President Donald Trump said Friday he is “optimistic” a deal with Iran is “within reach” ahead of high-stakes negotiations in Pakistan, while warning the United States is “loading up” its warships in the region and is prepared to resume military action if diplomacy collapses.
Vice President JD Vance heads to Islamabad, Pakistan, for negotiations with Iran amid the two-week ceasefire, marking a major moment for the 41-year-old vice president and the administration as a whole.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel will begin direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Hezbollah and advancing what he described as a “historic, sustainable peace agreement,” as tensions persist over the scope of the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
Iran’s ceasefire with the United States reportedly turned on a dramatic final-hour intervention from Mojtaba Khamenei, the country’s still-unseen new supreme leader, whom sources said gave negotiators the green light to move toward a deal as President Donald Trump’s deadline — and the threat of a much broader U.S. bombardment — loomed.
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Lebanon was never part of the United States’ ceasefire with Iran, and it would be dumb of Iran to let negotiations disintegrate over Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
Senate Democrats are essentially declaring victory for Iran following the ceasefire agreement, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) deeming it a “disaster.”
The socialist government of Spain has ridiculed peace efforts from the United States in Iran, accusing the Trump administration of having started the conflict.
President Donald Trump is placing a 50 percent tariff on all goods from countries that sell weapons to Iran on the heels of the two-week ceasefire announced Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump agreed Tuesday evening to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, suspending planned U.S. strikes after a last-minute diplomatic push produced a breakthrough centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump and the Islamic Republic of Iran both announced on Tuesday evening just before the U.S. president’s deadline for a deal that they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire while negotiators finalize a deal between the warring nations.
Talks with Iran are “very real” and “gaining strength” despite claims to the contrary by some Iranian officials, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth affirmed Tuesday.
Pakistan held talks in its capital city of Islamabad on Sunday to “de-escalate” the Iran war, but none of the actual participants in the war attended the meeting. Instead, the talks were held between the foreign ministers of Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistani officials on Wednesday said they delivered a 15-point ceasefire proposal from the United States to Iran. An unnamed senior Iranian official told Reuters the proposal has been received, and either Pakistan or Turkey could host further ceasefire negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Sunday that his government would “welcome any regional initiative that leads to a just end” to the war – even as Iran continued launching wanton attacks against every other country in the region.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran wants to end the conflict but that he is refusing to make a deal because “the terms aren’t good enough yet,” while signaling the United States could strike Kharg Island again and questioning whether the regime’s newly installed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is even alive.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Thursday that Thai forces are holding disputed territory by force, and even occupying Cambodian land beyond the disputed area, putting intense strain on the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Donald Trump.
No attacks on infrastructure overnight, Zelensky said, after Trump made a request to Putin to hold back missiles as severe weather arrives.
Putin was playing a game by inviting his counterpart to Moscow, Zelensky said, making an equally facetious reciprocal invitation to Kyiv.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday morning that “there are officially no more hostages in captivity in Gaza.”
An unnamed U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday that “about 200 low-level Islamic State fighters” escaped from the al-Shaddadi prison camp on Monday after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from the facility.
President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Monday to discuss the conflict between Sharaa’s forces and the Kurds of northeastern Syria, who have complained of abuses by government troops and blamed them for releasing around 120 Islamic State terrorists from a Kurdish-run prison in Hasakah province.
President Donald Trump replied that his New Year’s resolution is “peace on Earth” when asked as he entered a New Year’s Eve party.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al Arabiya News on Monday that “we trust Trump” to deliver peace in Gaza and stabilize the Middle East.
China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday sought to give Beijing credit for the ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand negotiated by President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump said the United Nations should become more involved in creating world peace amid the clash between Thailand and Cambodia.
Fighting broke out in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday between Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and security troops loyal to President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday announced the elimination of Ra’ad Sa’ad, a Hamas official who planned the October 7 attack.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to “cease all shooting,” following a tense week of escalating clashes that threatened to destroy the ceasefire agreement he negotiated between the two countries in July.
In an interview with Al Jazeera News on Wednesday, Hamas Abroad leader Khaled Mashaal claimed that “fifty-one percent of American youth are supportive not only of the Palestinian cause, but of Hamas.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday in Turkmenistan to discuss the war in Ukraine. Their meeting was unexpectedly interrupted by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who demanded an audience with Putin to secure his support against India and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia escalated on Tuesday, spreading to more locations along the disputed border.
The Kremlin says talks between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff were “constructive.”
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow for ceasefire talks.
The Maronite Christian bishops of Lebanon issued a joint statement last week denouncing Israel’s “daily attacks on the South and other regions of Lebanon, which are bringing the country to the brink of war once again.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Sunday that there are still two “pockets” of Hamas terrorists inside the area to which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew under the ceasefire deal.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, said on Wednesday that Hamas violated the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal when it attacked a group of Israeli soldiers on Tuesday, killing one of them.
Israel and Hamas both said that the ceasefire in Gaza will resume, despite an exchange of attacks that began on Tuesday when Hamas terrorists fired on Israeli soldiers, killing one, and staged a fake return of remains.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered airstrikes on Hamas positions in Gaza on Tuesday night after the terror organization staged a fake transfer of the body of one of the deceased hostages Monday.
Hamas staged a fake recovery of a hostage’s body in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli soldiers who observed the event; and also returned a coffin to Israel Monday that contained more remains of a previously recovered hostage.
Arab and Muslim nations that are expected to contribute to a peacekeeping force in Gaza are reportedly afraid to face Hamas, due to the group’s ferocity and the perception of appearing to be occupiers.
