Iran says not attending talks, Vance-led US delegation 'en route' to Pakistan

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am BST. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran here.

The UN Security Council on Monday condemned the recent killing of a French peacekeeper in Lebanon, whose death France has blamed on Hezbollah.

The Frenchman was killed and three others wounded when their unit was ambushed on Saturday as it headed to a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) outpost cut off from the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack...(and) reaffirmed their full support for UNIFIL" a statement from the UN body said.

US Vice President JD Vance will travel to Pakistan on Tuesday for Iran talks, Axios reported Monday citing US sources. 

Two Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a police post northwest of Khan Younis, according to Al-Jazeera, citing the Palestinian Information Center.

Iran's powerful parliament speaker warned Monday that Tehran had "new cards" if war resumes with the United States and Israel, ahead of the expiration of a two-week ceasefire.

"We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the last two weeks we have been preparing to show new cards on the battlefield," Ghalibaf, Iran's top negotiator in talks with the United States, wrote on X.

President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States would not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran had agreed a peace deal to end the war.

"THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a 'DEAL,' is absolutely destroying Iran," Trump said on social media. "They are losing $500 Million Dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run."

Traffic has again seized up in the Strait of Hormuz as both Tehran and Washington impose separate blockades.

The United States on Thursday will hold new talks between Israel and Lebanon aimed at encouraging an agreement, a US official told AFP, after the start of a shaky US-brokered ceasefire.

"We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments," a State Department official said Monday on customary condition of anonymity.

Iran has reopened several airports in the capital, Tehran, including the Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports.

Iraq's alliance of Shia political blocs, the Coordination Framework, has named Bassem al-Badry as its nominee for the post of prime minister, a brief statement from the bloc said on Monday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar that the US "continued violations of the ceasefire" are a major obstacle to the continuation of the diplomatic process, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Monday.

Araqchi told Dar in a phone call that Iran, while taking all aspects of the matter into account, will decide on how to proceed further.

Pakistan is confident it can get Iran to attend talks with the United States, a senior Pakistani government official told Reuters on Monday.

"We have received a positive signal from Iran. Things are fluid but we are trying that they should be here when we start the talks tomorrow or a day after," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source added Pakistan is actively engaged with Tehran and Washington as US President Donald Trump's ceasefire deadline looms. 

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,387 people since the war with Hezbollah erupted six weeks ago, a Lebanese government body said in a new toll.

The disaster risk management unit added that 7,602 people had been wounded over the same period.

Since a 10-day ceasefire went into force on Friday, authorities and rescuers have been recovering bodies under the rubble of buildings in areas that were subjected to heavy Israeli strikes.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he believed a nuclear deal the US is negotiating with Iran will be better than the international agreement agreed to in 2015 to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

"The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as 'The Iran Nuclear Deal,'" Trump wrote in a social media post after criticism from Democrats and some nuclear experts that he is rushing negotiations on a highly complex topic.

US President Donald Trump has told Bloomberg that it is unlikely that he will extend the two-week ceasefire past Wednesday, adding that it expired "Wednesday evening Washington time."

"I'm not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We've got all the time in the world," he added.

He further went on to say that his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to Iranian shipping would continue: "The Iranians desperately want it opened. I'm not opening it until a deal is signed."

Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike hit a town in the country's south on Monday despite a 10-day ceasefire in force between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The state-run National News Agency said that "an enemy drone targeted the vicinity of the Litani River in the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr", without immediately reporting casualties. Under the ceasefire, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

Moscow on Monday called for the US-Iran ceasefire to be maintained and for diplomatic efforts to continue, after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Iranian counterpart.

"The Russian side again emphasised the need to preserve the truce, which must be observed within the parameters initially agreed upon and announced by the Pakistani mediators," the foreign ministry said after the call between Lavrov and Iran's Abbas Araghchi.

"The importance was noted of continuing diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the situation from spinning out of control and averting a relapse into armed confrontation," the ministry added.

It criticised what it called Washington's "unlawful naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and seizure of an Iranian container ship".

Moscow also said Iran had pledged to ensure the unhindered passage of any Russian vessels and cargo through the Strait.

A US delegation will head to Pakistan "soon" for a new round of peace negotiations with Iran, a source familiar with the plan told AFP Monday, as Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend.

After initial talks in Islamabad ended without a deal earlier this month, both sides have accused the other of breaching a temporary truce that is now in its final days.

The European Union will expand the criteria of its Iran sanctions to include those responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut for nearly two months upending global energy and commodities markets, two EU diplomats said.

Tehran effectively closed the strait after ​US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on 28 February, cutting off roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. More than a dozen tankers sailed through Hormuz after Iran briefly declared it open on Friday, but the ceasefire agreement was thrown into jeopardy after the United States seized an Iranian cargo ship as it maintained its own military blockade of Iranian ports.

"There was a political agreement among ambassadors that we indeed would change the criteria in Iran's sanctions regime so that we could also list persons and entities that are responsible for the obstruction of the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," one of the diplomats said.

A second diplomatic source said the European External Action Service would need a few weeks to prepare any new listings. The EEAS is in charge of placing people and companies under sanctions while the European Commission handles sector-wide restrictions. In January, the EU designated Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation and in March it listed Iranian officials for human rights violations. 

The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was boarded and seized by US forces on Sunday, is likely to have what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military onboard, maritime security sources said on Monday.

The small container ship, which is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) group that has been hit with U.S. sanctions, was boarded on Sunday off the coast of Iran's Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 1308 GMT, according to ship-tracking data on the Marine Traffic platform.

The US Central Command said Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, and that the vessel was in violation of a US blockade.

The security sources, who declined to be identified, said their initial assessments were the vessel was likely to be carrying dual-use items after a voyage from Asia.

They did not go into details on the items. US Central Command has listed metals, pipes and electronic components among other goods that could have a military as well as an industrial use and could be captured.

Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said Monday they arrested members of an Iran-linked group plotting "terrorist" acts in the country, attempting to recruit Emiratis and funnelling funds to "suspicious" foreign entities.

The arrests came as Gulf states clamped down on cells linked to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah after Tehran struck its Gulf neighbours in the ongoing Middle East war.

Before a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect, the UAE had borne the brunt of Tehran's attacks, weathering more Iranian strikes than any other country, though most were intercepted.

"The State Security Department announced the dismantling of a terrorist organisation and the arrest of its members," it said, adding they were "planning systematic terrorist and sabotage operations" in the UAE.

"Investigations revealed the organisation's ties to the Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) in Iran," it added in a statement published on X.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israel did not persuade him to attack Iran, after news reports that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu influenced the US president's decision.

Vice President JD Vance and the US delegation is set to land in Pakistan within hours for talks on Iran, President Donald Trump told the New York Post in an interview on Monday, adding that he would willing to meet with Iranian leaders himself if progress is made. 

The second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place on Thursday in Washington, several Israeli media outlets reported on Monday.

It will mark the first talks between the two countries since a 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the United States is making an effort to extend the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat cited him as saying on Monday.

Berri spoke to the newspaper after a meeting with the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.

A senior Iranian official said on Monday that Tehran is positively reviewing its participation in potential peace talks with the United States but that no final decision has been made.

The Iranian official said positive efforts are underway by mediator Pakistan to end the US blockade and to ensure Iran's participation in the peace talks.

A Pakistan source involved in the talks said the two-week ceasefire ends on 22 April at 8 pm EST.

Germany and Brazil said in a joint declaration on Monday that they share a deep concern over conflicts in the Middle East, as well as the impact on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The two countries are strongly encouraging progress toward a substantive negotiated settlement on Iran, according to the declaration. 

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group would work to break the "Yellow Line" that Israel established in southern Lebanon, adding that no one in the country or abroad can disarm the Iran-backed group.

In an interview with AFP, Fadlallah said "we will bring down this Yellow Line through the resistance (Hezbollah)".

"The attempt by the Israeli army to establish a buffer zone, under the title of a defensive line, a yellow line, a green line, and a red line... all these lines will be broken, and we will not accept any of them."

Fadlallah vowed that "no one in Lebanon or abroad will be able to disarm the resistance".

Israel on Monday said it had uncovered an Iranian network that had planned to attack a pipeline carrying crude oil from Azerbaijan to the Mediterranean as well as Israeli and Jewish targets in Azerbaijan.

In a joint statement, the Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies said a plan by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to attack the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline through Georgia to Turkey several weeks ago had been thwarted.

The cell had also planned attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in Azerbaijan including the Israeli embassy and a synagogue in Baku, as well as leaders of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan, the agencies claimed.

Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

European Council President Antonio Costa told Jordan's King Abdullah that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened, during a phone call between the two, said Costa on Monday.

Costa wrote on X that he had held the call with King Abdullah on Monday.

"In our call today, I reiterated that the EU stands by its partners in these challenging times and supports all ongoing diplomatic efforts," said Costa on X.

"The full and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remains a priority. We remain gravely concerned by the situation in Lebanon," he added.

A ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Monday after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.

Israeli forces have carried out varying degrees of destruction in 39 villages in southern Lebanon since a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah last week, a senior politician said on Monday.

Ali Hassan Khalil, a top aide to Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said the powerful explosions carried out by Israeli forces had destroyed civilian homes in the south and this amounted to "a clear war crime".

The Israeli military claims it is acting against Hezbollah infrastructure in the south.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that planned talks with Israel aim to end "hostilities" and the Israeli occupation in the south, as he named ex-ambassador Simon Karam to lead a delegation.

"The choice to negotiate aims to stop hostilities, end the Israeli occupation of southern regions and deploy the (Lebanese) army all the way to the internationally recognised southern borders" with Israel, Aoun said in a statement.

Aoun named former Lebanese ambassador to Washington Karam to head the negotiations, and said the talks will be "separate from any other negotiations", in reference to US-Iran diplomacy to end the wider Middle East war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Monday that "normal traffic" through the vital Strait of Hormuz "should be maintained", state media said.

Xi also stressed in the call that China "advocates for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire", state broadcaster CCTV said.

Qatar's aviation authority announced on Monday that it would begin allowing flights from foreign airlines to land at its main airport for the first time since the start of the Middle East war.

"Qatar Civil Aviation Authority has issued a Notice to Airmen announcing the gradual resumption of operations for foreign airlines in the State of Qatar via Hamad International Airport," the body said in a statement.

On 8 April, Washington and Tehran announced a two-week ceasefire in the war, sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February.

Qatar shut its airspace amid Iran's retaliatory drone and missile campaign against Gulf countries, and partially reopened it to limited traffic on 7 March, but only for flights operated by national carrier Qatar Airways.

The Qatari aviation authority said the reopening to foreign airlines "follows a comprehensive assessment of the situation", adding that "safety and security of all remain its top priority".

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that bilateral negotiations with Israel would be handled by a Lebanese delegation led by former ambassador to the United States Simon Karam.

Bangladesh faces a widespread shutdown of mobile phones without rapid improvements in fuel shortages sparked by the Middle East war, operators said Monday.

The South Asian nation of 170 million people imports 95 percent of its oil and gas, mostly from the Middle East, and shortages have hit hard, with queues at filling stations lasting for as long as 12 hours.

The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) said Monday that continued telecom operations can no longer be sustained without the fuel needed to power operations including data centres.

"The situation has escalated beyond the operational control," AMTOB wrote in a letter to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

"If these conditions persist, there is an imminent risk of large-scale telecom network shutdowns across significant parts of the country."

It said the impact had already begun.

"Mobile network operators (MNOs) are experiencing severe operational distress due to the prolonged unavailability of commercial power and the lack of assured fuel supply for backup systems," it said.

The pound slipped on Monday after tensions between the US and Iran rose sharply over the weekend, raising the prospect that a two-week ceasefire might collapse and pushing investors towards the safe-haven US dollar.

Market participants were also keeping an eye on UK assets as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepared to address parliament as he faces calls to resign after it emerged former US ambassador Peter Mandelson had failed a vetting process.

The pound was last down 0.1 percent at $1.3503 as the dollar rose. The euro was 0.1 percent higher against the pound at 87.10 pence.

The US currency rose as stocks fell and oil prices climbed after Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations.

Tensions were running high after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

"Fresh worries are percolating about the fragility of the Iran ceasefire, sending oil prices higher and keeping investors on edge," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

The pound was not too far off Friday's two-month high of $1.3599, however, reflecting market optimism that the worst of the Iran conflict is over.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Bagheri, has confirmed that an Iranian delegation will not be attending the planned talks in Islamabad, Pakistan.

China expressed concern on Monday over the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel that tried to evade a naval blockade, and urged all parties to resume peace talks.

"We express concern over the US side's forcible interception of the relevant vessel," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference when asked about the seizure, calling on countries involved to return to negotiations.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that the United States was not serious about pursuing diplomacy, citing what it called "violations" of their two-week ceasefire.

"While claiming diplomacy and readiness for negotiations, the US is carrying out behaviours that do not in any way indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

He said a US attack on an Iranian cargo ship early Monday, the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and delays in implementing a ceasefire in Lebanon were all "clear violations of the ceasefire".

Iran ensures the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz under a new legal regime, the Vedomosti newspaper quoted Iran's ambassador to Moscow as saying on Monday.

Ambassador Kazem Jalali said the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had failed as their declared intention had been to enact regime change and yet the Islamic Republic was more united than before.

"Iran ensures safety of passage. Based on the security measures and the legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz, ships and vessels can pass through," Jalali said, Vedomosti reported.

Iran on Monday offered a new death toll for the war with Israel and the United States, with its forensic chief saying at least 3,375 people had been killed in the conflict.

The figure came from Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization.

Masjedi, quoted by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency and other outlets Monday, said only four of the dead remain unidentified.

His comments did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female.

Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.

Masjedi’s figures raised questions about whether or not they included security force members, particularly given the levels of intense bombings targeting military bases and arsenals in the country.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that every rational and diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions with the US, while stressing that vigilance and distrust in interactions with Washington were an "undeniable necessity", according to state media IRNA.

A two-weeks ceasefire between Iran and the US is set to expire on Wednesday, with US representatives set to reach Islamabad for Iran negotiations on Monday while Tehran is yet to announce whether it will send a delegation to Pakistan.

Israel's military on Monday warned Lebanese civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah's activities in the area were violating a ceasefire agreement struck last week.

Thousands of displaced residents have begun making their way back to parts of southern Lebanon since the truce between Israel and Lebanon took effect on Friday.

Since the ceasefire began, Lebanon's armed forces have reopened a key road linking the southern city of Nabatiyeh with the Khardali area after it was closed due to Israeli strikes.

They have also partially restored access to the Burj Rahal-Tyre bridge.

But the Israeli military on Monday urged civilians to avoid returning to numerous villages in the south.

"Hezbollah has continued its terrorist activity during the ceasefire in violation of the agreement; accordingly, the IDF remains deployed in the defensive area," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.

"For your safety and the safety of your families, and until further notice, we urge you not to move south of the Forward Defence Line," he said, referring to a boundary marking an area occupied by Israeli troops.

Iran executed two men on Monday convicted of having links to Israel's spy agency, the judiciary said, the latest in a string of executions since the outbreak of war with Israel and the United States.

"The death sentences of Mohammad Masoom-shahi and Hamed Validi were carried out at dawn today," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

It said the two men were "members of a spy network linked to Mossad", Israel's intelligence agency, but did not say when they were arrested.

They were convicted of the capital offence of "moharebeh", meaning waging war against God, as well as "collaboration with hostile groups and the Zionist regime", Mizan said.

Iran has carried out multiple executions since the start of war with the United States and Israel on 28 February. A fragile two-week ceasefire has been in place since 8 April.

Iran is the world's second most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups based outside the country.