Middle East crisis live: Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire with Iran | US-Israel war on Iran

Lebanon’s prime minister and French president Emmanuel Macron will discuss on Tuesday how to strengthen the country’s hand in possible direct negotiations with Israel in the United States later this week, as Beirut turns to a trusted European ally.

The US will host ambassador-level talks with Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, although it remains unclear whether the objective is to extend a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah or pave the way for deeper negotiations.

Israeli troops occupy territory deep in the south, aiming to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack, while the group says it maintains the “right to resist” Israeli occupation.

“France’s role is not to insert itself between the parties in discussions that are, by nature, bilateral and direct,” a French presidency official said ahead of prime minister Nawaf Salam’s meeting with Macron.

“France is one of the countries capable of playing a very concrete role in strengthening the Lebanese government’s hand and supporting its action in practical terms.“

Well, it looks like there was some miscommunication with our video service and there is in fact no Pete Hegseth press conference today.

We will all have to wait a little while longer to hear his latest pearls of wisdom and unique take on the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is due to give a war briefing at the Pentagon alongside Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, in about five minutes.

Stay with us as we will be covering it live and will attach a feed of the briefing at the top of the blog.

The Pentagon says US forces boarded the sanctioned M/T Tifani tanker overnight “without incident” in the Asia Pacific region.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate,” the US Department of Defense wrote in a post on X.

The Associated Press is reporting that two regional officials have said the US and Iran have indicated they will hold a new round of the ceasefire talks in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.

Officials told the news agency that “Pakistan-led mediators” received confirmation that the US vice-president JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will arrive in Islamabad tomorrow morning to lead their teams in the talks.

We have not been able to independently verify this report. Iran, which has sent mixed messages about the talks, has said speculation about them sending a delegation to Pakistan should not be believed.

Iran’s state broadcaster earlier dismissed “rumours” about the departure or arrival (times) of the delegation being spread by unnamed “international outlets and regional sources”.

Yesterday evening, Ghalibaf said in a social media post that his country would not attend negotiations while under threat – and warned they were “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

In an extremely brief Truth Social post, the US president, Donald Trump, has said that “Iran has violated the ceasefire numerous times”, without specifying what these breaches were.

His comments come amid continuing uncertainty over whether a second round of peace talks between Iran and the US will take place in Pakistan today.

On Sunday, Trump accused Iran of firing on ships passing through the strait of Hormuz in what he claimed was in violation of the ceasefire agreement due to expire tomorrow.

A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, however, said it was Washington’s blockade of the waterway that was a violation of the agreement. Trump said on Friday that the naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was reached.

At least 26 Iranian “shadow fleet” vessels have bypassed the US naval blockade of the strait of Hormuz, according to Lloyd’s List.

Since the US blockade took effect on 13 April, as many as 26 vessels have continued moving in and out of Iranian ports and have exported Iranian-origin cargo, maritime data shows. Lloyd’s List said 11 tankers laden with Iranian cargo have left the Gulf of Oman or the Middle East Gulf since 13 April.

Iran officially closed the strait – to “hostile” countries – on 4 March in response to US-Israeli airstrikes on the country, and briefly declared it back open on Friday after a 10-day ceasefire deal was agreed between Israel and Lebanon.

But Iranian officials said over the weekend they were effectively closing the vital waterway again after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports.

Since the blockade began, the US has directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port, according to a social media post published by Centcom yesterday.

China’s ambassador to Pakistan, Jiang Zaidong, has expressed his “full support” of Pakistan’s mediation efforts between the US and Iran.

In a post on X, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said talks between the country’s deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as foreign minister, and Zaidong focused on the “latest regional developments”.

“Amb Zaidong conveyed China’s full support for and appreciation of Pakistan’s continued efforts to facilitate engagement between US and Iran for sustained peace and stability in the region and beyond,” the ministry said.

During a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “normal traffic” through the strait of Hormuz “should be maintained” and, according to state media, said China “advocates for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire”.

China is widely seen to have benefited from the US-Israel war on Iran as it has enabled Beijing to boost its diplomatic power and the country’s fossil fuel stockpiles and diversified energy mix insulated it from the worst of the oil shock, as my colleague notes in this analysis piece.

The Chinese yuan has also been used by ships that have paid tolls to Iran for safe transit across the strait of Hormuz, according to reports.

The internet blackout in Iran has entered its 53rd day, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks. It said in a post on its website:

The Iran internet blackout is now in its 53rd day after 1248 hours of disconnection from global networks.

As authorities work to develop tiered access for select users and businesses, the human impacts and economic harms of this digital censorship measure continue to spiral.

A select number of officials are still able to use the internet and post regularly on social media about the war. There was an earlier internet shutdown in January during nationwide protests, which helped obscure extreme violence against Iran’s population.

Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prevot has described Israel’s military actions in Lebanon as “totally unacceptable”.

“Israel’s conduct is completely unacceptable. Of course, we must firmly condemn Hezbollah’s initial attacks, which, in seeking to show solidarity with Iran, dragged Lebanon into a war it did not want, as well as Israel’s disproportionate and indiscriminate response,” Prevot said ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

He also said Belgium is calling for at least a partial suspension of the EU’s Association’s Agreement with Israel, adding that Belgium is “aware that a full suspension is probably out of reach given the positions of the various European countries” ( see post at 09.19 for more details).

Israel started a war on Lebanon on 2 March when Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group and political party, launched rocket fire at Israel after US-Israeli airstrikes killed former Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.

The IDF responded with a wave of intense strikes across Lebanon, targeting what it claimed was Hezbollah infrastructure, though many civilians were killed (over 2,290, according to the health ministry), homes destroyed and over 1.2 million people displaced across the country.

During the war, Israel also launched a ground invasion several kilometres into Lebanese territory, with a stated goal to push Hezbollah back from the border in order to stop the ability of the group to fire rockets into communities in northern Israel. Israeli officials now say Israel will stay in control of dozens of towns and villages as part of what it describes as a security buffer zone – but from the ground this looks like a prelude to long term occupation.

The US state department will host new talks on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, an American official told the AFP news agency, after a previous meeting saw the start of a 10-day ceasefire that took effect on 16 April.

Hezbollah is of the view that direct peace talks are a form of national humiliation and are about trying to pressure the group into laying down its weapons. The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, who wants to end the Israeli occupation of southern areas of his country and stop future Israeli attacks, is in favour of engaging in the talks.

Iranian state TV is reporting that no Iranian delegation has yet departed for Pakistan to attend peace talks with the US. It is not clear yet if they will attend the talks today despite pressure from mediators to do so.

The country’s state broadcaster wrote in a post on Telegram that “no delegation from Iran has travelled to Islamabad, neither a primary nor a secondary, neither initial nor follow-up.”

Axios, meanwhile, is reporting that the US vice-president JD Vance is due to leave for Islamabad by Tuesday morning for talks with Iran, a day before the ceasefire expires.

Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy who often acts like a de facto secretary of state, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, are also expected to travel to the Pakistani capital for the talks.

Iran has been stalling because of possible pressure from the Revolutionary Guards on the negotiators to adopt a firmer line and insist there cannot be diplomacy while the US is blockading the strait of Hormuz, according to the Axios report.

Iran holds a deep mistrust of the US as it has been attacked before during previous negotiations.

You can keep up with the latest developments on the EU and from around the continent in our Europe live blog:

Jakub Krupa

Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares has just confirmed that Spain, Slovenia and Ireland have requested a discussion on suspending the EU’s association treaty with Israel at today’s meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.

He said the process was about the EU’s “credibility” on all other issues, as the bloc is expected to stand “for the same principles” everywhere.

He said that if the EU is “not capable to say today to Israel” that it is expected to respect human rights and international law, and not make war a foreign policy tool, “we are going to lose that credibility.”

“We have to say the same thing that we say to Russia concerning Ukraine, and that we say in other scenarios, and since the last time we brought this same position, things have worsened,” he said.

European Union has to say today very clearly to Israel that that change is needed. That’s not the right path, and that while Israel continues in that path of a permanent perpetual war, we will not be able to [run our relations] in the same way.

He said that if suspending the association treaty in full is unacceptable for some members, the bloc should consider suspending at least the trade element of the deal.

Israel is continuing its attacks on Gaza, where the humanitarian situation remains dire despite a ceasefire.

At least four Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks in the southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip so far today, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting.

In its latest update, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 72,560 Palestinian people have been killed and 172,317 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023.

At least 784 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025, according to the ministry, whose figures the UN generally find reliable.

Most of the people killed have been civilians and the true death toll is likely much higher given the number of people still buried under rubble across the territory.

Aid groups say broken infrastructure and inconsistent electricity have turned untreated sewage into a growing public health risk, and there is a view that the US and Israeli war on Iran has resulted in even higher prices for food and other essentials.