US, Iran trade threats but Trump says Tehran wants peace deal

Lebanon death toll crosses 3,000

- Agence France-Presse

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Hanauay, as seen from nearby Tyre, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. The death toll in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has surpassed 3,000, the country's health ministry said. Since the start of the ceasefire on April 17, Israel has continued to launch strikes, carry out demolitions and issue evacuation orders in south Lebanon, saying it is targeting the Iran-backed armed group. AFP

President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the United States may strike Iran again, a day after he said he had held off a major assault in hope of a deal to end the war —but Tehran’s army threatened to open “new fronts” if he went ahead.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been just “an hour away” from relaunching Washington's attacks on Iran before postponing the order, after weeks of a fragile ceasefire and talks to end the war that began on February 28. “You know how it is to negotiate with a country where you're beating them badly. They come to the table, they're begging to make a deal,” he said.