The Latest: Israel and Lebanon to meet in Washington while Iran-US talks are in limbo
A second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon was set to start Thursday in Washington, while the prospects of Iran-U.S. talks in Pakistan seemed dubious as the Islamic Republic accused the Americans of a “lack of good faith” in negotiations.
Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.
Pakistan had planned to host another round of talks, but the White House suspended U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Islamabad as Iran rebuffed efforts to restart the discussions.
In southern Lebanon, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least six people and wounded others, according to local authorities. Israel denied carrying out one of the strikes and did not immediately comment on the others.
The attacks came as Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors prepared for a new meeting in Washington toward extending a fragile 10-day ceasefire that began last week.
Here is the latest:
The U.S. military seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil.
The U.S. Defense Department said it seized the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Defense Department said.
The seizure comes after Iran attacked three cargo ships Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them.
The Defense Department released footage of the seizure of the vessel, showing U.S. troops on the deck of the vessel.
Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.
The Majestic X is a Guyana-flagged oil tanker. It previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
“Iran relies upon a sprawling network of tankers and ship management firms in multiple jurisdictions to transport its petroleum to overseas customers — using tactics such as false documentation, manipulation of vessel tracking systems, and constant changes to the names and flags of vessels,” the Treasury said at the time.
There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.
Since the start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait, through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.
Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.
After the attacks Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Channel that American officials that Iran’s seizure of the ships didn’t violate truce terms because “these were not U.S. or Israeli ships, these were two international vessels.”
However, the ceasefire has been strained by dueling American attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in Islamabad, where Pakistani officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid Thursday as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin.
He waved to supporters in the aftermath and got into a car that drove away.
The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.
Pahlavi has been in exile for nearly 50 years.
His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.
Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, criticized the ceasefire between the Unites States and Iran.
He argued Thursday that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”
“I don’t see that happening,” he said during a news conference in Berlin. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”
Pahlavi has tried to position himself for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.
Pahlavi called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.
He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.
“Will the free world do something or watch the slaughter in silence,” Pahlavi wondered.
Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement Thursday he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.
The meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.
Naqvi said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.
Naqvi praised U.S. President Donald Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.
Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.
Iran said Thursday it hanged another member of the Iranain exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the man as Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr.
It accused him of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, without offering specifics. It also did not say when or where it arrested him.
Iran has accused many it has hanged during the war as having links to Israel. Activists say Iran routinely tries capital cases behind closed doors, uses coerced confessions and doesn’t allow the accused to properly challenge the evidence against them.
This brings to nine the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.
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