Pakistan PM Sharif to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey this week
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey from April 15 to 18, Islamabad said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka repatriates over 230 Iranian sailors
Over 230 sailors of two Iranian Naval vessels distressed in Sri Lanka after a US submarine attack and engine failure respectively have been repatriated, defence officials said here Wednesday.
A total of 238 sailors were sent back on board a Turkish Airliner late on Tuesday night.
On March 4, Iran's naval ship ‘Iris Dena’ was attacked by the US killing 84 on board outside Sri Lanka’s international waters. As many as 32 others were rescued by Sri Lanka.
Then three days later, Iran's second ship ‘Iris Bushehr’ was allowed into Sri Lanka waters after it reported an engine failure. Over 200 on board the second ship were accommodated at Welisara, a Naval facility outside Colombo.
The 238 repatriated on Tuesday were sailors from both ships, defence officials said.
A group of ‘Iris Dena’ survivors were accommodated at Koggala, a Sri Lankan Airforce facility near the southern port of Galle. They were receiving treatment at the national hospital in Galle.
On March 14, the Iranian embassy in Sri Lanka repatriated the remains of 84 sailors killed in the US attack on ‘Iris Dena’.
Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US bases: Report
Iran secretly used a Chinese spy satellite that gave the Islamic Republic a new capability to target U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Trump tells ABC News he is not thinking about extending ceasefire with Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl on Tuesday 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 told the reporter.
IAEA chief Grossi: Length of Iran uranium enrichment ban is a political decision
The International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday a decision on how long a moratorium on uranium enrichment that Iran must be bound by under any agreement with the U.S. was a political decision.
U.S. and Iranian officials ended talks at the weekend on ending the Iran war, without agreement over differences that included how long Tehran would suspend uranium enrichment, which the U.S. and the West say would be used to build weapons.
US says it has completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea
The U.S. military said late on Tuesday that American forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea through a blockade.
Trump says the Iran war is very close to over
In clips showing excerpts of an interview he taped with Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria," Trump says of the Iran war, "I think it's close to over, yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over."
He adds, "If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we're not finished. We'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly."
Trump has declared a US victory in Iran repeatedly since mere days after the war started - even as the reality on the ground has been far more complicated.
The full interview is set to air starting Wednesday morning.
US military will operate blockade in Gulf of Oman, AP source says
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, explained that the strategy is to observe vessels subject to the blockade leave Iranian facilities and clear the Strait of Hormuz before intercepting them and forcing them to turn around.
The official said that the military relies on more than just automated tracking beacons that all merchant ships are required to carry called AIS to determine merchant ships were coming from a port in Iran but wouldn't go into more detail, citing the need for operational security.
The official also wouldn't go into what the military would do should they need to board and capture a ship.
Vance says Trump wants a grand bargain reached with Iran
Addressing a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, the vice president discussed the 20-plus hours of negotiations with Iran where he lead the US delegation. He said that Trump "doesn't want to make, like, a small deal. He wants to make the grand bargain."
Vance added, "That's the trade that he's offering," and that Trump is telling Iran, "If you guys commit to not having a nuclear weapon, we are going to make Iran thrive."
"We're going to make it economically prosperous, and we're going to invite the Iranian people into the world economy in a way they haven't been in my entire life," the vice president said.
Pakistani official says government will keep at it
Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press that "our leadership is not giving up" on its efforts to help the US and Iran negotiate. He noted the talks marked the first direct discussion between the two in nearly 50 years.
"We would very much like to see if we can continue to pursue the dialogue," he added, speaking on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. "We'll keep at it, and our leadership is at it."
Aurangzeb said he also this week met with US officials including Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss trade and finance concerns. He plans to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday.
Treasury says US will not renew Iranian oil sanctions waiver
The Treasury Department says "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," in a post on X.
The administration allowed for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude oil already in transport before March 20, and would last through April 19.
Additionally, the administration allowed a waiver on Russian oil at sea to expire on Saturday.
Lebanon praises first talks with Israel in decades as constructive, calls for ceasefire
Lebanon's top envoy to the US says the first high-level diplomatic engagement between her country and Israel was "constructive," but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants that has displaced thousands of Lebanese.
After participating in Tuesday's talks with Rubio and Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Nada Hamadeh Moawad said she had "underscored the need to preserve our territorial integrity and state sovereignty" during the two-hour discussion.
"I called for a ceasefire and the return of displaced persons to their homes," she said in brief comments released by the Lebanese embassy in Washington.
US could sanction Chinese and Arab banks for doing business with Iran
The US Department of the Treasury sent a letter, viewed by The Associated Press, to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, warning about the risks of doing business with Iran. The Treasury Department threatened secondary sanctions against the nations' banks and accused those countries of allowing Iranian illicit activities to flow through their financial institutions.
The letter states that Iran processed at least USD 9 billion through US correspondent accounts in 2024 using a series of front companies, most notably in Hong Kong and the UAE.
The Treasury Department's account on the social platform X posted on Tuesday that 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."
US says first Israel-Lebanon talks productive, will continue with aim of launching formal negotiations
The State Department says the first high-level meeting between Israel and Lebanon in decades was "productive" and will continue with the aim of launching direct negotiations.
In a statement released after the two-hour session in Washington between Rubio and the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States, the department said, "All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue."
Israel has been fighting Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and demands that the group, which opposed the talks and was not represented, be disarmed.
