International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran will continue talks with the UN nuclear watchdog and the two sides will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear sites since Israel and the US bombed them during a 12-day war in June, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top priority.

“We had talks [with the IAEA] last week. These talks will continue and there will be another round of talks between Iran and the agency probably in the coming days,” Baghaei said.

Tehran has accused the IAEA of effectively paving the way for the Israel-US attacks with a report on May 31 that led the IAEA‘s 35-nation Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

The Islamic Republic has long denied Western suspicions of a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons capability, saying it remains committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty that mandates peaceful uses of atomic energy for signatories.

“The level of our relations [with the IAEA] has changed after the events that took place, we do not deny that. However, our relations…remain direct,” Baghaei said during a televised weekly news conference.

Last month, Iran enacted a law passed by parliament suspending cooperation with the IAEA. The law stipulates that any future inspections of Iranian nuclear sites needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.

US Ambassador to Turkey and US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack speaks after meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in Beirut, Lebanon July 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Monday Israel should comply with a plan under which Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah would be disarmed by the end of the year in exchange for a halt to Israel‘s military operations in Lebanon.

The plan sets out a phased roadmap for armed groups to hand in their arsenals as Israel‘s military halts ground, air, and sea operations and withdraws troops from Lebanon‘s south.

Lebanon‘s cabinet approved the plan‘s objectives earlier this month despite Iran-backed Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm, and Barrack said it was now Israel‘s turn to cooperate.

“There’s always a step-by-step approach, but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack told reporters in Lebanon after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Barrack described the cabinet decree as a “Lebanese decision that requires Israel‘s cooperation” and said the United States was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is” but provided no further details.

Under phase 1 of the plan, which was seen by Reuters, the Lebanese government would issue a decision committing to Hezbollah’s full disarmament by the end of the year and Israel would cease military operations in Lebanese territory.

But Israel has continued strikes against Lebanon in the weeks since the cabinet approved the plan.

In a written statement after his meeting with Barrack, Aoun said that “other parties” now needed to commit to the roadmap’s contents.

Calls for Hezbollah to disarm have mounted since a war with Israel last year killed 5,000 of the group’s fighters and much of its top brass and left swathes of southern Lebanon in ruins.

But the group has resisted the pressure, refusing to discuss its arsenal until Israel ends its strikes and withdraws troops from southern Lebanon.

On Friday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem raised the specter of civil war, warning there would be “no life” in Lebanon should the state attempt to confront or eliminate the group.

A displaced Palestinian man fleeing northern Gaza gestures atop a vehicle loaded with belongings while he heads south as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to the southern part of the enclave, in Gaza City, Aug. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Hamas has accepted the latest proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel that includes the return of half the hostages the terrorist group holds in Gaza and Israel‘s release of some Palestinian prisoners, an Egyptian official source said on Monday.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim wrote on Facebook: “The movement has handed over its approval to the new proposal presented by the mediators.”

There was no immediate response from Israel.

The Egyptian official source said the latest proposal included a suspension of Israeli military operations for 60 days and a path to a comprehensive deal to end the nearly two-year war.

A source familiar with the matter said the proposal was nearly identical to one put forward previously by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which Israel had accepted.

Israel‘s plans to seize control of Gaza City have stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelis on Sunday held some of the largest protests since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli officials believe 20 are alive.

The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts to forge a deal.

Thousands of Palestinians fearing an imminent Israeli ground offensive have left their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, now under Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and south in the shattered territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas‘s last big urban bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75 percent of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.

Dani Miran, whose son Omri was taken hostage on Oct. 7, said he feared the consequences of an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City. “I’m scared that my son would be hurt,” he told Reuters in Tel Aviv on Monday.

In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.

An Israeli armored incursion into Gaza City could displace hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times during the war.

Ahmed Mheisen, Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south.

A protest by unions is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas.

DIPLOMATIC DEADLOCK

The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in deadlock in late July with the sides trading blame for its collapse. Israel and the US both recalled their negotiators from the talks in Qatar, with Witkoff saying at the time that Hamas had not been acting in good faith and “clearly shows a lack of desire” to reach a deal.

Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms – the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established.

A Hamas official told Reuters earlier on Monday the terrorist group rejects Israeli demands to disarm or expel its leaders from Gaza.

Sharp differences also appear to remain over the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave.

US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform on Monday: “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.”

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave.

The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists stormed across the border into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing power in the enclave.