We’re closing this file now but our live coverage of the Middle East continues in a new blog here, including a fresh summary of the latest developments. Thanks for following along.
Updated
Earlier today, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released video footage purportedly showing their forces seizing two vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC said they seized the vessels for what it called maritime violations, and escorted them to Iranian shores, according to statements by the shipping companies and Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency – the first time Iran has seized ships since the war began at the end of February.
Tasnim reported that the IRGC had accused the two ships – the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Liberia-flagged Epaminondas – of “attempting to exit the strait of Hormuz covertly”.
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Looking at how Asian markets have responded to the latest war developments, most equities have fallen.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington are all down. But Seoul rallied more than 1% to a new record thanks to a fresh rally in the tech sector that has been the backbone of a surge in the Kospi index this year.
Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also up.
Oil prices remain elevated, with Brent holding above $100 following a surge on Wednesday, though they pared Thursday’s initial gains.
Brent crude briefly jumped above $105 earlier today, before dropping to hover around $103.
Interim summary
Here’s a recap of the latest developments in the Middle East to bring you up to speed.
Iran has seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz for what it called maritime violations and escorted them to Iranian shores, according to shipping companies and Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, amid Tehran’s closure of the waterway. It is the first time Iran has seized ships since the war began.
The White House said Donald Trump was “satisfied” with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and “understands Iran is in a very weak position”. The US president had not set a deadline on Iran submitting a peace proposal, press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said, after Trump on Tuesday said he was indefinitely extending the US-Iran ceasefire at the request of mediator Pakistan until Tehran came up with a “unified proposal” to the US’s negotiating positions.
Iranian officials said they had not agreed to any extension of the truce and criticised Trump’s decision to maintain the sea blockade. Lead Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said a full ceasefire only made sense if the blockade was lifted.
The Pentagon said US secretary of the navy John Phelan would depart the office “effective immediately”, without providing an explanation for his sudden exit amid the naval blockade on Iranian trade.
The war against Iran is “starting to weaken Europe”, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told his German counterpart. Erdoğan said: “If we do not address this situation with an approach that prioritises peace, the damage caused by the conflict will be far greater.”
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed a Lebanese journalist, Amal Khalil, and wounded a photographer accompanying her, a senior Lebanese military official and Khalil’s employer said. The death of Khalil, 43, brought the death toll to five people on Wednesday – the deadliest day since a 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah was announced on 16 April. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Khalil’s death. Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam said Israeli targeting of journalists and obstructing relief efforts constituted war crimes.
Oil prices leapt 4% on Thursday after Iran vowed not to reopen the Hormuz strait amid the US naval blockade despite the ceasefire extension. Around 0025 GMT, the benchmark US oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 4.06% to $96.73 a barrel, while the international oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude climbed 3.62% to $105.63. Both eased back minutes after.
Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old schoolboy, were killed in the occupied West Bank after Israeli settlers opened fire near a school amid mounting assaults on education in the territory, witnesses and local officials have said.
United Airlines implemented broad-based rises of 15-20% on fares as it sought to offset the surge in petrol prices while protecting profits, executives said. The big US carrier has also cut its 2026 flying capacity by 5%.
Updated
Analysis: US and Iran vie for most effective blockade
Donald Trump’s indefinite shelving of the plan to bomb Iran’s bridges and power stations on Tuesday night is being widely described as leaving the conflict in limbo, but that is anything but the truth.
Pakistan insists the prospect of talks in Islamabad has not evaporated, and positive messages are still being exchanged, but in the meantime the site of kinetic activity has switched from land to sea.
Both sides are vying to prove they can enforce their blockade of the strait of Hormuz more effectively than the other. It has become a form of gunboat diplomacy brought to life in the most significant geopolitical waterway in the world.
Iran, by firing at and seizing commercial ships trying to navigate the strait, is trying to send a message that it can maintain its chokehold on the world economy.
The US, through its blockade of Iranian ports, is trying something more immediate. Through sanctions and naval action, it is attempting to make the Iranian economy collapse as Tehran runs out of space to store the oil it is producing and cannot export due to the blockade.
It is a trial of strength in which both sides believe they have time on their side.
You can read the full analysis here:
In the US Senate, Republicans have defeated another resolution on war powers that called for an end to US hostilities against Iran.
The 51-46 vote was mostly along party lines.
It was the fifth time this year that the Senate voted to cede its war powers to Donald Trump over a conflict Democrats say is unjustified and illegal.
Updated
Lebanon to request truce extension at coming talks with Israel
Israel and Lebanon are to hold a new round of talks in Washington on Thursday during which Beirut reportedly plans to request a one-month extension of the ceasefire due to expire in days.
Israel said ahead of the talks that it had no “serious disagreements” with Lebanon, calling on it to “work together” against Hezbollah, which opposes the negotiations and isn’t taking part.
The two countries’ direct talks on 14 April were their first in decades and the US soon after announced the 10-day truce, set to expire on Sunday.
As in the last round, US secretary of state Marco Rubio will bring together Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad, in the presence of the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is now also expected to join the meeting, a state department official told AFP.
A unnamed Lebanese official told the news agency that Lebanon would request a month-long extension of the truce, as well as “an end of Israel’s bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present, and a commitment to the ceasefire”.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday that “contacts are underway to extend the ceasefire period”.
Updated
Oil prices jump amid war standoff
Oil prices leapt 4% on Thursday after Iran vowed not to reopen the strait of Hormuz amid the US naval blockade despite the ceasefire extension.
Around 0025 GMT, the benchmark US oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 4.06% to $96.73 a barrel.
International oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude climbed 3.62% to $105.63.
Both eased back minutes after.
More now on Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killing journalist Amal Khalil and wounding a photographer accompanying her, according to a senior Lebanese military official and Khalil’s employer.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Khalil’s death on Wednesday. Earlier, it said in a statement it had received reports that two journalists were injured as a result of its strikes.
The death of Khalil, 43, brought the death toll to five people on Wednesday – the deadliest day since a 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah was announced on 16 April.
Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments near the town of al-Tayri when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them, Reuters is reporting. They ran into a nearby house, which was then also targeted by an Israeli strike, said Lebanon’s health ministry, the senior Lebanese military official and press advocates.
Lebanese rescuers were able to retrieve Faraj, who had suffered a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who runs the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.
When rescuers returned to help Khalil, the Israeli military dropped a sound grenade, blocking their access to the damaged building, Moufarrej and the senior military official said.
Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam said the targeting of journalists and the obstruction of relief efforts constituted “war crimes”. He posted on X (translated here):
Israel’s targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions.
Lebanon will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the competent international forums.”
The Al-Akhbar newspaper, Khalil’s employer, announced her death on its website.
The Israeli military in its earlier statement denied it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area.
Updated
United Airlines has implemented broad-based rises of 15-20% on fares as it seeks to offset the surge in petrol prices while protecting profits, executives say.
The big US carrier has also cut its 2026 flying capacity by 5%.
Chief executive Scott Kirby described oil prices as “incredibly volatile” amid the war in Iran but said the company’s plan was based on the assumption that “fuel may remain higher for longer.”
The airline was yet to see pullback from customers due to high fares but United might cut back additional flights in 2027 if demand dropped, Kirby said on Wednesday, quoted by AFP.
The airline says it expects fuel prices to average $4.30 a gallon in the year’s second quarter, up 55% from the first quarter average.
Other airlines have also announced fare increases and capacity curtailments in response to the surge in oil prices amid the Middle East war.
The head of the International Air Transport Association last Friday called on authorities to put “well-coordinated plans in place” in case of jet fuel rationing.
Updated
Iran war is weakening Europe, says Erdoğan
The US-Israeli war against Iran is “starting to weaken Europe”, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told his German counterpart.
Erdoğan said:
The war in our region is likewise starting to weaken Europe, and if we do not address this situation with an approach that prioritises peace, the damage caused by the conflict will be far greater.”
Erdoğan made the comment to Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Turkish leader’s office, cited by AFP.
US navy secretary to leave office ‘immediately’, says Pentagon
The Pentagon has announced that US secretary of the navy John Phelan will depart the office “immediately”, without providing an explanation for his sudden exit.
The move amid the US naval blockade of Iranian ports comes after the US army’s top officer, Gen Randy George, and two other senior officers were removed earlier this month during the continuing war with Iran.
Phelan “is departing the administration, effective immediately”, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X on Wednesday, adding that undersecretary Hung Cao – Phelan’s deputy – would replace him in an acting capacity.
The exit just a day after Phelan addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the navy’s annual conference in Washington DC, and spoke with reporters about his agenda – see our full report here.
Donald Trump has overseen a purge of top military personnel since returning to office early last year, including the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February 2025.
Other senior officers dismissed include the heads of the US navy and coast guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice-chief of staff of the air force, a navy admiral assigned to Nato and three top military lawyers, reports Agence France-Press.
The chief of staff of the air force also announced his retirement without explanation just two years into a four-year term, while the head of US Southern Command retired a year into his tenure.
Updated
Trump hasn't set Iran deadline to submit peace proposal, says White House
Donald Trump has not set a deadline on Iran submitting a peace proposal, the White House said on Wednesday.
The US president on Tuesday announced he was indefinitely extending a ceasefire with Iran at the request of mediator Pakistan until Tehran responded to the US’s negotiating positions or until talks were concluded “one way or the other”.
Trump also said the US would continue its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists on Wednesday:
The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I’ve seen today.
Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief.
Updated
Lebanon’s prime minister is reportedly saying Israel is targeting journalists and obstructing relief effort and that that constitutes war crimes.
Nawaf Salam also said Lebanon would spare no effort in pursing those crimes with relevant international bodies.
We’ll have more on his comments soon.
As mentioned earlier, Al Jazeera reported that the employer of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil confirmed she was killed in an Israeli attack earlier on Wednesday.
Updated
Interim summary
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed a journalist after rescuers were blocked from accessing the building where she was buried under rubble because of further Israeli fire, according to several witnesses. Amal Khalil was covering developments near the town of al-Tayri with the photographer Zeinab Faraj when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them. They ran into a nearby house, which was then also targeted by an Israeli strike, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and lead negotiator, said that reopening the strait of Hormuz would be “impossible” while the US and Israel committed “flagrant” breaches of the ceasefire, including the US naval blockade, “the hostage-taking of the world’s economy” and “Zionist warmongering”. He added in a post on X that the US and Israel “did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they through bullying”.
Donald Trump is “satisfied” with the naval blockade, and “understands Iran is in a very weak position” – according to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She highlighted that reports of a three-to-five-day deadline for the extended ceasefire are “not true”. “The cards are in President Trump’s hands right now,” she told the media during a press conference in Washington.
Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes killed at least four people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. Hezbollah launched, according to the report, a drone attack against Israeli forces in the region, which further jeopardizes the US-brokered ceasefire. The National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli strike hit a car in Tayri, a village in south Lebanon, killing two people inside. An Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Yohmor killed another two people, the NNA and Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old schoolboy, have been killed in the occupied West Bank after Israeli settlers opened fire near a school amid mounting assaults on education in the territory, witnesses and local officials have said. The Palestinian health ministry said Aws al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, were killed in the attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, in which three others were wounded.
Updated
Across Islamabad, there is lockdown. The streets of the Pakistani capital have been empty for days, shops have been shuttered and public transport closed down. Officials and office workers have been told to work from home, while labourers have found themselves deprived of work. The only visible figures are those in army and police uniforms lining the roads.
For many, it feels like a return to the pandemic. Yet the cause is not a virus but Islamabad’s status as the venue for US-Iran talks that hold the promise of an end to war in the Middle East, with stringent security measures imposed on the city as it awaits the two delegations.
Yet as uncertainty reigns over whether the negotiations will even take place, anger has been rising. For people, the draconian and seemingly indefinite restrictions have become a source of frustration and economic strife.
Many workers in Islamabad and neighbouring Rawalpindi unable to afford to rent a flat were unceremoniously kicked out of their hostel accommodation on Saturday, after a government order, and tens of thousands had to hurriedly find a place to say.
Day after day, with the promised talks failing to materialise, and the city’s lockdown repeatedly extended, many are questioning how long they will be kept away from their livelihoods.
Read the full story by my colleague Shah Meer Baloch:
Updated
Oil prices rose today after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, US stocks ticked up, a day after Donald Trump extended the US ceasefire with Iran.
Brent crude futures are above $100 a barrel, with the international benchmark up 12% so far this week and on track for its second-biggest weekly rise of the war.
The S&P 500 added 1.05% to finish. Nasdaq rose 1.64% today.
Updated
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed after Israeli attack – reports
Al Jazeera is reporting that the employer of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil confirmed she was killed in an Israeli attack earlier in the day.
Reuters also reports that Khalil’s body was found under the rubble left by the strike, citing a Lebanese military official.
Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were covering developments near the town of al-Tayri when an Israeli strike hit the vehicle in front of them.
Lebanese rescuers were able to retrieve Faraj, who had suffered a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who runs the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.
Updated
US forces have so far directed 29 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the blockade against Iran, according to the latest update by the US Central Command.
Amid reports that ships were getting through the blockade, Centcom denied the breach in a post on X.
“Over past 24 hours, media reports have alleged that several commercial ships evaded the blockade, citing M/V Hero II, M/V Hedy, and M/V Dorena as examples. These reports are inaccurate,” Centcom wrote on Wednesday.
Centcom said two tankers – Hero II and Hedy – are anchored in Iran after US forces intercepted them earlier this week. Another tanker “has been under the escort of a US Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean after previously attempting to violate the blockade.”
Updated
Trump 'satisfied' with naval blockade, White House says
Donald Trump is “satisfied” with the naval blockade, and “understands Iran is in a very weak position” – according to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
She highlights that reports of a three-to-five-day deadline for the extended ceasefire are “not true”. “The cards are in President Trump’s hands right now,” she told the media during a press conference in Washington.
When asked how long the war will continue for, she said that is up to the president, who will “do so when he feels it’s in the best interests of the United States and the American people”.
She also told reporters that the US is inflicting serious economic pain on Iran. “We are completely strangling their economy through this blockade, they’re losing $500m a day. Kharg Island is completely full, they can’t move oil in and out. They can’t even pay their own people as a result of this economic leverage that President Trump has inflicted over them,” said Leavitt.
Updated
The US embassy in Beirut has urged citizens to leave Lebanon amid ongoing, escalating security concerns.
According to Al Jazeera, the embassy has renewed a security alert, urging US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial flight options were still available.
In a statement, it said the security situation “remains complex and can change quickly”.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in an interview with Fox News that Iran must agree to turn over its enriched uranium to the United States as part of negotiations to end the war.
Leavitt is now taking questions from the press outside the White House.
Speaking about Iran’s seizure of two container ships, she said that Donald Trump does not consider their capture to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli.
“No, because these were not US ships, these were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,” she said.
The ships identified as the Epaminondas and MSC Francesca were transferred to Iran’s coast, with the IRGC warning that “disrupting order and safety in the strait of Hormuz is considered a red line”.
Updated
Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes killed at least four people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. Hezbollah launched, according to the report, a drone attack against Israeli forces in the region, which further jeopardizes the US-brokered ceasefire.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli strike hit a car in Tayri, a village in south Lebanon, killing two people inside.
An Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Yohmor killed another two people, the NNA and Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Updated
Iran’s president said the country has “welcomed dialogue and agreement” but criticized truce breaches and the US blockade, calling them the “main obstacles to genuine negotiations”.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so,” Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X. “Breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations. World sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.”
Updated
Israeli settlers attacked a school in the occupied West Bank, killing two people, including a teenage student, AFP reports.
Aws Hamdi al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Marzouq Abu Naim, 32, were killed by gunfire on Tuesday in the village of Al-Mughayyir.
“The students were taking their monthly exams. Suddenly, we were shocked to see settlers advancing towards the school and attacking it,” principal Bassam Abu Assaf told AFP, as mourners gathered at the funeral.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) posted a plea calling for international pressure on the Israeli army to allow the rescue of journalist Amal Khalil.
RSF said on Wednesday that Khalil, a reporter for Al-Akhbar, is trapped near the southern Lebanese village of al-Tiri following an Israeli airstrike that struck near her vehicle.
“Her life is in danger right now! Continued Israeli airstrikes are preventing rescuers from reaching her,” reads the post from RSF.
Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, called on the Lebanese Red Cross to work on the rescue of Khalil, along with another journalist, Zeinab Faraj, who was with her.
Updated
The management company of a container ship that was fired upon in the strait of Hormuz on Wednesday says the Liberian-registered Epaminondas was “approached and fired upon by a manned gunboat” while transiting the strait about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Oman, the Associated Press reports.
The Technomar company said all crew were “safe and accounted for” and no injuries were reported, but that preliminary inspections indicated the ship’s bridge had been damaged.
“Technomar remains in close contact with the crew and relevant authorities. Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our crew as we work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure their continued safety and investigate the incident,” the company said.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said “reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible” if the ceasefire continues to be breached.
“A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime blockade and the hostage-taking of the world’s economy, and if the Zionist warmongering across all fronts is halted,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.
“They did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they through bullying. The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation,” he added.
The day so far
US president Donald Trump has not set a timeline for the extension of a ceasefire with Iran, a source briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.
A second round of US-Iran talks could take place within the next three days, the New York Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Pakistani sources and president Donald Trump. “It’s possible!” Trump reportedly told the Post by text message, when asked about sources in Pakistan – which mediated the first round of talks – saying that a second round was “expected in Islamabad within the next 36 to 72 hours.”
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, said a second French peacekeeper who was “seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters” in Lebanon has died of his injuries. Anicet Girardin was wounded in the attack on Saturday which killed another French peacekeeper, identified as Florian Montorio.
Two people have been killed after an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Tyre in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA). NNA said its correspondent also reported Israeli forces carried out “a violent bombing” in the southern Lebanese town of Qantara.
The United States must end its blockade on Iran as a prerequisite for any further ceasefire talks in Islamabad, an Iranian diplomat said Wednesday. Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told the Associated Press that communications with Pakistani mediators are underway “to implement Iran’s conditions.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. The ships identified as the Epaminondas and MSC Francesca were transferred to Iran’s coast, with the IRGC warning that “disrupting order and safety in the strait of Hormuz is considered a red line”.
It came after reports of two ships and a third vessel coming under attack in the strategic waterway this morning, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the BBC. Iranian media named the third ship as the Euphoria, which is said to be “stranded off the coast of Iran”.
Donald Trump said he is extending the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request while awaiting a “unified proposal” from Tehran, even as the US military maintains its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran’s foreign ministry has said that it “appreciates” Pakistan’s efforts to end the war. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran appreciates Pakistan’s efforts and initiatives to establish peace in the region.
Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, acknowledged the ceasefire extension in comments reported by Iranian media, but did not specifically say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks with the US in Islamabad.
Lebanon will request a one-month truce extension when Lebanese and Israeli envoys meet for the second time in two weeks in Washington tomorrow, according to reports. The 10-day ceasefire is set to expire on Sunday.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has urged Lebanon to make joint efforts with his country to counter Hezbollah. “I call on the government of Lebanon – let’s work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory,” he said.
China said after the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire that it is “imperative” to keep the conflict from reigniting. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Wednesday that the current situation in the Middle East is at “a critical stage.”
Iran’s foreign ministry has said that it “appreciates” Pakistan’s efforts to end the war.
Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran appreciates Pakistan’s efforts and initiatives to establish peace in the region.
“We affirm Iran’s readiness to defend itself and confront any aggression or threat,” he said.
Donald Trump has indefinitely extended the US ceasefire with Iran after talks looked increasingly uncertain between both sides.
Trump said he would “extend the ceasefire until such time as [Iran’s] proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other”.
The US blockade remains, as does the closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iran, which seized two ships on Wednesday.
Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour…
Trump has not set a timeline for extension of Iran ceasefire, source says
US president Donald Trump has not set a timeline for the extension of a ceasefire with Iran, a source briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.
Hours after announcing that he “expected to be bombing”, the US president said he would extend the ceasefire until Iranian negotiators submitted a proposal for peace.
The IRGC has named the two ships seized as the MSC-Francesca and the Epaminondas, Iranian broadcaster IRIB said on Telegram.
It alleged the Francesca was linked to Israel while the Epaminodes lacked “the necessary permits” and had been “tampering with navigation systems”.
Ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic showed the two vessels – both container ships – stopped near the Iranian coast on Wednesday.
Here is an image of the Epaminodes, in Naples last year:
US-Iran talks could be held in next three days - Trump
A second round of US-Iran talks could take place within the next three days, the New York Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Pakistani sources and president Donald Trump.
“It’s possible!” Trump reportedly told the Post by text message, when asked about sources in Pakistan – which mediated the first round of talks – saying that a second round was “expected in Islamabad within the next 36 to 72 hours.”
Trump on Tuesday extended a two-week truce in the war just as it was about to expire. A digital news outlet in Pakistan, News Post, reported the three-day time frame for more talks without a source or further details.
Second French peacekeeper dies after southern Lebanon attack blamed on Hezbollah
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, said a second French peacekeeper who was “seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters” in Lebanon has died of his injuries.
Anicet Girardin was wounded in the attack on Saturday which killed another French peacekeeper, identified as Florian Montorio.
In a post on X, Macron said: “Corporal Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Cynotechnical Infantry Regiment of Suippes, repatriated yesterday from Lebanon where he had been seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters, died this morning from his injuries.
“He died for France.”
The French soldiers were killed when a patrol came under attack from “non-state actors”, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said.
Two people killed by Israeli strike in southern Lebanon - report
Two people have been killed after an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Tyre in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA).
NNA said its correspondent also reported Israeli forces carried out “a violent bombing” in the southern Lebanese town of Qantara.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports.
Updated
Tehran’s embattled Jewish community endures despite Israeli bombing of synagogue
On the evening of 6 April, Asef, 65, and other members of Tehran’s Jewish community braved the US-Israeli bombing campaign to celebrate an evening Passover service at the Rafi’ Nia synagogue in the centre of the Iranian capital.
Inside the dim hall, lined with Persian carpets and mint green curtains, Torah verses were recited and prayers murmured under the breath. Asef, his shirt neatly tucked into his trousers and a kippah on his head, sat among the men, while the women sat separately on the other side. The atmosphere was reverent but subdued.
“We didn’t let the conflict stop us from celebrating,” he said, adding that the community had made an effort to hold on to their Passover traditions even amid the difficulties of war.
It was already dark when he headed home that night; the streets were quiet, with only a few people out.
By the time he got up the next morning to get ready for work, an Israeli airstrike had completely destroyed the synagogue.
In this feature, Mohammad Mohsenifar and Stefanie Glinski report on Tehran’s Jewish community as it finds itself caught in the crossfire of Israel-Iran tensions:
Updated
The United States must end its blockade on Iran as a prerequisite for any further ceasefire talks in Islamabad, an Iranian diplomat said Wednesday.
Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told the Associated Press that communications with Pakistani mediators are underway “to implement Iran’s conditions.”
“We won’t negotiate under threat,” he said. “We won’t go to Islamabad before the lifting of the blockade.”
He accused the US of using the ceasefire to build up more forces for a possible resumption of military action against the Islamic Republic.
“Behind the scenes, they say something, but in public, they say and do something else,” he said.
China said after the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire that it is “imperative” to keep the conflict from reigniting.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Wednesday that the current situation in the Middle East is at “a critical stage.”
He said China “is ready” to work with the international community to maintain peace, following four principles president Xi Jinping proposed a few days earlier, including peaceful coexistence and adherence to international law.
“It’s imperative to prevent the recurrence of the conflict with utmost efforts,” he said.
Summary of developments so far
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. The ships identified as the Epaminondas and MSC Francesca were transferred to Iran’s coast, with the IRGC warning that “disrupting order and safety in the strait of Hormuz is considered a red line”.
It came after reports of two ships and a third vessel coming under attack in the strategic waterway this morning, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the BBC. Iranian media named the third ship as the Euphoria, which is said to be “stranded off the coast of Iran”.
Donald Trump said he is extending the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request while awaiting a “unified proposal” from Tehran, even as the US military maintains its blockade of Iranian ports.
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, acknowledged the ceasefire extension in comments reported by Iranian media, but did not specifically say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks with the US in Islamabad.
Lebanon will request a one-month truce extension when Lebanese and Israeli envoys meet for the second time in two weeks in Washington tomorrow, according to reports. The 10-day ceasefire is set to expire on Sunday.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has urged Lebanon to make joint efforts with his country to counter Hezbollah. “I call on the government of Lebanon – let’s work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory,” he said.
AFP news agency, citing an official, has reported that Lebanon will request a one-month truce extension when Lebanese and Israeli envoys meet for the second time in two weeks in Washington tomorrow. The 10-day ceasefire is set to expire on Sunday.
Reuters also reported a Lebanese official saying tomorrow’s talks will explore a date for expanded negotiations, in which Lebanon would push for a withdrawal of Israeli troops, the return of Lebanese detainees being held in Israel and a delineation of the land border.
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Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said his country’s armed forces stood ready to defend the nation while suggesting Tehran was still open to further negotiations with the US.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reported remarks by Baghaei in response to Pakistan’s request for a ceasefire extension, in which he said:
Iran, while closely monitoring developments in the field and political arena, will take necessary and appropriate measures to protect Iran’s interests and national security, and the armed forces are also fully alert and ready to comprehensively and decisively defend the Iranian nation against any threat and evil.
When asked about the possibility of a second round of talks with the US, he said Iran will negotiate “whenever we reach the conclusion that the necessary and logical grounds are available to use this tool to achieve our national interests”.
Here is a summary of the attacks reported in the strait of Hormuz and the statement by the IRGC of the seizure of two of the ships.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a container ship coming under fire off the coast of Oman by a gun boat linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper reported that the ship was identified as the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas, owned by Greece’s Technomar Shipping and operated by MSC.
The UKMTO said it received a second report of a ship coming under attack in the strait of Hormuz, near the coast of Iran. It did not say who launched the attack against the cargo ship, which had stopped in the water. Iranian reports suggest the vessel was called Euphoria.
The maritime intelligence company Vanguard told the BBC that a third ship was attacked in the strait of Hormuz, identifying it as the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca.
Iranian media reported that the IRGC has seized the Epaminondas and MSC Francesca and transferred them to the Iranian coast. The ships were reportedly seized for “operating without the required authorisation and for manipulating navigation systems”, adding that this “jeopardised maritime security”.
Updated
Iran seizes two ships in strait of Hormuz - report
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy has seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The ships were identified as MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, which were reportedly directed to Iranian shores after they were “operating without the required authorisation and for manipulating navigation systems”.
The IRGC was quoted as saying: “Disrupting order and safety in the strait of Hormuz is our red line.”
Earlier the UKMTO reported two ships were fired at near the strait, while the BBC reported a third vessel was attacked near the Iranian coast.
Third ship attacked in strait of Hormuz - report
A third ship has been attacked in the strait of Hormuz, the BBC has reported.
Maritime intelligence company Vanguard told BBC Verify that the ship was targeted about 6 nautical miles off the coast of Iran. Vanguard said the vessel was hailed by the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and “instructed to drop anchor”.
The ship has reported “damage to the hull and accommodation”.
It follows attacks on two ships earlier this morning, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). A container ship was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman, UKMTO reported, and a cargo vessel came under attack near Iran shortly after.
We have some images on the newswires from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, which is still locked in gear to host US-Iran talks that were pushed back at the last minute.
To understand more about what Hezbollah is and how much power it wields in Lebanon, watch this video by the Guardian’s Matilda Boseley, where she explains the group’s beginnings and its connections to Iran:
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has urged Lebanon to make joint efforts with his country to counter Hezbollah, AFP reports.
Speaking ahead of talks between the countries that are set to resume in Washington, Saar said: “Tomorrow the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington DC. I call on the government of Lebanon – let’s work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory.
“This cooperation is needed by you even more than by us. It requires moral clarity and the courage to take risks. But there is no real alternative for ensuring a future of peace for you and for us.”
The Israeli military said it killed “two terrorists who had violated the ceasefire agreement” in southern Lebanon, saying they crossed what it described as the front defence line that separates an area occupied by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the rest of the country.
In a report issued today, the IDF said: “Yesterday (Tuesday), forces identified two terrorists in the Saluki area who violated the ceasefire agreements, crossed the front defence line, and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat.
“After identification and a quick closing of the circle, the air force attacked and eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat.”
After the 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire took effect on Friday, the Israeli military has carried out demolitions in the territory that it occupies on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, while Hezbollah said it had launched rockets toward northern Israel in retaliation for what it said were Israeli violations of the truce.
Two million people in Iran lost their jobs because of war, says Iranian minister
More than two million people have lost their jobs in Iran as a result of the war, according to an Iranian minister, pushing a fragile economy already battered by sanctions and an internet blackout deeper into crisis.
The war has inflicted severe damage on Iran’s critical infrastructure, including its oil and gas facilities, petrochemical industries, steel plants and aluminium factories. Internet disruptions during the January protests, and the blackout since the start of the war on 28 February, have also paralysed the digital economy.
Widespread redundancies have followed, with Hadi Kahalzadeh, a former economist at Iran’s Social Security Organisation, estimating 10 to 12 million jobs, roughly 50% of Iran’s workforce, are at risk.
Earlier this week, Gholamhossein Mohammadi, an Iranian deputy labour minister and head of Iran’s technical and vocational training organisation, said initial estimates showed the war has led to the loss of more than one million jobs and direct and indirect unemployment of two million people, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
He said the Iranian government has launched initiatives to train and recruit people for the reconstruction of damaged homes and industries. He was quoted as saying: “Our approach this year has shifted from quantity to quality, with a focus on the training required for reconstruction, renewable energy and the digital economy.”
Updated
Second ship reports attack in strait of Hormuz
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a second ship coming under attack in the strait of Hormuz.
A cargo ship was fired at about 8 nautical miles west of Iran, UKMTO said, although it did not say where the shots were fired from.
In a report issued this morning, UKMTO said: “A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel.
“UKMTO is aware of high levels of activity in the SoH (strait of Hormuz) area and encourages vessels to report any suspicious activity.”
It follows an earlier report of a container ship that was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman.
Updated
Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reports.
Mizan said the man had held a position in a civil defence unit within a sensitive organisation and had used his access to gather and transmit information to Israel’s Mossad, Reuters reported.
His death sentence was upheld by the supreme court, Mizan said.
In the UK, inflation rose by 3.3% in March after the surge in fuel prices triggered by the Iran war led to the biggest jump in transport costs since December 2022.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the consumer prices index increased last month from 3% in February, adding to pressure on household finances already battered by a cost of living crisis. The rise matched City economists’s forecasts.
Grant Fitzner, the ONS chief economist, said: “Inflation climbed in March, largely due to increased fuel prices, which saw their largest increase for over three years.
“Air fares were another upward driver this month, alongside rising food prices.”
Read the full report here:
Iranian media has reported the container ship that was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman had “ignored warnings from the Iranian armed forces”.
As reported earlier, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a container ship coming under fire near the strait of Hormuz by an IRGC gunboat, causing damage to the vessel but no casualties.
The incident happened 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, UKMTO said, adding that the captain of the tanker reported the gunboat opened fire without issuing a radio challenge.
But Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the vessel “ignored warnings from the Iranian armed forces [and] was fired upon … causing serious damage to the ship”.
Updated
IRGC warns it would inflict 'crushing blows' if fighting resumes
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned it would inflict “crushing blows” against “the enemy’s remaining assets” in the Middle East if fighting resumed, according to Iranian media.
The warning came after Donald Trump announced an extension of the US-Iran ceasefire that was set to expire today.
In a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said it is “prepared to confront any threat or renewed aggression from the enemy decisively, conclusively, and immediately, and in the next phase of a potential military conflict, will inflict crushing and unimaginable blows on the enemy’s remaining assets in the region”.
Updated
The head of the UN maritime agency has appealed for help for thousands of seafarers stranded in the Gulf by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz.
About 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The agency said at least 10 seafarers have been killed and several more severely injured in attacks on commercial vessels since the start of the war.
IMO’s secretary general, Arsenio Dominguez, said the agency is working on an evacuation plan for the stranded ships but that it can only be put into action when there are clear signs of de-escalation.
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Interim summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s the main news of the day. It is 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Jerusalem and Beirut, and 2am in Washington DC.
Donald Trump unilaterally said he is extending the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request while awaiting a “unified proposal” from Tehran, even as the US military maintains its blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump made the announcement as ceasefire talks looked increasingly uncertain with a two-week truce set to expire on Wednesday. Both countries had said they were prepared to resume fighting if no deal is reached.
Trump said he would “extend the ceasefire until such time as [Iran’s] proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other”.
Trump later claimed in a Truth Social post that Iran is “collapsing financially” and was losing $500m every day that the strait of Hormuz is effectively closed.
Iran has yet to decide whether to join the negotiations in Pakistan, a foreign ministry spokesman said earlier on Tuesday, and will only take part if Tehran believes the discussions would yield results.
A container ship has reported being fired at by an IRGC gunboat, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. The incident occurred 15 nautical miles north-east of Oman. The vessel sustained “heavy damage” to its bridge, the master of the ship said. All crew members were reported as safe.
Shares were mixed in Asia as markets waited to see if the US and Iran may resume talks. Brent crude edged higher to $98.51 a barrel, while US benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $89.29 a barrel.
One person was killed and two others wounded in an Israeli drone strike overnight on the outskirts of al-Jbour in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, Lebanese state media reported. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Friday.
Since the war started, fighting has killed at least 3,375 people in Iran and more than 2,290 in Lebanon, the Associated Press reported. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to prevent oil production in the Middle East if the Islamic republic faced attacks launched from its Gulf neighbours’ territory.
Updated
Europe readies energy crisis response amid jet fuel shortage warnings
The European Commission will set out plans today to cut electricity taxes and coordinate the summer refill of countries’ gas storage, as it seeks to cushion the energy fallout from the Iran war.
Draft proposals seen by Reuters show the EU will, for now, avoid major market interventions such as capping gas prices or taxing energy companies’ windfall profits – measures it used in 2022 when Russia cut gas supplies and prices hit record highs.
Instead, the Commission plans to curb EU tax rules to favour electricity over oil and gas, and make it easier for governments to cut industries’ electricity taxes to zero, according to the drafts, which could still change before publication.
The EU would also step in to coordinate countries’ efforts to fill gas storage in the coming months, and provide guidance on how governments should handle potential jet fuel shortages.
Europe’s heavy reliance on oil and gas imports has left it exposed to spiralling prices since the strait of Hormuz was effectively closed and Iran started attacking energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
Europe’s benchmark gas price on Tuesday was roughly a third higher than before the war began on 28 February.
The EU’s biggest oil and gas suppliers – the US and Norway – are outside the Middle East, and the Iran crisis has not yet triggered fuel shortages in Europe. Airlines have warned, however, that jet fuel shortages could emerge in weeks.
Trump administration halts US dollar shipments to Iraq: report
The Trump administration has halted US dollar shipments to Iraq and frozen security cooperation programs with its military, as it presses Baghdad to dismantle Iranian-backed militias operating in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing Iraqi and US officials.
US Treasury department officials recently blocked a delivery of nearly $500m in US banknotes – the proceeds of Iraqi oil sales – from accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Journal said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The US Treasury department and the federal reserve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington has also informed Baghdad it is suspending funding for some counter-terrorism and military training programs until militia attacks end and Iraqi authorities take steps to dismantle armed groups, the report added.
The US earlier this month summoned Iraq’s ambassador after a drone struck a major US diplomatic facility in Baghdad, following a series of drone attacks that Washington has blamed on Iran-aligned “terrorist militias”.
Updated
One person was killed and two others wounded in an Israeli drone strike overnight on the outskirts of al-Jbour in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, Lebanese state news agency has reported.
Israel and Lebanon are meant to be adhering to a 10-day ceasefire, which was agreed on Friday and included Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon will hold fresh talks in Washington on Thursday, according to a US state department official. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, will reportedly be part of the US delegation involved in those talks.
Updated
IRGC gunboat attacks container ship off Oman: report
We’re seeing reports that a container ship off the coast of Oman was fired at by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboat, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The shots “caused heavy damage to the bridge”, but all crew are reportedly safe, the UKMTO said.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the assault.
It comes after the US seized an Iranian container ship after shooting it this past weekend and boarded an oil tanker associated with Iran’s oil trade in the Indian Ocean.
We’ll have more on this as it comes to hand.
Updated
Trump's musings on UAE's wartime economy and 'currency swap' elicits denial
Donald Trump’s appearance on CNBC, where he discussed the state of the United Arab Emirates’ wartime economy, drew a quick response from the UAE’s ambassador to the US, denying his country was in financial strife because of the war.
Trump had said the US was considering helping the UAE financially, and spoke about a potential currency swap.
“It is,” Trump told CNBC on Tuesday when asked if a currency swap with the UAE was under consideration, calling them a good ally.
“They’re really led by incredible people ... I mean, I’m surprised, because they are really rich,” he said.
“If I could help them, I would, I mean, we’re helping them much more with what we’re doing with the war,” Trump said, referring to the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE’s central bank governor raised the idea of a currency swap line with the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and federal reserve officials in meetings in Washington last week, in case the war plunges the oil-rich country into a deeper crisis.
“If the UAE had a problem – I find it hard to believe – but if they had a problem, we would be there for them,” Trump said.
Later, Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to US, said he appreciated Trump’s recognition of the country as an important partner but maintained that the UAE’s economy remained resilient.
“Any suggestion that the UAE requires external financial backing misreads the facts,” he said in a statement posted on X by the embassy. “The UAE is one of the world’s most financially resilient economies, underpinned by more than $2 trillion in sovereign investment assets; more than $300 billion in foreign currency reserves held by the UAE’s central bank; and a banking sector with approximately $1.5 trillion in deposits.”
The UAE is an autocratically ruled federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, and home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
While able to export some oil through a pipeline to the Gulf of Oman, the continued chaos around the strait of Hormuz has cut off a lot of its oil from reaching the market.
The war also has affected businesses in Dubai and the country’s long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad.
Far-flung Pacific nations are reeling from the impact of a global fuel crisis.
Aid agencies have warned that the crisis has driven up prices for diesel, petrol and kerosene by as much as 70% in Papua New Guinea since the start of the Iran war.
Pacific Island nations are the most reliant on diesel for power generation worldwide, the International Finance Corp said in 2024.
Pacific countries imported about 2.2 million metric tons of gasoline, diesel, gasoil and jet fuel in 2025, largely from Singapore and South Korea, Kpler shiptracking data showed. But imports for the first half of April were just a quarter of the figure for all of March.
In Kiribati, people are struggling to get to work, school and access healthcare, a charity has warned. Meanwhile, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands have both declared states of emergency.
The Cook Islands, Nauru and Papua New Guinea have moved to subsidise or cap rising fuel costs.
In Fiji, ministers agreed to take a pay cut of 20% to help shoulder some of the measures to offset fuel costs, though parliament must approve the change.
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Donald Trump posted to Truth Social about 10 minutes ago, claiming Iran is “collapsing financially” and was losing $500m every day the strait of Hormuz is closed.
Iran is collapsing financially! They want the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately- Starving for cash! Losing 500 Million Dollars a day. Military and Police complaining that they are not getting paid. SOS!!!
Trump has posted about Iran several times on Tuesday (it has just gone 11.55pm in Washington DC).
“People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!” Trump said in an earlier post.
Updated
Asian shares mixed, oil prices ease
Shares have been mixed in early trading across Asia, while oil prices have eased on hopes the US and Iran may resume talks to end their war.
The price of Brent crude edged 0.2% lower but was still above $98 a barrel. US benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $89.29 a barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5%, the Kospi in South Korea edged 0.2% lower and Australia’s S+P/ASX 200 dipped 0.9%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.3%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.1%. In Taiwan, the Taiex was up 1.1%.
In Tuesday trading on Wall Street, the S+P 500 added 1.2% to its leap from the day before, closing at 6,967.38.
Global inflation this year looks set to accelerate to 4.4% from 4.1% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which had earlier thought inflation would slow to 3.8%.
Updated
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.
Hours before the ceasefire between the US and Iran was due to expire, Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would extend it at Pakistan’s request while awaiting a “unified proposal” from Tehran, even as the US military maintained its blockade of Iranian ports.
The move comes as the White House put on hold vice-president JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan for a second round of truce talks with Iran, which has balked at further discussions.
Iran has said the US must end the blockade of its ports in order for negotiations to resume. But Trump and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday both warned that the US Navy blockade will continue. Tehran’s position has been it will only take part in talks if it believes discussions in Islamabad will yield results.
After Trump’s unilateral announcement, Pakistan’s president, Shehbaz Sharif, thanked the US president for extending the ceasefire with Iran, saying it would allow ongoing diplomatic efforts to proceed.
In a post on X, Sharif said he was expressing gratitude “on my personal behalf and on behalf of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir” for Trump’s “gracious acceptance” of Pakistan’s request to extend the ceasefire.
Oil prices also wavered before Trump announced the extension, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude went from less than $95 to about $100 during the day. It settled at $98.48, up 3.1%.
In other developments:
Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded some fire on Tuesday. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets and drones at Israeli forces maintaining a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. In response, Israel said it had struck the launcher, calling Hezbollah’s strikes a blatant violation of the ceasefire.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, will be part of the US delegation for upcoming direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, according to CNN. Israel and Lebanon, will hold fresh talks in Washington on Thursday, a state department official said.
The US Treasury’s Scott Bessent said that as a result of the US blockade, “in a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in”. In a statement posted on X, Bessent said the US “will continue to apply maximum pressure through Economic Fury to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds”.
Gen Majid Mousavi, the aerospace chief for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said oil facilities across the region would be harmed if neighbouring countries allow the US to carry out attacks. “If southern neighbours allow the enemy to use their facilities to attack Iran, they should say goodbye to oil production in the Middle East region,” he told Iranian state media.
Britain will host military planners from over 30 countries for two days of talks starting Wednesday on a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the strait of Hormuz, the defence ministry said.
Since the war started, fighting has killed at least 3,375 people in Iran and more than 2,290 in Lebanon, the Associated Press reports. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.
