Trump tells JD Vance to find a way out of Iran war: Live updates

If you’re just joining our coverage of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, here are the latest developments:

• Donald Trump is sending JD Vance to lead the US delegation at talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. He will be joined by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
• Iran, meanwhile, has already sent its delegation over, which is being led by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
• Trump accused Iran of reneging on its promise to open the Strait of Hormuz, writing on Truth Social yesterday: ‘That is not the agreement we have!’
• Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, demanded in a written statement ‘blood money’ from the US and Israel after denouncing them as ‘criminal aggressors.’
• Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said earlier today that the IDF is in ‘a state of war’, adding that his forces are not in a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

JD Vance is set to travel to Pakistan to lead talks with Iran and find a solution to the end of the Middle East crisis.

He will be joined by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Both Witkoff and Kushner took part in three rounds of indirect talks with Iranian negotiators aimed at settling US concerns about Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes and its support for armed proxy groups in the Middle East before Mr Trump and Israel launched the February 28 war against Iran.

Little is known about how the talks might play out, as the White House has provided scant details on the format and the points set to be raised.

Keir Starmer said today that he discussed military capabilities and the logistics of moving vessels though the Strait of Hormuz when he spoke to US President Donald Trump a day earlier.

‘We’ve been pulling together a coalition of countries … working on a political, diplomatic plan, but also looking at military capabilities and … the logistics of actually moving vessels through the Strait,’ Starmer said during his visit to the Middle East.

‘That was the focus of the discussion last night – reflection on what I’ve been discussing here, but also that focus on a practical plan in relation to navigation through the Strait.’

Keir Starmer has admitted that European allies need to do more for NATO, following Trump’s criticism and threats towards the defence bloc.

He said NATO is ‘the single most effective military alliance the world has ever known’, adding that the UK would remain ‘strong supporters’ of the organisation.

But he admitted: ‘Do we Europeans need to do more? Yes, I’ve been making that argument for the best part of two years, to our European partners as much as anybody else.

‘We continue to make that case and we will make that case.’

Starmer added: ‘[NATO] is in America’s interests, it’s in European interests. Nato is a defensive alliance, which for decades has kept us much safer than we would otherwise have been.

‘So we’re strong supporters of NATO. We’ll always be strong supporters of NATO.’

A US Air Force transport plane with the word ‘Charleston’ written on its tail was seen approaching PAF Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi as Pakistan prepares to host the US and Iran for peace talks.

European airports are facing ‘systemic’ shortages of jet fuel if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t full reopened in three weeks.

ACI Europe, which represents EU airports, said jet fuel reserves are already low, while the ‘impact of military activity on demand’ has further strained supplies.

The FT reported that it warned the EU of ‘increasing concerns of the airport industry over the availability of jet fuel as well as the need for proactive EU monitoring and action.’

ACI Europe added: ‘If the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality for the EU.’

The World Health Organisation said on Friday it has received assurances that two hospitals in Beirut, Lebanon, featured in an Israeli evacuation order will not be targeted.

The estimated 450 patients inside the Rafik Hariri University Hospital and Al Zahraa hospital in Beirut have not been evacuated because it was not feasible, said Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO’s representative in Lebanon.

Following reports that NATO’s chief may push the bloc to get military involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Spain’s foreign minister shut this idea down.

José Manuel Albares told reporters today: ‘NATO has no involvement in this war. The Middle East is not within NATO’s area of action.’

In a rare rebuke of the US president, UK PM Sir Keir Starmer said he was fed up with Putin and Trump’s actions pushing up energy bills for Brits.

He told ITV’s Robert Peston:

I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world, and saying to families across the country, saying to businesses across the country, “we’ve just got to … put up with being on the international market”