Israel strikes Iran as Tehran rejects US talks overture

Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran -- which has mushroomed to engulf much of the Middle East -- rose after the United States was said to have put a 15-point peace plan to Tehran. But the Islamic republic's top diplomat flatly denied any "negotiations" with President Donald Trump's administration late Wednesday -- conceding only that messages were being exchanged through "friendly countries". "At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance", Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state TV...