US Iran war highlights: US, Iran consider two-week ‘ceasefire extension’ to buy time for peace deal

US Iran war LIVE updates: Despite China denying reports that it assisted Iran in countering US and Israeli forces, a Financial Times report claimed that Tehran secretly acquired the Chinese-built satellite, significantly enhancing its capability to monitor and potentially target US military installations across the region during the conflict.

According to the report, leaked Iranian military documents indicate that the satellite, identified as TEE-01B, was acquired by the Aerospace Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in late 2024 after being launched from China.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Israel’s spy chief on Wednesday pledged more covert efforts to try to topple Iran’s government. David Barnea, the head of Mossad, said Israel hadn’t expected that its bombardment of Iranian military, nuclear and infrastructure sites, would be enough to end Iran’s 47-year-old clerical-led rule.

“Our mission has yet to be completed,” he said in a speech on Tuesday. “Our obligation will be discharged only after this extremist regime is replaced. This regime, which seeks our destruction, must pass from the world,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iraq-bound supertanker, Agios Fanourios I, has sailed into the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on its second attempt, making it the first crude carrier to head west since the US naval blockade of the narrow waterway came into force.

According to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, one unnamed supertanker had sailed through the Hormuz into Iranian waters in spite of the US warships.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Two Israeli strikes on Wednesday struck vehicles south of Beirut, reported state media, while Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel.

Israel is continuing its strikes on southern Lebanon in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, but has not targeted the Lebanese capital since the start of a series of attacks across the country on April 8.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran is reportedly planning to use alternative ports to those in southern Iran to bypass the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which took effect on Monday, reported Mehr News.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran has reportedly rejected a UAE-backed proposal adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on establishing a so-called "safe maritime corridor" in the Strait of Hormuz, slamming it as legally-groundless and politically-motivated.

US Iran war LIVE updates: A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Wednesday that the killing of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top military commanders in the US-Israeli strikes would be avenged.

“This revenge will be carried out at an appropriate time and place, with careful planning, and our enemies should expect to pay a heavy price for their actions,” said Ali Nikzad, deputy speaker of parliament.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday said that the urgent task at hand is to avoid resumption of the war between Iran and the US, and the maintenance of hard-won momentum of a ceasefire.

US Iran war LIVE updates: International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday said that "very detailed" measures to verify Iran's nuclear activities must be included in a potential US-Iran peace agreement to end the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Grossi stressed the need for a thorough verification regime for the Iranian nuclear programme, as US President Donald Trump said that a second round of talks could take place over the next two days in Pakistan.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, who was held in France for more than a year, has returned home, reported Iranian state television on Wednesday.

"Mahdieh Esfandiari, a Palestinian rights activist, has returned to Iran after her release from prison in France," state television said.

Esfandiari's release came a week after French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who spent more than three years in Iranian prisons on espionage charges, arrived in France.

US Iran war LIVE updates: French luxury group Hermes reported lower than expected first-quarter sales on Wednesday as the ongoing US-Iran war hit spending in the Middle East region as well as in France.

Sales of products including Birkin and Kelly bags, silk scarves and perfume grew by 6 per cent in currency-adjusted terms, lower than a Visible Alpha analyst consensus of 7.1 per cent growth, reported Reuters.

US Iran war LIVE updates: China on Wednesday warned the United States against imposing tariffs on the country over reports of Beijing providing military backing to Iran.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, "If the US goes ahead with tariff hikes on China on the basis of these accusations, China will respond with countermeasures."

This comes after the US threatened to hike tariffs on countries supporting Iran in the ongoing war in the Middle East.

US Iran war LIVE updates: China on Wednesday refuted reports of Beijing providing military support to Iran.

"Media reports accusing China of providing military support to Iran are purely fabricated," said Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign affairs ministry.

The remarks came just hours after the Financial Times reported that Iran acquired a Chinese satellite, TEE-01B, to target US military bases across the Middle East.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Nissan's vehicle sales in the Middle East have dropped about half of pre-war figures due to a direct impact to car demand in the wake of the ongoing US-Iran war, the Financial Times reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, Stephen Miller, on Tuesday said that the US blockade of Iranian ports represents a clear shift in global power dynamics, asserting that Tehran will become a "footnote" if it fails to make a deal with Washington.

Miller described the US naval blockade as a strategic decision that reasserts US dominance, particularly at sea.

"What you're watching now in Iran with the implementation of this blockade is the total resetting of the American power dynamic for the next 100 years," he said in an interview with Fox News.

"President Trump has put Iran in a box; he's played the checkmate move. And so now no matter what path Iran chooses, America wins," he added.

"If Iran chooses the path of economic strangulation by blockade, then the world will pass Iran by. New energy routes will be established, new supply chains will be established, and other nations throughout the region, throughout the world, and especially America will power the world and Iran will become a footnote," he said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: India-flagged LPG vessel 'Jag Vikram', which crossed the Strait of Hormuz on April 11, arrived at Gujarat's Kandla Port on April 14, carrying 20,400 metric tonnes of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), officials said.

The vessel docked late on Tuesday at Oil Jetty No.1 at Kandla Port, and the unloading process is expected to begin shortly and is likely to strengthen India's LPG supply chain.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Lebanon is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for providing fast-track assistance to help absorb the impact of the Middle East war, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The discussions reportedly are focused on some type of financing instrument that would give Lebanon access to between $800 million and $1 billion, one of the people reportedly said. The money would be earmarked for budget support and humanitarian response, the people said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran reportedly secretly acquired a Chinese satellite, TEE-01B, to target US military bases across the Middle East.

The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by the Chinese company Earth Eye Co, was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China, the Financial Times reported, citing leaked Iranian military documents.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Luxury brands are feeling the heat as the conflict in the Middle East shuts airports and restricts travel to the region, a setback likely to become more acute was the US-Iran war drags on.

DFS "is costing two (percentage) points of growth" for its selective retailing division, which includes beauty brand Sephora, LVMH Chief Financial Officer Cecile Cabanis told analysts this week.

The conflict shaved at least 1% off group ​sales in the latest quarter due to lower spending in the Gulf region, LVMH said, Reuters reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will depart for an official visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, his office reportedly said, as Islamabad continues attempts to host a fresh round of talks between Iran and the US.

"Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will depart from Islamabad for Jeddah today on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, accompanied by a high-level delegation," said a statement from his office.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Sri Lanka has reportedly repatriated 238 Iranian sailors stranded in the South Asian country after one of their warships was torpedoed by a US submarine.

Deputy defence minister Aruna Jayasekara told AFP that 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena, and another 206 from the IRIS Bushehr left on Tuesday.

"A few sailors from the IRIS Bushehr are staying back to operate the vessel, but 206 joined those rescued from the IRIS Dena and returned home last night in a chartered aircraft," Jayasekara said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran reportedly used a Chinese spy satellite to target US bases amid the ongoing war, which was triggered by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructures, the Financial Times reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: President Donald Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl on Tuesday that he was not thinking about extending the ceasefire with Iran.

"It could end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because then they can rebuild," Trump added.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The US Treasury Department on Wednesday said it does not intend to extend a temporary waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil that was introduced to relax war-driven supply disruptions.

"Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury, maintaining maximum pressure on Iran. Financial institutions should be on notice that the department is leveraging the full range of available tools and authorities and is prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran's activities. The short-term authorisation permitting the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed," the US Treasury Department said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: An Iraq-bound supertanker that aborted its attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend to sail into the Persian Gulf is now moving through the waterway, a transit that would make it the first crude vessel to head west through the conduit since a US blockade was implemented on Monday, Bloomberg reported.