LIVE: US–Iran Ceasefire Talks Ahead; Netanyahu Clears Path for Lebanon Negotiations

LIVE: US–Iran Ceasefire Talks Ahead; Netanyahu Clears Path for Lebanon Negotiations

AP

Washington : Negotiators from Iran and the United States prepared Friday for high-level talks planned to start a day later in Islamabad, seeking to steady a ceasefire teetering over Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire and Tehran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.

US Vice President JD Vance was set to take off from Washington, with Iran still remaining mum over its team as it tried to pressure Washington to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks would “remain suspended” otherwise.

Threat of mines looms over the strait

April 10, 2026 1:42 pm

Dubai: Four tankers and three bulk carriers crossed through the strait Thursday, bringing the total number of ships passing through since the ceasefire to at least 12, according to the data firm Kpler. AP

Israel vows to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon

April 10, 2026 1:41 pm

Dubai: Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring "explicit costs and STRONG responses." Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet Vance in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday. AP

Pressure on ceasefire continues

April 10, 2026 1:40 pm

Dubai: After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the US have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that US forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement. AP

Kuwait blames Iran for drone strikes as Trump casts doubt on ceasefire

April 10, 2026 1:40 pm

US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the two-week ceasefire over Iran’s continued chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, while Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the ceasefire. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard denied launching attacks on Persian Gulf states after Kuwait’s announcement.

Asian stocks set for best week since 2022 ahead of US-Iran talks

April 10, 2026 1:36 pm

Singapore: Asian stocks advanced on Friday, putting them on track for their best week in more than three years, as Israel sought talks with Lebanon, raising hopes for a break in Middle East hostilities and an opening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Reuters

Australia, Singapore leaders pledge closer energy ties to tackle global supply shock

April 10, 2026 12:39 pm

Singapore/Perth: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held talks in Singapore on Friday with counterpart Lawrence Wong, in which they vowed closer cooperation to ensure energy security in the face of disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. Asia's oil trading hub of Singapore is the largest supplier of petrol and a major supplier of diesel and jet fuel to Australia, where tight domestic supplies of diesel are rattling the farming and mining sectors, its key users. The leaders said they agreed to ensure the flow of essential supplies including diesel and LNG, making "maximum efforts" to boost their energy security. Reuters

Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces shot down Shahed drones in Middle Eastern countries during Iran war

April 10, 2026 12:36 pm

Kyiv: Ukrainian military personnel shot down Iranian-designed Shahed drones in multiple Middle Eastern countries during the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing the operations as part of a broader effort to help partners counter the same weapons used by Russia in Ukraine. Zelenskyy made his first public acknowledgment of the operations Wednesday in remarks to reporters that were embargoed until Friday. He said Ukrainian forces took part in active operations abroad using domestically produced interceptor drones proven in countering Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia in Ukraine. AP

Pakistan to issue visas on arrival ahead of talks

April 10, 2026 11:48 am

Dubai: Pakistan said Friday it would issue visas on arrival for those travelling to Islamabad for the Iran-US talks, signalling the interest in the world's media in the event. AP

Japan releases more oil reserves

April 10, 2026 11:48 am

Dubai: Japan said it will release an additional 20 days’ worth of oil reserves in May, in a second round to address supply uncertainty over the war in the Middle East. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the planned release of the government reserves will start in early May, after an earlier release last month. AP

Air defence fire, explosions heard in Iran

April 10, 2026 11:48 am

Dubai: Multiple times overnight into Friday morning, people around Iran’s capital, Tehran, and other parts of the country said they heard what sounded like air defence fire and explosions. However, Iran’s government did not acknowledge any attack during that period. After past exchanges of fire with Israel, similar incidents happened as troops remained on edge. AP

‘Iran doing very poor job of allowing oil through Strait of Hormuz’: Trump

April 10, 2026 11:48 am

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran showed further strain on Friday, a day before they are to negotiate in Pakistan, as Washington accused Tehran of breaching promises on the Strait of Hormuz and Israel struck Lebanon with attacks that Iran has claimed violate the truce. There was no sign Iran was lifting its near-total blockade of the strait, which has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies. Tehran cited Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon, which included the heaviest strikes of the war on Wednesday, as a key sticking point. US President Donald Trump said in a social media post late Thursday that Iran was doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil to go through the strait. "That is not the agreement we have!" In a separate post, he said oil would start flowing again, without saying what actions the US might take.

Trump's tenuous Iran exit plan isn't healing Republican rifts exposed by the war

April 10, 2026 11:42 am

Washington: President Donald Trump’s search for an off-ramp from the war with Iran is getting bumpy inside his Republican Party. In the decade since Trump’s “America First” movement rose to power by rejecting military intervention, his coalition has rarely been tested the way it is now. Trump’s exit efforts - first through threats of annihilation, then with a ceasefire that is proving precarious - are doing little to paper over tensions that have festered since the war began six weeks ago. AP

Pakistan West Asia Talks: No official word on arrival of US, Iran delegates

April 10, 2026 11:41 am

Islamabad: Uncertainty shrouded the US-Iran dialogue, as there was no official word about the arrival of delegates on Friday, the day set for the start of talks between the two warring sides, even as Pakistan waived visa requirements for journalists and officials attending talks. Â Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while announcing a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, had stated that the two countries would hold talks in Islamabad on April 10. He had tagged presidents of the United States and Iran and other officials in his statement on X. Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amir Moghadam in a statement confirmed that a 10-member Iran delegation would arrive in Islamabad. PTI

Airline pilots fear retribution over refusing to fly in Middle East

April 10, 2026 11:33 am

Montreal/New Delhi: Airline pilots who have safety concerns about flying in the Middle East during the Iran war have told a global aviators' union group they fear blowback ranging from lost pay to being fired if they refuse assignments, its president Ron Hay said. Pilots from Lebanon to India have voiced "widespread" concerns they could face sanctions if they do not fly in often unpredictable conditions where airspace can close with little notice due to missile or drone strikes, according to the head of the International Federation of Air Line Pilot' Associations. Reuters

US consumer inflation expected to have surged in March amid Iran war

April 10, 2026 11:33 am

Washington: US consumer prices likely recorded their biggest increase in nearly four years in March as the war with Iran boosted oil prices and the pass-through from tariffs persisted, which would further diminish hopes for an interest rate cut this year. The anticipated surge in the monthly Consumer Price Index would follow in the wake of a sharp rebound in job growth last month, which suggested the labor market remained stable. There are, however, concerns that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could undercut the labor market, especially if households respond to high prices by pulling back spending. Reuters

Ship-tracking data shows tanker movement in Strait of Hormuz

April 10, 2026 8:25 am

New York: Underlining Iran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, a Botswana-flagged liquified natural gas tanker called the Nidi attempted to travel out of the Persian Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard but suddenly turned around and headed back early Friday, ship-tracking data showed. AP

Dollar set for weekly drop ahead of US-Iran peace talks

April 10, 2026 8:25 am

Singapore: The dollar on Friday was heading for its largest weekly drop since January as other currencies gained on optimism that a ceasefire in the Gulf will hold and oil shipping will resume. Further direction for markets is likely to hang on the outcome of weekend talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad. Reuters

Stocks shaky as Israeli attacks on Lebanon tests Iran ceasefire

April 10, 2026 8:24 am

Singapore: Asian stocks ticked up early on Friday but gains were capped as traders questioned the durability of this week's US-Iran ceasefire and remained wary of fragile hopes for Israel-Lebanon peace talks. Investors were nervous as Iran cited Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon as a key sticking point in its agreement with the US. Reuters

Iran Guard denies launching attacks on Persian Gulf states

April 10, 2026 8:21 am

Tehran: Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency denied launching attacks on Persian Gulf states on Thursday after Kuwait’s announcement. “If these reports published by the media are true, without a doubt it is the work of the Zionist enemy or America,” the Revolutionary Guard said. However, the Guard also launched repeated attacks on civilian targets in the war and could also be using Shiite militias in Iraq to launch assaults, providing deniability for Iran ahead of the talks. Kuwait has accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, while Saudi Arabia said recent attacks damaged a key pipeline in the kingdom. The statement from Kuwait’s foreign ministry, carried by the state-run KUNA news agency, put new pressure on the ceasefire ahead of planned talks on Saturday between the United States and Iran in Islamabad. AP