US-Iran War Live Updates: Trump says Washington only 'semi-negotiating' as Khamenei tightens grip

US-Iran War Live Updates: US President Donald Trump has said Washington is only partly engaged in negotiations with Tehran, with the administration choosing to wait for mounting economic pressure on Iran before pushing talks further. His remarks followed comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said no direct talks were taking place between the two countries, though intermediaries were still working to create conditions for eventual negotiations.

Araghchi also said talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz standoff were in their final stages, but made clear the waterway would not reopen until Washington met Tehran’s demands, chief among them the lifting of the US naval blockade. The strait remains a key flashpoint, given its importance to global oil shipments.

On Iran’s domestic front, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed Mohsen Rezaei, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, as his representative to the Supreme National Security Council, further cementing the IRGC’s influence over the country’s top security decision-making body.

Elsewhere in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally rejected a US-brokered peace plan for Gaza, insisting an Israeli withdrawal will not go ahead until Hamas is fully disarmed. Meanwhile, in Yemen, Iran-aligned Houthi forces attacked the Red Sea port of al-Makha, which is held by the internationally recognised government, killing at least seven people, according to an army spokesperson.

Follow for more developments in West Asia.