US, Iran and mediators make push for 45-day ceasefire, Axios reports

April 5 (Reuters) - The U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are ‌discussing the terms for a potential ‌45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end ​to the war, Axios reported on Sunday, citing four U.S., Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks.

Reuters

Reuters could not ‌immediately verify the ⁠report. The White House and the U.S. State Department did not immediately ⁠respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The mediators are discussing the terms of a two-phased ​deal, the ​report said, adding ​that the first ‌phase would be a potential 45-day ceasefire during which a permanent end to the war would be negotiated.

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The second phase would be an agreement on ending the war, the ‌report said.

The ceasefire could ​be extended if additional ​time was required ​for talks, the report said.

U.S. ‌President Donald Trump told ​the Wall Street ​Journal on Sunday his deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz ​or face ‌attacks on critical infrastructure is Tuesday ​evening.

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

US, Iran and mediators make push for 45-day ceasefire, Axios reports

April 5 (Reuters) - The U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are ‌discussing the terms for a potential ‌45-day ceasefire that c...
The Latest: Airstrikes kill more than 25 people in Iranian cities as Trump's deadline looms

Strikes on cities across Iran have killed more than 25 people Sunday into Monday, while in Israel's Haifa two people were found dead and two others were missing in rubble a day after an Iranian attack.

Associated Press Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) A commercial plane is preparing to land at Beirut Airport as smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a crowded neighbourhood south of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) A picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hangs on the side of the road in the outskirts of Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) Women hold Iranian flags during a pro-government gathering in a square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

APTOPIX Israel Iran War

U.S. President Donald Trumpon Sunday stepped up his threat to hit Iran's critical infrastructure hard if the country's government doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline.

Trump punctuated his threat with profanity in a social media post, saying Tuesday will be "Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran."

The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shakenglobal markets, cut off key shipping routes andspiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings ofpossible war crimesfrom the United Nations and international law experts.

Here is the latest:

South Korea spy agency sees no signs of North Korea supplying Iran

South Korea's National Intelligence Service says there are no signs North Korea is providing Iran with weapons or other war-related supplies.

The spy agency's officials told lawmakers Monday that North Korea may be taking a cautious approach to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the Trump administration, according to two lawmakers who attended the closed-door briefing.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal, but the NIS said Pyongyang has not sent an official condolence message over the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's late supreme leader.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent years has embraced the idea of a "new Cold War" and attempted to expand cooperation with countries confronting the U.S., including an economic delegation sent to Iran in April 2024.

South Korea plans to send ships and special envoys to Saudi Arabia

South Korea plans to send at least five ships to Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port in the coming weeks to establish new oil transport routes in the Red Sea.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said Monday the ships will be deployed in phases beginning in mid-April and the number of vessels could increase depending on contracts with Saudi partners.

Officials did not disclose the companies involved but said some domestic refiners may use non-Korean shipping firms.

South Korea also plans to send special envoys to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Algeria to step up diplomatic efforts to secure alternative fuel supplies, ruling party lawmaker Ahn Do-geol said.

The foreign ministry did not immediately reveal when the envoys would be sent.

Iran executes man over January protests

Iran has executed another man convicted over charges stemming from the nationwide protests that swept Iran in January.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency identified the man hanged as Ali Fahim in a report Monday.

It was unclear when he was executed.

Fahim had been convicted of allegedly storming a military base to seize weapons.

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Amnesty International said Fahim and others convicted in the case "were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, floggings, prolonged solitary confinement, and death threats at gunpoint before being convicted in grossly unfair trials that relied on forced 'confessions' extracted under torture and lasted only a few hours."

The Human Rights Activist News Agency had said Fahim and others had entered a Tehran base of the all-volunteer Basij militia, an arm of the Revolutionary Guard, after it had been burned, then had been forced into confessions.

Iranian missiles hit central Israel

Israel rescue services reported Monday morning several sites were hit by missiles launched from Iran toward multiple cities in the center of Israel.

In Petah Tikva, paramedics provided medical treatment to an injured woman in serious condition with a chest injury from shrapnel and evacuated her to the Beilinson Hospital.

Fire fighters in that city are handling cars on fire and continue searching to ensure there are no people trapped in the rubble.

In Tel Aviv, a man slightly injured by glass shrapnel was evacuated to the Ichilov Hospital.

Footage provided by rescue service Magen David Adom shows damage to residential buildings due to the attack.

Meanwhile, Israel's military warned the public Monday morning of another missile barrage coming from Iran, the fourth-such alert of the day.

Iranian missiles strike several locations in Haifa

Israel's Magen David Adom and Fire and Rescue services said early Monday that there are several reported sites of Iranian missile hits in the northern city of Haifa.

In one site, four people were slightly injured, including two children.

The missile attacks hit residential areas and a factory in the city.

The factory was hit by shrapnel from an interception.

It is unclear if all the reported hits were caused by shrapnel from interception or direct hits.

Video footage provided by Magen David Adom of the affected sites show active fire and bombed cars in what appears to be a residential area.

The missile strikes come a day after another attack from Iran also hit a Haifa residential area, killing two people and injuring others.

Two other people remain missing under the rubble caused by Sunday's strike and their fate is still unknown.

1 person wounded in UAE after missile interception

In the United Arab Emirates' capital of Abu Dhabi, authorities said a Ghanaian man suffered wounds from shrapnel after the interception of an Iranian missile over the city's Musaffah neighborhood.

That's near Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces and has been repeatedly targeted by Iran in the war.

The Latest: Airstrikes kill more than 25 people in Iranian cities as Trump’s deadline looms

Strikes on cities across Iran have killed more than 25 people Sunday into Monday, while in Israel's Haifa two people ...
Germany works to clarify new rules on fighting-age men leaving country

By Tom Sims

Reuters

FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) - Germany's armed forces are working on clarifying a provision in a recently updated military service ‌law that requires fighting-age men to gain permission to leave ‌the country for more than three months, the defence ministry said.

The law went into ​effect in January, but the requirement - which theoretically affects millions of men between the ages of 17 and 45 in the European Union's most populous country - had gone mostly unnoticed until a local newspaper report highlighted it ‌on Friday.

A defence ministry ⁠spokesperson stressed that military service in Germany is voluntary, adding that the ministry was "currently drafting specific regulations for granting ⁠exemptions from the requirement for approval, also to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy".

The controversial new military service law was passed last year to boost Bundeswehr numbers and ​meet NATO ​targets amid the growing view within ​Germany that it has relied ‌too long on the United States and as tensions with Russia spur calls for stronger defence capabilities across Europe.

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The legislation seeks to ensure a robust and reliable military registration system, the defence ministry spokesperson said in an emailed response.

"In the case of an emergency, we must know ‌who may be residing abroad for an ​extended period," he said.

He declined to comment ​further on how the process ​may eventually look.

Germany wants to increase the ranks of ‌active soldiers to 260,000 by 2035 ​from 183,000 at ​the end of last year, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz telling military leaders last year that the country needed to become capable ​of defending itself as ‌quickly as possible, and needed soldiers.

Opposition politicians over the weekend ​criticised the government for creating confusion with the law.

(Reporting by ​Tom Sims; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Germany works to clarify new rules on fighting-age men leaving country

By Tom Sims FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) - Germany's armed forces are working on clarifying a provision in...
UAE says the use of Hormuz must be guaranteed in any US-Iran deal

By Samia Nakhoul and Maha El Dahan

Reuters FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and a 3D printed oil pipeline are seen in this illustration taken March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates President Anwar Gargash speaks at the Reuters NEXT Gulf Summit, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, October 22, 2025. REUTERS/Rula Rouhana/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows map showing the Strait of Hormuz and 3D printed oil pipeline

Dubai, April 6 (Reuters) - UAE official Anwar Gargash said any settlement of the U.S.-Iran war must guarantee access through the Strait of Hormuz, warning that a deal that fails to rein in Iran's nuclear programme and its missiles and drones would pave the way for "a ‌more dangerous, more volatile Middle East."

Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, told a weekend briefing that the Strait of Hormuz - the world's most critical oil ‌artery - cannot be weaponised, stressing that its security is not a regional bargaining chip but a global economic imperative.

"The Strait of Hormuz cannot be held hostage by any country," said Gargash, adding that freedom of navigation through the ​waterway "has to be part and parcel of the settlement of any conflict with clear agreement on that."

Gargash said the UAE wants the war to end, but warned against a ceasefire that leaves the root causes of instability unresolved.

"We don't want to see more and more escalation," he said. "But we don't want a ceasefire that fails to address some of the main issues that will create a much more dangerous environment in the region...notably (Iran's) nuclear programme, the missiles and drones that are still raining down on us and on other countries."

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if ‌it did not make a deal and reopen the Strait ⁠of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline. In a post laden with expletives on Sunday on his Truth Social platform, Trump threatened further strikes on Iranian energy and transport infrastructure that critics say would constitute a war crime.

The U.S. and Israel have pounded Iran with missiles and airstrikes for ⁠more than five weeks to destroy what they said was an imminent threat from the country's nuclear weapon development programme, ballistic missile arsenal and support for regional proxy militias.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO UNFOLDING

Gargash said the United Arab Emirates was ready to join any U.S.-led international effort to secure shipping through the strait.

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About a fifth of global oil and liquefied gas supplies normally pass through it each day, but Iran's actions ​have ​severely curtailed traffic, triggering a global energy crisis.

The conflict erupted on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel ​attacked Iran after talks aimed at securing a nuclear agreement between Washington ‌and Tehran hit a deadlock. Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drones targeting Israel, U.S. military bases in the region, and vital Gulf energy infrastructure, including airports, ports and commercial centres.

The UAE has come under heavier Iranian strikes than any other Gulf state, according to regional officials.

Gargash said that for decades, the most unlikely worst‑case scenario for the UAE had been a full Iranian attack - a scenario that is now unfolding. Despite that, he said, the country was coping well, demonstrating resilience and resourcefulness under pressure.

He said the UAE's economic fundamentals remained strong and positioned the country for a recovery, though he acknowledged it would require effort.

Gargash said Iran's strategy was likely to harden the Gulf's security alignment with Washington rather than reduce it, ‌entrenching the U.S. military role in the region and amplifying Israel's footprint. He said the U.S. would ​remain the UAE's core security partner and that Abu Dhabi would double down on that relationship as regional ​threats intensify.

Iran's strikes on Gulf energy facilities and shipping lanes were seen by regional ​officials as a calculated attempt to raise the costs for Washington's Gulf Arab allies. By hitting oil facilities, ports and key waterway - including the ‌Strait - Iran banked on Gulf states, alarmed by economic shock and regional ​spillover, to press the United States to halt ​its campaign.

That logic drew on years of Gulf efforts to balance ties with Washington and Tehran, keep tensions contained, and avoid direct confrontation. Many Gulf states had restored diplomatic relations with Iran and tried to shield their economies from regional shocks, believing engagement would lower the risk.

Gargash said Iran's leadership was fighting to preserve the "regime, not ​the country", arguing that no normal government would accept such destruction ‌simply to claim it had resisted. He said the UAE did not seek hostility with Iran, but warned that trust was impossible under the current Tehran ​government.

The UAE was grateful, he said, for the international support it has received, singling out France as a steadfast partner and praising Washington for its exceptional ​backing, particularly in strengthening the UAE's air‑defence capabilities.

(Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

UAE says the use of Hormuz must be guaranteed in any US-Iran deal

By Samia Nakhoul and Maha El Dahan FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows map showing the Strait of Hormuz...

 

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