There remain many issues that could derail the truce -- as well as negotiations for a broader deal to permanently end the war.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks set for Saturday wouldn’t happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon. And US President Donald Trump complained that Iran was “doing a very poor job” by not allowing the free flow of ships through the strait, through which 20 per cent of the world’s traded oil once passed.
And yet, preparations for the talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan appeared to move forward, with US Vice President JD Vance set to take off from Washington. (Agencies)
A former Iranian foreign minister who once suggested Tehran could seek a nuclear weapon died late Thursday after being wounded in an airstrike last week, Iranian state television reported. Kamal Kharazi had served as a foreign minister for Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami, then as a foreign affairs adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In 2022, he told news network Al Jazeera that Tehran has "the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb, but there has been no decision by Iran to build one," sparking concern about Tehran's intentions.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday reviewed the security arrangements in Islamabad ahead of the arrival of the Iranian and US delegations for peace talks aimed to end the conflict in West Asia. The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Wednesday, followed by a face-to-face meeting in Islamabad to settle the differences and convert the ongoing truce into a lasting peace.
Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of its backer, Iran, has threatened to scupper the deal. The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. It was the deadliest day in the country since the war began February 28.
Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring "explicit costs and STRONG responses." Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet Vance in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the US have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that US forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.
US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the two-week ceasefire over Iran’s continued chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, while Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the ceasefire. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied launching attacks on Persian Gulf states after Kuwait’s announcement.
Singapore: Asian stocks advanced on Friday, putting them on track for their best week in more than three years, as Israel sought talks with Lebanon, raising hopes for a break in Middle East hostilities and an opening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Reuters
Ukrainian military personnel shot down Iranian-designed Shahed drones in multiple Middle Eastern countries during the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing the operations as part of a broader effort to help partners counter the same weapons used by Russia in Ukraine. Zelenskyy made his first public acknowledgment of the operations Wednesday in remarks to reporters that were embargoed until Friday. He said Ukrainian forces took part in active operations abroad using domestically produced interceptor drones proven in countering Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia in Ukraine. AP
Pakistan said Friday it would issue visas on arrival for those travelling to Islamabad for the Iran-US talks, signalling the interest in the world's media in the event. AP
Japan said it will release an additional 20 days’ worth of oil reserves in May, in a second round to address supply uncertainty over the war in the Middle East. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the planned release of the government reserves will start in early May, after an earlier release last month.
Multiple times overnight into Friday morning, people around Iran’s capital, Tehran, and other parts of the country said they heard what sounded like air defence fire and explosions. However, Iran’s government did not acknowledge any attack during that period. After past exchanges of fire with Israel, similar incidents happened as troops remained on edge. AP
A fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran showed further strain on Friday, a day before they are to negotiate in Pakistan, as Washington accused Tehran of breaching promises on the Strait of Hormuz and Israel struck Lebanon with attacks that Iran has claimed violate the truce.
There was no sign Iran was lifting its near-total blockade of the strait, which has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies.
Tehran cited Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon, which included the heaviest strikes of the war on Wednesday, as a key sticking point. US President Donald Trump said in a social media post late Thursday that Iran was doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil to go through the strait. "That is not the agreement we have!" In a separate post, he said oil would start flowing again, without saying what actions the US might take.
President Donald Trump’s search for an off-ramp from the war with Iran is getting bumpy inside his Republican Party.
In the decade since Trump’s “America First” movement rose to power by rejecting military intervention, his coalition has rarely been tested the way it is now.
Trump’s exit efforts - first through threats of annihilation, then with a ceasefire that is proving precarious - are doing little to paper over tensions that have festered since the war began six weeks ago.
Uncertainty shrouded the US-Iran dialogue, as there was no official word about the arrival of delegates on Friday, the day set for the start of talks between the two warring sides, even as Pakistan waived visa requirements for journalists and officials attending talks.
 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while announcing a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, had stated that the two countries would hold talks in Islamabad on April 10. He had tagged presidents of the United States and Iran and other officials in his statement on X. Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amir Moghadam in a statement confirmed that a 10-member Iran delegation would arrive in Islamabad. PTI
Airline pilots who have safety concerns about flying in the Middle East during the Iran war have told a global aviators' union group they fear blowback ranging from lost pay to being fired if they refuse assignments, its president Ron Hay said.
Pilots from Lebanon to India have voiced "widespread" concerns they could face sanctions if they do not fly in often unpredictable conditions where airspace can close with little notice due to missile or drone strikes, according to the head of the International Federation of Air Line Pilot' Associations.
US consumer prices likely recorded their biggest increase in nearly four years in March as the war with Iran boosted oil prices and the pass-through from tariffs persisted, which would further diminish hopes for an interest rate cut this year.
The anticipated surge in the monthly Consumer Price Index would follow in the wake of a sharp rebound in job growth last month, which suggested the labor market remained stable. There are, however, concerns that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could undercut the labor market, especially if households respond to high prices by pulling back spending.
Underlining Iran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, a Botswana-flagged liquified natural gas tanker called the Nidi attempted to travel out of the Persian Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard but suddenly turned around and headed back early Friday, ship-tracking data showed.
The dollar on Friday was heading for its largest weekly drop since January as other currencies gained on optimism that a ceasefire in the Gulf will hold and oil shipping will resume. Further direction for markets is likely to hang on the outcome of weekend talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad.
Asian stocks ticked up early on Friday but gains were capped as traders questioned the durability of this week's US-Iran ceasefire and remained wary of fragile hopes for Israel-Lebanon peace talks. Investors were nervous as Iran cited Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon as a key sticking point in its agreement with the US.