This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.
Catch up: Yesterday’s top developments
- US House passes largely symbolic vote ordering end to Iran war
- Iran FM warns any attack on Beirut will trigger 'full-scale resumption of war'
- Hamas postpones talks with Gaza mediators in Egypt to Sunday
- Iran's Guards deny deadly attack on Kuwait airport
- Iran FM says 'no tangible progress' in talks with US to end war
Germany’s failed bid for UN Security Council seat a ‘rare moment of justice,’ says former UN official
Published: June 3, 2026 | 03:17GMT | by AFP
Germany losing its bid to return to the UN Security Council for a seventh term was a “rare moment of justice” and an “unprecedented loss” for the country, former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber said.
Mokhiber attributed the failed bid to “Germany’s scandalous support for genocide in Palestine and aggression against Iran, and its repression of human rights defenders inside Germany.”
“Germany’s money can no longer erase its responsibility for genocides in Namibia, Europe, and Palestine,” he added.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul acknowledged support for Israel may “have cost votes”, with just 104 of the UN General Assembly’s members voting in favour of Berlin’s continuing at the Security Council, well short of the two-thirds majority needed.
Israel and Lebanon agree to implement a ceasefire
Published: June 3, 2026 | 23:23GMT | by AFP
Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a "complete cessation" of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington.
The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese armed forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors."
The statement added that the two sides agreed to reconvene for more talks on "political and security tracks the week of June 22, with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement."
Trump says Iran talks could yield result this weekend
Published: June 3, 2026 | 21:28 GMT | by AFP
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that talks with Iran could yield results over the coming weekend and are going "very well."
"I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually," Trump told reporters, adding of a potential deal: "It could happen... over the weekend."
Iran war is over, Rubio says, as strikes continue
Published: June 3, 2026 | 20:21 GMT | by AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood by his claim that the war with Iran was over, even as deadly strikes continued.
"We're no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over," Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asserting that the United States had secured victory.
"We define victory as destroying their defense industrial base, significantly reducing the number of missile launchers that they possess, significantly reducing their stockpile of drones," Rubio said.
"And we achieved all those, in addition to destroying what they had left of an air force and wiping out their entire conventional navy."
Oil prices ease as report of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire sparks hope
Published: June 4, 2026 | 02:31GMT | by AFP
Oil prices have fallen as news of the strengthening of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon fuelled optimism for a wider diplomatic breakthrough to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
Brent crude futures slipped 67 cents, or 0.69 percent, to trade at $97.14 per barrel as of 00:15 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined by 62 cents, or 0.65 percent, to $95.40 per barrel.
Death toll in Israeli strike on Gaza apartments rises to 9, including 4 children
Published: June 4, 2026 | 01:24GMT | by AFP
The death toll from four Israeli air strikes on residential apartments across Gaza City overnight has risen to nine, including four children, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
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