US Iran War highlights: Israel, Lebanon to hold talks on Tuesday; Iran delegation arrives in Pak for peace talks with US

US Iran War highlights: Live updates end here; follow here for the latest news. The Iranian delegation arrived in Pakistan for peace talks with the United States on late Friday night. The delegation is headed by the country's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who is accompanied by Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and several other key leaders.

US Vice President JD Vance on Friday departed for scheduled US talks with Iran in Islamabad and said he is optimistic that upcoming negotiations will be positive.

He noted that US President Donald Trump has laid out clear guidelines for the negotiations, while also warning Tehran against trying to “play” the United States.

“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive," Vance said.

The fragile ceasefire that Iran and the US agreed upon early this week now hangs by a thread amid reports that Iran delegation hasn't yet left for Pakistan to participate in the key peace talks with the US. Iran's Tasnim News Agency quoted a source as saying that neither foreign minister Abbas Araghchi nor Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have departed for Islamabad talks.

Several Iranian news outlets, including Mehr news agency, Tasnim and Fars news rejected a report by the Wall Street Journal that the Iranian delegation had arrived in Pakistan for the talks.

The uncertainty over peace process has been triggered by Israel's deadly strikes on neighbouring Lebanon that left around 300 dead and nearly a thousand injured.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is preparing to host the key talks in capital Islamabad over the weekend after it brokered truce between the two sides early this week. Security has been beefed up around the talks venue in Islamabad which is in the vicinity of a high security zone that houses key government buildings and embassies.

Trump's warning to Iran over Hormuz toll

Amid reports that Iran may charge fees from vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump issued a strong warning to Tehran and asked it to stop doing so.

“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 wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The US President's remarks come after some reports suggested that Iran may charge a toll from vessels crossing through the key trade waterway through which, around 20 per cent of the world's oil passes.

Iran-US talks in Islamabad

Stage is set for talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan over the weekend in the backdrop of two-week pause to intense fighting between the two sides in Middle East that had been going on since February 28.

Pakistan is mediating the negotiations between Tehran and Washington even though the truce seems to be on shaky ground over Hormuz stalemate and Israel's offensive against Lebanon.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are likely to lead the Iranian delegation for Islamabad talks, while US delegation will be led by vice president JD Vance. The delegation includes President Donald Trump’s top envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The talks will reportedly be hosted in Islamabad's Serena Hotel which is located in the vicinity of key government buildings and embassies. The hotel has been requisitioned from Wednesday evening through Sunday and the guests have been vacated, Al Jazeera reported.

Kuwait accuses Iran of attacking it

Despite the truce between Iran and the US that put a virtual halt on the fighting in the Middle East, Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Saudi Arabia also said its key pipeline was damaged in the recent attacks.

Saudi's state-run Saudi Press Agency cited an anonymous official saying that a recent attack in the war that damaged its crucial East-West pipeline. The damaged pipeline carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran maintains a chokehold on despite the pause in the fighting.

Meanwhile, the delegations from Iran and the US likely to hold talks in Pakistan's capital Islamabad tomorrow.