Iran sends response to US proposal via Pakistan: state media

Iran’s response to a US proposal to end the war has been sent via mediator Pakistan, Iranian state news agency IRNA has reported. Pakistan has also confirmed receipt of the Iranian response.

Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to end the war in the region via Pakistan, AFP reports, citing Iranian state media. “The Islamic Republic of Iran sent today through Pakistani mediators its response to the latest text proposed by the United States to end the war,” the official IRNA news agency said, without offering details.

“The Pakistanis are confirming that they have received the Iranian response to the US proposal,” he said. “Now Pakistan has received it, it will be important to see when it is communicated to the United States, and then to see the reaction from Washington,” Pakistan sources confirmed to AlJazeera TV reporter.   

"It should be noted that the main focus of Iran's response to the US proposal is on 'ending the war and maritime security' in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," the ISNA news agency said, without offering further details.

Holding negotiations does not mean surrender: Iran’s president

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says negotiations do not mean surrender, reiterating Tehran’s position on defending Iranian national interests and the rights of the Iranian people, Al Jazeera reports.

“The goal is to realise the rights of the Iranian people and defend national interests with authority,” Pezeshkian said at a meeting on post-war reconstruction.

Iran denies reports of oil leak near Kharg Island export hub

Iran’s Oil Terminals Company has denied reports of ​an oil leak near Kharg ‌Island, according to state media, after satellite imagery ​this week appeared to show a large slick west of the ⁠country’s main oil export ​hub in the Gulf, Reuters reports.

The company’s ​chief executive has said inspections had found no evidence of leaks from storage ​tanks, pipelines, loading facilities ​or tankers operating near the island. ‌He ⁠added that the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), a regional marine pollution body, had ​also reported ​no ⁠sign of leakage in the area.

The official said ​Iranian teams had conducted ​additional ⁠field inspections and laboratory testing after the reports emerged ⁠and ​had not identified “even ​the smallest trace” of leakage.

Iran war 'not over,' uranium must be removed: Netanyahu

Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium must be "taken out" before the US-Israeli war against Iran can be considered over, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Sunday.

"It's not over, because there's still nuclear material -- enriched uranium -- that has to be taken out of Iran. There's still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled," Netanyahu said in an excerpt of an interview due to air later Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes" program. "You go in and you take it out," the Israeli leader said when asked how the uranium could be removed.

Panama-flagged bulk carrier passed Hormuz through designated route: Iranian media

A Panama-flagged bulk carrier bound for Brazil has passed through the Strait of Hormuz using a route designated by Iran’s armed forces, Al Jazeera reports, citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Tasnim said that the vessel is identified as the Mdl Toofan, adding that it has departed from Saudi Arabia’s Ras al-Khair port and is headed to Rio Grande.

The report said that the ship had previously attempted to transit the strait on May 4 but was turned back by Iran’s forces. It added that this was the second vessel since Saturday to use the Iran-designated route.

Earlier, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran's response to its latest negotiating position.

"Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships," the Guards said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

US President Donald Trump had said on Friday he was expecting Iran's answer to Washington's latest proposal for a peace deal "supposedly tonight".

But if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the reliability of US leadership.

"The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy," he said in a call with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran's ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.

That incident followed another flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the United States and its allies.

The US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route.

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict, launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran's answer "very soon".

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Friday the proposal was still "under review".

 Top US diplomat Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary for Washington in dialogue with Iran, discussing "continued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East," the State Department said.

Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the previous day with US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.

Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate's role as host of a major US air base.

Meanwhile, satellite images have shown an apparent oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.

It was not immediately clear what caused the apparent spill, which was off the island's west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometres), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.

A UK-based non-governmental organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told AFP that by Saturday the slick was "much reduced", and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.

Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran's oil export industry, a lynchpin of its battered economy, and lies in the Gulf far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices.

The US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response, and Trump this week abandoned a short-lived US naval operation to reopen the strait to commercial shipping.
 A parallel ceasefire on the war's Lebanon front is also under strain amid daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Authorities said at least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while state media reported air raids targeting a highway south of Beirut, outside the militant group's traditional strongholds.

The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones on at least two occasions in response to the continued strikes.

Israel's military said several explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, with one army reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured.

The fresh strikes come as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, are to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.