Pakistani delegation including CDF Munir arrives in Tehran ahead of likely US-Iran talks

Tehran, Washington exchanging messages through Pakistani mediators, confirms Iranian official

US could block Iran’s ports ‘indefinitely’, says top White House official

Stephen Miller, a senior White House aide to Donald Trump, told Fox News that the US could maintain its blockade of Iranian ports “indefinitely”, reports Al 

Israel and Lebanon leaders to hold talks today – Trump

Mr Trump said that the leaders of Lebanon and Israel would meet today
The US President Donald Trump has said that leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak today, after they held a high-level face-to-face meeting in Washington on Tuesday – the first such negotiation since 1993.

“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow,” Mr Trump wrote without specifying who will be involved or offering further details.

Optimism grew that the war in the Middle East may be near an end, with a key Pakistani mediator in Tehran and the administration of President Trump talking up hopes for a deal that would open the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Israel’s cabinet met yesterday to discuss a possible ceasefire in neighbouring Lebanon, a senior Israeli official said, more than six weeks into its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The White House says reports that the US has requested to extend the two-week ceasefire with Iran – set to expire next week – are “not true”

Discussions around a possible second round of peace talks between the US and Iran are “ongoing” and “productive”, it adds

It comes as a delegation from Pakistan, which has been acting as a mediator, has arrived in Tehran – here’s the latest

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is “prepared for any scenario” in regards to the war

Earlier the Iranian military threatened shipping in the Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Oman if the US naval blockade continues