Middle East

The cause for the celebration is unclear as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is said to have lost its entire security echelon during Operation Breaking Dawn.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz takes off for Washington to convey that "an agreement that will not set Iran's capabilities back years and will not leave it limited for many years to come – it is an agreement that will harm global and regional security." US and Iran are said to have come to an agreement on several aspects of the deal.

Statement comes amid another incident in Syria in which US forces came under attack by Iranian-backed militias.

"We are committed to inspections in the framework of the nuclear deal that are linked to nuclear restrictions which we have accepted in the past... Not one word more, not one word less," says head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

"We demand that Israel respect the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and, above all, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.

The prime minister-designate notes that Israel is not party to the 2015 agreement, but that it would be directly affected and reserves all rights to its self-defense. Washington and Tehran inch closer to nuclear pact, but high hurdles remain.

Despite reports that the US and Iran are close to renewing the 2015 nuclear deal, the diplomatic and security echelons in Israel believe that there are several measures that could be used to prevent such a move.

The US military says the strikes "took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties" and came at the orders of President Joe Biden.

US official tells Reuters that although Tehran has been saying Washington has made concessions, Iran has dropped some of its key demands.

Five-party talks focus on consolidating ties and cooperation between their countries, according to an Egyptian statement.