Iran currently has no plan for 2nd round of talks with U.S. -- FM spokesperson
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said here Monday that Iran currently has no plan for the second round of peace negotiations with the United States.
The United States takes actions that are in no way indicative of its seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process, Baghaei told a weekly press conference, noting that since the ceasefire took effect on April 8, "we have been faced with the breaking of promises and nagging by the United States."
The United States claimed that the truce in Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire while the Pakistani mediator had made this clear, he said, adding that after an agreement was reached on that issue, "we faced their actions in the Strait of Hormuz, what they called the 'naval blockade.'"
U.S. delegation to arrive in Pakistan's Islamabad within hours for talks with Iran
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the U.S. delegation for peace talks with Iran will arrive in Islamabad within hours, the New York Post reported Monday.
The newspaper cited U.S. President Donald Trump as telling it in a brief interview that the delegation is en route to the Pakistani capital for a second round of negotiations with Iran.
Trump says it is "highly unlikely" to extend ceasefire with Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday it is "highly unlikely" he would extend a two-week ceasefire with Iran if a deal is not reached before it ends this week, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Strait of Hormuz would remain blocked until a peace agreement is finalized, Trump said in a phone interview.
"They want me to open it. The Iranians desperately want it opened. I'm not opening it until a deal is signed," he said. Oil prices jumped as Washington maintained its blockade and the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian-flagged ship over the weekend.
"I'm not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We've got all the time in the world," Trump said.
Trump says U.S. has intercepted, taken custody of Iranian-flagged cargo ship
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that U.S. forces have intercepted and taken custody of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to bypass its blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
"Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them," Trump wrote in a post on his social media Truth Social.
A U.S. destroyer intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and "gave them fair warning to stop," Trump added. "The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel."
Israeli, Lebanese officials to meet Thursday for 2nd round of peace talks
Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet on Thursday for a second round of peace talks, an Israeli official told Xinhua on Monday.
The two sides will meet in Washington for direct talks, the official said on condition of anonymity, without providing further details.
Meanwhile, Reuters, citing an Israeli source, reported that Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, who took part in the first round of talks on Tuesday, will lead the Israeli delegation this time.
The meeting will be the first of its kind since a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday local time (2100 GMT) after weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
21 killed, 6 injured in firecracker factory blast in India
At least 21 people were killed and six others injured Sunday in a blast at a firecracker factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) reported.
"In Tamil Nadu, 21 people are reported to have been killed following a blast at a firecracker factory at V. Muthulingapuram in Virudhunagar district this afternoon," the report said. "Six people have been seriously injured and rushed to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment."
According to the broadcaster, the incident occurred when laborers were shifting inflammable chemical materials inside the factory. Reports said around 50 workers were present in four rooms at the time of the explosion.
Bulgaria's former President Radev wins parliamentary election
The Progressive Bulgaria coalition, led by former President Rumen Radev, won 44.594 percent of the vote in the country's parliamentary elections, according to data from 100 percent of precinct election commission protocols released on Monday.
According to the data published on the Central Election Commission (CEC) website, the GERB-UDF coalition came second with 13.387 percent, followed by the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition with 12.618 percent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) with 7.120 percent, and the Revival party with 4.257 percent.
Other parties and coalitions that took part in Sunday's elections failed to pass the 4 percent threshold required to enter the 240-seat parliament.
Tsunami warnings lifted after 7.7-magnitude quake hits northeastern Japan
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) lifted all tsunami warnings and advisories for coastal areas from Hokkaido to the Tohoku region at 11:45 p.m. local time on Monday after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern and northern Japan earlier in the day.
The weather agency, however, has issued a special weeklong alert covering 182 municipalities in seven prefectures from Hokkaido to Chiba due to an increased risk of another strong quake, urging people to check their preparedness on a daily basis.
The powerful temblor occurred at 4:53 p.m. local time off the Sanriku coast at a depth of 20 km, measuring upper 5 on Japan's seismic scale of 7 in the hardest-hit areas in Aomori Prefecture, JMA said.■
