US shoots down Iranian drones as war reaches 100th day

On the war’s 100th day, the United States said it had shot down two Iranian drones posing a threat to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how the conflict continues to widen with no clear end in sight.

The symbolic marker came as Pakistan, acting as a mediator, delivered a message to Iran’s supreme leader after weeks of indirect talks marked by reciprocal threats and intermittent bursts of fighting.

Attempts to transform a ceasefire into a durable political settlement have repeatedly faltered, even as the conflict has shaken global markets and intensified political pressure on US President Donald Trump ahead of the midterm elections.

Still, the weekend brought hints of renewed diplomatic movement, including a visit to Tehran by Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.

“I think it’s a very important message,” Mr Naqvi said, reflecting the significance Islamabad appears to place on the latest contact.

Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has emerged as a central figure in efforts to mediate between Iran and the US after an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal also travelled to Pakistan for separate talks with Mr Munir, as Beirut pushes for a lasting end to the parallel conflict unfolding on Lebanese territory between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be part of any deal aimed at ending the broader regional war, and a source familiar with Mr Haykal’s trip said it was “linked to the Pakistani mediation” involving Tehran and Washington.

Deadlock

The visit came as US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said it had destroyed two Iranian drones “that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz”.

An earlier drone interception, along with US strikes on Iranian radar sites, had already prompted Tehran to launch a barrage of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait yesterday.

Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had earlier told CNN that negotiations with Washington “are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock”, while urging the release of roughly $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

Washington, however, may instead seek to direct those funds toward covering damage caused by Iranian strikes on Gulf allies.

The US will work “to allow Iranian assets to be made available to our Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs”, a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking said.

Abbas Araghchi says any attack on Beirut would mean the Middle East war is resuming in full

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking in an interview with CNN, said talks with Washington had been “very cumbersome”.

“The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goal posts, different statements, contradictory remarks,” he said.

Lebanon front

Lebanon was pulled into the wider war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran.

A ceasefire declared in April was never implemented, and a new conditional truce announced in recent days was rejected by Hezbollah almost at once.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today that Israeli forces had “struck a militant command centre” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah bastion, in response to what he described as “fire towards Israeli territory”.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strikes hit two apartments in two separate buildings.

An AFP photographer saw damage to two apartments in a building on a narrow street, while traffic jammed as residents tried to flee the suburb and the Lebanese army moved into the area.

Mr Araghchi had earlier warned that any strike on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the Middle East war.