Pakistan’s army chief met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10-day pause in fighting between Israel and Lebanon starting on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, following “excellent” conversations he had with each nation’s leader. Trump also said he’s
inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for the leaders’ first direct talks in over 30 years. Nearly 2,200 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli air strikes.
The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports continued as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would ramp up economic pain on Iran with new economic sanctions on countries doing business with it, calling the move the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.
The White House said any further talks with Iran would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations. Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator after it hosted direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad.
In a development in the war's other front, Trump wrote late Wednesday on Truth Social that leaders from Israel and Lebanon would speak the next day in a renewed effort to broker a ceasefire after the countries’ first direct talks in decades ended the previous day in Washington without a deal.
Here is the latest:
“I had a great talk with both of them today,” Trump said of this conversations with Aoun and Netanyahu. “They’re going to be having a ceasefire, and that’ll include Hezbollah.”
Trump in an extended exchange with reporters said also that he expected that Aoun and Netanyahu would meet in the next week or two, before saying the White House meeting between the Mideast leaders could happen in the next four or five days.
The president added that he was open to visiting Lebanon “at the right time.”
The U.S. president played down prices at the pump averaging $4.09 a gallon nationwide, saying the cost wasn’t so great relative to the risk of evening higher prices tied to keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
“Well, they’re not very high, if you look at what they were supposed to be in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters about gas prices before a planned trip to Las Vegas.
The president repeated a past claim that he thought the war with Iran would have driven energy costs much higher.
Gas prices are up roughly 29% from a year ago, according to AAA.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.
In a video statement, Netanyahu said he was taking the step in an attempt “to advance” peace efforts with Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon opened negotiations this week in Washington aimed at forging a peace agreement. The Hezbollah militant group, which has been fighting Israel for six weeks, has said it opposes the dialogue.
“We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni greeted the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as “excellent news,” achieved “thanks to the mediation of the United States.”
She added that the ceasefire must be fully respected, singling out Hezbollah “for having started this conflict,” and expressed hope that it would create conditions for talks leading “to a full and lasting peace” between Israel and Lebanon.
Italy has the second-largest contingent of U.N. peacekeepers serving in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said in a statement that “any ceasefire must be comprehensive across all Lebanese territory and must not allow the Israeli enemy any freedom of movement.”
Israel offered no official comment on Trump’s announcement.
Hezbollah added that “Israeli occupation on our land grants Lebanon and its people the right to resist it, and this matter will be determined based on how developments unfold,” a stance that could complicate the ceasefire.
Israel has staged a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, where its forces have been engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah militants in the border area. It is unclear whether Israel would withdraw some or all of its forces as part of the truce.
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Two local leaders in northern Israel criticized a proposed ceasefire with Lebanon, warning it would leave communities vulnerable.
Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, said agreements may be signed in Washington but “the price is paid here in blood, in destroyed homes and shattered communities.”
He warned that a ceasefire without strict enforcement against Hezbollah and a buffer zone up to the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) north of the Israeli border, would amount to “waiting for the next massacre.”
Eitan Davidi, head of the Margaliot moshav, called the move “a surrender” and “a political defeat.” He told the N12 news site it was made without coordination with northern residents and contradicts the stated goal of dismantling Hezbollah’s capabilities.
Ambassador Fu Cong said the strait “should be safeguarded” for international navigation and called on Iran to take ‘proactive measures’ to open the waterway, used to ship about 20% of the world’s oil.
“The issue of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a spillover effect of the conflict in Iran,” he said. “Only a complete ceasefire can fundamentally create conditions for easing the situation.”
Fu told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday that Beijing is engaged “in intensive mediation with all parties to actively promote talks for peace”’ and an end to the war in Iran.
The 193-member world body was meeting to hear China and Russia explain why they vetoed a Security Council resolution backed by the U.S. and Gulf nations aimed at opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Fu claimed the resolution would have given “a carte blanche for the continuation of aggressive actions and further escalation” rather than de-escalate the conflict and promote negotiations.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the ceasefire was Lebanon’s first goal in landmark talks that took place with Israel in Washington on Tuesday between the country’s ambassadors to the U.S.
“While I congratulate all Lebanese on this achievement, I offer my condolences to the families of the martyrs who fell, and I affirm my solidarity with their families, with the wounded, and with the citizens forced to flee their cities and villages,” Salam said.
Trump said it would be “the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983.”
“Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement in 1983 saying Lebanon would formally recognize Israel and Israel would withdraw from Lebanon. The deal fell apart during Lebanon’s civil war and was formally rescinded a year later.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei criticized economic threats by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying they harm “innocent people” and reflect an “inhumane mindset.”
“These are nothing short of economic terrorism and state-sponsored extortion,” he wrote on X, referring to Bessent’s Wednesday remarks about potentially carrying out the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.
The U.S. military has released an expansive lists of goods it considers contraband as part of its blockade of Iran and declares it will seize from merchant vessels “regardless of location.”
In a notice published Thursday, the U.S. military says any “goods that are destined for an enemy and that may be susceptible to use in armed conflict” are “subject to capture at any place beyond neutral territory.”
The list includes items like arms, ammunition and military equipment that are classified as “absolute contraband.” However, it also lists items like oil and iron, steel, and aluminum as well as some civilian goods, as “conditional contraband” and argues these items can be put to military use.
The notice says that otherwise innocuous items like electronics or heavy machinery can be seized if “circumstances indicate intended military end-use.”
U.S. Central Command says those vessels have turned around in the first three days of the blockade on Iranian ports at the direction of American forces.
At a Pentagon news briefing earlier Thursday, U.S. defense leaders said more than 10,000 American troops are helping enforce the blockade on Iranian ports and that no ships have yet needed to be boarded.
He said it followed “excellent” conversations he had with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades Tuesday in Washington after more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
Trump said he’s directed U.S. Vice President JD Vance others to work with Israel and Lebanon to “achieve a Lasting PEACE.” He added: “so let’s, GET IT DONE.”
The office of Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said President Trump was thanked by the Lebanese head of state to reach a ceasefire in the devastating war.
Aoun earlier spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio where he refused to have a direct call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has insisted on achieving a ceasefire ahead of continued direct talks. Israel hasn’t made a decision regarding a ceasefire.
The statement said Trump stressed “his commitment to fulfilling the Lebanese request for a ceasefire as soon as possible.”
Neither the State Department nor the White House immediately issue a statement on the calls with the Lebanese president.
A second Lebanese official said Aoun explained to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that direct talks with Netanyahu at this point would be inappropriate given the ongoing airstrikes and destruction in Lebanon and the lack of a ceasefire in place.
The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
— Kareem Chehayeb
Lufthansa said Thursday that labor disputes and high fuel prices are forcing it to immediately shut down its feeder airline CityLine earlier than planned and take its 27 older, less fuel efficient planes out of service. The decision accelerates a shutdown that had been expected for next year.
CityLine’s primary role was bringing passengers to Lufthansa’s mid- and long-haul hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, Germany. Fuel prices have soared since the outbreak of the Iran war in February and the blocking by Iran of the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage way for crude oil and fuel products from Persian Gulf producers.
CityLine will halt operations Saturday.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said that in negotiations with Iran, the U.S. is making “impossible demands for any independent country to accept.”
During a video speech Thursday, he said the ongoing two-week ceasefire was a result of “failures” by the U.S. and Israel to achieve their goals in the Iran war.
“If negotiations succeed, it will either result in a longer period of stability or an end to the aggression,” he said, adding that the U.S. entered negotiations based on their own terms built on “arrogance and pride.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says that among the killed are 260 women and 172 children since the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began March 2. Another 7,185 have been wounded.
Israel’s latest military escalation started after Hezbollah fired rockets towards northern Israel in solidarity with its key ally and patron Iran.
Lebanon and Israel started direct talks Tuesday, the first of their kind since 1993. Lebanon hopes those talks can end the war.
“There are no dates yet,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters Thursday.
“We will announce the timing of these talks as and when it is decided,” he said, urging the media to avoid speculation.
Andrabi said Pakistan’s role as a mediator and facilitator did not end when the first round of talks concluded over the weekend.
“It continued,” he said.
He said Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is visiting Iran with a delegation, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is also traveling to regional countries to promote peace.
“We will continue to advocate for peace, prosperity and stability,” he said.
Asked about the first round of talks, Andrabi said there was “certainly not a major breakthrough in terms of any concrete document emanating from these talks, but there was no breakdown as well.”
Germany’s largest shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says it’s feeling the impact of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as 150 sailors are trapped there on six of its vessels.
“Five and a half weeks in a war zone — that’s something relatively new. And of course, these are difficult days and weeks for our colleagues,” Hapag Lloyd spokesperson Nils Haupt told The Associated Press.
“We’ve been able to rotate some of them in the meantime, but you can easily imagine that after such a long time, monotony naturally sets in on board and the most important thing now in this situation is to maintain that team spirit,” he added.
Hapag-Lloyd is in contact with the captains and crews at least once a day asking how the crew is doing and what they can do to help.
It’s helpful, Haupt says, that thanks to modern satellite technology, the sailors are able to keep up communication with their families.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that “ultimately, they need to come to the table and make a deal.”
He said the U.S. will ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.
“We’d prefer to do it the nice way through a deal led by our great vice president and negotiating team. Or we can do it the hard way,” Hegseth said.
Iran has repeatedly insisted that it doesn’t seek a nuclear weapon and that its program is for peaceful purposes.
Later in the news briefing, Hegseth said to Iran’s government: “I pray you choose a deal, which is within your grasp for the betterment of your people and for the betterment of the world.”
That’s according to a government official familiar with the developments.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the remarks were made during a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that Washington was “understanding of Lebanon’s position.”
Aoun’s office acknowledged a call with Rubio in a public statement, but did not mention the possibility of talks with Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office did not do so either.
— Kareem Chehayeb
The minister, Israel Katz, warned Tehran it could opt “between a bridge to the future and an abyss of isolation and destruction.”
If Iran chooses the latter, it will “quickly discover that the targets we have not yet struck until now are even more painful than what we have already struck.”
Katz sought to frame Israel’s campaign against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a wider confrontation with Iran.
He was speaking at a memorial ceremony at the ministry Thursday.
Europe has “maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the past there was a group called ‘Dire Straits.’ It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,” he said.
The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,” Birol told the AP, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.
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Speaking at the Pentagon, he said U.S. forces “will actively pursue any Iranian flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran” — anywhere in the world.
He issued a clear warning to any targeted vessel attempting to circumvent a U.S. blockade: “Turn around or prepare to be boarded. ... We will use force.”
Caine described the effort as a “blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline” with enforcement “inside Iran’s territorial seas and in international waters.” He noted that U.S. forces in other areas of the world, including the Pacific, also would pursue vessels tied to Iran.
The blockade “applies to all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports” and includes “dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil.” He defined those as “vessels or those illicit or illegal ships evading international regulations, sanctions or insurance requirements.”
Gen. Dan Caine says more than 10,000 sailors, marines and airmen using ships, planes and helicopters are working to enforce the blockade.
Any vessel that approaches the blockade is first warned to turn around or be boarded. Warning shots and other escalatory tactics could also be used, Caine said.
Caine says that so far no ships have had to be boarded.
“Thirteen ships have made the wise choice of turning around,” he said.
President Trump’s top military advisor described Navy warships maintaining the blockade against Iran “like driving a sports car through a supermarket parking lot on a pay day weekend.”
Gen. Dan Kaine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went on to say these maneuvers are being performed “with thousands of kids in that parking lot” as they position themselves to get to ships that would attempt to run that blockade.
The defense secretary touted public support for the war during remarks at the Pentagon on Thursday, contrasting that with what he said was an overly critical press.
“They see the success. They see the reality. And they don’t demand perfection,” Hegseth said of the public, after criticizing the press.
“You only seek the negative,” Hegseth said of the press.
Hegseth is overstating public support for the conflict. A recent AP-NORC poll shows nearly 60% of Americans say U.S. military action in Iran has been excessive. Meanwhile, 45% are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the next few months.
