President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan earlier this month failed to reach a peace deal.
Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of the blockade until Iran’s proposal is submitted and discussions are concluded “one way or the other.”
Latest Developments
Apr 29, 7:03 AM
Israeli strikes kill 3 rescue workers in Lebanon, Civil Defense says
Three members of Lebanon’s Civil Defense were killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday while trying to carry out a rescue operation, Lebanon’s Civil Defense said.
Hussein Sati, Hadi Daher and Hussein Ghadbouni were all long-time volunteers with the Civil Defense, the service said. Sati is survived by two children, while Daher and Ghadbouni were both in their 20s.
The Lebanese Armed Forces said two of its soldiers were also injured in the same attack.
Shir Torem/Reuters – PHOTO: Smoke rises following explosions in southern Lebanon on April 28, 2026.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Apr 29, 4:24 AM
Trump says ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy’ if Iran refuses nuclear deal
President Donald Trump posted to social media early on Wednesday morning warning of fresh consequences if Tehran does not agree to a new nuclear deal.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump wrote, adding, “No more Mr. Nice Guy!”
Apr 29, 4:05 AM
Trump attacks Merz over Iran war criticism
President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued an apparent rebuke of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of American strategy in Iran, saying that the German leader doesn’t “know what he’s talking about.”
Merz, Trump claimed, “thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” — something Merz did not say in his Monday criticism of the U.S.-Israel campaign.
Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks as he and First Lady Melania Trump host Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a State Dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington, April 28, 2026.
“If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage. I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago,” Trump said.
“No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise,” Trump added in the post.
Merz said at an event on Monday that the U.S. had “no strategy” in Iran and was “being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership.”
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Apr 29, 3:35 AM
IDF continues south Lebanon strikes
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Wednesday that its strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon continued through Tuesday.
Israeli operations were ongoing “north of the forward defense line,” the IDF said, referring to a line inside southern Lebanon to which Israeli forces are advancing, which is intended as the forward boundary of a planned “buffer zone” along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The IDF also said there were “several incidents” of drone attacks on Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, in which one soldier was “lightly wounded.”
-/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Smoke rises from the site of explosions conducted by Israeli troops in the southern Lebanese village of Arnoun on April 28, 2026.
Apr 28, 3:54 PM
US launches another wave of sanctions targeting Iran’s shadow banking network
The Trump administration is taking additional action against nearly three dozen entities and individuals accused of operating Iran’s shadow banking networks.
The administration says these entities and individuals allow the Iranian regime to evade sanctions and pocket “tens of billions of dollars.”
“By dismantling these financial channels, we advance the Administration’s policy in the conflict with Iran and underscore our commitment to imposing maximum pressure on Iran,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
Apr 28, 1:34 PM
Israel will treat southern Lebanon ‘just like Gaza,’ Israeli defense minister saysIsrael will continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon “just like in Gaza,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Israeli tanks and military vehicles drive along the road between destroyed houses in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, on April 25, 2026.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to destroy every terror infrastructure in the security zone up to the yellow line, below and above ground, just like in Gaza,” Katz said.
“The IDF has now destroyed an underground terror infrastructure in Qantara, Lebanon, in a huge explosion, inside the new security zone,” Katz said.
A ceasefire has in place since April 16 but strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon have continued. Hezbollah has also continued to target Israeli troop positions in southern Lebanon.
-ABC News’ Dorit Long
Apr 28, 1:19 PM
Iran openly threatening bigger response if attacked again, Iranian military spokesperson says
Iran signaled Tuesday that it is not standing down in its dealings with the United States amid the war.
Iran said it does not consider the war over. Despite the ceasefire, Iran said it is actively updating targets, continuing training, and producing and upgrading weapons. “Conditions remain those of wartime,” Mohammad Akraminia, Iranian Army spokesman, said on Tuesday.
Akraminia said Iran’s response to future attacks from the U.S. would be severe.
“We have many cards we have not yet played. We possess new arenas of war, new tools, and new methods of fighting based on the experiences of the two previous wars. We have many cards we have not yet played. We possess new arenas of war, new tools, and new methods of fighting based on the experiences of the two previous wars. We can certainly respond to the enemy more decisively and more crushingly,” he said. “We can certainly respond to the enemy more decisively and more crushingly.”
Majid Asgaripour/Reuters – PHOTO: An Iranian flag in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026.
–ABC News’ Desiree Adib
Apr 28, 10:08 AM
Trump says Iran ‘informed’ the US that it’s in a ‘state of collapse’
President Donald Trump wrote, without citing evidence, on social media on Tuesday that “Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’”
Trump said Iran is asking for the U.S. to lift the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible.”
Trump added that this alleged request from Iran comes as the nation tries “o figure out their leadership situation,” which he said he “believe[s] they will be able to do!”
Trump has repeatedly expressed mixed messages about Iran’s leadership, insisting that regime change has occurred, while also claiming that the U.S. does not know who Iran’s leaders are.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
Apr 28, 6:41 AM
Rubio says competing ‘hardliner’ factions in Iran complicating talks
Speaking to Fox News in an interview published on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that competing groups of “hardliners” in Iran are complicating stalled peace talks with the U.S.
“They’re all hardliners in Iran. But there are hardliners who understand they have to run a country and an economy and there are hardliners that are completely motivated by theology,” Rubio said.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: A man carries an Iranian flag in Sadeghyeh Square in Tehran on April 27, 2026.
“The hardliners that are motivated by theology are not just the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] officials, but obviously the supreme leader and the council that surrounds him,” Rubio continued.
“And then you’ve got the political class — the foreign minister, the president, the speaker, the majlis, these guys — they’re hardliners too, but they also understand the country has to have an economy. People have to eat. They have to figure out a way to pay salaries in their government,” Rubio said.
“Unfortunately, the hardliners, with an apocalyptic vision of the future, have the ultimate power in that country,” Rubio added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Apr 28, 6:29 AM
US achieved none of its goals in Iran, Araghchi says
Speaking to a reporter in St. Petersburg during his visit to Russia, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the U.S. had achieved none of its goals and was therefore asking for negotiations — a request Araghchi said Iran is “considering.”
Regarding bilateral Iranian-Russian relations, Araghchi said the two countries are “strategic partners” and that cooperation between them would continue.
Dmitry Lovetsky/POOL/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attend talks at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 27, 2026.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Click here to read the rest of the blog.
