Iran's speaker says negotiations with US have progressed but far from final agreement

This live blog follows updates for Day 50 of the US-Israel war on Iran. For a recap of Day 50, go here.

• Iranian official says US ‘maximalist’ demands stall face-to-face talks
• Netanyahu is ‘destroying our society from inside’
• Top negotiator Ghalibaf touts Iran’s military capabilities
• Israeli army says soldier killed in southern Lebanon
• Iran's speaker says negotiations with US have progressed but far from final agreement

We are peace seekers not warmongers, says Iranian president

Published: April 19, 2026 | 08:57 GMT | by Web Desk

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said, "Iran’s enemies say Iranians should not be allowed to exercise their rights. Who are you to decide that?"

"No free person would submit to injustice. We are not warmongers; we are peace-seekers and are only defending ourselves," he said, according to Iranian state-run Press TV.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Baghaei strongly condemned the EU for its "hypocritical" use of international law after the bloc's foreign policy chief called for the free passage of ships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Lebanese army restores road, bridge damaged by Israeli strikes

Published: April 19, 2026 | 07:23 GMT | by AFP

Lebanon's military said Sunday it had reopened a road and bridge damaged by Israeli strikes in the country's south, as a 10-day truce holds between Hezbollah and Israel.

In a statement, the military said it "fully reopened" a road linking the city of Nabatieh with the Khardali area, and had "partially reopened the Burj Rahal-Tyre bridge".

"Work is also underway to rehabilitate the Tayr Falsay-Tyre bridge... following damage caused by the Israeli aggression," the army added.

Israeli strikes on bridges that cross Lebanon's Litani river, which flows around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel, have largely cut off the area south of the waterway from the rest of Lebanon, according to the army.

On Friday a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect after the first direct talks between the two sides in decades, bringing a pause to weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed nearly 2,300 people and displaced more than a million.

Since the truce began, Lebanon's military and local authorities have been working to reopen roads that were blocked due to Israeli strikes.

Iranian official says US ‘maximalist’ demands stall face-to-face talks

Published: April 19, 2026 | 06:21 GMT | by Web Desk

Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with US officials, a senior Iranian official said Saturday, citing Washington’s refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands on key issues.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh also said his country will not hand over its enriched uranium to the United States, rejecting claims made by US President Donald Trump, according to The Associated Press.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States,” Khatibzadeh said. 

“This is non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are nonstarters.”

Netanyahu is ‘destroying our society from inside’

Published: April 19, 2026 | 05:59 GMT | by Web Desk

Protests against the Israeli PM and his government took place in central Tel Aviv on Sunday night, Al Jazeera reported.

One of those protesters, Raphaelle Pneina, said she had been coming every week as she believed Netanyahu was “destroying our society from inside” as well as “destroying” Israel’s relations with European nations and the US.

Top negotiator Ghalibaf touts Iran’s military capabilities

Published: April 19, 2026 | 05:55 GMT | by Web Desk

Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iranian forces had struck 180 drones and a F-35 fighter jet, Al Jazeera reported citing Iranian top negotiator's remarks made to state media.

“Hitting the F-35 is not a one-off event; it is an operation across various dimensions of technical and design capabilities,” Ghalibaf said in remarks carried by the Mizan News Agency, the official news outlet of Iran’s judiciary.

“The missile that exploded near the F-35 made the enemy realize what capabilities we possess and in what direction we are heading.”

US military officials said last month that a F-35 fighter jet involved in combat operations over Iran made an emergency landing at an airbase in the region.

Israeli army says soldier killed in southern Lebanon

Published: April 19, 2026 | 03:35 GMT | by AFP

Israel's military said on Sunday that a soldier died during combat in southern Lebanon, where a temporary ceasefire had come into effect this week.

"Lidor Porat, aged 31, from Ashdod, a soldier in the 7106th Battalion, 769th Regional Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said in a statement, without providing further details.

The total Israeli army death toll in the six-week war between Israel and Hezbollah was now 15, according to an AFP tally based on military figures.

It was the second death announced by Israel of a soldier in southern Lebanon since the start of a 10-day truce announced by the United States began on Friday -- part of wider efforts to bring a permanent end to the Middle East war.

Iran's speaker says negotiations with US have progressed but far from final agreement

Published: April 19, 2026 | 00:15 GMT | by AFP

Progress had been made in negotiations with the United States to end the war, Iran's parliamentary speaker said on Saturday night, but added the sides were still far from an agreement.

"We are still far from the final discussion," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also one of Iran's negotiators, said in a national televised address, adding, "We made progress in the negotiations, but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain."