US President Donald trump has called suggestions the US and Iran are no longer holding peace talks “false and erroneous” and insisted the two countries have been speaking "continuously".In a post on his social media platform Truth Social he added the US and Iran in fact spoke “four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today”. But he also said he had told Tehran "It's time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal".It comes after reports that Donald Trump berated Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a call aimed at ending fighting in Lebanon.The US president is said to have told Netanyahu: “You're f***ing crazy”, adding, “You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” according to one US official who summarised the call to Axios.Lebanon confirmed a partial ceasefire had been agreed between Hezbollah and Israel, though there were already reports of violations on Tuesday as both sides traded new attacks.A senior official in Netanyahu’s office told Israeli outlet N12 News that reports on the call were “inaccurate.”‘Stuck in quicksand’: How the Iran war has stalled the Trump agenda and frustrated the White HouseThe mood inside the White House is reportedly being driven by a sense of burnout among staffers and officials who are trying to push President Donald Trump’s agenda forward while being “all-consumed” by the unpopular Iran war.For more than three months, Trump’s war with Iran has dragged on, pushing gas prices and inflation higher for Americans – leading to negative media attention and general disapproval by the public. The administration has made several efforts to end the war, or at least open the Strait of Hormuz but so far no tangible deals have been implemented.Read more here: Rebecca Whittaker2 June 2026 20:05British couple jailed in Iran lose appealA British couple jailed in Iran on spying allegations have lost an appeal against their convictions, their family and the UK government said Tuesday.Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained in January 2025 while on an around-the-world motorcycle trip. In February they were handed 10-year prison sentences for espionage, which they both deny.Britain's Foreign Office called the couple's incarceration "unjustified and appalling.""We are disappointed by the appeal decision and will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the U.K.," it said in a statement."Since their arrest last year, Britain's ambassador to Tehran, diplomats and officials in London have been working to provide consular assistance. This includes the ambassador visiting them in prison and facilitating calls with their family back in the U.K."Daniel Keane2 June 2026 19:37Nuclear watchdog offering technical support to UAE after attack on nuclear plantThe International Atomic Energy Agency is offering the United Arab ⁠Emirates technical as well as moral support, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi ⁠said after ⁠a visit to the site ⁠of a nuclear power ​plant ⁠that came under ‌a drone attack last month.Grossi said Emirati ‌authorities had reacted ‌very quickly to the attack at the Barakah ⁠Nuclear Power Plant by shutting down a reactor because of the loss of external power.He said a number of ‌activities would take ​place to ‌complete repairs at ⁠the plant but ⁠provided no further details. Daniel Keane2 June 2026 19:10Maira Butt2 June 2026 18:50Trump calls reports of halted peace talks 'false'US President Donald trump has called suggestions the US and Iran are no longer holding peace talks “Fake News”. Trump claims Iran and the US have been speaking "continuously".In a post on Truth Social he said the claims were “false and erroneous” adding the countries spoke “four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today”. Trump says reports of halted US-Iran peace talks are 'false and erroneous' (Truth Social)Rebecca Whittaker2 June 2026 18:21Trump now says US left Iran’s military ‘alone’ after weeks of boasting that he destroyed its forcesDonald Trump has now said that Iran’s military was largely untouched by U.S. strikes over the past three months, contradicting countless statements he has made and continues to make about the scale of America’s successes in the ongoing war.The president spoke in an interview that aired Saturday with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump on Fox News. As the war in Iran now runs past the three-month mark, the U.S. remains mired in a stalemate with Iran under the shadow of a shaky ceasefire that Trump is now considering an offer to extend for another 60 days.A war that the president and his team have long insisted would be over in “days” or even just a few weeks is now at a flashpoint with the U.S. having proven largely unable to forcibly open the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy shipping traffic.John Bowden reports: Maira Butt2 June 2026 18:20Rebecca Whittaker2 June 2026 17:50Rubio says he sees indications that Iran’s new supreme leader is ‘engaged’ with US talksMarco Rubio said he is confident Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive. He testified that US negotiators have seen signs that Iran’s new supreme leader has been engaged with negotiations despite not being seen publicly.“I would imagine, given what’s happened to multiple leaders in that system, being very public is probably not something that’s recommended for them internally,” he said. “But that said, I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level, although all of his communications have been in writing and through intermediaries.”Rebecca Whittaker2 June 2026 17:20Rubio: Iran should comply with nuclear programme if it wants sanctions liftedThe US secretary of state is again talking about Iran, now discussing its nuclear programme. “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio says, reiterating the long-held stance by the US - although Iran denies it is attempting to produce one. He proposes that Tehran should comply on the nuclear programme - zero enrichment and getting rid of the enriched uranium - if it wants Washington to lift sanctions.But he suggests this is not yet an official offer by the White House. Alex Croft2 June 2026 16:55Rubio says Nato response to Iran war 'calls into question' US membershipWe’re hearing more from Marco Rubio, who is now speaking critically of Nato and Rubio says he has previously supported, and still does to an extent support, the membership of Nato. The benefit of Nato for the US, he says, is that it allows the US military to use the military bases of its allies. But he questions whether Nato’s response to the Iran war has called into question its utility for the US. “Some of these countries - I point to Spain as an example - openly brag about how they denied us the use of these bases,” he said. “If what we get out of Nato is the ability to use bases, and then we have members of that alliance that are basically denying the use of those bases, it calls into question the entire thing,” he added. Rubio is asked whether the challenges in relations with Nato have come after Trump threatened to seize the territory of Greenland and to use tariffs to coerce Denmark into giving it up. He denies there is a link between the two, saying that debates about Nato have been “ongoing for a long time”. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio adjusts his tie as he attends a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Reuters)Alex Croft2 June 2026 16:46