Iran war news highlights: Abbas Araghchi to ‘return to Pakistan’ en route to Russia after Oman visit

Iran war news LIVE: Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport on Saturday for the first time since the conflict with the US and Israel began about two months ago.

Iran’s state-run television reported that flights took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran bound for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Medina.

Flightradar24, a flight tracking platform, showed that at least three Istanbul-bound flights departed Saturday morning.

Iran war news LIVE: The Israeli army said it carried out strikes in three locations in southern Lebanon, claiming the targets were Hezbollah rocket launchers in overnight operations.

The army said that it hit Hezbollah positions in Deir el-Zahrani, Reman and al-Saamiya in southern Lebanon.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Araghchi earlier posted on social media that the purpose of his travel is to consult with partners on bilateral matters. He has met Pakistan army chief Asim Munir, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported, with Pakistan media saying he will gather next with the prime minister and foreign minister.

Still, Leavitt claimed the Iranians had reached out to the US to arrange the fresh round of talks.

“We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forwards towards a deal,” Leavitt said on Fox. She later told reporters that the US has “certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the past couple of days,” without elaborating.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran said it had hanged an Iranian working for Israeli intelligence on Saturday for vandalism and violence during nationwide protests this year, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

It said Erfan Kiani, a “hired thug of Mossad,” had engaged in the destruction and arson of public and private property, spreading fear and terror across the central city of Isfahan, and wielding a machete.

He was hanged early in the morning after his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court and following legal procedures, Tasnim said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Egyptian and Pakistani foreign ministers late Friday discussed efforts to launch a new round of talks between the United States and Iran.

Badr Abdelatty of Egypt spoke by phone with his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

The Egyptian foreign ministry said the diplomats affirmed that negotiations are the best way to end the war.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The lack of clarity over the talks is not new and does not rule out some form of communication between the two sides. If discussions go ahead, they are likely to cover the same issues that stalled the earlier round.

The previous talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad broke down over three key points. These included Tehran's highly enriched uranium (HEU) and its nuclear programme, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel's war in Lebanon.

Iran has maintained that it has the right to enrich uranium but reports also suggested that the level of enrichment could still be discussed. More details here.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Large parts of Pakistan’s capital have been under tight security for more than a week as of Saturday. This comes amid continued uncertainty over the possible second round of talks between the US and Iran.

Main roads leading into Islamabad have been closed. The Red Zone, which houses major government offices and diplomatic missions, remains heavily guarded.

In the nearby commercial 'Blue Area', markets are largely empty. Cafes are facing supply shortages. Public transport has also been affected, and bus terminals are not operating, leaving many commuters stranded, news agency PTI reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US secretary of war Pete Hegseth has termed the ongoing conflict in Iran as "a gift to the world", saying that the American blockade of Iranian maritime traffic will persist "as long as it takes."

Addressing journalists at the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth said that the naval restrictions are essential to fulfilling what he described as a "bold and dangerous" mission aimed at neutralising Iran's perceived threat to international stability.

While American officials maintained that the blockade has successfully intercepted 34 vessels, maritime monitoring data indicates that Tehran continues to circumvent these measures to export sanctioned oil.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are travelling to Pakistan on Saturday. Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minster Abbas Araghchi has already reached. However, status of direct talks between the two remain unlikely as Iranian foreign ministry has denied that a direct meeting is planned with the US.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Shipping data on Friday showed that five ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours, compared to around 130 a day before the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.

The ships included an Iranian oil-products tanker but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets, news agency Reuters reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran produces over 1,000 types of weapons within the country, including missiles, drones and other military systems, defence ministry spokesperson Reza Talaei-Nik said.

“Today, more than 1,000 types of weapons… are produced entirely domestically,” he said, adding that this capacity has been built through more than 25 years of investment in the defence sector.

He said manufacturing is spread across different parts of the country so production can continue even if some sites are hit, and added that about 9,000 companies support the defence industry, Iran International reported

US Iran war LIVE updates: Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, and more than 2,490 people in Lebanon, where new fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah broke out two days after the war started, according to authorities.

Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has also sustained casualties. UNIFIL said Friday that an Indonesian peacekeeper died of wounds sustained in an attack on his base on March 29, raising to six — four Indonesians and two French — the number of force members killed since the war erupted.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday that "the Iranians want to talk in person" and said that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Islamabad to "hear the Iranians out". She added that US vice president JD Vance is on standby and may visit if needed.

"...The president has decided to dispatch Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner back to Islamabad. The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person... Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out,” she said.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Since the last round of talks, efforts to bring the two sides back to the table have hit an impasse, with Iran refusing to participate as long as a US naval blockade on its ports remained in place.

Iran has imposed a de facto blockade of its own on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only a trickle of ships to pass through the vital waterway, throwing global energy markets into turmoil.

European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday that the strait "must immediately reopen without restrictions and without tolling".

"This is vital for the entire world," Costa said.

Iran news LIVE updates: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the United States has openly acknowledged that its military involvement in various nations, including Iran and Venezuela, is driven primarily by an interest in oil.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Lavrov said that "The United States has officially stated that no one can dictate to it. They only care about their own well-being," during an interview with Public Television of Russia.

The Russian diplomat further alleged that Washington is prepared to secure its interests through extreme measures, including "coups, kidnappings or murders of the leaders of those countries that have the necessary natural resources for Americans."

Referencing specific nations, Lavrov stated that, in the cases of "Venezuela, Iran - our American colleagues do not hide that it is oil." As reported by Al Jazeera, he claimed that the US operates under a "doctrine of dominance in the world's energy markets."

Iran news LIVE updates: Iranian MP and head of parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission Ebrahim Azizi said on Friday that foreign minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Pakistan is focused only on bilateral matters and is not linked to any nuclear negotiations.

"Just met with foreign journalists in Tehran and thanked them for coming to capture a true picture of our country. In the meeting, I made it clear that FM Araghchi’s trip to Pakistan is only for discussions on bilateral relations and he has no assignment related to nuclear talks, which remain one of Iran’s firm red lines," Azizi posted on X.

Iran news LIVE updates: Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed developments in the Washington-Tehran ceasefire agreement in a phone call with US President Donald Trump, Qatari state news agency reported on Friday.

He added that Qatar would continue coordinating with partners to support mediation efforts led by Pakistan.

Iran news LIVE updates: The US military noted that it now has three aircraft carriers in West Asia for the first time since it waged the 2003 Iraq war.

The three battle groups comprise "over 200 aircraft and 15,000 Sailors and Marines", US Central Command said on X.

Iran news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at satisfying US demands, as peace talks were set to resume in Pakistan.

"They're making an offer and we'll have to see," Trump said during a phone interview.

Trump said he did not know what the offer would be yet. He has been adamant that any deal include Iran giving up its enriched uranium and allowing freedom of oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran news LIVE updates: The US state department's top lawyer has argued that President Donald Trump's war with Iran was launched in self-defense and to defend US ally Israel, arguing the bombing campaign was not the start of a new war but the continuation of an ongoing conflict.

State department legal adviser Reed Rubinstein made the arguments in a statement released days before a May 1 deadline for the Trump administration to obtain approval for the war from Congress under the 1973 War Powers Act or move to end it.

The US was "engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States' own inherent right of self-defense," Rubinstein said, citing what he called "Iran's malign aggression over decades" since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, including attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces and Israel, Iranian missile strikes against Israel in 2024 and Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Iran news LIVE updates: Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the US does not plan to renew a waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products that are currently at sea. And, he said, a renewal of the one-time waiver for Iranian oil at sea is totally off the table.

“Not the Iranians,” Bessent told The Associated Press. "We have the blockade, and there’s no oil coming out.”

"And we think in the next two, three days, they’re going to have to start shuttering production, which will be very bad for their wells.”

Bessent's statements come as the world is on edge over the US-Israeli war in Iran, and global energy markets have been ensnarled by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran news LIVE updates: Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed six people Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said, despite an ongoing ceasefire in the more than six-week war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy's airstrikes on southern Lebanon today, April 24, resulted in the martyrdom of six citizens and the injury of two others," the ministry said in a statement.

Two people were killed in Wadi al-Hujair, two were killed in Touline, and one each in Srifa and Yater, all in southern Lebanon, the ministry said.

Iran news LIVE updates: Shortly after Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi touched down in Pakistan, his government made it clear that there would be no direct negotiations with American government representatives during this visit.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmael Baqaei said on X that “No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S.” Instead, Baqaei said Pakistani officials would convey messages between the delegations.

Baqaei thanked the Pakistani government for its “ongoing mediation & good offices for ending American imposed war of aggression.”

The White House said earlier Friday that its envoys would meet Araghchi.

Iran news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump is sending his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Pakistan to meet Iran’s foreign minister, the White House said, as authorities in the South Asian country try to restart ceasefire talks between the US and Iran.