Beijing expressed "gratitude" Tuesday as it said three Chinese ships had transited the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has all but closed during the war in the Middle East.

"Following coordination with relevant parties, three Chinese vessels recently transited the Strait of Hormuz; we express our gratitude to the relevant parties for the assistance provided," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference. 

Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran hasn't been weakened enough by the monthlong U.S.-led bombing campaign, according to U.S., Gulf and Israeli officials.

After private grumbling at the start of the war that they weren't given adequate advance notice of the U.S.-Israeli attack, and complaining the U.S. had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequences for the entire region, some of the regional allies are making the case to the White House that the moment offers a historic opportunity to cripple Tehran's clerical rule once and for all.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain have conveyed in private conversations that they don't want the military operation to end until there are significant changes in the Iranian leadership or there's a dramatic shift in Iranian behavior, according to the officials who weren't authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The push from the Gulf nations comes as Mr. Trump vacillates between claiming that Iran's decimated leadership is ready to settle the conflict and threatening to further escalate the war if a deal is not reached soon. 

A likely strike by the United States hit the central Iranian city of Isfahan early Tuesday, sending a massive fireball into the sky.

President Trump, who's been insisting diplomatic talks toward a ceasefire have been making progress, of the attack on Isfahan, with fiery explosions lighting up the night sky.

Isfahan is home to one of three sites earlier attacked by the U.S. military in June and some of Iran's highly enriched uranium is likely stored or buried there.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that four of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

A military statement named three soldiers from the same battalion who "fell during combat" and a separate statement said another soldier, who hadn't yet been publicly named, had died in the same incident.

Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, according to the second statement.

In addition, the U.N. mission in Lebanon said two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed when "an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle" and two other peacekeepers were wounded, one seriously. A third peacekeeper was killed Sunday.

The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it had opened an investigation to determine if it or Hezbollah was responsible.

France, a key player in Lebanon, called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting, which was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday. 

A satellite image taken just before the 12-day war in June between Iran and Israel suggests Tehran transferred a truckload of highly enriched uranium to its nuclear facility at Isfahan.

The image from an Airbus Defense and Space Pléiades Neo satellite shows a truck loaded with 18 blue containers going into a tunnel at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center on June 9, 2025. The war began June 13. The United States bombed the Isfahan facility along with two other nuclear sites on June 22.

François Diaz-Maurin, an analyst with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, wrote that the truck likely carried 18 secured containers of as much as 534 kilograms (1,177 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. That's a short, technical step to weapons-grade levels of 90%.

"This calculation suggests that Iran could have transferred all of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to Isfahan via the truck seen in the satellite image," Diaz-Maurin wrote in his analysis.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security also suggested the vehicle was transferring the highly enriched uranium. The French newspaper Le Monde first reported on the images. 

After announcing that air defences were intercepting incoming missiles from Iran, an Israeli military statement said it was safe "to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country."

Sirens sounded and at least ten blasts were heard over Jerusalem, an AFP journalist said.  

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB also reported that Iran had fired a missile towards Israel.  

The Israeli military said it was responding to Iranian missiles on Tuesday local time, as sirens rang out in Jerusalem.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," the Israel Defense Forces posted on. "Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat."

An Iranian attack sparked a fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker at Dubai Port, state media reported on Tuesday local time.

"The Kuwaiti giant crude oil tanker was subjected to a direct and malicious Iranian attack while in the anchorage area of Dubai Port in the UAE," official news agency KUNA , citing Kuwait's state-owned oil company. The Kuwaiti Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) Al-Salmi was targeted, according to state media.

KUNA reported there were no injuries and that Dubai authorities specialized maritime firefighting units were continuing to suppress the fire.

According to KUNA, the tanker was fully laden at the time of the attack, which had caused "material damage to the ship's hull" and "the possibility of an oil spill in the surrounding waters."

Kuwait's military also said on Tuesday its air defenses were responding to "hostile missile and drone attacks," according to a on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the war on Iran had achieved more than half its aims, without putting a timeline on when it would end.

"It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it," Netanyahu told .

He added that he meant the war was more than halfway "in terms of missions, not necessarily in terms of time."

When asked about the plan to open the Strait of Hormuz, Netanyahu said there are military solutions that the United States is leading, but declined to go into details, including regarding whether the U.S. would send troops to try to take Kharg Island.

Speaking of a long-term and post-war solution, the prime minister floated the idea "to divert all the energy pipelines, oil and gas, from the Gulf where the Iranians have a geographic chokepoint to across Saudi Arabia, to the Red Sea … and up there to the Mediterranean port — our ports in Israel."

CBS/AFP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused America's NATO allies of abandoning the United States in an hour of need, adopting President Trump's hostile rhetoric toward the alliance.

Rubio complained bitterly that NATO ally Spain had barred U.S. planes involved in the war against Iran from overflying its airspace. Rubio has generally been supportive of NATO even as Mr. Trump has lashed out against alliance members for not stepping up during the war.

But on Monday, he let loose, alleging in an interview with that Spain's leftist leaders are "bragging" about cutting off its airspace even as the U.S. has pledged to defend their country.

He said the alliance is useful for the U.S. because it allows America to station troops and equipment in Europe, "but if NATO is just about us defending Europe if they're attacked, but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that's not a very good arrangement."

AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday urged Saudi Arabia to eject U.S. forces from the country.

"Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation," Araghchi said  alongside an image of a destroyed U.S. Air Force aircraft. "Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security. Just look at what we did to their aerial command."

The aircraft appears to be an E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance plane that was destroyed on the tarmac at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia by Iranian missile and drone strike. Earlier Monday, the CBS News Confirmed team verified images from the attack that left 10 service members wounded last week.

"High time to eject U.S. forces," Iran's top diplomat said.

The Vatican said Monday that it had expressed its "regrets" to Israel's ambassador over an attempt to stop the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday.

Vatican second-in-command Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and its top diplomat, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, met with ambassador Yaron Sideman and "regrets were expressed regarding this incident, concerning which clarifications were provided," the Vatican said.

On Sunday, police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the church, citing security concerns as Israel enforces a ban on gatherings in synagogues, churches and mosques during the ongoing war with Iran, which has brought missile strikes near holy sites.

Pizzaballa described the incident as a "grave precedent" that disregards the sensibilities of Christians worldwide.

The U.S. has also expressed concerns to Israel over access to holy sites, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said Monday she spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"We want worshipers to be able to access these holy sites," Leavitt said. "Of course, safety is a top priority, but we understand Israel is working on those security measures to reopen sites throughout Holy Week, and that's something that we're appreciative of."

After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access."

CBS/AFP

JetBlue increased its fees on checked bags as airlines maneuver to cover their rising jet fuel costs, which have soared since the Iran war began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has constrained oil supplies, driving up transportation costs for a range of industries. 

Passengers must now pay at least $39 to check a bag, up $4 from the previous $35 fee. Checking a second bag now costs at least $59, up from $50. Those rates apply to bags checked more than 24 hours before departure. 

If passengers add a bag within 24 hours of departure, they will be charged an additional $10 per bag on top of those rates, according to the airline's .

Read more here.

Israel's military said it completed a wave of strikes across Iran's capital on Monday, targeting what it said was the infrastructure of the Iranian regime.

"The IDF has just completed a further extensive wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran," the military said in a statement.

Earlier Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said it hit 170 targets they said belonged to the Iranian regime over the past 24 hours.

A spokesperson for Iran's foreign minister said that over the last 31 days of the war, they have had "no negotiations with America."

"What has occurred is the submission of a negotiation request, accompanied by a set of proposals from America, which has reached us through certain intermediaries, including Pakistan," Esmaeil Baqaei said in a . "Our stance is quite clear. At present, as America's military aggression and assault continue with full force, all our efforts and resources are devoted to defending Iran's very existence."

He continued: "We have felt the lessons of the past with our flesh and blood and bones, and we shall not forget the betrayal inflicted upon diplomacy on two occasions in less than a year."

On Sunday night, President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. had achieved "regime change" in Iran through the war, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed. He called the new leadership "much more reasonable".

"We're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before. It's a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change," he said.

There could be a deal "soon," Trump said when asked if an agreement could come this week.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there's nothing wrong with praying for U.S. troops deployed in war zones. Leavitt was responding to a reporter's question about Pope Leo XIV's comments on Sunday, in which he said that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war."

"Our nation was a nation founded 250 years ago almost, on Judeo Christian values, and we've seen presidents, we've seen the leaders of the Department of War, and we've seen our troops go to prayer during the most turbulent times in our nation's history," Leavitt said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with our military leaders or with our president calling on the American people to pray for our service members and those who are serving our country overseas."

Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to his insistence that God is the "king of peace" who rejects violence.

"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said. "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: 'Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.'"

Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions.

U.S. officials have invoked their Christian faith in support of the war, especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who recently prayed to have "every round find its mark."

CBS/AP

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted to reporters on Monday that the four-to-six week timeline the Trump administration initially offered for the war with Iran remains the same for right now. 

On at least two separate occasions during Monday's briefing, Leavitt said the four-to-six week timeline remains. 

"With respect to the timeline, again, the president, commander-in-chief, the Pentagon has always stated four to six weeks, the estimated timeline for Operation Epic Fury," she said. "We're on day 30 today. So again, you do the math on how much longer we, the Pentagon needs to fully achieve the objectives of Operation Epic Fury." 

"The mission will continue until the objectives are achieved, and that four-to-six-week timeline does remain right now. I don't have any updates for you on that," she said. 

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the United Nations' peacekeeping chief, told reporters Monday that the world body condemns the "unacceptable incidents" that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where Israel is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, did not say who was responsible for the deaths overnight and into Monday.

"Peacekeepers must never be targeted," Lacroix said. "UNIFIL is investigating these incidents to determine the circumstances."

Additionally, Lacroix was asked if he would describe Israel's ongoing operations in southern Lebanon as an "invasion." He said that, given Israeli military statements and actions, "it certainly looks like we might end up with, I would call it, an expanded buffer zone in southern Lebanon."

He added, "Now what width, what breadth, what size, what all of this, of course, is very difficult to assess."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday the operation in Iran is going "according to plan." 

"With respect to the ongoing major combat operations in Iran, Operation Epic Fury is moving ahead successfully and according to plan," she said. "With each passing day, the United States military is increasing its advantage over the terrorist Iranian regime."

Leavitt said that more than 11,000 targets have been struck to date, and reiterated the president's remarks that the U.S. is "decimating" Iran's navy. 

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that two more of its members have been killed over the last 24 hours in southern Lebanon.

The two were killed Monday after an "explosion of unknown origin" destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan, the organization said. A third peacekeeper was severely wounded and another was injured in the incident.

The deaths came fewer than 24 hours after an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded when a projectile, also of undetermined origin, exploded near a UNIFIL position in a southern Lebanese village.

"We reiterate that no one should ever have to die serving the cause of peace," UNIFIL said in a statement on social media on Monday. "Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may constitute war crimes."

It added: "The human cost of this conflict is far too high. The violence, as we have said before, must end."

Earlier this month, three Ghanaian peacekeepers were wounded when their base was hit.

UNIFIL, which for decades has served as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon, patrols the area around the country's southern border. Over the years since its mission began in 1978, the force has lost around 340 members.

NATO confirmed Monday that its forces had intercepted an Iranian missile heading towards Turkey.

"NATO is prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend all allies," said alliance spokeswoman Allison Hart, according to the AFP.

Earlier Monday, Turkey's defense ministry announced that the alliance's air defenses deployed in the eastern Mediterranean had, for a fourth time during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, intercepted an Iranian missile that had entered its airspace.

A senior administration official said the Trump administration is "looking into" reports by the and that a newly developed U.S. short-range ballistic missile hit a sports hall and elementary school in Lamberd in southern Iran on Feb. 28, the first day of the war. 

This is separate from the girls' school that was struck in Minab. CBS News has not independently confirmed the reports about Lamberd.

"We are aware of these reports and are looking into them," a senior administration official said. The official stressed that the U.S. does not target civilians.

A U.S. Central Command spokesperson told CBS News: "We're aware of the reports and are looking into them. U.S. forces do not indiscriminately target civilians, unlike the Iranian regime."

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, "in the name of humanity and in the name of everyone who loves peace," urged President Trump to help end the war in the Middle East.

Speaking during joint remarks alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the Egyptian leader said: "I say to President Trump: no one will be able to stop the war in our region, in the Gulf... Please, help us to stop the war; you are capable of it."

"I speak to you in the name of humanity and in the name of everyone who loves peace -- and you, Mr. President, are among those who love peace," Sisi said.

Egypt was one of a handful of countries whose foreign ministers took part in talks in Islamabad on Sunday aimed at finding a way to end the month-long war between the U.S., Israel and Iran.

The Egyptian president has previously appealed to his U.S. counterpart on matters of peace, telling Mr. Trump in October that he was "the only one" who could end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

CBS/AFP

President Trump claims there has been "total regime change" in Iran, because the U.S. is dealing with a "whole new set of people."

"There has been total regime change because the regimes of the past are gone and we're dealing with a whole new set of people," Mr. Trump told the on Monday. "And thus far, they've been much more reasonable."

The president hasn't explicitly discussed who the U.S. is negotiating with. He did say the U.S. will soon find out whether the Trump administration will be able to work with Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

"We're gonna find out," he told the Post. "I'll let you know that in about a week." 

The president said "nobody's heard" from Iran's named supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

"He's very seriously injured," the president told the Post.

Brent crude touched $115 a barrel on Monday amid new threats from President Trump that the U.S. could destroy Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and oil wells, if the Strait of Hormuz isn't reopened.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to $115 a barrel on Monday before retreating to $107.95, according to data from Oilprice.com and FactSet. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose 2% to $101.70.

Still, the U.S. stock market rose on Monday, reversing some losses after the Dow Jones Industrial Average entered correction territory on Friday, following five weeks of declines. Wall Street focused on more positive comments from Mr. Trump in the same social media post on Monday, where he described "great progress" in negotiations with Iran. 

Read more here.

CBS/AP

Kuwait's Army said it "detected and dealt with" 13 drones Monday as Iran continued its retaliatory attacks on U.S. allies across the Persian Gulf region.

One of the interceptions "resulted in the targeting of a service building in one of the power and water desalination stations, which resulted in the death of one of the workers in it, in addition to serious material damage to the building," said the posted on social media.

Most Gulf states rely to a large degree on desalination plants to produce fresh water for everything from crop irrigation to human consumption, making them vital civilian infrastructure and a major point of vulnerability in conflict.

According to the , Kuwait relies on desalination for 90% of its drinking water. The small country has at least half a dozen desalination plants.

Turkey's defense ministry said Monday that NATO air defenses deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean had, for the fourth time during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, intercepted an Iranian missile that entered the country's airspace.

"All necessary measures are being taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country's territory and airspace, and all developments in the region are being closely monitored with priority given to our national security," the ministry said in a statement .

Turkey has condemned the Iranian missile fire, none of which has slipped through NATO's aerial defenses yet to actually strike the country, but it has not invoked Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty. The collective defense clause, if invoked by a member state, obligates all other members of the transatlantic alliance to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.

It has been invoked only one time in the seven-decade-old alliance's history, by the United States in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by al Qaeda.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has come under particularly sharp criticism from President Trump for declining to join the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, said Monday in a social media post that he would "always make decisions that are in the national interest" of the U.K.

"It's why we aren't getting dragged into the Middle East conflict, and why we are fighting to protect your living standards," Starmer said in his social media post, which appeared to be a defense of his policies ahead of local elections on May 7.

Starmer said two weeks ago that the U.K. would "not be drawn into the wider war" but stressed that "we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the market."

"That is not a simple task," he said, adding that Britain was working with its allies, "to bring together a viable, collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts."

European nations have voiced willingness to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open to international shipping traffic once hostilities cease in the region, but none have offered to send military assets to join in the U.S.-Israeli offensive actions against Iran. Spain has gone further than its neighbors, refusing the use of its bases and even barring U.S. warplanes from transiting its airspace for operations connected to the war.

"Everyone must recognize that Iran did not start this war. Iran was attacked while in the middle of a diplomatic process — for the second time within nine months," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaie said Friday in televised remarks as President Trump touted negotiations and said he expected a deal to be reached soon — but warned again that in lieu of a deal, he would order strikes on Iran's civilian energy infrastructure.

Baqaei said he was stressing the point that the U.S. had twice launched strikes on Iran while engaging in diplomacy - once in June 2025 when it joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, and again on Feb. 28 when it launched the ongoing war in conjunction with Israel, "so that the world does not forget that Iran entered the process as a rational and responsible actor, and it was the United States that destroyed the negotiation table on both occasions."

"Our positions are very clear. Whenever we reach a conclusion, we will communicate it appropriately, because we have confidence and trust in ourselves, we know what we want, and we know which matters are absolutely non-negotiable for us," Baqaei said.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Monday that one of its peacekeeping forces was killed by a projectile in the country's south amid Israel's escalating offensive against Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

"A peacekeeper was tragically killed last night when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position near Adchit Al Qusayr. Another was critically injured. No one should ever lose their life serving the cause of peace," UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that it did not "know the origin of the projectile" but that an investigation was underway "to determine all of the circumstances." 

The U.N. agency added a call "on all actors to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure the safety and security of U.N. personnel and property at all times, including by refraining from actions that may put peacekeepers in danger. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes."

Israel has significantly ramped up its military operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint war against Iran on Feb. 28, drawing retaliatory fire, primarily at northern Israel, from the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group.

The Israeli military says it takes all possible measures to avoid harming civilians, but it has ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate their towns and villages in southern Lebanon as it expands ground operations and airstrikes.

According to Lebanese national health officials, more than 1,200 people have been killed by Israel's actions in the country over the last month, including at least 124 children.

At least six Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon over the last month, including an American-born service member whose death was announced on Sunday. Two civilians have also killed by Hezbollah strikes on Israel amid the war.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that the country was "reviewing" its membership in the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the pact that came into force in 1970 with the objective of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. 

The U.S., Russia and four other nations are acknowledged as nuclear weapons states in the treaty, while Iran is among the roughly 185 non-nuclear weapons possessing nations that also signed the pact, agreeing not to develop such weapons.

"Parliament has announced that it is reviewing the matter. The matter is also being discussed in public discourse. This is a big question, and the answer is not simple," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said Monday in televised remarks. "The logical question that our public asks is: What is the benefit of being a member of a treaty whose dominant international parties do not allow us to enjoy the rights and privileges it provides?"

Iran has for decades maintained a nuclear enrichment program that it insists is only for civilian purposes, as permitted under the NPT, but Israel and the Trump administration say it was working clandestinely at developing a nuclear weapons capacity, one of the reasons they say the current war was necessary. Mr. Trump has said recently that he will only agree to halt the war if Iran agrees to give up all enrichment, among other terms that Tehran has dismissed as excessive.

"If we cannot exercise the rights granted by it [NPT] and, on the contrary, are subjected to aggression and injustice — then what is the point of being a member? We remain a member of the treaty, and as long as we are, we are committed to the obligations it entails," Baqaei said Monday. "Fundamentally, the Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and does not intend to."

Hundreds of U.S. special forces service members, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are now in the Middle East, as well as thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers, sources familiar with the deployments told CBS News on Monday. 

The sources said the deployments serve to give President Trump a range of options as Iran maintains its de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, including operations that would target reopening the strait, taking oil from Iran's Kharg Island - a key location for its energy exports - or seizing Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium. 

The deployment of special forces was first reported by the . 

The U.S. military's Central Command has declined to comment on the deployments.

French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris over the weekend, the interior minister said Monday.

The authorities suspect there could be a link to Iran due to similarities to other recent attempted attacks in Europe claimed by a shadowy pro-Iran group that only emerged online after the U.S. and Israel launched their current war on Iran, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

Three suspects have since been arrested and the national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office opened an investigation into alleged terrorism-related offenses.

Authorities are making a "direct link" with Iran because the "modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium," Nuñez said on French radio RTL on Monday morning.

In those cases there were claims of responsibility posted on the Telegram messaging app by a group using the name Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous), saying it had acted in retaliation for U.S. actions in the Middle East.

The same group claimed responsibility for an arson attack last week in London that saw four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity set ablaze.

Contacted by CBS News after the ambulance attack, an administrator for the group's online chat forum said it would "keep threatening U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide until we've avenged every child in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the resistance nations."

At least two Chinese cargo ships that were blocked by Iran last week as they tried to transit the Strait of Hormuz managed to traverse the key waterway on Monday, according to tracking data from the MarineTraffic website.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces appeared to make an example of the vessels, and one other, last week after President Trump suggested Tehran had given him the "present" of allowing eight vessels through the strait. 

On Friday morning, data from MarineTraffic showed that two ultra-large container ships owned by China's biggest shipping company, COSCO, had made a sharp U-turn after apparently trying to sail past Iran's Larak Island, which analysts say Tehran has effectively turned into a toll booth to collect large fees from ships it grants permission to transit the strait. 

In its statement on Friday, the IRGC said "the passage of any ship 'to and from' ports belonging to allies and supporters of the Zionist-American enemies, to any destination and via any corridor, is prohibited."

Both of the COSCO ships had transited the strait on Monday, coming close to Larak Island, according to the MarineTraffic data.

There was no immediate statement from Iran regarding the ships' passage.

Another bulk carrier, the Mac Hope, identifying itself as sailing under Chinese ownership and with a Chinese crew, also transited the strait on Monday, MarineTraffic data show. The vessel has been by the U.S. government since 2022.

During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Trump indicated that Iran was going to allow 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to him. He didn't say which country or countries the oil was from or where it was heading.

On Saturday, the foreign minister of Pakistan, which has been acting as an intermediary between Iran and the Trump administration, to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels - two per day - to transit the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "a harbinger of peace" and a "welcome and constructive gesture."

Iranian state media said the same day, however, that the Islamic Republic's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had, during a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to all vessels deemed linked to the U.S. and Israel.

Iran has said throughout the war that the strait remains open, but only to vessels it clears for transit - some of which it has charged fees of up to $2 million for passage, according to analysts.

The American University of Armenia said on Monday it was moving all classes online over Iranian threats to target U.S. universities in West Asia. Several U.S. universities have campuses scattered throughout the Middle East, including Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.

Iran threatened to target U.S. universities in the region after saying the ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.

"Due to the threat made by Iran to target American universities in West Asia and the Middle East, all AUA classes on Monday, March 30, will be held fully online," the university in Armenia said in a statement, adding that it had received no direct threats and stressing there was no cause for alarm, calling the move "a precautionary measure."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard issued a statement, carried by Iranian media on Sunday, saying: "If the U.S. government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation ... it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time."

It advised "all employees, professors and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas" to stay one kilometre (mile) away from campuses.

The American University of Beirut — one of the most prominent U.S. institutions in the region —  said Sunday that it would also operate remotely over the next two days.

In Jordan, the American University of Madaba, about 22 miles southwest of capital Amman, said it was also holding online classes until Thursday for its 3,000 students.

CBS/AFP

President Trump said Monday morning that his administration was negotiating with "A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME" in Iran, reiterating his optimism that an agreement would soon be reached to end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel a month ago.

Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected claims that any direct talks are underway, and dismissed a proposal from the White House laying out 15 points for a ceasefire deal as "excessive and unreasonable," raising doubts that any common ground might be quickly found as Pakistan suggests a first U.S.-Iran meeting could take place in days.

In on Monday, Mr. Trump did not give any more information about who in Tehran the U.S. was negotiating with, even indirectly, or why he believes there's been regime change despite no outward signs of any shift in policy by Tehran and continued attacks by the country on Israel and Gulf states.

"Great progress has been made," declared Mr. Trump, adding a warning that, "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"

President Trump previously gave Iran an ultimatum, to open the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, but he then extended his deadline for the regime to do so twice, with it currently set at April 6. 

Spain's leftist government has closed Spanish airspace to U.S. planes carrying out missions against Iran, in addition to denying Washington use of its bases, the defense minister said Monday.

"The bases are not authorized, and of course neither is the use of Spanish airspace for actions related to the war in Iran," Margarita Robles told journalists, confirming a report by the El Pais newspaper.

Spain's refusal to cooperate has "complicated" U.S. military operations by forcing bombers to change their routes and logistics on their way to the Middle East, El Pais reported.

The transit or landing of planes is allowed only in case of an emergency, the newspaper said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has emerged as the highest-profile Western leader to consistently oppose the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, which has since engulfed the entire Middle East.

His stance has infuriated Spain's traditional NATO ally, with President Trump threatening to cut all U.S. trade ties. Spain had already sparked Mr. Trump's anger by refusing to agree to raise its domestic defense spending to 5%, as the White House has called on all of the alliance's member states to do.

CBS/AFP

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels joined the war over the weekend, firing missiles at Israel for the first time since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint attacks on Iran a month earlier. 

The attacks by the U.S.-designated terrorist group on Israel were limited, but they are being seen largely as a warning that it could get more deeply involved in the war. 

The Houthis have previously attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea to disrupt the flow of oil, gas and other commodities through the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Along with the Strait of Hormuz, currently under a de-facto Iranian blockade, the two narrow waterways are the primary routes used by the Middle East's energy producers to get their products to the vast markets in Asia and beyond.

The Houthis warned more than a week ago that they could target shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait if Iran asked them to do so. They last attacked ships in the region in 2023, in retaliation for Israel's war against fellow-Iranian proxy Hamas in Gaza.

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, a former commander of the U.S. military's Central Command,  told "Face the Nation with Margaret 91吃瓜网" on Sunday that he didn't believe the Houthis' entrance into the war would be a "game changer."

"They will have the ability to further stop slow traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb, going up into the Suez Canal," he acknowledged. "We have the ability to go down there and prevent that. It will require additional resources, but we have those resources, and we can certainly do it if that becomes necessary."

But given the inability of the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz thus far, despite a huge deployment of military personnel and assets in the region, Nomi Bar-Yaacov, fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told The Associated Press on Monday that if the Houthis do follow through on their threat to the Bab el-Mandeb it could bring global energy markets to a "point where we have not been before."

"All eyes are on the mediation, but the oil crisis is, I think, at an unprecedented state," she said.

The concerns appeared to weigh heavily on energy markets Monday, with the price of international benchmark Brent around $115 per barrel in early trading.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei was quoted by various Iranian state media outlets on Monday as saying the country had engaged in "no direct negotiations with the United States to date" and downplaying Pakistan's suggestion that such a dialogue was imminent.

"What has been raised are messages we received through intermediaries, indicating the U.S.' desire for talks," Baqaei said, according to various state-run Iranian news agencies. 

"I don't know how many in the U.S. take claims of American diplomacy seriously! Unlike the other side, which constantly changes its position, our stance has always been clear. … We know exactly what framework we are considering. The messages conveyed to us have included excessive and unreasonable demands," said Baqaei, reiterating the Iranian regime's rejection of 15 points from the White House that were conveyed via intermediaries last week.

"The meetings held by Pakistan follow a framework that they themselves established and we did not participate in. It is good that regional countries are concerned about ending the war, but they should remain aware of which side started the conflict," Baqaei said.

"We must continue our work, engage in consultations, but our demands remain unchanged," he added.

The CBS News Confirmed team has verified images from the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia that show a U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft destroyed on the tarmac after an Iranian missile and drone strike that left 10 service members wounded last week.

The E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System is a key piece of equipment for monitoring enemy activity and for mobile command and control that will, according to The Wall Street Journal, cost in the region of $700 million to replace.

Multiple U.S. officials told CBS News over the weekend that 10 U.S. service members were wounded in the Friday attack on the base, including two left with very serious injuries and eight in serious condition, which are different categories under the military's casualty classification system.

Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed since the U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran, and more than 300 more have been wounded in action, most of whom have returned to duty, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson said Friday.  

Asian share prices mostly dipped Monday, as worries continued about soaring oil prices and the potential for further escalation in the U.S. war with Iran, but stocks posted moderate gains in early trading in Europe and U.S. futures were also higher.

Wall Street finished last Friday with deep declines, for a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years.

Worries have been great in Asia about the effective lack of access to the Strait of Hormuz because of the war in Iran, as the region relies significantly on oil from the region.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude jumped $1.95 to $101.59 a barrel and Brent crude, the international standard, soared $3.41 to $115.98 a barrel. Before the war, Brent had been priced at about $70 to a barrel.

Investors are now bracing for the war to last for some time, which would likely set off inflation in global markets and could stunt Asia's economic growth.

"Although we do not expect the conflict to be protracted, we anticipate heightened volatility in the near term," said Xavier Lee, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Research.

CBS/AP

Israeli television channels reported at least one impact at an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa on Monday, shortly after the military said it had detected new incoming missiles from Iran.

CBS News staff in Israel reported multiple impacts, which are often from debris of intercepted missiles or drones, across the north of the country amid a salvo of incoming fire from Iran and also Lebanon, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah is based.

Television network Channel 12 showed thick black smoke billowing into the sky from the site.

Emergency response agencies Magen David Adom and United Hetzolah were responding to multiple sites of reported impacts, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

CBS/AFP

President Trump reiterated his stance on Sunday that the U.S. has already achieved regime change in Iran and a deal to end the war could be reached "soon."

Citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, Mr. Trump said the people now running Iran were "much more reasonable," despite ongoing Iranian missile and drone attacks across the region and the fact that the Islamic Republic's theocracy has signaled no public inclination to back down from the fight.

"We've had regime change," Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "We're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before. It's a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change."

Asked whether there could be a deal with Iran this week, Mr. Trump said, "I do see a deal in Iran. Could be soon."

Since the conflict began, Tehran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's crude oil typically flows, sending global oil prices soaring, but Mr. Trump said Sunday that relief was on the way in the form of concessions from Iran, starting with the imminent passage of more tankers through the waterway.

"They gave us, I think, out of a sign of respect, 20 boats of oil, big, big boats of oil going through the Hormuz Strait," he said, adding that the shipments would be "taking place starting tomorrow morning, over the next couple of days."

CBS/AFP