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EXPLAINER

Iran discusses diplomatic solutions with regional partners as Trump says Iran could telephone if it wants to talk.

Iran has stepped up diplomatic efforts to end the war with the United States, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shuttling between Pakistan and Oman on Sunday before flying to Russia on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday Iran could telephone if it wanted to negotiate an end to the two-month US-Israel war on Iran after scrapping a visit ⁠⁠to Islamabad by his representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

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The two main sticking points are the issues of Iran’s nuclear programme and access to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which remains under de facto Iranian blockade.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have escalated attacks against Lebanon, killing at least 14 people on Sunday despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

Here is what we know on day 59 of the conflict:

War diplomacy

• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi arrived in Saint Petersburg early on Monday and is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian and Iranian state media.
• Discussions on ⁠⁠bilateral ties ⁠⁠and regional issues, including the US-Israel war on Iran, will be held, Araghchi said.
• According to Araghchi, Iran and ⁠⁠Oman, as coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz, had agreed to ‌‌continue expert-level consultations to ensure safe transit and protect ‌‌shared ‌‌interests in the waterway.
• Araghchi said his talks in the Pakistani capital were “very productive” and included a review of “the specific conditions under which negotiations between Iran and the US could continue”.

• Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Islamabad, said according to one diplomatic source, recent events have “served as a catalyst”, reinforcing the view that “there needs to be a permanent end to hostilities”.
• “We are being told here in Islamabad that we are inching towards a framework of sorts, which will provide a background to which all of these sides can come to an agreement – and not just the Iranians and the Americans, but essentially the Gulf countries as well,” he reported.
• Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said the US must abandon “blackmailing” and “ultimatums” in its negotiating position if talks with Iran are to move forward.

In Iran

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had no intention of unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.
• “Controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House’s supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Islamic Iran,” the IRGC said on its official Telegram channel.

In US

• Trump said a shooting at a Washington media dinner on Saturday would not divert him from the war on Iran. “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, I really don’t think so, based on what we know,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the incident.
• The US president reiterated that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, while saying he was open to talks with Tehran.

In Lebanon

• The Ministry of Public Health said Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday killed 14 people, including two women and two children, and wounded 37.
• State media outlet National News Agency reported that Israeli forces raided the entrance to Kafra in southern Lebanon at dawn on Monday and cut off the road leading to the town.
• Hezbollah rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that it was jeopardising a ceasefire, saying in a statement that its attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel were “a legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the announcement of the temporary truce”.

Sydney, Australia – Until recently, Rosco Jewell sold about one used electric vehicle every two months on his online marketplace, Amazing EV.

But in the weeks since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran, Jewell has been shifting a second-hand EV roughly every two weeks.

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“It is now getting very hard to find used EVs to buy in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. And we’ve also seen prices increase by 10 to 15 percent – in some cases, 20 percent as well,” the Sydney-based businessman told Al Jazeera.

As conflict in the Middle East drives petrol and diesel prices worldwide, demand for EVs has been surging in numerous countries.

The United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, have both seen a surge in EV sales after market slumps in 2025.

Chinese manufacturers reported an 82.6 percent rise in month-on-month sales in March, according to the China Automotive Dealers Association.

US EV sales last month topped 82,000 units, down by one quarter year over year, but up by more than 20 percent from February, according to Cox Automotive.

In Vietnam, local EV brand Vinfast reported a 127 percent rise in year-on-year sales in March.

Euan Graham, an analyst at the energy think tank Ember, said the war on Iran has accelerated a trend of growing EV adoption in emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, spurred by past energy shocks such as the war in Ukraine.

“We’re now in a period in the 2020s where we’ve seen two fossil fuel shocks, one after the other,” Graham told Al Jazeera, referring to the energy crunch that followed Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“What usually happens, based on past examples… is countries look for alternative solutions, and in the 2020s, there are increasingly competitive alternative solutions, and EVs are one of them,” Graham said.

“So I would really expect this to be a kind of permanent shift in the pace of EV adoption in a number of countries,” he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s EV sales nearly tripled year-on-year last month, while South Korea saw domestic purchases surge by 172 percent.

In Europe, France recorded a three-fold increase in new registrations of Tesla cars, while Norway, Sweden and Denmark reported similar surges in new registrations for the EV brand.

In Australia, battery EVs accounted for 14.6 percent of total vehicle sales in March, nearly double the proportion recorded during the same month in 2025, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

David Smitherman, the CEO of Sydney-based BYD distributor EVDirect, said he had seen a sharp uptick in inquiries that he expected to translate into sales in the coming months.

“We’ve just seen a lot of people come into the stores, obviously concerned about the price of fuel and their ability to control their own transport needs,” Smitherman, whose company manages 90 of the Chinese carmaker’s showrooms, told Al Jazeera.

In Melbourne, Kevin Alberica, operations and sourcing manager at EV dealership Evolve Motors, said one of his staff had recently sold seven Teslas in a single Saturday.

“’I’ve never seen multiple people queueing for one car,” Alberica told Al Jazeera.

“We had over 100 Teslas in stock. Now we have barely anything,” he said. “I am trying to replace everything we have, but it is difficult.”

While Australia is a major exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, the country imports about 80 percent of its petrol and diesel needs.

Australia’s government said last month that the country had about one month of fuel in reserves, with upcoming shipments secured through to May.

“The news is definitely scaring people,” Alberica said. “You have a lot of business owners that have maybe diesel vans come in and buy a Tesla Model.”

Charles Lester, data manager at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the trajectory of global demand for EVs would depend on petrol prices.

“If the price is sustained for a long period, and when it comes to consumers and when they’re deciding to purchase a vehicle, their heads will turn towards at least thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle,” Lester told Al Jazeera.

For EV advocates, the rise in demand has spurred hopes that governments will take a more active role in supporting the transition away from the combustion engine.

In Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales, the state government earlier this month unveiled a $71m initiative to fund the installation of EV chargers in regional areas.

Such moves have been tempered by a review of Australia’s generous tax breaks for EVs at the federal level, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers widely expected to scale back the exemption from fringe benefits tax in May’s budget.

Australia is “uniquely well positioned” to benefit from the electrification of its transportation because of “the success we’ve had in not only large-scale renewable energy, but also in consumer renewable energy over a couple of decades”, James Pickering, national president of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, told Al Jazeera.

For some Australian consumers, the switch to an EV has been a godsend after years of above-average inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jarred, a 27-year-old public servant in Melbourne, bought his first EV in February, just before the start of the war on Iran.

“The running costs have blown me away,” Jarred, who asked to be identified by this first name, told Al Jazeera.

“I can do a full charge at home for just $6.60 with my new home electricity rates,” he added.

“I really haven’t had anything to complain about yet.”

The Houston Rockets routed the Los Angeles Lakers 115-96 to stay alive in the NBA playoffs as San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama made a triumphant return to put the Spurs on the brink of advancing.

Amen Thompson scored 23 points to fuel the Rockets, who bounced back from a crushing overtime loss in the last game to cut the deficit in their best-of-seven Western Conference series to 3-1 on Sunday.

The Spurs and the Boston Celtics took commanding 3-1 leads in their series, with San Antonio rallying from 19 points down to beat the Trail Blazers 114-93 in Portland and Boston thrashed the 76ers 128-96 in Philadelphia.

In Toronto, the Raptors edged the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-89 to level their series at two games apiece.

Denied a sweep in Houston, the Lakers can still finish off the Rockets when they host game five on Wednesday.

The Rockets, still without star Kevin Durant, harried the Lakers into 24 turnovers, yielding 30 Houston points.

Wemby returns to winning ways

In Portland, Wembanyama returned after missing one game because of a concussion and scored 27 points with 11 rebounds, three assists, four steals and a whopping seven blocked shots.

“I had lots of emotions in me before the game, obviously,” said Wembanyama, named the 2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and in the running for Most Valuable Player.

“Excitement, frustration, so I let it all out tonight,” he said.

The 22-year-old Frenchman praised the doctors who oversaw his path through the NBA concussion protocol but voiced dissatisfaction with the process that requires a gradual return to physical activity under medical supervision.

“The way the situation was handled was very disappointing,” Wembanyama said, declining to elaborate.

San Antonio’s De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 28 points, and the Spurs outscored the Trail Blazers 73-35 in the second half.

They’ll try to clinch the series when they host game five on Tuesday.

Houston Rockets in comeback win over LA Lakers

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James made just two of nine attempts from the floor on the way to 10 points. He handed out nine assists but made eight turnovers.

With Los Angeles still missing their top scorers in injured Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, centre Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

But Los Angeles were already down by 19 when he was ejected in the third quarter after catching Rockets centre Alperen Sengun in the head with his forearm.

Tari Eason added 20 points, and Sengun scored 19 for Houston, who are trying to become the first NBA team to rally from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.

Celtics thump 76ers

The Celtics spoiled the return of 76ers star Joel Embiid, who played his first game since undergoing an emergency appendectomy on April 9 .

Payton Pritchard scored 32 points off the bench, and Jayson Tatum scored 30 points with seven rebounds and 11 assists for the Celtics, who led by 16 points after one quarter and by double digits the rest of the way.

Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but Philadelphia couldn’t counter the Celtics’ barrage of 24 three-pointers.

In Toronto, Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram scored 23 points apiece as the Raptors held off the Cavaliers despite making just four of 30 from three-point range.

The Raptors trailed by five with 2:10 left to play but surged ahead with a 9-0 scoring burst and held on.

Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points to lead the Cavs, and James Harden added 19, but Mitchell missed two attempts in the final 30 seconds as Barnes made six free throws down the stretch to seal it.