Trump says US is negotiating with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, who denies talks

US President Donald Trump threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly”.

Trump said the US is negotiating with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, in an interview with the New York Post published on Monday.

The former Revolutionary Guard commander was previously floated as Washington’s negotiating partner, but has denied Iran is talking to the US and said Pakistan-facilitated discussions were merely a cover for American troop deployments.

Meanwhile, Israel has invaded southern Lebanon to push out Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, who have fired rockets and drones across the border, in a campaign Israeli officials suggest could become a prolonged occupation.

Israel said early on Tuesday that another four soldiers had been killed in its offensive in Lebanon. The deaths bring the total number of troops killed in the war to ten.

The video of a massive explosion shared without comment early on Tuesday by Mr Trump appears to be of a major strike conducted outside the central Iranian city of Isfahan.

The Baluch advocacy group HalVash shared the same video, along with others, from the ground outside Isfahan. Fire-tracking satellites from NASA suggest the explosions happened near Mount Soffeh, an area believed to have military positions.

The videos show massive fireballs and secondary explosions common with ammunition igniting in a blaze.

Iran has not formally acknowledged the attack.

Isfahan is home to one of three uranium enrichment sites bombed by the US in the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June. A portion of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is believed to be entombed there — something America has suggested it could seize with ground forces.

Airstrikes hit around Iran’s capital, Tehran, early on Tuesday morning. The Israeli military earlier issued a warning online that it was planning a strike in Vardavard, a western neighbourhood.

A drone interception caused minor damage to six homes in a residential area in Al Kharj, southeast of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but no injuries were reported, the country’s civil defence said. Al Kharj is the site of a US airbase where previous strikes killed at least two migrant workers and an American soldier.

Israel’s military warned the public of an incoming missile barrage from Iran on Tuesday. Sirens sounded in Jerusalem a short while later, and loud booms were heard.

Two Indonesian United Nations peacekeepers died while on escort duty in support of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) operations in southern Lebanon. The Indonesian Ministry of Defence said in a written statement on Tuesday that two other soldiers were also seriously injured amid intensifying hostilities in the area.

The statement added that the exact cause of the incident is still under investigation by Unifil in accordance with established procedures.

An Indonesian soldier was reported to have died, and several others were injured the previous day in his area of deployment as a result of the conflict taking place in the operational zone.

“The Ministry of Defence emphasises that the safety of peacekeeping forces must be the top priority,” the statement said.

“All parties involved in the conflict are expected to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of peacekeeping personnel.”

Drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters, causing a fire, the Dubai Media Office said.

Authorities brought the fire under control and extinguished it, the office said, with all 24 crew members safe and no injuries reported.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported the strike, saying the vessel was 31 nautical miles northwest of Dubai.

It said an unknown projectile struck their tanker on the starboard side, causing a fire on the vessel. No environmental impact has been reported, the centre said.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain have conveyed in private conversations that they do not want the military operation to end until there are significant changes in the Iranian leadership or there’s a dramatic shift in Iranian behaviour, according to the officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

While regional leaders are broadly supportive now of the US efforts, one Gulf diplomat described some division, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading the calls for increasing military pressure on Tehran.