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Middle East crisis live: Witkoff and Kushner headed to Pakistan for Iran negotiations | US-Israel war on Iran
Key events
While US envoys head to Islamabad in the hope of renewing peace talks with Iran, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza began voting Saturday in municipal elections in a first vote since the Gaza war, marked by a narrow political field and widespread disillusionment.
Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission.
Most electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmud Abbas’s secular-nationalist Fatah party or running as independents. There are no lists affiliated with Fatah’s archrival, Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip.
A US-Kuwaiti journalist who was detained in Kuwait for online posts related to the Iran war has been released and has left the Gulf nation, after being acquitted of “spreading false information”.
A US state department official said on Friday that Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, 41, had left Kuwait.
Last week, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Shihab-Eldin had not been seen in public since 2 March, after being detained by Kuwaiti authorities during a crackdown by Gulf nations on people filming or posting footage from the conflict that started when the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.
Shihab-Eldin had been visiting family in Kuwait and was arrested on 3 March, according to CPJ. The media watchdog said he was charged with spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone.
A Kuwaiti court acquitted him on all charges, CPJ said on Thursday, citing a statement from lawyers for Shihab-Eldin’s sisters.
The US said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an independent “teapot” refinery in China for buying billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil, as Washington and Tehran head into another round of peace talks this weekend.
The Treasury Department targeted Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it said is one of Iran’s largest customers of crude oil and petroleum products. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also imposed sanctions on about 40 shipping companies and vessels that operate as part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
China has said it opposes “illegal” unilateral sanctions. On Friday, its embassy in Washington said normal trade should not be harmed and called on Washington to stop “abusing” sanctions to target Chinese companies.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, with Steve Witkoff and president Trump’s son-in-law headed to Pakistan in a bid to kickstart a new round of peace negotiations with Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, though the prospect of direct talks remained uncertain.
The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would engage in an “in-person conversation” with Iranian representatives, but Iranian state media said that direct negotiations were not on the cards.
Here is a quick recap of the latest:
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Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad late Friday. Earlier on social media, he wrote that he was travelling to Pakistan on a trip focused on “bilateral matters and regional developments.” He didn’t specify who he would meet.
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Shortly after Araghchi touched down, the country’s government made it clear there would be no direct negotiations with American government representatives during this visit. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmael Baqaei said on X that, “No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US”.
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Instead, Baqaei said Pakistani officials would convey messages between the delegations. Baqaei thanked the Pakistani government for its “ongoing mediation + good offices for ending American imposed war of aggression.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said in an interview on Fox News that Witkoff and Kushner would meet with Araghchi. “We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward to a deal,” Leavitt said. She said vice-president JD Vance would not travel but that he remains “deeply involved,” and would be willing to go to Pakistan “if we feel it’s a necessary use of his time.”
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The talks planned for Saturday come as much of the world is on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economic picture and left thousands dead across the Middle East.
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The international community continues to denounce the humanitarian crises stemming from the conflict. European Council president António Costa said on Friday that the immediate opening of the strait of Hormuz without restrictions is “vital” for the world. Also, a World Food Programme representative today said that 45 million people will face food insecurity and malnutrition if the strait of Hormuz continues to be blocked.
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Pakistan has been trying to get US and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, honouring Islamabad’s request for more time for diplomatic outreach.
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That hasn’t lowered tensions in the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime. Iran has kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the US is maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports and Trump has ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines.
The BBC’s technology editor Zoe Kleinman on the big changes coming down the line for young people online.
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Key events
“It’ll take some going for Spain v Cape Verde not to be my game of the tournament,” writes James Humphries, and he’s a Scotland supporter. “I could barely watch the last five minutes, and there was a lot of involuntary yelling and clapping. Football, bloody hell.
“It’s such a pure, pleasing underdog story I’m not even unduly bothered by the sudden realisation that cape Verde may very well end up getting more points than us.”
The story of day five has already been written
Egypt team guide
By Saher Ahmed
Egypt qualified for the World Cup unbeaten after missing out on Qatar 2022, booking their ticket to North America with a game to spare. They scored 19 goals in nine matches, as Mohamed Salah led the way with nine, conceded two goals and kept seven clean sheets. Despite the impressive numbers in qualifying, Egypt’s shape is pragmatic more than romantic and they carried that same muscle memory into the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations: tight games, deep stretches without the ball, quick release into Salah or Omar Marmoush. This was exposed by a semi-final defeat to Senegal, when Egypt were set up more to endure rather than to control.
Egypt will probably begin the World Cup in a 4-3-3 formation that becomes a 4-2-3-1 when they have to chase a game, while occasionally switching to a 3-5-2 against high blocks. Mohamed El-Shenawy is likely to start in goal, although Mostafa Shobeir has lately been giving the veteran a run for his money. The rest of the spine looks solid with Rami Rabia and either Hossam Abdelmaguid or Yasser Ibrahim in central defence. Marwan Attia and Hamdi Fathi will screen the backline and Emam Ashour will look to deliver the ball to the trio up front.
Egypt are cohesive, often hard to score against and emotionally committed, but they can still look blunt if opponents double up on Salah and the midfield cannot pass through the press. The draw placed Egypt in Group G with Belgium, Iran and New Zealand. Egypt have never won a World Cup match so ending that is the floor-level target.
Yara El-Shaboury
Last week Orange, one of Egypt’s leading mobile network operators, released a series of humorous adverts starring Egypt’s Ahmed Fatouh, Rami Rabia and Hossam Abdelmaguid, where the trio’s optimism is met with scepticism as partners and family members struggle to take them seriously. Their crime? Daring to suggest Egypt might finally progress beyond the group stage of a World Cup.
If there is one thing Egyptians do particularly well, it is self-deprecation. Perhaps that comes from history. Despite winning the Africa Cup of Nations seven times, Egypt are still waiting for their first World Cup victory. The Pharaohs will kick off their fourth appearance at the tournament against Belgium on Monday knowing they failed to win any of their seven matches so far.
That is the contradiction at the heart of Egyptian football. No African nation has won more continental titles, yet Egypt remain one of the continent’s World Cup underachievers. While other African nations aim to replicate Morocco’s 2022 semi-final success, many Egyptians would happily settle for something far more modest: a single group stage victory.
Team news
Belgium (4-2-3-1) Courtois; Meunier, Ngoy, Mechele, Ngoy, Castagne; Onana, Tielemans; Doku, De Bruyne, Trossard, De Ketelaere.
Subs: Lammens, Penders, Theate, De Cuyper, Witsel, Lukaku, Lukebakio, De Winter, Seys, Moreira, Vanaken, Saelemaekers, Raskin, Fernandez-Pardo.
Egypt (4-2-3-1) Shobeir; Hany, Fathy, Ibrahim, Fattouh; Lasheen, Attia; Salah, Ashour, Ziko; Marmoush.
Subs: El Shenawy, Soliman, Alaa, Abdelmaguid, Rabia, Abdelmoneim, Trezeguet, Abdelkarim, Hassan, Hafez, Donga, Adel, Saber, Alaa, Zizo.
Referee Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
Full time: Spain 0-0 Cape Verde
Yep, Spain 0-0 Cape Verde. There won’t be a more life-affirming goalless draw at this year’s World Cup; there may never have been one.
Belgium team guide
By Ludo Vandewalle
The head coach, Rudi Garcia, is well aware that the Red Devils’ strength lies in attack. Kevin De Bruyne, Jérémy Doku and Romelu Lukaku can each make a difference in their own way. The defence is, except for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, the weak point after the golden generation of Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen gradually retired. “That is why I will always choose four defenders and not five,” Garcia explains. “With five defenders I have to sacrifice an attacking player and that would be a shame.”
Garcia usually opts for a medium block to support the attack and not put too much pressure on the defenders. His reasoning could be described as flawed because there is a problem with Lukaku. He played only 64 minutes for Napoli this season and none for the national team because of injuries until coming off the bench in Tuesday night’s 2-0 win against Croatia, scoring the second goal in added time. He was also deeply affected by the death of his father. Belgium’s all time top scorer – 90 goals – will therefore start the World Cup without any kind of match rhythm.
The other teams in Group G are Iran and New Zealand, who meet in the last of today’s games.
Preamble
Hel and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Belgium v Egypt at Seattle Stadium. The 2026 World Cup is gathering pace – we’re already into day five, and by tomorrow morning 32 of the 48 teams will have been in action.
So far we’ve seen everything from potential winners to probable also-rans. It’s hard to know where Belgium and Egypt fit on that particular spectrum. Both are adjusting to life after a golden generation, or at least with a dwindling golden generation that no longer glisters as it once did. But they are still serious teams who could do damage in the competition.
This intriguing game should give us a clue as to the extent of that damage.
Kick off 12pm local/8pm BST/3pm EDT/5am AEST
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