Uncertainty over US-Iran talks as Lebanon in national mourning following 'Black Wednesday'

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and condemned Iranian attacks on the nations, Downing Street said in separate statements.

Starmer made the comments in a conversation with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and others.

Separately, Starmer, in his conversation with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed the Strait of Hormuz and the need to push to restore the free flow of goods to support global supply chains.

The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Thursday called for an urgent cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire agreement agreed between the United States and Iran.

"We urge all involved to fully respect the ceasefire across the region, cease all military operations and fully ensure freedom of navigation as well as free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, in line with international law," Kallas said in a stateme

US President Donald Trump said Iran is doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz and it is "not the agreement we have."

Israel's military said on Friday that Hezbollah had launched a missile at Israel, triggering air raid sirens in parts of the country, including in Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah said it targeted "Israeli military" infrastructure in the northern city of Haifa in the late hours of Thursday.

Kuwait said drones were fired towards its territory and caused significant damage, the first attack reported in the Gulf on Thursday as the ceasefire between Iran and the United States entered its second day.

The Kuwaiti National Guard said in a statement that the attack targeted one of its sites, "causing significant damage, without wounding anyone".

The army had earlier said that its air defences were "currently facing hostile drone attacks that have penetrated the country's airspace, targeting several vital installations".

The Gulf countries have been targeted by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the beginning of the war, which was triggered by Israeli-US strikes on Iran on February 28.

Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, has died after succumbing to injuries sustained in a previous US-Israeli strike, Iranian media reported.

Earlier reports had confirmed he was seriously wounded in a strike on his home in Tehran.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran against imposing a toll for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran agreed to reopen the crucial route as part of a two-week ceasefire.

"There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait - They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

In a second message just a few minutes later, Trump added that "very quickly, you'll see Oil start flowing, with or without the help of Iran."

The World Health Organization (WHO) called Thursday on Israel to cancel the evacuation order it issued for the southern suburbs of Beirut where there are two hospitals.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Jnah neighbourhood included the Rafik Hariri University Hospital and Al Zahraa Hospital, with some 450 patients, of whom 450 were in intensive care.

"At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive" the patients, he said in a statement.

The evacuation of the intensive care patients was "operationally unfeasible", he said - and both facilities were operating at full capacity, including treating those wounded by Israeli strikes on Wednesday.

"I urge Israel to reverse this order and ensure the protection of all health facilities, health workers, patients and civilians," he added.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Thursday summoned the Iraqi ambassador after a drone struck a major U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad, the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said earlier that an Iraqi "terrorist militia" group, which it accused of being aligned with Iran, had conducted multiple drone attacks near the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport.

The State Department said Landau acknowledged the Iraqi security forces' efforts to respond while emphasizing "the Iraqi government's failure to prevent these attacks".

Canada strongly condemns Israel's bombing campaign against Lebanon, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in a statement on Thursday.

More than 300 people were killed and 1,150 wounded in the indiscriminate strikes across the country, including Beirut. 

Anand also condemned what she called Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

The talks in Pakistan between Iran and the United States should be used to achieve lasting peace, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call Thursday, his office said.

Both Washington and Tehran have confirmed their participation in peace talks brokered by Pakistan, although the schedule is still to be confirmed.

Erdogan told Pezeshkian that "the upcoming negotiations in the coming days should be utilised to the fullest extent for lasting peace and stability," his office said.

Kuwait said a National Guard site was targeted by drones Thursday evening, causing significant material damage but no injuries, according to the state news agency.

The U.S. State Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, a State Department official said on Thursday.

Lebanese official sources told The New Arab that the first meeting to be held in Washington will be preparatory and initially take place at the ambassadorial level.

The sources added that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is preparing to visit the United States as part of ongoing efforts to reach a solution.

Operational activities have been halted at several energy facilities in Saudi Arabia due to recent attacks, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Thursday citing an official source at the ministry of energy.

The attacks resulted in the death of one Saudi national from the industrial security personnel of the Saudi energy company, SPA added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday that Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon were "wrong" as he travelled to discuss the shaky Middle East ceasefire with Gulf leaders.

"Let's be really clear about it, they're wrong", Starmer told Britain's ITV News when asked about Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon.

"That shouldn't be happening, that should stop, that's my strong view," the prime minister added, calling this a "matter of principles", while acknowledging he did not have full details of the ceasefire deal.

The Kuwaiti military says its air defences are responding to drone attacks.

The Israel army said Thursday it was striking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, shortly after it had warned that the militant group could expand launches of projectiles across Israel.

"A short while ago, the IDF began striking Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Thursday condemned Israel's strikes on Lebanon, calling on the international community to support its neighbour.

"We condemn all the bombing currently taking place in Lebanon by the Israeli entity," Shaibani said, speaking from Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

In statements carried by Syria's official SANA agency, Shaibani added that Damascus supports the Iran war truce, adding that they "hope that we will reach a permanent stability that removes the danger from the entire region".

Shaibani called on the international community to "support Lebanon at this critical moment and to keep the spectre of war away from it", while expressing his country's support for Beirut's efforts to disarm Hezbollah "through national means, away from any external interference".

US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Thursday he was "very optimistic" about a peace deal with Iran after their ceasefire, and that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon.

Trump told the US broadcaster in a telephone interview that Iran's leaders were "much more reasonable" in private but added that "if they don't make a deal, it's going to be very painful."

Vice President JD Vance is due to hold talks with Iran in Pakistan on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had meanwhile agreed in a call with Trump on Wednesday to "low-key it" with Lebanon after devastating strikes on Wednesday, the US president said.

The Israeli military has warned that Hezbollah in Lebanon may expand its rocket fire beyond northern Israel "in the coming hours."

A Hezbollah lawmaker on Thursday reiterated his group's rejection of any direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered his cabinet to begin talks with Beirut.

"We reiterate our rejection of any direct negotiations between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, and the necessity of upholding national principles, foremost among them the Israeli withdrawal, the cessation of hostilities, and the return of residents to their villages and towns," Ali Fayyad said in a statement shared by the Iran-backed group's media channels.

Fayyad added that the group called "on the Lebanese government to adhere to the ceasefire as a precondition before proceeding with any further steps".

A Lebanese government official told AFP on Thursday that Beirut wants a ceasefire before initiating talks with Israel.

Lebanon's health ministry said Thursday that Israeli strikes across the country a day before killed more than 300 people and wounded at least 1,150.

In a statement, the ministry said "the Israeli enemy's airstrikes yesterday, Wednesday, resulted in a preliminary toll of 303 martyrs and 1,150 wounded", adding that the cumulative toll since the start of the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah on March 2 rose to 1,888 dead and 6,092 wounded.

It warned the death toll could rise further as search efforts were ongoing, as well as DNA testing of bodies transferred to hospitals.

Lebanon has spent the last 24 hours advocating for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, a senior Lebanese official told news agency Reuters, saying it would be a "separate track but the same model" as a fragile truce brokered by Pakistan between the US and Iran.

The official said no date or location had been set yet but Lebanon needed the U.S. as a mediator and guarantor of any agreement.

The official spoke to Reuters after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had instructed the start of direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible." 

Israel's military on Thursday warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, long a stronghold of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, of imminent strikes and called for them to evacuate.

"The [Israeli military] continue to operate and strike the military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah across various areas of the southern suburbs," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

"The [army] does not intend to harm you and is acting only against Hezbollah operatives and military targets. Therefore, for your safety, you must evacuate immediately."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has instructed officials to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible”, claiming the move followed requests from Beirut.

The announcement comes as Israeli strikes on Lebanon have continued despite a ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran, amid disagreements over whether Lebanon is included in the deal.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker on Thursday said he congratulated Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for facilitating a ceasefire between Iran and the United States, and assured him of Austria's full support for a diplomatic solution.

Stocker also said in a post on social media platform X that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law must be ensured.

He called on all sides to fully implement the ceasefire and cease all military operations.

The United States condemned an April 7 attack on the Kuwaiti consulate in Basrah on Thursday, the State Department said in a post on X.

The U.S. is calling on the Iraqi government to "hold accountable and dismantle the Iraqi terrorist groups aligned with Iran that conducted this attack," the department's bureau for Near Eastern Affairs said.

The continued Israeli military campaign in Lebanon could jeopardise peace talks expected between the United States and Iran over the war in the Middle East, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday.

"We view the situation in southern Lebanon with particular concern," Merz said. "The severity with which Israel is waging war there could cause the peace process as a whole to fail, and that must not be allowed to happen."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Israel's "ongoing aggression against Lebanon" on Thursday, ahead of expected US-Iran talks in Islamabad.

"The prime minister said that Pakistan was engaged in sincere efforts for regional peace and it was in this spirit that the peace talks between Iran and the US were being convened," Sharif's office said in a statement.

The EU said Thursday that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be ensured with "no payment or toll whatsoever", after Iran suggested it could charge for letting ships through.

A full reopening of the vital Gulf waterway remains a key point of contention as talks are due to start after Iran and the United States announced a two-week ceasefire following over a month of hostilities.

"International law provides for the freedom of navigation, which means... basically no payment or toll whatsoever," European Commission spokesman Anouar El Anouni told a press conference in Brussels.

"Freedom of navigation is a public good and needs to be ensured," he said.

Iran agreed to reopen the thoroughfare during the two-week truce but has also spoken of setting up a toll system, which would allow it to fund its reconstruction.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States and Iran could run the system in "joint venture", though the White House has said the strait should be reopened immediately with no restrictions.

Traffic through Hormuz has remained extremely limited despite the ceasefire.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked his Pakistani counterpart on Thursday to confirm Lebanon's inclusion in the Iran war ceasefire, a day after Israeli strikes on the country killed more than 200 people.

In a statement, Salam's office said he phoned Shehbaz Sharif, praising Islamabad's efforts in securing the truce and asking him to "confirm that the ceasefire includes Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli attacks witnessed yesterday".

Israel and the US have said the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, with Israel announcing it would continue its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the regional war on March 2.

Iran's parliamentary speaker warned that Tehran sees Lebanon as an "inseparable part of the ceasefire" and threatened "strong responses", coinciding with mounting international calls for Lebanon to be encompassed in the truce.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement and would render negotiations meaningless.

Pezeshkian said Iran would not abandon the Lebanese people.

His comments come after Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday.

At least 14 rocket alerts sounded through Thursday morning in communities near Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

According to news agency AFP, long rocket trails in the sky and plumes of smoke were detected at the border area- signalling interceptions.

Calls have been mounting for the ceasefire between the US and Iran -- agreed late on Tuesday -- to be extended to Israel's war with Hezbollah, which Israel has said is not included.

Israel on Wednesday unleashed what it said was its "largest coordinated strike" on Lebanon since the war began, killing more than 200 people and wounding over 1,000, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Hours later, Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had fired rockets towards Israel in response to what it called a violation of the US-Iran truce.

Since midnight, at least 14 rounds of sirens warning of incoming rocket fire have sounded in northern Israel. In the city of Kiryat Shmona alone, there have been at least six alerts.

The head of Iran's nuclear energy agency on Thursday ruled out any restrictions on the country's enrichment of uranium, saying the demand by the United States and Israel "will not come true".

"The claims and demands of our enemies to restrict Iran's enrichment programme are merely wishes that will be buried," Mohammad Eslami was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA news agency.

His remarks came with talks set to take place at the end of the week between Iran and the United States under Pakistani mediation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel would keep hitting Iran-backed Hezbollah "wherever necessary", the day after Israeli strikes pummelled Lebanon.

"We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination," Netanyahu said on his personal X account.

"Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians -- we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary, until we fully restore security to the residents of the north" of Israel, he added.

 Europe's aviation safety regulator EASA on Thursday extended until April 24 its advisory to airlines to avoid the Middle Eastern and Gulf airspace, according to an updated bulletin on conflict zones.

The advisory was previously valid until April 10.

 Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC's CEO ​Sultan Al Jaber said on Thursday in a post on LinkedIn that the Strait of Hormuz is not open, and it must be opened unconditionally.

The strait is a natural waterway governed by international law, which guarantees transit rights, he said.

The ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran should extend to Lebanon, EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Thursday, adding that Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah must disarm.

"Israeli actions are putting the U.S.-Iran ceasefire under severe strain. The Iran truce should extend to Lebanon," Kallas said in a post on X.

"Israeli strikes killed hundreds last night, making it hard to argue that such heavy-handed actions fall within self-defence," she also said.

Iran's ambassador to Pakistan deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in Islamabad on Thursday night, a move an embassy official later told AFP news agency had been sent prematurely.

Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam said in a post on X on Thursday morning that an Iranian delegation would arrive "tonight in Islamabad for serious talks based on 10 points proposed by Iran". The post was deleted shortly after.

An official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told AFP the post was removed "because of some issues", declining to say whether the delegation was still expected Thursday.

When asked further, the official said: "Timing -- we were not supposed to send it."

The deletion raises fresh uncertainty over the arrival schedule, although both the United States and Iran have confirmed their participation in peace talks, brokered by Pakistan in Islamabad.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif invited both delegations "to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes".

The White House has said Vice President JD Vance would lead US negotiations over the Middle East war in Islamabad "this weekend".

India's oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri will make an official visit to Qatar on April 9 and 10, authorities in New Delhi said on Thursday, as the world's most populous country reels from disruptions to LPG supply.

The visit follows Tuesday's news of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, but Israel continues to pound Lebanon with its heaviest strikes. 

France's foreign minister on Thursday condemned "unacceptable" Israeli strikes on Lebanon, warning they could undermine the fragile US-Iran ceasefire.

"These attacks are all the more unacceptable as they undermine the temporary ceasefire reached yesterday between the United States and Iran," Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio, a day after Lebanon reported Israeli strikes killed at least 182 people and wounded 890.

Spain is reopening its embassy in Tehran in hopes of achieving peace in the US-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters on Thursday.

"I've instructed our ambassador in Tehran to return, to take up his post again and reopen our embassy, and for us to join in this effort for peace from every possible quarter, including from the Iranian capital itself," Albares said. 

Britain's foreign minister said Thursday the UK "strongly" wanted to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire in the Middle East as Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"We do want to see the ceasefire extended to Lebanon. I'm deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday," Yvette Cooper told Sky News.

"We've seen the humanitarian consequences, the huge mass displacement of people in Lebanon. So we do strongly want to see the ceasefire extended to Lebanon," she said.

Cooper's comments came as Starmer arrived in the UAE on the second leg of his visit to the Gulf to meet with regional leaders in an effort to bolster the ceasefire in the Middle East war.

Starmer on Wednesday met Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah.

"The prime minister began by welcoming the ceasefire and set out how efforts must now be focused on upholding it and turning it into a lasting peace," a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.

"He was clear that it was vital now to continue work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and discussed the UK's ongoing efforts to convene partners to agree and plan the practical steps required to give shipping the confidence to transit the Strait," the spokesperson added.

Beijing said on Thursday that Lebanon's sovereignty "should not be violated" after Israel carried out strikes on the country, threatening a fragile truce.

"Lebanon's sovereignty and security should not be violated. The safety of civilian lives and property must be guaranteed," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference, adding Beijing urged restraint and "a cooling down of the regional situation".