US-Iran war news highlights: Trump ‘seriously considering’ fresh strikes on Iran, says report

US-Iran war news LIVE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been “slight progress” in mediated negotiations with Iran, though uncertainty continues to surround efforts to convert the fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace agreement.

“I don’t want to exaggerate it, but there’s been a little bit of movement, and that’s good,” Rubio said on Friday during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden.

US-Iran war news LIVE: The United Arab Emirates has intensified efforts in recent days to push for an end to the Iran war, joining Saudi Arabia and Qatar in urging US President Donald Trump to allow negotiations to continue, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The outreach was driven by concerns that any renewed Iranian retaliation could throw Gulf economies into turmoil if hostilities resume. During separate conversations with Trump, leaders of the three US allies argued that military action would not achieve Washington’s long-standing objectives with Iran, the sources said.

US-Iran war news LIVE: Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has departed for Iran, a diplomatic source in Islamabad told Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Friday.

US-Iran war news LIVE: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Friday for the second time in less than 24 hours, as the two sides reviewed proposals aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran.

Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Wednesday on an unannounced visit, his second trip to Iran in under a week - as part of efforts to help narrow differences between Tehran and Washington.

During the visit, he held meetings with senior Iranian leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s interior minister and other top officials.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Oil prices rose on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak, after comments from Iran on uranium stockpiles and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz tempered earlier optimism over progress in negotiations with the United States.

Brent crude climbed above $105 a barrel, though it remained down around 3% for the week, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $98 a barrel.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Lebanon’s military said on Friday that its soldiers remain loyal to the institution after the United States imposed sanctions that, for the first time, included an army officer accused of sharing information with Hezbollah.

In a statement, the army said all officers and personnel were carrying out their national duties with “professionalism, responsibility and discipline” in line with directives issued by the military command.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Iran’s IRGC Navy said 35 ships, including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz with permission from Tehran over the past 24 hours, according to state media.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: UAE official says '50-50' chance of US-Iran agreement on Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Taiwan's presidential office said on Friday it had not received any information about the U.S. adjusting military sales, after a senior U.S. official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the war with Iran.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has been waiting for the U.S. to approve a new arms sale package which Reuters has reported could be worth up to $14 billion.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump said following a summit with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing last week that he was undecided on whether to approve it.

On Thursday, U.S. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao was asked at a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing about future arms sales to Taiwan.

"We have done some foreign military sales to them. It's just right now we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury - which we have plenty," he said, referring to the U.S. operation against Iran.

"But we're just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary," he said, adding it would be up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio on whether to approve the sales to Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said they had noted the remarks.

"However, at present we have not received any relevant information about the U.S. adjusting these military sales," she said.

The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China has repeatedly called for the U.S. to stop arms sales.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that there has been “slight progress” on Iran, news agency Reuters reported.

He is currently in Sweden on a diplomatic trip to attend a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in the city of Helsingborg.

Further details awaited.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Washington would eventually recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

He asserted that the US would not allow Iran to retain near-weapons-grade nuclear material.

"We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it," he added.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: US President Donald Trump said he might miss son Donald Trump Jr's wedding this weekend, saying that the timing was difficult because of Iran and other issues.

“This is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things," he said.

“That’s one I can’t win on,” he added.

“If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed by the fake news, of course, I'm talking about," Trump added.

Although the temporary ceasefire on April 9 stopped active combat, it has not led to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz - the strategic waterway that normally handles about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday warned that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could "trigger a severe global food price crisis" in the months ahead. The future of the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the major obstacles in negotiations, with growing fears that the global economy could face further strain as pre-war oil reserves diminish.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would eventually recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium - which Washington believes is destined for a nuclear weapon though Tehran says it is intended purely for peaceful purposes.

"We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters before Trump's comments that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had issued a directive that the uranium should not be sent abroad.

The U.S. president also railed against Tehran's intentions to charge fees on ships using the strait.

"We want it open, we want it free. We don't want tolls," Trump said. "It's an international waterway." Trump faces domestic pressure ahead of November midterm elections, with Americans angry over the surge in fuel prices and his approval rating near its lowest level since he returned to the White House last year. Tehran submitted its latest offer to the U.S. earlier this week.

Tehran's descriptions suggest it largely repeats terms Trump previously rejected, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops. (Reuters)

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: An April 8 ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, brought an end to direct fighting between Iran, the United States and Israel, but verbal hostilities have continued to intensify. Trump has repeatedly warned of renewed military action, while Iranian officials have answered with increasingly sharp rhetoric and unabashed trolling through its social media handled.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Oil prices climbed on Friday as investors doubted the prospects of a breakthrough in US-Iran peace talks, with the two sides still at loggerheads on Tehran's uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait of Hormuz. The market, however, remained headed for a weekly loss.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters no deal has been reached with the US, but the gaps have narrowed, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been "some good signs" in talks, but any toll system in the strait would be unacceptable.

Brent crude futures rose $2.38, or 2.3%, to $104.96 a barrel by 0034 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.73, or 1.8%, at $98.08.

Both benchmarks declined about 2% on Thursday to their lowest closes in nearly two weeks.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Iran's foreign minister met his Pakistani counterpart on Friday to discuss proposals to end the U.S.-Israeli war, Iranian media reported, with Tehran and Washington still at odds over Tehran's uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait of Hormuz.

Two days after presenting the Iranians with the latest U.S. message in the negotiations, Pakistani Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi held another round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday there had been "some good signs" in the talks, but there could be no solution if Tehran enforced a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, which it effectively closed to most shipping after the war began on February 28.

"There's some good signs," Rubio said. "I don't want to be overly optimistic ... So, let's see what happens over the next few days."

A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Thursday that gaps had been narrowed, although uranium enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz remained among the sticking points. (Reuters)

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Iran said the latest proposal from the US partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, but comments from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader about keeping Tehran’s uranium stockpile and a dispute over tolls in the Strait of Hormuz clouded the outlook for a breakthrough.

Tehran is in the process of responding to a text submitted by the US, which “has narrowed the gaps to some extent,” the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Thursday, without saying where it got the information. “Further narrowing requires an end to the temptation for war on Washington’s part.”

While that signaled progress, a Reuters report that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad initially sent oil prices higher. Then President Donald Trump said he opposed efforts by Iran and Oman to establish some form of permanent toll system through Hormuz.

“We want it open, we want it free, we don’t want tolls,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. “It’s an international waterway. They are not charging tolls right now.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a toll system would make a deal with the US “unfeasible.”

The conflicting statements on key issues left it unclear if the two sides were any closer to a deal after renewed threats of escalation in recent days.

Oil prices swung in a wide range on Thursday as traders kept a close watch on whether peace talks would progress. Brent crude prices were down more than 1.5% to trade below $104 a barrel after rising more than 3% earlier in the session. (Bloomberg)

Taiwan's presidential office said on Friday it had not received any information about the U.S. adjusting military sales, after a senior U.S. official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the war with Iran.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has been waiting for the U.S. to approve a new arms sale package which Reuters has reported could be worth up to $14 billion.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump said following a summit with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing last week that he was undecided on whether to approve it.

On Thursday, U.S. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao was asked at a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing about future arms sales to Taiwan.

"We have done some foreign military sales to them. It's just right now we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury - which we have plenty," he said, referring to the U.S. operation against Iran.

"But we're just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary," he said, adding it would be up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio on whether to approve the sales to Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said they had noted the remarks.

"However, at present we have not received any relevant information about the U.S. adjusting these military sales," she said.

The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China has repeatedly called for the U.S. to stop arms sales.

France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure has stated that governments are currently struggling to decide whether to release additional strategic oil reserves to alleviate the energy crisis triggered by the war in Iran, as they await clarity on how long the conflict will persist.

In an interview with The Financial Times, Lescure revealed that the possibility of a second emergency stock release was not discussed when he hosted G7 finance ministers, including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in Paris earlier this week.

“We cannot release stocks, which are by nature finite, without having visibility on the duration and intensity of the conflict at this stage,” Lescure told the paper.

Even after the critical shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz eventually reopens, the minister noted that it will take several weeks for oil supplies to reach major markets in Europe and Asia, so clarity on the timing of when those flows will likely restart will be key, he said.

“That would be the kind of moment in which it would make sense to consider the release of reserves to ensure the transition [from] the current phase to the next. The circumstances have not yet come together,” he added.

Gold edged lower on Friday, pressured by a stronger US dollar and as elevated oil prices have raised expectations for interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.

Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $4,527.60 per ounce, as of 0411 GMT. The metal has shed about 0.2 per cent so far in the week.

The conflict in West Asia is putting pressure on two major sources of employment for India, as thousands of Gulf-based Indian workers return home while demand for the country’s labour-intensive exports declines, according to a Reuters report.

For years, employment opportunities in Gulf countries and strong global demand for Indian-made products such as footwear, garments, leather goods and glassware provided stable incomes for millions of Indians.

However, the ongoing war involving Iran has disrupted trade and labour markets, creating a double setback for the Indian economy. Returning migrant workers are reportedly struggling to find jobs with comparable wages in their hometowns, raising concerns over rising unemployment and the possibility of social unrest.

Reuters reported that the crisis has also affected remittances and export-driven industries that rely heavily on overseas markets and migrant labour networks.

Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi meets Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi again to review proposals for resolving disputes with the US, Tasnim news agency reported.

A new poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College has found that nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters in the US now oppose military aid to Israel, marking a sharp rise from 45 percent recorded three years ago.

The survey also found that nearly half of Democratic voters believe their party has been too supportive of Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

According to the poll, 95 percent of Democratic voters also opposed the US-backed war involving Israel and Iran, highlighting growing discontent within the party over Washington’s approach to the region.

The residents of Iran's Kerman took to the streets to take part in nightly nationwide rallies held in support for the Islamic Republic and to show solidarity with the Iranian Armed Forces, Press TV reported.