JD Vance says Iran would be ‘dumb’ to abandon ceasefire – Live

Speaking to reporters as he left Hungary yesterday, US vice president JD Vance said Iran would be ‘dumb’ to pull out of the fragile ceasefire deal.

He added: ‘If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart – in a conflict where they were getting hammered – over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice.’

Lebanon has declared a national day of mourning after Israel destroyed much of the country with a blitz of strikes that killed nearly 200 and left nearly 900 injured.

In Lebanon, where UN rights chief Volker Turk called the scale of killing ‘horrific’, strikes across the capital Beirut that came without warning triggered horror and panic.

‘People started running left and right, and smoke was billowing,’ said Ali Younes, who was waiting for his wife near Corniche Al-Mazraa, one of the areas targeted.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched airstrikes and a ground invasion last month, local officials said.

West Texas Intermediate – the US standard for oil – has spiked by 5% since markets opened, amid concerns that the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran may not hold.

UK defence secretary John Healey today told reporters: ‘We condemn the escalation in Lebanon.

We want the Israel-Lebanon conflict to be brought within the terms of the ceasefire.’

He added that the UK will ‘do our bit to try and strengthen’ the truce between the US and Iran, adding: ‘We welcome the ceasefire, we want it to hold.’

The Washington Post reported that following the 2024 attack that saw Israel detonate explosives hidden inside pagers belonging to Hezbollah members, Hungary reached out to Iran to offer assistance.

Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto reported told his counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, shortly after the September 2024 attack: ‘Our secret service has already contacted your services and we will share all the information we have gathered during the investigation.

‘Every possible document will be shared with your services’, he reportedly added.

Hungary was linked to the attack as the Taiwanese company whose brand was used on the pagers said the devices were made by a Hungarian company under licence.

Several men in Israel are set to be charged for allegedly making explosives for an Iranian intelligence agent.

Haifa resident Ami Gaydarov, 22, was allegedly in contact with an Iranian agent from last August to last month, when police arrested him.

Police said he ‘agreed to manufacture explosive material which was intended to harm a senior figure’, adding that he rented a flat in his city as a makeshift lab to make and test the explosive materials.

Gaydarov was allegedly assisted by several others, who are also expected to be charged in the coming days.

He was also told to take photos of the Haifa Port, as well as missile impact sites in northern Israel during the war with Iran.

In exchange for his services, he was given 70,000 shekels (£16,900) – most of it coming in cryptocurrency.

The case has been investigated by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, as well as the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit

The UAE said it is ‘seeking further clarification; on the US’s ceasefire with Iran, with an aim of ensuring Tehran’s ‘full commitment’ to the truce.

It is also looking for the ‘unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz’, as well as to hold Iran accountable for the damage it caused during the war.

Europe’s aviation safety regulator EASA on Thursday extended until April 24 its advisory to airlines to avoid the Middle Eastern and Gulf airspace, according to an updated bulletin on conflict zones.

The advisory was previously valid until April 10.

Russia will see revenue from its biggest single oil tax double to £6.7billion in April due to the oil and gas crisis triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran, Reuters calculations showed on Thursday.

The Reuters calculation is some of the first concrete evidence of a windfall for Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, from the Iran war, which oil traders say has triggered the most serious energy crisis in recent history.

Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz – a route for ​about a fifth of global oil and LNG flows – after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, sending Brent futures shooting well past $100 (£75) per barrel.

Russia’s main revenue from its vast oil and gas industry is based on production. Export duty on crude oil has been nullified from the start of 2024 as part of the so-called wider tax manoeuvre, a years-long tax reform of the industry.

According to Reuters calculations based on preliminary production data and oil prices, Russia’s mineral extraction tax on oil output will increase in April to around 700 billion roubles (£6.72billion) from 327 billion roubles in March. The revenue is up by some 10% from April last year.

For the whole of 2026, Russia has budgeted for 7.9 trillion roubles (£75.8billion) from the mineral extraction tax.