Baghaei says 60-day deadline ‘lost its relevance’ after US ‘violations’ of memorandum
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on the day of a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon “in any way, shape, or form”.
He made the statement on his Truth Social platform, adding that this was and “always will be” the “number one Goal.”
Iran blames US presence for Gulf waters pollution after oil spills
Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday blamed pollution in Gulf waters on US military operations in the region, after several oil spills were reported.
“This environmental damage stems from the US military presence and the wars it has waged in the region over the past five decades,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a news briefing.
“The damage caused to the environment of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is not solely linked to this war.”
He called for the United States to be held accountable, estimating the damage at “trillions of dollars.”
Last week, Iran called for compensation after an oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz reached the island of Qeshm, affecting beaches and an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest.
At the time, Baghaei cited preliminary evidence identifying “a foreign bulk carrier” as the source of the spill, which Iranian officials later said had been “completely cleaned up.”
Earlier, Omani state media reported that an oil slick from a tanker that ran aground off Oman had reached the coastline.
An AFP investigation previously found that the vessel had been stranded for weeks near Oman’s Al-Qibliyyah island after it was damaged by explosions.
Baghaei also said on Monday that in the Islamabad MoU, “there is no subject titled a 60-day deadline”, according to ISNA.
“What was envisioned in the memorandum was merely a 60-day period for discussions regarding ‘lifting sanctions’ and the ‘nuclear issue,’ which, in the event of failure to reach a result, had the capability of extension.”
بقایی: در متن یادداشت تفاهم، موضوعی تحت عنوان مهلت ۶۰ روزه وجود ندارد
آنچه در تفاهمنامه پیشبینی شده بود، صرفاً بازهای ۶۰ روزه برای گفتوگو پیرامون «رفع تحریمها» و «موضوع هستهای» بود که در صورت عدم دستیابی به نتیجه، قابلیت تمدید داشت
نقض فاحش تفاهمنامه از سوی آمریکا گفت…
— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) August 17, 2026
Baghaei said that the “flagrant violation of the memorandum” by the US halted discussions.
Regarding the status of three military pilots missing since an operation in March in Qatar, Baghaei stated that “as long as the status of the pilots remains unclear, it is assumed that they have been taken captive.”
بقایی: مادامی که وضعیت خلبانها روشن نشده، فرض بر این است که به اسارت درآمدهاند
ما از ۱۱ اسفند پیگیر سرنوشت این خلبانهای شجاع هستیم و از ۲۵ اسفند با صلیبسرخ هم مکاتبه کردهایم
مراودات دیپلماتیک با قطر منافاتی با پیگیری جدی سرنوشت خلبانان نداردhttps://t.co/UA4YZIrzq1 pic.twitter.com/o931tAz2sx
— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) August 17, 2026
“Diplomatic exchanges with Qatar do not conflict with the serious pursuit of the pilots’ fate.”
Speaking on a “secret meeting between Iran and America in Erbil”, Baghaei said that the report was “fabricated”, and the “claim of a communication channel between the IRGC and America via the Kurdistan Region” was a “psychological and media warfare tactic” to “sow discord among Iran’s decision-making bodies.”
Separately, the head of the national security commission of the Iranian parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, said that Trump “should be thinking about securing his own safety so that he doesn’t have to resort to fleeing to a food truck” instead of making “endless bluffs regarding the Strait of Hormuz.”
رئیس جمهور آمریکا به جای بلوف زنی های پی در پی در رابطه با تنگه هرمز باید به فکر تأمین امنیت خود باشد تا مجبور به پناه بردن به کامیون غذا نشود.
— ابراهیم عزیزی (@Ebrahimazizi33) August 17, 2026
Iranian parliament speaker Ghalibaf declares ‘military, political’ victory against US, Israel
Iran’s Parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared both a military and political victory in the war against the US and Israel on Monday, according to Al Jazeera.
He said that as someone who was “familiar with the details”, he declared that Iran had won the war “in the most literal sense of the word.”
“I do not mean that we had destroyed the American and Zionist armies, rather I mean that the US and Israel, with clear and explicit objectives—nine official and written goals that they repeatedly announced—attacked us. But they failed to achieve any of these nine goals at any level.”
Iran’s Parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has declared both a military and political victory in the war against the US and Israel.
Qalibaf’s remarks came on the day the 60-day so-called MoU US-Iran agreement is set to expire. pic.twitter.com/FfaeMVl7et
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) August 17, 2026
“This was the absolute and biggest failure for the Americans and the Zionist regime.”
Ghalibaf’s remarks came on the day the 60-day ceasefire agreed upon in the Islamabad MoU is set to expire.
Houthis fire 2 hypersonic ballistic missiles toward Mocha, Red Sea: Yemeni army
The Yemeni army said on Monday that it had detected the launch of two hypersonic ballistic missiles by the Houthi group toward the southwestern city of Mocha and the Red Sea.
The missiles were launched from the former headquarters of the 170th Air Defence Brigade on Mount Oman, east of Taiz, an area under Houthi control, the army’s Taiz Military Axis said on the US social media company Facebook.
It did not provide any information on casualties or material damage resulting from the missile launches.
The Houthis did not immediately comment on the statement.
The escalation came a day after the National Resistance Forces, aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said the Houthis had targeted Mocha with seven drones on Sunday.
Yemen had been under a relative lull since April 2022 after nearly 12 years of war between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who seized control of the capital, Sanaa, and large parts of the country in 2014.
Since late 2023, after the Gaza genocide began, the Houthis have become increasingly involved in regional hostilities, launching attacks on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, while recent renewed fighting has raised fears of a return to full-scale conflict in Yemen.
Kushner to hold talks with Netanyahu after rare meeting with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday, a day after he held a rare meeting with Hamas officials in Cairo, in a bid to push forward the US president’s Gaza peace plan.
A diplomatic source said Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya was present at some of the meetings that mediators held with Kushner and Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, in Cairo on Sunday.
It marks Kushner’s second known meeting with representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian group designated a “terrorist movement” by the United States, the latter of which has assisted Israel in perpetrating its genocidal war on Gaza’s civilian population.
Kushner previously met Hamas officials alongside US envoy Steve Witkoff in October 2025, helping clinch a deal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Trump said in late July a deal was reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
But Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election at a vote due in October, has publicly rejected Trump’s plan.
Trump had said the deal would be carried out in phases, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza as disarmament proceeded and an International Stabilisation Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.
Hamas has said it agreed to the plan, but the deal’s implementation would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal and halting attacks.
Trump ‘very happy’ over signing of Makkah Joint Defence Agreement
Trump welcomed the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement by Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,” he said on Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump said the deal shows “how the Middle East is coming together, and how countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way. Congratulations to the Great Leadership of the three nations mentioned.
“THIS IS A BIG, BOLD, AND IMPORTANT FIRST STEP — WOW!” he added.
Read: Makkah Defence Agreement extension of Pak-Saudi bilateral defence pact: PM Shehbaz
Iran slams Canada’s participation in US war on Iran
Iran’s Foreign Ministry criticised Canada on Sunday over its participation in the US war on Iran, highlighting Washington’s continued economic pressure on Canadian sovereignty.
“Washington calls Canada its 51st state; Washington imposes tariffs on Canadian goods; Washington insults Canada and threatens to punish it over wildfire smoke; Ottawa’s response: Understood, Sir! Meanwhile, Ottawa participates in the US-led unlawful war of choice against Iran, to appease Washington! What’s the reward? THIS IS NOT HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA; IT IS WASHINGTON’S FARM TEAM,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on the US social media platform X.
Washington calls Canada its 51st state;
Washington imposes tariffs on Canadian goods;
Washington insults Canada and threatens to punish it over wildfire smoke;
……..
Ottawa’s response: Understood, Sir!
Meanwhile, Ottawa participates in the U.S.-led unlawful war of choice… pic.twitter.com/b0WWuuNaPJ
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) August 16, 2026
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in March that Canada was prepared to help with efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, indicating Ottawa’s willingness to support broader US-led objectives in the region.
Israeli army attacks town in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army carried out an attack on Sunday on the town of Hadatha in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon in yet another violation of an ongoing “ceasefire”.
Israeli soldiers opened fire with automatic weapons on a western neighbourhood, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA).
Israeli military vehicles were also reportedly moving inside the town at the same time.
The Israeli army launched intensive airstrikes on Lebanon on March 2 and occupied several towns in the country’s south.
The Lebanese government said the number of people displaced during the escalation had exceeded 1 million.
Read more: Strait of Hormuz defenders will ‘break your legs’, Iran army chief to Trump
A ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel that took effect on April 17 was later extended several times. Despite the truce, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on Lebanon in the early hours of August 15.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 4,346 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the country since March 2.
Israeli airstrike targets outskirts of Lebanese town of Al-Qantara: reports
An Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Al-Qantara while Israeli artillery shelled the town of Al-Mansouri in the same region, local media reports said early Monday.
In the town of Kafra in Bint Jbeil district, an explosive-laden drone struck a house, damaging part of it and injuring two civilians.
The town had also reportedly been targeted earlier by a quadcopter.
Additional strikes and military activity were reported around the Ali al-Taher ridge, near Dawhat Kfar Rumman, in Deir Siryan and in Al-Qantara along Wadi al-Hujair, where an Israeli tank reportedly entered the area.
Some residents believe the repeated attacks are intended to pressure people into leaving their communities and to punish areas associated with support for the resistance.
Following a strike in Ansar on Saturday that reportedly killed seven members of one family and injured three others, residents also expressed deep scepticism toward government claims that direct negotiations with Israel would lead to peace.
Israeli army prepares for possible days-long escalation in Lebanon: report
The Israeli army is preparing for a possible escalation lasting several days in Lebanon as it continues attacks in the country’s south, Israeli media reported Sunday evening.
The army is preparing “for the possibility of several days of fighting in Lebanon,” Israel’s Channel 12 reported, citing unnamed military sources.
According to the broadcaster, the Israeli army is planning further attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure, claiming that Israel “insists on completing the destruction of that infrastructure.”
It also claimed that dozens of Hezbollah members were trapped underground in the Jabal Ali al-Taher area of southern Lebanon, without providing further details.
Despite continuing Israeli violations, Channel 12 claimed that Tel Aviv exercised “restraint” in recent days to avoid affecting ongoing US-mediated negotiations with the Lebanese government.
“The Israeli political leadership has not approved some operations proposed by the army in recent days in response to Hezbollah’s activities, in an attempt not to affect the course of the negotiations,” the broadcaster said.
Tensions along the Lebanese front have increased in recent weeks as Israeli military offensives continue amid US efforts to reach understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
Despite months of negotiations, Israel has continued its military campaign against Lebanon, which began March 2 and has killed 4,346 people, mostly civilians, wounded 12,301 and displaced more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israel continues to occupy areas of southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the 2023-2024 war. Israeli forces have advanced more than 10 kilometres (6 miles) into Lebanese territory during the current invasion.