United States: US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran are progressing positively and could produce a breakthrough as early as this weekend, expressing optimism about ongoing diplomatic efforts to end tensions in the Middle East.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he had received encouraging reports on the talks and voiced support for keeping discussions on Iran separate from negotiations involving Lebanon and Hezbollah. “I’d like to have a separate thing, because it is separate,” he told reporters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said discussions remain focused on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and broader nuclear activities, while also expressing hope that US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon would lead to a security framework for the border region.
Despite Washington’s optimism, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations had yielded “no tangible progress” and warned that any Israeli attack on Beirut would trigger a full-scale resumption of the conflict. He said communication channels with Washington remain open but stressed that diplomatic efforts had yet to produce meaningful results.
The remarks came as renewed hostilities threatened a fragile ceasefire reached after the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Kuwaiti authorities reported that a drone strike hit a passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport, killing one person and injuring 63 others. Iran denied responsibility, claiming the incident resulted from a malfunction in US Patriot missile defence systems.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of escalating tensions and warned that military action could resume if necessary. Meanwhile, Kuwait temporarily suspended air traffic following the airport incident before later restoring flight operations.
The latest exchanges have raised concerns over the durability of the ceasefire and underscored the challenges facing ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing a wider regional conflict.