By Michael Martina, Jana Choukeir and Eman Abouhassira

NEW DELHI/DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Iran, the United States and mediator Pakistan all said on Saturday that progress had been made in talks on ending almost three months of war.

Tehran is focused on finalising a memorandum of understanding, Iran's foreign ministry said after Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief.

The United States and Iran could strike a deal to end the Middle East war as early as Sunday, Washington's top diplomat said, while Tehran insisted the agreement would do nothing to limit its nuclear programme.

Washington and Tehran have observed a ceasefire since April 8 while mediators push for a negotiated settlement, although Iran has imposed controls on Gulf shipping and the US has blockaded Iran's ports.

DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Iran's top negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, told Pakistani army chief Asim Munir during talks in Tehran on Saturday that the U.S. was not an honest party in negotiations to end their war and Iran would not compromise on its national rights, state television reported.

A regional mediation push led by Pakistan aims to narrow differences between Iran and the U.S. after weeks of war that have left the vital waterway of the Strait of Hormuz closed to most shipping despite a nervous ceasefire, upending global energy markets.

PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - France has decided to ban Israel's police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from access to French territory, said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday, adding that the decision reflected anger over the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists.

"As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory," wrote Barrot on X.

"Along with my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to also take sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir," he added.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-GuptaEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

France announced on Saturday it has banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entry for mocking bound activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

"From today, Itamar Ben Gvir is banned from entering French territory" after "his reprehensible actions towards French and European citizens" who were part of the humanitarian flotilla, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X.

He added that, with Italy, he was also calling for European Union-level sanctions against the far-right Israeli minister.

Israel struck south Lebanon on Saturday despite a ceasefire as Hezbollah said its backer Tehran had pledged not to abandon the militant group.

Hezbollah said its chief Naim Qassem had received a message from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, saying the latest proposal through Pakistani mediators aimed at ending the regional war emphasised "the demand to include Lebanon" in the broader ceasefire.

Lebanese authorities, however, have insisted the country's ongoing talks with Israel under US auspices must be independent from the Iran-US negotiations.

ISTANBUL, May 23 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 13 people under an investigation into a 2023 congress of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), state media said on Saturday, after a court ruling this week ousted the party's leader Ozgur Ozel, inflaming a political crisis.

A Turkish appeals court on Thursday annulled the congress, at which Ozel was elected, citing unspecified irregularities. In his place, the court reinstated former CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a divisive figure who lost to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections earlier that year.

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump may have won just about every battle against Iran, but three months after attacking the Islamic Republic he now faces a bigger question: Is he losing the war?

With Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, its resistance to nuclear concessions and its theocratic government largely intact, doubts are growing that Trump can translate the U.S. military’s tactical successes into an outcome he can frame convincingly as a geopolitical win.

May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. arms sales to Taiwan take years to process and are unrelated to the war with Iran, a source familiar with the matter said, after a senior U.S. official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the conflict.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has been waiting for the U.S. to approve an arms sale that Reuters has reported could be worth up to $14 billion.

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - Twenty-seven countries have moved since the Iran war started to put in place crisis instruments that could quickly access funding from existing World Bank programs, according to an internal document viewed by Reuters.

The World Bank document did not name the countries or the total amount of funds potentially being sought. The World Bank declined to comment.