Iran threatens to “teach US a lesson” if it attacks; Trump says ceasefire is “on life support”

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, asked at a congressional hearing Tuesday about the possible direction of war with Iran, said the Pentagon planned multiple scenarios.

Democratic Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota questioned Hegseth about continued military operations in Iran, following a dispute over a 60-day deadline for the administration to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict in the absence of congressional authorisation. McCallum said that if Congress does not authorise continued military operations, “you must make a plan to remove our troops, recapture the area, and protect our assets.”

“We have a plan for all of these operations,” Hegseth said. “We have a plan to move forward if necessary; we have a plan to retrograde if necessary; we have a plan to move assets.”

Hegseth said he would not disclose any next steps in a public forum “given the seriousness of the mission that the President is undertaking to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”

The defence secretary is testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee about the Pentagon’s budget proposal.

The $1.5 trillion budget request, Hegseth said, “reflects the urgency of this moment” and will “put our forces on hold for the present and future fight while putting long-standing problems to rest.”

An Iranian government spokesman promised the country’s roughly 93 million people on Monday that severe restrictions on Internet access would be lifted, but not until “normalcy returns.”

“The government’s view is that everyone should have fair access to all infrastructure, including the Internet,” Fatema Mohajerani said in a statement on Iranian state TV.

The restrictions that have been imposed over the years, especially in 1404, will be in effect from 2025 to 2026. While their frequency was naturally higher due to the very difficult, serious and traumatic events that occurred that year, it means that we have gone through a year with frequent internet disruptions,” Mohajerani said. After the disruptions and once normalcy returns – that is, a return to normal conditions – this situation will also return to normal, God willing.

Restrictions, which sometimes amount to virtually shutting down Internet access, were effective from the beginning of the year when Iran was shaken by widespread anti-government protests.

President Trump said on Monday that Iran had informed his administration that it would allow the US to come in and help extract its highly enriched uranium, but Tehran walked back that offer in its latest ceasefire proposal.

“They changed their mind because they didn’t put it in the newspaper,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

He said that, in addition to taking control of uranium, the US wants Iran to “guarantee no nuclear weapons for a long time and some other little things,” but they can’t get there. So they agree with us and then they take it back.”

Iran has not publicly agreed to give up its enriched uranium, and the regime insists that its nuclear programme has always been peaceful – for energy, medical and research purposes – and that it is a legitimate national right.

Mr Trump on Sunday dismissed Iran’s response to the latest US peace deal offer as “completely unacceptable.”

Qatar’s state-backed Al-Jazeera news outlet said Iranian negotiators had proposed transferring the country’s enriched uranium to Russia, but Washington rejected that idea and instead requested it be transferred to a third country, which Iran rejected.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Tuesday that his Iran-backed group’s weapons stockpiles were not part of upcoming talks between Lebanon and Israel and vowed that Hezbollah fighters would turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israeli forces.

No one outside Lebanon is involved with weapons or resistance. This is an internal matter of Lebanon and not part of negotiations with the enemy,” Qassem said in a written statement ahead of the third round of talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli representatives this Thursday and Friday.

Hezbollah condemned direct talks between Lebanon and Israel as “appeasement.”

“We are facing an Israeli-American invasion trying to take over our country Lebanon and make it part of Greater Israel,” Qassem said.

He said, “We will not surrender and will continue to defend Lebanon and its people, no matter how long it takes and how great the sacrifices we have to make… We will not abandon the battlefield and we will turn it into hell for Israel.”

Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the US ambassador to the country said on Tuesday.

Mike Huckabee made the comments on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“I would like to say a word of appreciation to the United Arab Emirates, the first member of the Abraham Accords,” Huckabee said at the Tel Aviv conference. “Just look at the benefits. Israel has sent Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them.”

The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020.

The UAE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Huckabee’s approval, although it underlined growing defence ties between the countries that have long been suspicious of Iran.

State media said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike on a town in southern Lebanon killed six people and wounded seven others, as fighting continued despite a ceasefire agreement.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli strikes on Monday night targeted a house in Kfar Dounin, a town about 59 miles from Beirut.

NNA reported that hospitals in the coastal city of Tyre took in the injured.

Despite an April 17 ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese government aimed at stopping the fighting, Israel has stepped up attacks in southern Lebanon as it clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

More than 2,800 people have died in Lebanon since health officials reported that the Middle East war dragged the country in on March 2.

Lebanese leaders recently urged the US ambassador in Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks during the ceasefire, although Israel has also reported coming under fire.

Israel’s military said over the weekend that one of its soldiers was killed in fighting near the border with Lebanon, bringing the loss of life to 18 soldiers and a civilian contractor since the war began.

On Tuesday, the NNA reported attacks near other southern Lebanese cities, and the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of several Lebanese towns.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassim said on Tuesday that his Iran-backed group’s weapons were not part of upcoming talks between Lebanon and Israel and vowed that his fighters would turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israeli forces.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament said his country’s military is ready to respond to any aggressors on Monday, following President Trump’s warning that a ceasefire in the Middle East is in danger.

“Our armed forces are ready to respond to any aggression and teach a lesson,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on social media. A bad strategy and bad decisions always lead to bad results; the world already understands the consequences.

According to US officials with knowledge of the matter, as Pakistan established itself as a diplomatic medium between Tehran and Washington, it tacitly allowed Iranian military aircraft to be parked at its airfields, protecting them from US air strikes.

Iran also sent civilian aircraft to park in neighbouring Afghanistan. Two officials told CBS News it was unclear whether those flights included military aircraft.

Together, the movements reflected an apparent effort to protect Iran’s few remaining military and aviation assets from an escalating conflict, even as officials publicly acted to broker de-escalation.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry told CBS News that the report was “misleading and sensationalist.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump on Monday said the Iran ceasefire is “on life support” after the “trashy” response Iran sent to the US.

Asked whether the ceasefire held, the president responded, “I would say it’s incredibly weak.”

“I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it. I said, They’re going to waste my time reading it. I would say it’s one of the weakest; right now, it’s on life support.”