Vance holding talks with Pakistan PM, says White House
US vice-president JD Vance is holding talks with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, the White House said.
The US delegation also includes US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
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Iran ‘unable to find the mines it laid in the strait of Hormuz’
William Christou
Iran is unable to find the mines it laid in the strait of Hormuz and does not have the capacity to remove the explosives, preventing Iran from allowing more traffic through the waterway, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.
Iran laid mines in the strait of Hormuz last month after the US and Israel declared war against the country, dropping explosives throughout the waterway with small boats. The US was mostly unable to monitor the small boats which were mining the strait, leaving the country uncertain about the location and number of mines in the waterway.
Maritime traffic through the strait ground almost to a standstill due to the mines, as well as Iranian drones and missiles that threatened to hit ships. A senior Revolutionary Guards official said on 2 March the country would set ships “ablaze” if they tried to traverse the strait.
A small number of ships have continued to pass through after being given the go-ahead by Iran, which allowed vessels from friendly nations that paid tolls.
US officials have said that Iran placed mines in the strait erratically, and may not have marked where it put all of them. Some mines also drifted or moved from their original location, US officials suggested.
Read the full piece here:
In Lebanon, a funeral is being held for 13 security personnel who were killed by Israeli airstrikes near a government complex and a State Security office in Nabatieh.
A funeral in Sidon, Lebanon. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesA funeral in Sidon, Lebanon. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesA funeral in Sidon, Lebanon. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShareAnalysis: Is this Trump’s Suez crisis?
Patrick Wintour
Donald Trump’s addiction to framing every event in the most apocalyptic terms is what allows conservative commentators such as Mark Levin to praise him as “a once-in-a-century president”.
But Trump cannot play out his entire presidency on a reckless high wire without eventually falling off – potentially taking America with him into a steep decline into the unknown.
Trump likes to portray Europe as being under civilisational threat from migration, but this week he threatened that a 7,000-year-old civilisation would “die … never to be brought back” if it did not comply with his demands.
He swiftly discovered it was not a threat on which he could follow through, and had to be extricated from it in a rescue mission led by Pakistan and, ignominiously for him, China. He pulled back in a social media post issued just 88 minutes before the implied destruction of Iran.
Not for the first time, Trump had disregarded Iran’s history of resilience. As the late Iranian essayist Bastani Parizi once wrote: “Sometimes the fate of this kingdom hangs by a hair, but that hair does not break.”
Faced by Iran’s refusal to back down, symbolised by millions of Iranians volunteering to stand on the bridges of their homeland, a late-night White House scramble ensued to find a justification to bring his latest piece of brinkmanship to a semi-dignified end before his ghoulish deadline.
Read on here:
ShareMacron and Erdoğan discuss Middle East war
French president Emmanuel Macron said he met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and discussed the importance of ensuring Lebanon is included in the US-Iran ceasefire.
In a statement on X, Macron said:
double quotation markWe first discussed the situation in the Middle East and Near East, calling for respect for the ceasefire and its implementation in Lebanon, respect for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and underscoring the need for a robust and lasting diplomatic solution.
He added that the two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine.
Share‘Massive’ number of empty tankers heading to US to load up with oil and gas, says Trump
Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social app, saying a “massive” number of empty tankers are heading to the US to load up with oil and gas.
He wrote:
double quotation markMassive numbers of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest anywhere in the World, are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and “sweetest” oil (and gas!) anywhere in the World. We have more oil than the next two largest oil economies combined – and higher quality. We are waiting for you. Quick turnaround!
It is not entirely clear if this message is connected to Iran’s ongoing control, and effective closure, of the strait of Hormuz.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 people, including three emergency workers, were killed by Israeli strikes on south Lebanon today, as state media reported raids on more than a dozen locations, according to AFP news agency.
The ministry said three deadly strikes hit locations in the Nabatiyeh district, with the dead including a member of the Lebanese civil defence and two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, decrying what it said was Israel’s “systematic” targeting of emergency workers.
Earlier today, Iran’s first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, warned that if Israeli interests are prioritised in today’s talks in Islamabad “there will be no deal” and “the world will face greater costs”.
In a statement on social media, he said:
double quotation markIf we negotiate in Islamabad with representatives of ‘America First,’ an agreement beneficial to both sides and the world is probable. However, if we face representatives of ‘Israel First,’ there will be no deal; we will inevitably continue our defense even more vigorously than before, and the world will face greater costs.
The Pakistan prime minister’s office has issued a photo of Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with US vice-president JD Vance during their meeting in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif shakes hands with US vice-president JD Vance during their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photograph: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office/Reuters
Iranian media reported that Tehran’s delegation had met with Sharif on the sidelines of the talks earlier today.
We still do not know the schedule or timing of the talks. The only statement we have so far is from Sharif’s office, which revealed very little.
“As the Islamabad Talks commenced today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with His Excellency JD Vance, Vice President of the United States of America,” the statement said.
“The Prime Minister reiterated that Pakistan looks forward to continue its facilitation of both sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.”
In other news, Saudi Arabia said Pakistani forces have arrived at its King Abdulaziz airbase as part of a defence deal between the two countries.
In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry said:
double quotation markThe Pakistani force consists of fighter and support aircraft … with the aim of enhancing joint military coordination, raising the level of operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries, and supporting security and stability at both regional and international levels.
The mutual defence pact was signed in September and defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both. The King Abdulaziz airbase had come under repeated drone and missile attacks during the war, Associated Press reported.
Updated at 06.52 EDT
Israeli attacks continued in southern Lebanon, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) reported, while Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israeli positions in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel with drones and missiles.
Three people were killed this morning when an Israeli airstrike hit and destroyed a residential building in the town of Maifadoun in the southern Lebanese province of Nabatiyeh, according to NNA.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll from Israeli strikes across the country on Wednesday had risen from 303 to 357, with 1,223 people wounded.
Smoke rises following an airstrike in Lebanon, as seen from Israeli side of the border. Photograph: Amir Cohen/ReutersA rescue worker searches for people under the rubble inside a building that was targeted in a Israeli airstrike on Beirut sea front. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/ShutterstockMourners gather around the coffins of members of the Lebanese state security forces during a funeral procession in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPAShare
Reuters has issued a news alert saying a US official has denied its earlier report that Washington agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets (see post at 10:28).
ShareVance holding talks with Pakistan PM, says White House
US vice-president JD Vance is holding talks with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, the White House said.
The US delegation also includes US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
While we await more news on the talks in Islamabad, a Hezbollah MP, Hassan Fadlallah, has reiterated the group’s objection to any potential negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Both the Israeli and Lebanese governments have signalled willingness to hold talks, which could begin in Washington next week, but Fadlallah said the move is “a blatant violation of the (national) charter, the constitution and Lebanese laws”, according to a statement carried by the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar TV.
He added: “It exacerbates domestic divisions at a time when Lebanon most needs solidarity and internal unity to face Israel’s aggression.”
Israel has ruled out any discussion involving Hezbollah.
Updated at 05.48 EDT
The US had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets that were held in Qatar and other foreign banks, according to Reuters news agency, citing a senior Iranian source.
The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, welcomed the move as a sign of “seriousness” in reaching a deal with the US in talks in Islamabad.
The US has not made any public comments on the matter.
The source told Reuters that unfreezing the assets was “directly linked to ensuring safe passage through strait of Hormuz”, which is expected to be a key issue in the talks.
ShareIranian negotiators meet Pakistan PM in Islamabad – report
The Iranian delegation led by parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has met and held talks with the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported in a brief update.
Updated at 05.22 EDT