US President Donald Trump declared on Truth Social at 4.02 am (IST) Wednesday that US and Iran have agreed to a “two-week” ceasefire, adding that Tehran has committed to “complete, immediate and safe” re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Having mediated the ceasefire, Pakistan has invited both US and Iran to Islamabad for further talks Friday.
However, despite backing backed US’ decision to suspend strikes against Iran, Israel continues to target Lebanon amid its conflict with Hezbollah. Trump also said Wednesday that Lebanon is “not included” in the ceasefire.
Asked about Israeli strikes on Lebanon on the day he declared the ceasefire, Trump reportedly referred to it as a “separate skirmish” and said Iran-backed Hezbollah would “get taken care of”.
Iran has said that it would “not abandon” Lebanon.
US-Iran ‘ceasefire’ | LIVE UPDATES
12.20 pm: Oil prices surge due to attacks on Saudi energy facilities, frozen traffic at Hormuz
Oil prices have jumped again. Brent crude futures added 96 cents, or 1 percent, to $96.88 a barrel as of 0604 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 78 cents, 0.80 percent, at $98.65 a barrel.
Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have cut the kingdom’s oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd, Saudi state news agency SPA reported Thursday, citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy, according to Reuters.
Also, ship traffic through the strait stood at well below 10 percent of normal volumes Thursday, despite the ceasefire as Tehran asserted its control by warning ships to keep to its territorial waters while doing so.
11.30 am: Pakistan’s Khawaja Asif calls Israel ‘cancerous’, sparking showdown; deletes post as Netanyahu hits back
Pakistan and Israel are trading barbs amid the fragile ceasefire brokered by the former between US and Iran.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Thursday termed Israel as “evil” and “a curse for humanity” and accused the country of committing genocide in Lebanon, prompting a backlash from Israel, following which he deleted his comments from X.
Pakistan is set to host high-stakes in-person talks between the US and Iran Friday to consolidate the two-week ceasefire.
“Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated. I hope and pray people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land to get rid of European jews burn in hell,” he wrote in the now-deleted post on X.
His comments prompted an immediate and forceful response from Israeli officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Asif’s remarks as “outrageous” and said such statements “cannot be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace”.
“Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace,” the PM’s office posted on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar labelled Asif’s remarks as “blatant antisemitic blood libels”, adding that Israel “will defend itself against terrorists who vow its destruction”.
Read Debdutta Chakraborty’s report.
11.00 am: Iran ‘doing a poor job’ of allowing oil through the strait, says Trump
Trump said in a Truth Social post late Thursday that Iran is “doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say,” of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.
“That is not the agreement we have!” he remarked.
In another post earlier, he wrote, “There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”