US Vice President JD Vance (R) speaks during a press conference as Jared Kushner (L) and Steve Witkoff look on in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 12, 2026 (Reuters)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: “Trump Is At Breaking Point”

EA on International Outlets: US-Israel War — Iran Calls Trump’s Bluff

UPDATES: US-Israel War, Day 57 — Trump Extends Ceasefire After Iran Rejects Talks In Pakistan

UPDATE 1632 GMT:

In St. Petersburg, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Tehran is looking into Donald Trump’s request for negotiations.

He claimed Trump requested talks because the US has not achieved any of its objectives.

UPDATE 1237 GMT:

Israel has renewed airstrikes on the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon for the first time in three weeks.

The Israeli military said it “has begun to strike Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Bekaa Valley and in additional areas across southern Lebanon”.

UPDATE 1231 GMT:

Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is almost at a standstill, as Iran controls the waterway.

Only seven ships, mainly dry bulk vessels, crossed the Strait in the past 24 hours. The vessels included ships leaving from Iraqi ports and one dry bulk cargo vessel from an Iranian port.

Despite a US blockade, six Iranian tankers returned to Iranian ports and sailed back through Hormuz in recent days with around 10.5 million barrels of oil. Around four million barrels of Iranian oil onboard tankers sailed through the blockade on Friday.

UPDATE 1021 GMT:

A superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov has passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

The 142-meter Nord superyacht departed Dubai on Friday and is heading for Oman.

Mordashov, the chairman of the Severstal company, is Russia’s richest individual with an estimated net worth of $37 billion.

UPDATE 0602 GMT:

Arriving in St. Petersburg to meet Vladimir Putin, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told reporters about his discussions in Pakistan:

There have been developments in the negotiation process, and the incorrect approaches and excessive demands of the United States have prevented the previous round of negotiations from achieving its objectives, despite some progress.

We reviewed what has happened in the past and discussed how, and under what conditions, negotiations could continue.

UPDATE 0542 GMT:

Oil prices have risen more than 1% today.

Brent crude futures rose 1.3%, to $106.68 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate is at $95.35, a 1% increase.

Last week, Brent and WTI prices surges nearly 17% and 13%, respectively, the biggest gains since the start of the war.

UPDATE 0532 GMT:

Through Pakistan, Iran has given the US a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US-Israeli War, with nuclear negotiations postponed until a later stage, according to a “US official and two sources with knowledge“.

Three US officials said the Trump Administration’s senior national security and foreign policy official will hold a Situation Room meeting on Monday.

UPDATE 0518 GMT:

Israeli forces killed 14 people in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The day was the deadliest since an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire was declared on April 16.

More than 2,500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2, including 277 women, 177 children, and 100 medics.

UPDATE, APRIL 27:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Pakistan on Sunday evening for further talks, following discussions in Oman.

Araghchi will then go to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials including Vladimir Putin.

UPDATE 1645 GMT:

A Hezbollah drone attack has killed an Israeli soldier and wounded six in southern Lebanon.

Sgt. Idan Fooks, 19, is the Israel military’s third fatality during the ceasefire.

An officer and three troops were seriously wounded, one soldier was moderately hurt, and another soldier was lightly injured.

The Israel Defense Forces said that as the wounded troops were being evacuated, Hezbollah launched two more explosive-laden drones. One was intercepted, and the second struck near the soldiers without causing any additional injuries.

Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli military personnel in the town of Taybeh in retaliation for Israel’s violations of the ceasefire.

UPDATE 1039 GMT:

Israel’s military has issued an evacuation warning for several towns in southern Lebanon, ahead of airstrikes purportedly targeting Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of Mayfadoun, Shoukine, Yohmar, Arnoun, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, and Kfar Tebnit to leave their homes and move at least a kilometer away from a designated area.

At least seven people were killed and 24 wounded, included three children, by Israeli attacks on Saturday.

UPDATE 0731 GMT:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has met the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, in Muscat.

The two men discussed the regional situation and efforts to end the US-Israel Wars on Iran and Lebanon.

Oman’s State news agency said Araghchi listened to Al Said’s ideas on how to reach “sustainable political solutions and limit the repercussions of crises on the peoples of the region”. Al Said stressed “the importance of prioritizing the language of dialogue and diplomacy in addressing issues, contributing to the consolidation of the foundations of peace”.

UPDATE 0557 GMT:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday has ordered the military to “vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, despite Tuesday’s 21-day extension of a ceasefire with Lebanon.

Israeli strikes killed four people on Saturday in southern Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces, citing Hezbollah rocket fire on northern Israel, say it killed 15 members of the organization.

UPDATE 0548 GMT:

Iran has caused far more damage to US military bases and equipment than Washington has acknowledged, according to “three US officials, two congressional aides and another person familiar with the damage”.

The sources said repairs are expected to cost billions of dollars.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks damaged warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems, and dozens of aircraft.

In fixed-wing warplane strike on a US base in years, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet bombed Camp Buehring in Kuwait, evading air defenses.

The Congressional aides said several Republican legislators have privately expressed frustration to senior Pentagon officials over their refusal to provide information on the extent of the damage or any cost estimate for repairs.

UPDATE, APRIL 26:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted after his talks with Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military head Gen. Asim Munir:

Prime Minister Sharif subsequently spoke by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Sharif wrote on social media, “Pakistan remains committed to serve as an honest and sincere facilitator – working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region.”

Pezeshkian said Iran will not enter “imposed negotiations” under threats or the US blockade of Iranian ports. He said the US must remove “operational obstacles”, including the blockade, before negotiators can lay any groundwork to resolve the conflict.

An “Iranian diplomatic source in Islamabad” said Tehran will not accept “maximalist demands” from the US.

UPDATE 1636 GMT:

Donald Trump says he has cancelled the trip of his envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to Islamabad.

Trump told Fox TV, “We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”

He told Axios that the cancellation does not mean he is resuming attacks on Iran, “We haven’t thought about it yet.”

Pakistan’s Prime

UPDATE 1626 GMT:

Israel claims it killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon despite a 21-day ceasefire.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has risen to 2,496 slain and 7,725 injured.

More than 120,000 displaced people are sheltering in evacuation centers.

UPDATE 1431 GMT:

Iran’s delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has departed Islamabad after meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the head of the military Gen. Asim Munir.

The delegation delivered its official list of demands to end the US-Israel War (see 0627 GMT).

There is no news yet of the arrival of Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

UPDATE 1235 GMT:

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least four people have been killed in two Israeli raids on the southern town of Yahmor al-Shaqif, despite a three-week ceasefire announced on Thursday.

UPDATE 0816 GMT:

Iran has executed another detainee.

Irfan Kayani was accused of “creating terror” and working for Israel intelligence during nationwide protests in January.

In the last month, 16 men have been hanged (see 0619 GMT). The youngest was 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, killed after a forced confession to the charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth).

With the second highest rate of executions in the world, Iran hanged more than 1,000 people in 2025, the largest total in at least 15 years.

UPDATE 0627 GMT:

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi with the head o Palistan’s military in Islamabad this morning.

Araghchi set out Tehran’s negotiating position and its reservations about US demands, said a “Pakistani source involved in the talks”.

UPDATE 0619 GMT:

The Guardian’s Daniel Boffey reports on the detainees executed by Tehran during the US-Israel War:

Writing from his cell in the Rajai Shahr prison in the northern Iranian city of Karaj, Babak Alipour wanted to tell his friends about those who had already gone to their execution.

There was Behrouz Ehsani, 69, the elder statesman of the group, who was “never angry” about their predicament. Then there was Mehdi Hassani, a 48-year-old father of three who he saw a couple of times in the prison hospital and who would ask him to pass on to the children the message that he was “fine”.

Despite the killings, Alipour, a 34-year-old law graduate with a passion for mountaineering who had been on death row for three years, recorded in his neat, tight, handwriting that he was not intimidated.

On March 31, Alipour and his cellmate Pouya Ghobadi, a 32-year-old electrical engineer, were hanged.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Amid the US-Israel War on Iran, the Trump camp and the Iranian regime are in Islamabad for indirect talks on Saturday.

Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, are travelling to the Pakistani capital.

Initially, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi set off on Friday for a weekend tour of Pakistan, Oman, and Russia, with Tehran denying negotiations with the Americans.

The Iranians bristled at the declaration of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that Tehran requested talks, as well as Donald Trump’s claim that Iran will make an offer satisfying his demands.

However, while the Iranian language ruled out direct talks, it did not preclude Pakistani facilitators shuttling messages between the two sides.

Leavitt said that if the exchanges went well, Vice President J.D. Vance will go to Islamabad.

Vance was supposed to lead the American delegation into talks last Tuesday. However, Iran kept the Trump camp waiting for an anaswer for 72 hours and then rejected the meeting.

Tension escalated over the key issue of control of the Strait of Hormuz, with the Iranians seizing container ships and the US boarding three Iran-linked vessels.