Iran war updates: Trump says negotiations with Tehran to begin Monday

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Here’s what happened today
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US President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran, likely via intermediaries, are set to begin on August 3 and that a deal is likely on the Strait of Hormuz and denuclearisation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says negotiations between Oman and Iran on the future management of the Strait of Hormuz are in their “final stages”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the memorandum of understanding signed in June with the US “will be the centre of gravity” of Iran’s “foreign relations in the future”.
The crew of an Iranian commercial ship that was hit in a Ukrainian attack last week, along with the body of a sailor who was killed, have returned to Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency reports.
Gaza Board of Peace chief Nickolay Mladenov says mediators are working “around the clock” to start implementing Phase 2 of the ceasefire deal, as Israeli attacks have intensified over the past few days, killing dozens of Palestinians.
Iran close to reaching Hormuz deal with Oman: Official
A spokesperson for Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee says Tehran is close to reaching an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hassan Qashqavi also confirmed that Tehran’s mediators were seeking to revive the memorandum of understanding with Washington.
Israel raised ‘serious concerns’ with US over Hamas deal: Netanyahu aide
Israel has raised “serious security concerns” with the White House over a proposed disarmament deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said, as strikes killed at least 17 people, including children, in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Doron Spielman, told AP on Sunday that Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza before Hamas gives up its weapons.

“Our assessment is that if we redeploy before Hamas is truly disarmed, it will quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza … and seek to carry out another October 7-style attack,” he said.

“Disarming means physically giving up the weapons. Nothing less,” Spielman added.

Trump insists dialogue with Iran is ongoing but time for deal running short
President Trump has been insistent, saying publicly that there has been constant contact between his negotiators and those in Iran – not necessarily direct; it is probably through mediators.

But throughout this upsurge in conflict that we have seen in recent weeks, President Trump has maintained continuously that there is an ongoing dialogue between the parties.

So, we do see President Trump now saying, “OK, I’m going to give more time for a deal”, although implying that there isn’t going to be very much time.

We do hear, as well, from many observers that the whole threat of conflict that was so heavy in the past 24 hours was in a way a brinkmanship game, trying to persuade the Iranians that an attack was going to take place and trying to get them to cave into his demands before it did.

Well, if that was the ploy, then it is apparent that it failed, and President Trump has backed off those threats now, saying that he’s giving – he implies – limited time for a deal.

Trump avoids commenting on reports of US forces moving out of Kuwait, Bahrain
US President Trump has refused to comment on the potential relocation of US troops from bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Asked by a reporter on Air Force One, if his administration is in the process of relocating US forces, he answered, “I don’t want to comment on that”.