Trump claims Iran violated truce as doubt surrounds Islamabad talks

The live blog has now ended. Thank you for following. We will be back tomorrow with more updates.

Iranian state TV said a ceasefire with the United States in force since April 8 would expire at 3:30 am Wednesday, Tehran time (0000 GMT Tuesday).

The timing is consistent with when the 14-day truce went into effect, though US President Donald Trump recently said it would end a day later, on Wednesday evening Washington time. Mediator Pakistan, meanwhile, has said the ceasefire will end at 2350 GMT Tuesday.

Iran has not yet made a decision on whether to attend talks with the United States in Pakistan, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Iranian state TV on Tuesday.

He said that US moves against two Iranian vessels amounted to "piracy at sea and state terrorism" and questioned Washington's seriousness in negotiating.

US military officials on Tuesday called for spending tens of billions of dollars in the next budget year on drones, air defence systems and fighter jets that have been a key part of fighting the Iran war.

As part of President Donald Trump's push to boost defence spending to $1.5 trillion in the 2027 budget, the Pentagon wants to triple spending on drones and related technology to more than $74 billion and invest over $30 billion into more critical munitions, including missile interceptors, whose stockpiles have become critically low during the Iran war.

Military officials said the spending blueprint was developed ahead of the conflict in the Middle East. They also did not discuss how much they will request in additional funds for the war, which would be on top of what the White House is seeking to boost defence spending in the next budget year.

"The overlap, you'll see, is the request for munitions, which is something we always need," Jules Hurst III, acting undersecretary of defence and the Pentagon's comptroller, told reporters at a briefing. "We always need to increase our magazine depth. But outside of that, there aren't any operational costs in here from Iran."

US Vice President JD Vance has not yet departed Washington for talks on Iran and is participating in additional policy meetings, a White House official said on Tuesday.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday gasoline prices appeared to have peaked after a surge linked to the Iran war, a marked shift in tone a day after President Donald Trump publicly rebuked his earlier, more cautious outlook.

"I don't know the future of energy prices, often I will speculate or look at those things. I would say, gasoline prices, it looks like they peaked about a week or so ago," Wright told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

He said the high point was $1 a gallon cheaper than the peak during the administration of Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, adding: "Yet we're in the midst of ending a 47-year conflict in the Middle East, a major energy-producing region."

Israel’s military removed two soldiers from combat duty and placed them in military detention for 30 days after they destroyed a crucifix in southern Lebanon, it said on Tuesday.

A picture that showed an Israeli soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross drew widespread condemnation on Monday ​from Israeli politicians, the United States and church leaders.

It was posted by Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian reporter who has also posted images of Israeli soldiers' apparent misconduct in Gaza.

A military statement said an investigation into the incident showed that one soldier damaged a Christian religious symbol, while another photographed the act. Six other soldiers had been present without taking action or interfering, according to the statement.

The Israeli military said they were working with the local community to replace the statue.

Germany and Italy on Tuesday rebuffed calls to suspend an EU cooperation deal with Israel, despite rising anger over the war in Lebanon and the situation in the West Bank.

Spain and Ireland had put the issue of halting the June 2000 agreement back on the table at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called the proposal "inappropriate".

"We have to talk with Israel about the critical issues," he said at the start of the meeting, adding: "That has to be done in a critical, constructive dialogue with Israel."

The Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, pushed back as well, saying that "no decision will be taken today".

Attitudes towards Israel among EU member states, already hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, have stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"We need to act. We need to make sure that our fundamental values are protected," Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said.

A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran would expire at 2350 GMT on Tuesday, mediator Pakistan said.

"Ceasefire ends at 4:50 am PST, 22 April," Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, referring to Pakistan Standard Time.

The truce has been expected to end overnight Tuesday, though in comments to Bloomberg, US President Donald Trump said it would only expire a day later, on Wednesday evening Washington time.

Trump said it was "highly unlikely" he would agree to extend it.

Pakistan invited the warring sides to a second round of talks in Islamabad, but Iran has yet to formally respond, Tarar said.

He added that a decision by Tehran was "critical" before the truce expired.

Iranian authorities on Tuesday executed a man convicted of helping to set fire to a major mosque in Tehran during protests in January, the judiciary said.

Amir Ali Mirjafari was accused of setting fire to the Gholhak Grand Mosque and also working with the Israeli espionage agency Mossad, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported.

He is the eighth person to be hanged over the January demonstrations within just over a month.

Rights groups accuse the Islamic Republic of using capital punishment to instil fear throughout society and stepping up executions of political prisoners against the background of the war against the US and Israel.

"By baselessly linking his participation in the January protests to Israel and the US, the Islamic Republic continues its strategy of framing domestic civil unrest as foreign espionage to expedite the execution of protesters," Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said.

Iranian authorities have arrested more than 3,600 people on charges related to the US-Israeli war, ranging from sharing videos with media outlets based overseas to possessing Starlink internet terminals, an NGO said on Tuesday.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said the figure, based on state media reports and its own research, represented a minimum given the current internet restrictions in the Islamic Republic, and that the actual number of arrests was "likely much higher".

It said at least 3,646 people had been arrested since the war broke out on 28 February, with at least 767 of the cases reported after the start of a ceasefire on 8 April.

"The charges levelled against the detainees predominantly include espionage, communicating with foreign intelligence services, transmitting images or coordinates of sensitive locations to foreign-based media, and attempting to establish operational cells or conduct armed activities," it said.

EU countries have agreed to widen sanctions against Iran to include those responsible for blocking the Strait ‌of Hormuz, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.

Kallas also said she had asked foreign affairs ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg to bolster the EU's naval mission in the Middle ‌East, which is currently protecting ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.

American logistics giant FedEx has been targeted in France by a legal complaint alleging "complicity in the crime of genocide" over claims it transported parts for Israeli aircraft involved in bombing Gaza.

The French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP), an anti-Zionist group, said it had filed the complaint against FedEx's French subsidiary for "the transport and delivery of essential combat aircraft components from the United States to Israel via France".

Those parts were used "to maintain and repair F-35 combat aircraft used by the Israeli air force" over the Gaza Strip, it added in the document filed with anti-terrorism prosecutors and seen by AFP.

FedEx told AFP: "We do not make any international deliveries of weapons or ammunition."

The UJFP said they based their case on a recent report by campaign group Urgence Palestine (Palestine Emergency), which catalogued 117 cargoes that it said transited through Paris via FedEx's French subsidiary between April and October last year.

Lebanon on Tuesday raised the toll from six weeks of war on the country to 2,454 dead as a fragile 10-day ceasefire holds.

The government's disaster risk management unit, in a statement, also said 7,658 people had been wounded in the conflict, which began on March 2, days after the broader Middle East war erupted.

Authorities and rescuers in Lebanon have been continuing to recover and identify bodies in areas that were subjected to heavy Israeli strikes.

Pakistan is still awaiting a formal response from Iran about confirmation of a delegation to attend a second round of peace talks with the US in Islamabad, the country's Information Minister Attaullah ​Tarar said in a post on X.

"Decision from Iran to attend the talks before the end of two weeks ceasefire is critical," Tarar said in a post on X, adding that Pakistan has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks.

Hezbollah announced it will hold mass funerals in south Lebanon on Tuesday for 44 fighters killed during more than six weeks of war with Israel.

The burials come after Israel and Lebanon entered into a 10-day ceasefire on Friday, announced by US President Donald Trump.

ran-backed Hezbollah has not given the total number of its fighters killed since Israel last month launched a massive wave of airstrikes and a ground invasion in Lebanon.

But on Tuesday, it said it will bury 29 fighters in the town of Kfar Sir, returning "a group of blessed souls to the soil of the south".

It will also bury 15 fighters and one civilian in the village of Qlaileh, some of whom had been temporarily buried elsewhere until the ceasefire made a return south possible.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Iran of repeatedly violating the ceasefire with the US in the war in the Middle East, as both countries deliberate over a possible new round of peace negotiations.

"Iran has Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two-week truce set to expire by Wednesday, after which the Middle East potentially could plunge back into open conflict.

President Donald Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that he did not want to extend a ceasefire with Iran, adding the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal.

"I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time," Trump said when asked about the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

Washington has expressed confidence that talks with Iran will go ahead in Pakistan, and a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering joining.

With the prospect of last-ditch further peace talks still up in the air, Trump said the US would resume its attacks on Iran if a deal is not struck with Tehran soon.

"I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with. But we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go," he said. 

Pakistan has urged both the United States and Iran to extend their two-week ceasefire, Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a meeting with the US Chargé d'Affaires in Pakistan, Natalie A. Baker, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stressed the need for engagement between the US and Iran, and said Pakistan urged both sides to consider extending the ceasefire, a statement from the foreign ministry said.

French President Emmanuel Macron is to reaffirm France’s full commitment to the ceasefire in Lebanon and support for the country’s territorial integrity at a meeting on Tuesday in Paris with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Macron’s office said.

Pakistan is preparing for a new round of talks between the US and Iran as the ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday, while Lebanon and Israel are set to hold a new meeting in Washington later this week.

Macron and Salam "will also address humanitarian support for displaced populations and the continuation of the economic and financial reforms essential to strengthening Lebanon’s sovereignty, its reconstruction and the restoration of its prosperity,” Macron's office said.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Iran it could boost the chances of success in peace talks with the United States by freeing eight women that he said face execution.

"I would greatly appreciate the release of these women," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Would be a great start to our negotiations!"

Trump's statement accompanied a re-posting of a claim on X by a pro-Israel youth activist in the United States, Eyal Yakoby, that eight women faced death by hanging. That claim, which did not give names but posted photographs of eight women, could not be immediately verified.

President Donald Trump's approval rating held at the lowest of his term in recent days as many Americans questioned his temperament amid the Iran war and a feud with Pope Leo, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The six-day public opinion poll, concluded on Monday, showed only 36 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, unchanged from a month earlier. Trump enjoyed the highest approval rating of his current term, 47 percent, shortly after he was sworn in to office on January 20, 2025.

Trump has been under pressure since his administration and Israel launched a war against Iran in February that has pushed gasoline prices sharply higher. Some 36 percent of Americans approve of US military strikes against Iran, compared with 35 percent in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted 10-12 April. The latest poll of 4,557 US adults nationwide, conducted online, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned arrests in the United Arab Emirates of what Abu Dhabi said were members of an Iran-linked group plotting terrorist acts in the country.

In a statement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the arrests were made under "baseless pretexts" and urged the UAE "to respect the rights and human dignity of individuals, refrain from retaliatory behaviour."

On Monday, UAE authorities said the group arrested was attempting to recruit Emiratis and funnelling funds to "suspicious" foreign entities.

Relations between Iran and the UAE have been badly strained since the outbreak between Iran, the United States and Israel on 28 February.

Iran accuses Gulf states of allowing US forces to carry out attacks from their territory, and launched missile and drone strikes against what it calls US interests in those countries throughout the war.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States is in a strong position for talks with Iran as his envoys prepared to hold a second round of negotiations in Pakistan.

"We're going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice...We're in a very, very strong negotiating position," Trump told broadcaster CNBC.

A US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance was expected to leave shortly from Washington for Islamabad, which earlier this month hosted a first round of talks, ending without progress.

Trump is demanding Iran give up its uranium stockpile and end attempts to control the strategic Hormuz waterway used to transport Middle East oil and other commodities.

Despite being hit by weeks of US and Israeli bombing before a temporary ceasefire was declared, Iran has so far refused those conditions. The ceasefire was due to expire late Wednesday in Washington, according to the White House.

Trump was unclear in the interview with CNBC about whether he would extend the ceasefire if there is no progress in Pakistan.

"Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal," he said.

Asked if he would carry out his previous threats to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants -- something many analysts say could constitute war crimes -- Trump said "it's not my choice but it will also hurt them."

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said US forces intercepted a ship carrying a "gift" to Iran from China as Tehran tries to restock its military during a ceasefire period.

The ship had "a gift from China" which "wasn't very nice," Trump told CNBC. "I was a little surprised," he added, saying he thought he had an "understanding" with China's President Xi Jinping.

A week ago, Trump announced that Xi had assured him there would be no Chinese weapons deliveries to Iran, a close partner with Beijing for years.

Lebanon's parliament speaker warned on Tuesday that Israeli forces occupying parts of the country's south would face resistance if they fail to withdraw, signalling a risk of renewed confrontation ahead of US-mediated talks this week.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah mediated by Washington has largely held since last Thursday, but Israeli forces remain deployed in a belt of Lebanese land 5-10 km deep along the entire border. Israel has said it aims to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group.

On Thursday, the US will host ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon, which were dragged into war on 2 March when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran in the regional conflict.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanon's most senior Shi'ite statesman and a Hezbollah ally, told Lebanese newspaper al-Joumhouria that Lebanon could not tolerate losing a metre of land.

If Israel "maintains its occupation, whether of areas, positions, or by drawing yellow lines, it will smell the scent of resistance every day," said Berri, leader of the Shia Amal Movement.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli settler gunfire killed two people, including a 13-year-old child, in an attack on Tuesday in a village in the central occupied West Bank.

"Two people were killed, one aged 13 and the other 32, and four others were injured by live gunfire during a settler attack on the village of Al-Mughayyir near Ramallah," the Red Crescent said in a statement, adding the wounded had been taken to the hospital.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that his country's campaign in Lebanon relied on both military and diplomatic pressure to disarm Iran-allied Hezbollah.

"The overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah and remove the threat to the northern communities (of Israel), through a combination of military and diplomatic measures," Katz said during a ceremony marking Israel's national day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror.

"We will act in the same way with regard to high-trajectory fire (towards Israel) from north of the Litani and from throughout Lebanon", he added, referring to the Litani river, a natural marker that cuts across southern Lebanon, below which Israel wants no more Hezbollah presence.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urged Iran to hold constructive talks with the United States in Islamabad.

"As we know, the US vice president is prepared to travel to Islamabad," Wadephul said ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. "Iran should now take up this offer for the sake of its own people." 

Germany on Tuesday poured cold water on calls to suspend the EU's cooperation deal with Israel, despite rising anger over the war on Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Spain and Ireland had put the issue of halting the agreement back on the table at a meeting of EUw foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

But German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called the proposal "inappropriate".

"We have to talk with Israel about the critical issues," he said at the start of the meeting.

"That has to be done in a critical, constructive dialogue with Israel. That is what we stand for."

Attitudes towards Israel among EU member states, already hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"We need to act. We need to make sure that our fundamental values are protected," Irish foreign minister Helen McEntee said.

Representatives of US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" have held talks with state-owned Dubai multinational DP World about managing supply chains and infrastructure projects in Gaza, the Financial Times said on Tuesday.

Rehabilitation of Gaza, where two years of Israeli bombardment have destroyed four-fifths of buildings, has been projected by global institutions to cost around $70 billion.

Citing three people familiar with the matter, the paper said the talks centred on prospects for a partnership between DP World and the Board of Peace to run logistics.

These efforts would cover humanitarian aid and other goods entering Gaza, including warehousing, tracking systems and security, it added.

The crisis in Iran and its repercussions on the energy markets have cost France anywhere between 4 billion euros ($4.71 billion) and 6 billion euros, said the country's economy minister, Roland Lescure, on Tuesday.

This impact would include higher government debt costs triggered by the current market environment, Lescure told French radio station RTL.

He added that he would present measures to freeze spending on Tuesday, and that Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu would also announce steps to help consumers cope with higher energy prices on Tuesday evening.

Disruption to global oil supplies from the war on Iran has added more than $100 to the cost of long-haul flights from Europe, a cost likely to trigger higher ticket prices, campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) said.

The rise in jet fuel prices has increased the average fuel cost by 88 euros ($104) per passenger on long-haul flights departing Europe and by 29 euros on flights within Europe, T&E said.

Its analysis compared prices as of 16 April, with those just before the US and Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February.

Israel's actions in Lebanon are "totally unacceptable", Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"Israel's conduct is completely unacceptable. Of course, we must firmly condemn Hezbollah's initial attacks, which, in seeking to show solidarity with Iran, dragged Lebanon into a war it did not want, as well as Israel's disproportionate and indiscriminate response."

He also said Belgium is calling for at least a partial suspension of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel, adding that Belgium is "aware that a full suspension is probably out of reach given the positions of the various European countries".

US President Donald Trump said late Monday that obtaining uranium from Iran would be "long" and "difficult" in the aftermath of last year's US strikes on Tehran's nuclear sites.

"Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding: "Therefore, digging it out will be a long and difficult process."

The US leader regularly uses the term "nuclear dust" to refer to Iran's stock of enriched uranium, which the United States accuses Iran of hoarding in order to make an atomic bomb.

Iranian state television said Tuesday that no Iranian delegation had yet departed for talks with the United States in Pakistan.

"So far, no delegation from Iran has departed for Islamabad, Pakistan; whether it is the main or subsidiary delegation; primary or secondary," state TV said, dismissing reports suggesting otherwise.

Iran's armed forces are ready to deliver an "immediate and decisive response" to any renewed hostile action by its adversaries, a senior Iranian military commander said on Tuesday, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.

A two-week ceasefire between Iran and the US is set to expire on Wednesday. The two countries have accused each other of breaching the ceasefire and have both tightened control over Gulf maritime transit.

Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Tehran retained the upper hand in the military field, including in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, and would not allow the US president to "create false narratives over the situation on the ground".

The US and Israel's war on Iran is creating the worst energy crisis ever faced by the world, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

"This is indeed the biggest crisis in history," Birol told France Inter radio in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.

"The crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia," he added.

The war in the Middle East has choked up maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

Iran executed on Tuesday a man convicted of helping set fire to a major mosque in Tehran and of collaborating with Israel and the United States during pre-war protests, the judiciary said.

"Amir Ali Mirjafari... one of the armed elements collaborating with the enemy who had attempted to set fire to the Gholhak Grand Mosque and was the leader of the Mossad network's anti-security activities in that area, was hanged this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

It added that his death sentence, confirmed by the Supreme Court, was based on acting on behalf of "the Zionist regime, the hostile US government, and hostile groups against the security of the country by setting fire to the Gholhak Grand Mosque and public facilities."