Key events
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.
The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said that it was “foreseeable” that the US would withdraw troops from Europe, after the Pentagon announced it would pull thousands of American soldiers from Germany.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US will withdraw 5,000 active-duty troops from Nato ally Germany in the next six to 12 months, fulfilling his earlier threats after clashing with German chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.
Earlier this week, Merz said Iran had “humiliated” the US and questioned how Trump planned to end the conflict, saying: “The Americans obviously have no strategy.”
Responding to the announcement of plans to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany, Pistorius said: “It was foreseeable that the US would withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany.”
He added that Europeans must take greater responsibility for their own security, and that Germany was “on the right track” in this regard.
In other developments:
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Trump said he is “not satisfied” with a new proposal from Iran on ending the war, as peace talks remain stalled despite a weeks-long ceasefire. Iran delivered the proposal text to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, Iranian state news agency Irna reported, without detailing its contents.
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The US state department said it was approving military sales totalling more than $8.6bn to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. It came as Washington warned European allies including the UK, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia to expect long delivery delays for US weapons as it scrambles to replenish stockpiles depleted by the Iran war, according to a report in the Fianancial Times citing multiple sources.
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In Lebanon, 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south, Lebanon’s health ministry said, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order despite the continuing ceasefire. Israeli warplanes “launched a series of heavy strikes … less than an hour after” the warning, the state-run National News Agency said.
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The US Treasury Office warned that any shipping companies that paid tolls to Iran for passage through the strait of Hormuz, including charitable donations to organisations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, would risk punitive sanctions. Tehran has proposed charging fees on vessels passing through the strait, as part of a deal to end the war.
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Trump wrote to US lawmakers on Friday declaring hostilities with Iran “terminated”, despite no change in the US military posture, as he faces continuing pressure at home to seek congressional authorisation for the war.
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The state department’s announcement on Friday included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01bn and of advanced precision kill weapon systems (APKWS) costing $992.4m. They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5bn and to Israel of APKWS costing $992.4m.
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Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei urged his people to wage economic battle and “disappoint” its enemies, as the war and years of sanctions take a toll. In a written statement he also said “the owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforce”.