Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations to end the Middle East war had made no tangible progress on the date of June 3, 2026. His assessment contrasted with US President Donald Trump's claim that an agreement could emerge over the weekend, as fresh American and Iranian attacks tested a ceasefire reached on April 8.
Araghchi said communication with Washington remained open and messages had been exchanged about stopping attacks on Beirut. He warned that an Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital during its campaign against Hezbollah would bring a full-scale resumption of war and said Iranian forces were prepared to strike Israel in response. His remarks showed that Tehran linked the US-Iran talks to the conflict in Lebanon.
Trump said he wanted the Lebanon negotiations separated from the US-Iran conflict. He told reporters that he had heard the talks were going well. Neither side announced an agreed text, and the public statements left a substantial gap between Washington's optimism and Tehran's description of stalled diplomacy.
The disagreement unfolded amid renewed violence. Kuwaiti officials said an Iranian drone hit a passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport, killing one person and injuring 63. Iran's Revolutionary Guards denied attacking the airport and blamed a failed American Patriot interception. Kuwait condemned what it called Iranian aggression, temporarily suspended air traffic and later resumed Kuwait Airways flights. The competing accounts of responsibility were not resolved in the supplied evidence.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran's highly enriched uranium was at the centre of negotiations. Washington required Tehran to transfer its near-weapons-grade stock, restrict nuclear work and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before a peace deal could take hold. Iran had not accepted those terms, while its officials accused US forces of provoking retaliation through strikes on a tanker and a communications tower on Qeshm Island.
The April ceasefire had paused more than a month of war that began with US-Israeli bombing of Iran. Sporadic exchanges continued afterward, but the new attacks were among its most serious tests. Trump minimized the breaches as reduced shooting; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran that full military action could return.
Parallel US, Israeli and Lebanese discussions addressed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, where a planned April 17 truce had not been observed. Israeli forces were conducting their deepest ground operation in Lebanon in two decades, while strikes and rocket fire continued. That unresolved front complicated Araghchi's attempt to make protection of Beirut part of a wider settlement. As of June 3, communication channels were functioning, but there was no verified breakthrough or accepted ceasefire framework.
