The US and Iran have exchanged fresh missiles and drone strikes, further jeopardising efforts by Washington to secure a new ceasefire agreement with Tehran.
US forces fired a Hellfire missile to disable a tanker attempting to break through the American blockade of the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and later said they repelled Iranian reprisal attacks in the region and attacked sites on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain with missiles and drones in response to the strike on Qeshm, a claim the US military’s Central Command (Centcom) denied.
The latest exchange of strikes underline the lack of political progress in resolving the Middle East crisis, despite upbeat claims by US secretary of state Marco Rubio in his first appearance before the Senate foreign relations committee since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran.
Rubio reiterated claims on Tuesday that a deal with Tehran was within reach, and claimed the regime had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it had refused to discuss even a month ago.
US and Iran launch fresh strikes amid stalled ceasefire talks
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said: “The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.”
Trump ‘shouted and cursed Netanyahu over threat to resume Beirut bombing’
Donald Trump angrily confronted Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to a report.
“What the fuck are you doing?” the US president shouted at the Israeli prime minister during the phone call on Monday, according to Axios, a US website that has frequently published reports on high-level conversations between the two leaders.
Blanche says Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund scrapped
The federal government is abandoning an effort to create a $1.8bn secretive fund to compensate Donald Trump’s allies, but is maintaining an agreement that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from auditing Trump, his family and related entities, the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said on Tuesday.
Pentagon appoints convicted January 6 rioter to sensitive counter-terrorism role
The Pentagon has appointed a rioter convicted for his role in 6 January, 2021 insurrection to a sensitive national security role dealing with counterterrorism, overriding insiders’ concerns about his past record.
Six US states sue Trump administration over deal to kill windfarm project
Six states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to cancel a major offshore wind lease off the coast of New York.
In March, federal officials announced they would pay nearly $1bn in taxpayer dollars to French energy firm TotalEnergies in exchange for the company killing plans to erect two offshore windfarms off New York and North Carolina.
Alarm in Washington as Trump taps staunch loyalist to serve as intelligence chief
Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence has set off alarm bells in Washington, as a staunch Trump loyalist with little government experience who has shown an eagerness to retaliate against the president’s political rivals will now sit atop the US intelligence apparatus.
Trump signs executive order seeking early access to new AI releases
Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a voluntary framework for the federal government to vet powerful new AI models before they are released. Tuesday’s highly anticipated order represents an attempt by the president to tighten his grip on cybersecurity and national security threats posed by AI, tacking against his earlier deregulatory stance. But the voluntary nature of the framework shows that, while Trump has toed a more cautious line on AI than when he first took office last year, he is still reluctant to impose regulations on the tech industry.
What else happened today:
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Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday appeared to chide Ron Johnson, a US ambassador, for interfering in the country’s politics amid rising tensions between her country and Washington over efforts to tackle drug trafficking.
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Dozens of members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers have enjoyed lavish gifted travel to Israel funded by an Aipac affiliate since 7 October 2023, amid Israel’s expanding wars on its neighbors and despite plummeting levels of support among Americans for the country’s policies, a Guardian analysis has found.
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The attorney general of New Jersey on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the private company operating the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, demanding access for health officials amid allegations of “inhumane and unsanitary conditions”.
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Key Democratic leaders appeared to continue to support for embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on Tuesday after meetings in Washington.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 1 June 2026.
