Iran FM, US envoys to visit Islamabad with hopes of news US truce talks

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Iran's foreign minister arrived in Islamabad on Friday, and US envoys headed to the Pakistani capital in a bid to kickstart a new round of peace negotiations amid a fragile ceasefire.

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 talks were not in the cards.

It remained unclear late Friday whether the Iranian side would meet directly with the US envoys.

Iranian state television said Araghchi has no plans to meet with the Americans and Islamabad would serve as a bridge to "convey" Iranian proposals to end the conflict.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad to discuss "ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability" with Pakistani officials, without directly referencing talks with Witkoff and Kushner.

An Iranian spokesman said Araghchi would visit Oman and Russia after the Pakistan stop to discuss efforts to end the war launched against the Islamic Republic by Israel and the United States on February 28.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the US does not plan to renew a waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products that are currently at sea. And, he said, a renewal of the one-time waiver for Iranian oil at sea is totally off the table.

"Not the Iranians," Bessent told The Associated Press. "We have the blockade, and there's no oil coming out."

"And we think in the next two, three days, they're going to have to start shuttering production, which will be very bad for their wells."

Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory on Friday killed at least 13 people, including five in an attack that targeted a police vehicle - Gaza's civil defence agency said.

Eight people, including a child, were killed and several others injured when an Israeli airstrike hit a police vehicle in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Younis, said the civil defence agency.

According to the territory's interior ministry, two of those were police officers.

In a separate incident, three people, a woman and her two children, were killed when Israeli artillery struck residential homes near Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

In a third attack, an Israeli aircraft struck another police patrol in Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, killing two people and injuring two others, it added.

The interior ministry confirmed that the two killed were police officers.

Gaza's Al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals confirmed the death tolls, publishing the names of 12 of the 13 victims.

The 13th victim was a 12-year-old whose identity could not immediately be confirmed.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite an October ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by daily violence as Israeli strikes continue.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed six people Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said, despite an ongoing ceasefire in the more than six-week war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy's airstrikes on southern Lebanon today, April 24, resulted in the martyrdom of six citizens and the injury of two others," the ministry said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to propose legislation within weeks to proscribe Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a report said Friday.

Starmer made the comments while speaking to the Jewish Chronicle newspaper during a visit on Thursday to a London synagogue targeted by arsonists nearly a week ago.

The commitment comes after the European Union in January agreed to designate Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a "terrorist organisation" over a deadly crackdown on mass protests.

"In relation to malign state actors more generally, proscription, we do need legislation in order to take necessary measures, and that is legislation that we're bringing forward as soon as we can," Starmer said when asked about the prospect of proscribing the Guards.

"We go into a new session (of parliament) in a few weeks' time and we'll bring that legislation forward," he added.

A Lebanese journalist who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike that killed her colleague this week described hours of agony as they waited for help to arrive, in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday.

Zeinab Faraj, a young freelance photographer and video journalist, frequently moved on assignment with Amal Khalil, a longtime correspondent in southern Lebanon with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The two were driving behind a relative of Faraj in the village of al-Tiri, about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the border with Israel on Wednesday. That was five days after a fragile truce was implemented between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, planning to cover the post-ceasefire situation in the area.

As they passed through the village, Khalil holding her phone out the window to film, an Israeli strike hit the car in front of them, Faraj said, speaking from the Beirut hospital where she is recovering.

The women pulled over and got out of the car, hunkering down on the side of the road as a drone remained in the sky overhead. About an hour later, a second strike hit Khalil's car, next to them.

'Don't leave me alone'

The United States has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency assets over ties to Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday, as Washington seeks to raise pressure on Tehran amid energy supply disruptions due to war in the Middle East.

The Treasury Department "will continue to systematically degrade Tehran's ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds," Bessent vowed in a statement on X.

He added that his agency was imposing sanctions on "multiple wallets tied to Iran," resulting in the freeze of funds.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday, Pakistan's foreign ministry said, ahead of planned Iran-US peace negotiations.

Araghchi "will hold meetings with Pakistan's senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments as well as ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability", Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, without directly referencing talks with Washington emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at satisfying US demands. "They're making an offer and we'll have to see," Trump said during a phone interview.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Islamabad for talks on reviving ceasefire negotiations.

The United States imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions on Friday and issued a general license authorising the wind-down of deals involving the Chinese company Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co, according to a notice on the US Treasury website. 

The US State Department's top lawyer has argued that President Donald Trump's war with Iran was launched in self-defence and to defend US ally Israel, arguing the bombing campaign was not the start of a new war but the continuation of an ongoing conflict.

State Department Legal Adviser Reed Rubinstein made the arguments in a statement released days before a May 1 deadline for the Trump administration to obtain approval for the war from Congress under the 1973 War Powers Act or move to end it. 

"In truth, the United States is acting well within the recognised contours of international law relating to the use of force and self-defence," he added.

The United States has seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hopes more will be made in weekend talks, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Friday. 

US President Donald Trump is sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with the Iran's foreign minister, CNN reported on Friday, citing two administration officials familiar with the matter.

The Israeli military said its forces killed six Hezbollah fighters in a southern Lebanese town on Friday during a clash that included a firefight.

According to the military, troops identified six militants operating in the town of Bint Jbeil, an area that saw heavy fighting before a ceasefire was declared last week.

"Following the identification, an exchange of fire began between the terrorists and the soldiers, during which the soldiers eliminated two terrorists," the military said.

"Subsequently, the soldiers struck the structure from which the terrorists had been operating. In the strike, the four remaining terrorists were eliminated."

The clash came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was trying to "sabotage" efforts to secure peace with Lebanon following an extension of the ceasefire between the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah on Friday of trying to "sabotage" Israel's efforts to reach a peace agreement with Lebanon.

"We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it's clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this," he said in his first remarks after a ceasefire with Lebanon was extended.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday Iran had a chance to make a "good deal" with the United States, and added that 34 ships had been turned around from the Strait of Hormuz by the US Navy so far.

Top US General Dan Caine said on Friday the US would continue to conduct interdictions in Pacific and Indian oceans against Iranian vessels.

Indonesia once again strongly condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that resulted in the death of a fourth Indonesian peacekeeper, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

The peacekeeper sustained severe injuries due to an artillery explosion from an Israeli tank on 29 March and the ministry announced on Friday that he has passed away. Three other Indonesian peacekeepers had also died due to the attack.

Indonesia urged the UN to conduct a thorough, transparent and accountable investigation into the deaths of its UNIFIL peacekeepers. 

The immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions is "vital" for the world, European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday, after talks with regional leaders including from Lebanon and Syria.

"The Strait of Hormuz must immediately reopen without restrictions and without tolling, in full respect of international law and the principle of freedom of navigation. This is vital for the entire world," Costa told a news conference in Cyprus.

Iran dropped more mines in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X Friday, shortly after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that attempts to lay more mines would be a violation of the ceasefire.

An Israeli strike killed two people in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry reported, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was extended.

The ministry said in a statement that the attack was in the area of Touline. The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah began on 17 April, with US President Donald Trump announcing on Thursday Washington time that it had been extended for three weeks.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah shot down one of its drones in south Lebanon on Friday, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group was extended.

"A short while ago, an [Israeli army] remotely piloted aircraft was downed in southern Lebanon following the launch of a small surface-to-air missile by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation," the military said in a statement, indicating the incident was under review.

Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take "ages and ages", UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said Friday, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict.

"You can't be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones and then talk to me about trust. That will take ages and ages," Gargash said at a World Policy Conference in the town of Chantilly north of Paris.

The top official said that 89 percent of the Iranian attacks targeted "civilians, civilian infrastructure, energy infrastructure".

"Tehran was telling the Arab Gulf countries that 'you don't matter in my calculations,' and I think this is going to last for a very long time," he said.

"To the region -- to the United Arab Emirates and other countries, Iran will be seen as a strategic threat," Gargash said.

Israeli-US strikes on Iran in late February sparked regionwide conflict, with Tehran targeting US allies in the Gulf.

A ceasefire was agreed at the start of the month, but peace talks in Pakistan have stalled in recent days.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night, AFP news agency reported- citing an official source in Pakistan.

The Pakistan capital has been gearing up for an anticipated second round of talks between the United States and Iran, but it was not clear whether Araghchi and the delegation accompanying him would meet any US officials to discuss the Middle East war.

Islamabad had a heavy security presence on Friday, with checkpoints around the city and road closures in the "red zone" surrounding the expected negotiation venue.

Pakistan has emerged as the lead mediator in efforts to end the US-Iran war, but following a marathon first session of talks on April 11 Tehran has so far declined to send a delegation to Islamabad for a second round.

It was not clear whether US Vice President JD Vance or other senior US administration officials were set to return to Pakistan, weeks after he announced he was leaving without a deal.

US logistics and security teams are present in Islamabad, the Pakistani official source said.

Italian biopharmaceutical company Kedrion said on Friday it may struggle to deliver vital plasma-based medicines to patients in Iran if disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz persists.

Chief Executive Ugo Di Francesco said the company has been forced to move immunoglobulins to Iran by land, with rising fuel prices risking logistics costs becoming too expensive.

"It's a question of logistics, namely our ability to physically deliver products to patients," Di Francesco told Reuters in an interview.

"So far we have not experienced significant effects on our capacity to ensure the availability of therapies," he added.

Kedrion produces life-saving treatments for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Its plasma collection network comprises about 76 centres, with 68 in the US and the rest in the Czech Republic.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reserves the right to respond to any Israeli "aggressions" during the ongoing truce in Lebanon, Ali Fayad, an MP for the party, said on Friday.

He said extending the ceasefire "makes no sense" in light of continued "hostile acts" by Israel, saying they gave "the resistance the right to respond at the appropriate time".

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the ceasefire in Lebanon, due to expire on Sunday, would be extended by three weeks.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, announced on Friday that an Indonesian blue helmet died in hospital of wounds suffered on March 29 in an attack on his base.

"UNIFIL deplores the passing today of Corporal Rico Pramudia, who was critically injured following a projectile explosion in his base in Adchit Al Qusayr on the night of 29 March," the force said in a statement.

The Kuwaiti military said on Friday that two drones coming from the direction of neighbouring Iraq struck border posts on its northern frontier with the country, causing damage but no casualties.

"This morning, two of Kuwait's northern land border posts were targeted in a criminal act of aggression involving two explosive-laden drones guided by fibre-optic cables, originating from the Republic of Iraq, resulting in material damage but... no human casualties," the military said in a statement on X.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held phone calls with Pakistan's powerful military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and the country's top diplomat, Ishaq Dar, as uncertainty remained over the future of peace talks with the United States.

Araghchi also spoke to the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, the foreign minister's official Telegram channel posted.

Pakistan has emerged as the lead mediator in efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, but following a marathon first session of talks on 11 April Tehran has so far declined to send a delegation to Islamabad for a second round.

Israel launched airstrikes against a house in Touline, as well as in Kherbet Selem and the outskirts of Majdal Zoun, in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Oil tanker HELGA, sailing under the flag of Comoros, arrived at one of the offshore oil loading terminals in Iraq's southern Basra port on Friday and was preparing to load 2 million barrels of crude, two port sources said.

The vessel is the second tanker to reach Basra's southern offshore terminals since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the sources added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday it was in "everyone's interest" for stability to return to the Middle East, as the spillover of the Iran war rattles the global economy.

"It is in everyone's interest for stability to return as soon as possible and for the world's economies to be reassured," Macron said as he arrived at an European Union summit in Nicosia, where talks with Middle East leaders are also scheduled.

A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said on Friday that one of its ships has crossed the Strait of Hormuz but did not have any information on the circumstance or timing.

The spokesperson for the German company said that now four out of initially six ships remain in the Gulf, after one ship's charter agreement expired, meaining it no longer belongs to the Hapag-Lloyd fleet.

China's foreign ministry on Friday rejected an accusation by US President Donald Trump that an Iranian-flagged cargo ship intercepted by US forces was a "gift from China".

Normal trade between countries should not be disturbed, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters.

Talks with Iran should include nuclear experts otherwise "we will end up with a more dangerous Iran", EU's foreign chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday.

"If the talks are only about the nuclear and there are no nuclear experts around the table, then we will end up with an agreement that is weaker than the JCPOA was," Kallas said, speaking ahead of an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus.

"And (if) the problems in the region, missile programmes, their support to proxies, also hybrid and cyber activities in Europe are not addressed, we will end up with a more dangerous Iran," she added.