Ceasefire at risk with possible mines in Strait of Hormuz and Israel attacking Lebanon

Iran, the United States and Israel agreed Tuesday to a two-week ceasefire, an eleventh-hour deal that headed off U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday, just hours after the announcement, though it was not clear if the strikes would scuttle the deal.

Edited By  LORIAN BELANGER, AP, April 9: Major developments on US-IRAN-ISRAEL war: 

• Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Wednesday that a ceasefire and negotiations with the U.S. on ending the war is “unreasonable” as he accused the U.S. of violating three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting. It comes as the not yet day-old ceasefire appears at risk of fraying over significant disagreements between the parties.
• The United States and Iran both claimed victory Wednesday after the two countries and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire to halt more than a month of war, even as more drones and missiles hit the Islamic Republic and Gulf Arab states.
• Israel has pushed forward its war against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, striking dense commercial and residential areas of Beirut without warning. Lebanon said at least 182 people were killed and hundreds were wounded, making it the deadliest day in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday that the ceasefire deal doesn’t cover fighting against Hezbollah, contradicting what Pakistan, the deal’s broker, and other nations had said. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, and the U.S. demanded that Iran immediately reopen it.
• All sides have presented vastly different versions of the terms. In one instance, Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump opposes.

Pakistan said talks to seek a permanent end to the war could begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday. The White House confirmed that U.S. Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. negotiating team.

Israeli strike kills at least 7 people in southern Lebanon, state media say

By TOQA EZZIDIN: The strike in the southern Lebanese village of Abbasiyeh also wounded others, the National News Agency reported Thursday morning, in what it said was a preliminary toll.

The Israeli military did not immediately acknowledge the strike.

Israel intensified its strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, saying that its fight with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group is not part of the two-week ceasefire deal with Iran.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the strikes on Wednesday killed at least 182 people and wounded 890 others, the highest single-day death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

Pakistan declares 2-day holiday in Islamabad ahead of US-Iran talks

By MUNIR AHMED: Pakistan has shut schools and government offices for two days in the capital, Islamabad, to keep people off the roads as authorities ramp up security ahead of U.S.-Iran talks later this week.

Officials have imposed sweeping restrictions across the city, including blocking key roads connecting Islamabad with neighboring Rawalpindi.

Shipping containers have been placed at multiple points to restrict movement and limit public access to sensitive areas.

Islamabad appeared unusually quiet Thursday, with many residents staying home as traffic diversions forced longer commutes between Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The restrictions follow recent unrest in March, when protests by Shiite groups erupted across the country in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

More than two dozen people were killed in those demonstrations nationwide.

In Karachi, 12 people were killed when protesters stormed the U.S. consulate and attempted to set it on fire.

First responders in Beirut search for people under the rubble after deadly Israeli strikes

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB, HUSSEIN MALLA: The widespread Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed at least 182 people and wounded 890 others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Civil Defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press that a wounded woman was found alive under the rubble overnight in the seaside Beirut neighborhood of Ain Mreisseh.

A man whose building collapsed after strikes in the capital’s southern suburbs was also found alive in rubble.

“The others so far have been killed,” Khairallah said.

Meanwhile, others like Mohammad Chehab, a Syrian man from Deir el-Zour, are anxiously waiting.

Six of his 10 family members have been found but others are still missing. He tries to stay hopeful.

“They’ve been searching all day,” he said nervously, watching rescue workers dig through the rubble.

Fortified Islamabad awaits Pakistan-hosted U.S.-Iran peace talks with tight security

By MUNIR AHMED: Pakistani authorities have stepped-up security in the capital, Islamabad, deploying hundreds of additional police and paramilitary forces ahead of much-awaited peace talks between the United States and Iran.

The talks, seen as a potentially significant diplomatic opening to end the war in the region, will begin later this week.

On Thursday, authorities also moved to seal off parts of the city by placing shipping containers along key roads leading to the city’s Red Zone, a heavily fortified enclave that houses the president and prime minister’s office, the Foreign Ministry, and foreign embassies.

A nearby hotel, where the delegations are expected to stay, has also been brought under tight security.

Iran has not said who will represent its delegation, which is due to arrive in Islamabad later Thursday.

The White House, however, has confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. negotiating team in talks with Iran aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war.

Iranian negotiating team arrives tonight in Islamabad

By JON GAMBRELL: Iran’s negotiating team for talks with the United States will arrive Thursday night in Islamabad, the Iranian ambassador there said.

Reza Amiri Moghadam made the comment on X, without identifying who was on the Iranian team.

He wrote that the “Iranian delegation arrives tonight in Islamabad for serious talks based on 10 points proposed by Iran.”

Those points include Iran enriching uranium, maintaining its control of the Strait of Hormuz and other issues that have been nonstarters in the past for U.S. President Donald Trump.

The White House has repeatedly described the 10 points issued by Iran as false.

Moghadam wrote that the Iranians would come to Islamabad despite “skepticism of Iranian public opinion due to repeated ceasefire violations by Israeli regime to sabotage the diplomatic initiative.”

That refers to Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, which Israel and the U.S. have said wasn’t included in the shaky ceasefire.

Oil rises and Asian stocks retreat on fragile Iran ceasefire

By CHAN HO-HIM: Oil rose again to above $97 a barrel and Asian stocks were trading lower Thursday on skepticism over a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Brent crude was up 2.9% to $97.46 per barrel. It previously fell briefly to below $92 following the temporary ceasefire announcement.

Benchmark U.S. crude was 3.7% higher Thursday at $97.94 per barrel.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8% to 55,855.57, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.7% to 5,773.03.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2% to 25,831.21. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.8% to 3,961.31.

Ship-tracking data shows only 4 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday

By JON GAMBRELL: Ship-tracking data from trade data and analytics platform Kpler showed only four vessels with their Automatic Identification System trackers on passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the first day of the ceasefire.

However, this total does not include so-called “dark fleet” vessels — those with their AIS trackers turned off.

Many of those “dark fleet” ships carry sanctioned Iranian crude oil out to the open market.

Trump posts message promising combat troops will remain in region

By JON GAMBRELL: U.S. President Donald Trump issued an online statement Thursday insisting that his surge of warships and troops will remain around Iran “until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.”

Trump’s comments on his Truth Social platform appear to be a way to pressure Iran as uncertainty hangs over the tentative two-week ceasefire now holding in the war.

“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” Trump wrote.

He also insisted Iran would not be able to build nuclear weapons and “the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE.” That comes as vessels are not moving through that waterway, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded once passed.

Worships starts again at Al-Aqsa Mosque, other Jerusalem sites closed by war

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO: The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound reopened with dawn prayer Thursday after being closed for the duration of the Iran war, according to Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian religious authority that administers the compound.

Jerusalem’s police said Wednesday that it would lift restrictions on all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City starting Thursday morning. It added that hundreds of officers and volunteers would be active in the city.

Access had been prohibited altogether, or restricted to a few dozen faithful, at Christian, Jewish and Muslim sites during the now-paused conflict, when missile attacks from Iran often sent Jerusalem residents into shelters.

The restrictions subdued Lent, Passover and Ramadan celebrations for many in some of the holiest sites for adherents of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

But they’re lifted just in time for Orthodox Christians, who celebrate Easter (Pascha) on Sunday, a week after Catholic and Protestant observances.