• Agreement expires:The US and Iran in June signed a memorandum of understanding that kicked off a 60-day window to negotiate a final deal to end the war. The agreement expired Monday with no concrete plans to end hostilitiesas talks between the two sides have stalled
• Military drills:US President Donald Trump said he plans to cut back joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the country’s lack of help with the Iran war and his warm relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The joint exercises in South Korea began as scheduled on Monday, according to the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Kushner meetings: Trump’s son-in-law and US envoy Jared Kushner met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayyain Egypt as mediators seek to revive Trump’s Gaza peace initiative, which Israel has rejected. Kushner is set to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf attends a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on July 3, 2026.
Tehran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker said the United States and Israel have “failed to achieve” any of the objectives they set at the start of their war with Iran
Ghalibaf claimed Iran has emerged victorious by blocking these goals, saying: “I declare with all my heart that we won this war.”
He did not specify what objectives he believed the US and Israel had failed to meet
The goals which the Trump administration previously laid out included complete Iranian surrender, regime change, Iran never getting a nuclear weapon and ending Tehran’s support for its Middle East proxy groups like Hezbollah
Donald Trump steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 16.
A 60-day window for US and Iran to reach a deal to end the war came to a close on Monday. In June, the two sides had signed a temporary agreement that kicked off the window for negotiations. No concrete plans on ending hostilities have been announced so far
In other news, President Donald Trump announced Sunday the United States would reduce military exercises with South Korea, citing his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s lack of assistance with his Iran conflict
Joint exercises with South Korea began on Monday as scheduled, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told CNN.What is less clear currently is whether the exercises have been suddenly pared down or not in light of Trump’s announcement
Defense pact: Trump praised a mutual defense agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, calling it an “important first step.” The three US allies signed the NATO-style mutual defense pact last week, consolidating their long-standing security ties into a collective-defense alliance that stipulates an attack against any of them “shall be regarded as attack on them all.”
USS Abraham Lincoln:Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who served in the US Army, slammed Trump’s response to reports of poor conditions and low morale on the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying it “pisses me off.” Trump had dismissed claims that families of service members aboard theaircraft carrierhave concerns about conditions
Oil prices:Oil futures were flat on Sunday amid stalled US-Iran talks over fully reopening shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. US gas prices have remained above $4 while stock futures were also flat
Shipping traffic: In the Strait of Hormuz, there were no notable ship movements in the past 24 hours And on the Bab el-Mandeb strait, at least 40 vessels transited the waterway. This is down from the 2023 peak of 72 ships a day
CNN’s Aileen Graef, Julia Benbrook, Auzinea Bacon and Lisa Wong contributed reporting
The United States and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June, aiming to stop hostilities and pave the way for a “final deal” within 60 days to end the war on all fronts and settle complicated issues such as Tehran’s nuclear program
The 60-day window ended at midnight, with nothing concrete agreed so far. Both sides have accusedeach other of violating the temporary agreement and multiple flare-ups have escalated the conflict in the Middle East
The 14-point framework, brokered mainly by Pakistan with the support of other neighboring nations, was signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on June 17
The interim agreement cameafter more than three months of deadly conflict that severely disrupted Gulf trade, especially oil and gas exports
The agreement included provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing some financial restrictions on Iran and outlining expectations for future talks on Iran’s nuclear program
However, it soon fractured with disputes over the strait, leading to renewed military strikes atthe end of June
On July 8, Trump said the MOU was “over.”
With US weapon stockpiles dwindling and no permanent resolution in sight, he now risks drawing the US into yet another “Forever War.”
Trump has made it clear that inflicting economic pain on Iran is part of Washington’s current strategy
“We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” he said earlier this month
Tehran, however, remains steadfast. On Saturday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no decision has been made on whether to resume negotiations with the US
Responding to Trump’s recent threat to declare the strait a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran,” Araghchi said that it “cannot be seized with a tweet.”
Strikes between US forces and Iran have paused, but violence by Iran-backed groups in the region persists
Yemen’s military has intensified its campaign against the Houthiswho have targeted shipping hubs and US allies, while Lebanon recently saw its deadliest day of Israeli airstrikes since their June ceasefire
CNN’s Alayna Treene, Ibrahim Dahman, Kevin Liptak and Nick Paton Walsh contributed reporting
President Donald Trump walks to board boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States would reduce military exercises it conducts with key regional ally South Korea, citing his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s lack of assistance with Iran
Trump went on to raise the Iran war and his request for South Korea to help
Trump has had a warm relationship with the North Korean leader despite it being a longtime adversary of the United States. Earlier this weekend, he posted a picture of himself and Kim, with the caption: “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!”
The joint exercises with South Korea, called Ulchi Freedom Shield military drills, were set to begin August 17 and go for 10 days
North Korea has long criticized such exercises, with its Central Military Commission calling trilateral exercises last year with Japan and South Korea “the most comprehensive and offensive war drill for aggression in terms of scale, content and nature” that has been conducted on the southern Korean Peninsula
Read the full story here
Jared Kushner reacts ahead of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex near Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21.
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, held a rare meeting with the leader of Hamas in Egypt over the weekend
The US envoy is set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday, and has already sat down this week with Egypt’s president
It all comes at a critical time for US diplomacy in a region that’s been roiled by conflicts on multiple fronts this year
Here’s some background on Kushner:
He served as a chief Middle East negotiator in Trump’s first presidential term and built deep relationships with leaders in the region, having informally advised administration officials on negotiations with Arab leaders, Trump administration officials and people close to Kushner told CNN last year
Kushner helped lead Trump administration policies on the Middle East, including the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and several Arab states
After leaving the White House in 2021, Kushner launched a private equity firm, Affinity Partners, which received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar have also invested large amounts into his firm
Kushner has previously denied these investments are a conflict of interest. In an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” last year, Kushner said: “What people call conflicts of interests, Steve (Witkoff) and I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world.”
Jared Kushner meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a location given as El-Alamein, Egypt, in this handout photo released on August 16.
US envoy Jared Kushner and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya held talks in Egypt on Sunday, according to aGaza ceasefire plan rejected by Israel
The talks in El Alamein included Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov. Kushner is reported to have only met Hamas officials directly once before
In October last year, Kushner,President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, met with al-Hayya to finalize an earlier ceasefire agreement that led to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza
Meetings with other key leaders:While in Egypt, Kushner also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, where the two discussed “the need for all parties to fulfill their obligations under the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip,” according to Sisi’s office
A USd the administration’s goals in the Middle East
Kushner and Mladenov are also expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday, according to a diplomatic source
On Friday, an official with the Board of Peace — the US-backed body tasked with securing long-term peace in Gaza — said the goal of the meetings was to “concretize” the next steps of a new ceasefire plan
The big picture:Trump announced a new 15-point Gaza peace planat the end of last month, which called for a series of sequenced steps to halt regular Israeli attacks in Gaza, disarm Hamas, and lead to the withdrawal of the Israeli military
But after more than a week of silence, Netanyahu publicly rejected the deal and insisted the Israeli military would not withdraw until Hamas was completely disarmed. Hamas agreed to a disarmament plan but warned it could only happen if Israel upheld its obligations under the previous ceasefire agreement
Major progress on the ceasefire plan has proven difficult, especially against a backdrop of an upcoming election in Israel in which Netanyahu is unlikely to make serious concessions on Gaza
Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting to this post
Vice President JD Vance discusses anti-fraud initiatives during a visit to Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 128th Air Refueling Wing at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee on July 8.
One of the Trump administration’s biggest problems in extracting itself from the Iran war is the list of very absolutist goals that President Donald Trump and his team laid out
The goals have included complete Iranian surrender, regime change, Iran never getting a nuclear weapon and ending Tehran’s support for its Middle East proxy groups like Hezbollah
As the war — now in its sixth month — has dragged on, this list of goals has conspicuously shifted and been pared back. And Vice President JD Vance appears to have pared it back recently in a remarkable way, offering the latest indication that the administration might be preparing to settle for less — maybe even a lot less
Appearing on Fox News on Thursday, Vance was asked how the war might end. He laid out two goals
“It’s ensuring that the Gulf countries continue to send oil and gas to the world economy so that we have energy price stability,” he said, adding: “That’s goal number one: Keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country
“And then, obviously, goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
This is not the administration’s old list of goals — and the order Vance placed them in is striking
When asked about Vance’s comments on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that “both goals are equally as important to the president.”
The administration has almost always characterized Iran never getting a nuclear weapon as the overriding concern
And even if the goals are truly equal in the administration’s mind, including oil and gas prices at all — and not other items — is a notable shift
Read thefull analysis of US objectives in Iranhere
It is getting harder to estimate the volume of shipping using the key Strait of Hormuz, as more vessels pass through with trackers off and ship-to-ship transfers disguise the amount of oil reaching global markets, analysts say
Traffic through the waterway remains low and although Iran and Oman are negotiating over the waterway, there are no immediate signs of a deal
The number of ships known to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz varies from a couple to about a dozen on a daily basis. Not all are tankers; many operators are still deterred from using the strait because of sporadic Iranian drone attacks
Thirteen vessels transited on Thursday, according to maritime intelligence group Windward, with four of those inbound and nine outbound. Of the outbound traffic, four vessels — including a tanker laden with 2 million barrels of Saudi crude – sailed with their satellite trackers off
There were no notable ship movements in the strait in the past 24 hours, MarineTraffic data showed on Sunday
Last week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that between 8 and 9 million barrels a day were getting through Hormuz on a running average. Wright said the US had access to information that tracking agencies lacked
More context:Many tankers and freighters with Saudi connections are avoiding both Hormuz and the Bab al Mandeb waterway at the southern end to the Red Sea, where the Iranian-backed Houthi militants have warned they will attack Saudi vessels
Iran’s oil exports have been severely limited by the US naval blockade
For the first time in almost a month, a large tanker last week began loading crude at the western terminal of Iran’s main export hub Kharg Island, Windward said. More than a dozen other tankers remain anchored in the area
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that the lack of oil exports was hitting the state’s revenues
