 14.

The president added that the United States was "very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon," urging both Israel and Lebanon to cease all attacks.

Trump's comment comes hours after Tehran has played down the chances of an agreement being signed on June 14 and Iran's chief negotiator and speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf lashed out against the United States in a post on X following Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut.

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Iran’s chief negotiator and speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf lashed out against the United States in a post on X after Israel launched new attacks on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut earlier on June 14.

Hezbollah is both a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing.

Israel's "incursion into Dahiyeh has once again shown that America either lacks the will to fulfill its commitments or the ability to do so. By giving the green light to the regime, you cannot gain concessions," Qalibaf wrote. "The game of bad cop and good cop is outdated. If you lack the will and ability to fulfill your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible."

Israel said it had attacked the southern parts of Lebanon after Hezbollah launched three projectiles toward communities in northern Israel.

"Israel will not tolerate firing at its territory," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement issued on June 14.

There are fears that renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah once again may postpone an agreement between United States and Iran that might be signed later on June 14.

Details about the content of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran that may be signed later on June 14 are emerging, according to Reuters, which quoted a "senior Iranian official."

The text reportedly stipulates that Iran would immediately open the Strait of Hormuz while the United States in parallel would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Washington would also release $25 billion of Iran's frozen assets, including via direct cash transfers, impose no new sanctions until a final deal is reached, and waive oil sanctions that it has imposed on Tehran.

Iran, on the other hand, should agree to neither produce nor purchase nuclear weapons, enrich no new uranium until a final deal is concluded, and dilute its highly enriched uranium stockpile inside the country -- although an exact mechanism for that still needs to be worked out.

A final deal would then be discussed within the 60 days of agreement by the two sides.

Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran early on June 14 in a bid to finalize an agreement between the United States and Iran to end the monthslong conflict, according to Reuters.

Iran’s ISNA news agency further reported that Qatari Foreign Ministry officials had been dispatched to the Iranian capital.

The development comes a day after US President Donald Trump posted on social media that a deal with Iran would be signed on June 14 -- his 80th birthday -- and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifi adding that Islamabad was ready to prepare for an "electronic signing" to be followed by technical-level talks in the coming week.

Both Qatar and Pakistan have been mediating between the two sides in a bid to end the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has, however, played down the chances of a deal being signed on June 14 but added it could happen "in the coming days."

Iran's Bank Coordination Council announced that four Iranian banks had suffered a "limited cyberattack" and saw business disrupted.

In a statement issued late on June 13, the council acknowledged that "restrictions" continued for customers of four Iranian banks -- Melli, Tejarat, Export, and Export Development -- and promised that "banking services will return to normal in the shortest possible time and with the highest level of security."

Iranian media previously reported that the services of the banks were disrupted simultaneously, making it impossible to use their mobile banking or ATMs.

"The disruption caused by a cyberattack was limited to these four banks, and fortunately, no unauthorized access to customer information occurred and no information leakage occurred," the council said in the statement.

Attacks on Iran's banking network have been a common occurrence in recent years, and the information of customers of various Iranian banks has repeatedly been the target of cyberattacks and has been bought and sold in cyberspace and the Internet.

Recent reports from Iran suggest that an intense crackdown on political opposition within the country that began during mass protests in January is continuing unabated.

On June 13, the Iranian Writers' Association announced Yousef Ansari, a poet and novelist arrested on January 8, had received a sentence of four months in prison plus another eight months suspended.

RFE/RL's Radio Farda learned that Fereydoun Farahani, a music professor and visiting professor of architecture at Pars University, had been arrested for social media posts he made during the demonstrations.

He had posted a song called In Praise Of The Nation's Desire For Freedom on his Instagram.

In Isfahan Province, the judiciary announced that 100 "traitors" would have their property confiscated, without providing any further details.

To read the full report, click here.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 9:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump said that a deal between Washington and Tehran is scheduled to be signed on June 14 and that the key Strait of Hormuz would reopen "to all" immediately afterward, despite conflicting signals from Tehran.

"The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL," Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 13, describing a potential agreement as a "A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON" for Iran.

The president also suggested that the deal would allow US forces to take possession of Iran's enriched nuclear material and destroy it, "whether in Iran or the United States."

Trump gave no further details on the agreement, expected to be a 60-day memorandum of understanding that lays out a framework for talks on reaching a full peace settlement to end the war that started when the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28.

While Iranian authorities have yet to comment on Trump's statement, Iranian news agencies earlier cast doubt on the deal being signed on June 14, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson quoted as saying that the signing "will not be tomorrow."

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Iranian authorities appear to be continuing a sweeping crackdown on political dissent that began during mass protests in January, with new arrests, prison sentences, and property seizures reported on June 13.

The Iranian Writers' Association announced Yousef Ansari, a poet and novelist arrested on January 8, had received a sentence of four months in prison plus another eight months suspended.

RFE/RL’s Radio Farda learned that Fereydoun Farahani, a music professor and visiting professor of architecture at Pars University, had been arrested for social media posts he made during the demonstrations.

He had posted a song called "In Praise of the Nation's Desire for Freedom" on his Instagram.

In Isfahan Province the judiciary announced that 100 “traitors” would have their property confiscated, without providing any further details.

For several weeks now, the Iranian authorities have announced similar measures against hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, also on June 13, Tasnim reported a suspect had been arrested for being “in contact with foreign espionage elements.”

Another part of the crackdown has been the increasing use of a new law introduced following the 12-day war with Israel last year, expanding penalties for alleged espionage.

Some of those charged with spying have been hanged, along with dozens of other political prisoners, in recent weeks.

The scale of the repression, which began with security forces killing thousands of protesters in January, has drawn widespread international condemnation.

In recent days, a number of Nobel laureates have raised their voices on this.

Some 13 laureates told RFE/RL that they were among the 75 prize winners listed on a letter organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) -- an exiled opposition group also known as MEK that Iran considers a terrorist organization but which was removed from US and EU terrorism lists more than a decade ago.

These included Barry Barish and Reinhard Genzel, prize winners for physics in 2017 and 2020 respectively, Oliver Hart, prize winner for economics in 2016, and Brian Kobilka, the winner for chemistry in 2012.

The letter expresses “deep and urgent concern regarding the widespread, systematic, and ongoing violations of human rights in Iran.”

“I signed it to protest the execution of political prisoners,” Jack Szostak, Nobel laureate for medicine in 2009, told RFE/RL in an email.

The signing of an Islamabad memorandum aimed at ending the conflict between Iran and the United States is unlikely to take place on June 14, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on June 13.

Speaking to state media, Baqaei said the agreement could still be signed in the coming days but cautioned against predicting a timeline because of what he described as “the hesitancy of the other side.”

His remarks came amid mixed signals over the Pakistan-mediated framework, which is intended to halt hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and create a pathway for broader negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on June 12 that a deal had "never been closer," while Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, claimed a day later that the final text could be signed within 24 hours.

However, even as Iranian officials have expressed confidence that an agreement is within reach, Tehran has repeatedly cautioned against speculation about the timing and contents of any deal before it is finalized.