JD Vance warns Iran ‘not to try and play us’ – Live updates

Consumer inflation in the US rose sharply to 3.3% in March, according to government data, as skyrocketing energy prices hit American bank account hard.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.3 percent year-on-year, compared to 2.4% a month prior.

Gasoline prices surged by 21.2% between February and March, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said.

Speaking shortly before his departure to Pakistan from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Vance said of Iran: ‘If they’re gonna try to play us they’re gonna find the negotiating team is not going to be that receptive.

‘The president gave us some pretty clear guidelines.’

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.

Pope Leo has decried the ‘ferocious’ spread of ‘absurd and inhuman violence’ across the Christian East.

He said the region has been ‘profaned by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives, which are considered at most collateral damage of self-interest.’

The American pope added: ‘No gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or families.

‘No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.’

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem today vowed the group’s would continue its ‘resistance.. as long as there is breath.’

He said in a statement: ‘The Israeli enemy was defeated on the ground and was unable to carry out a ground invasion.

‘The enemy, in all its aggression, has not succeeded in preventing the missiles.’

Israel has expelled Spain from the US’ Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) following escalating tensions between the nations.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said the move was made in coordination with the US and came from the Spanish government’s ‘blatant anti-Israel bias.’

Sa’ar said: ‘The Sanchez government has such a blatant anti-Israel bias that it has lost all ability to serve as a useful factor in the implementation of [US President Donald] Trump’s peace plan and in the CMCC that operates within the plan.’

The CMCC, which falls under the control of the US Army’s Central Command, was created in October 2025 to oversee the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance to the Gaza Strip under Trump’s Gaza peace deal.

Personnel from militaries all over the world, including the UK, Italy and Australia, work there to coordinate stabilisation efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Naim Qassem, the head of Hezbollah, warned the Lebanese government against giving ‘free concessions’ to Israel ahead of slated talks in the US.

Qassem said in a written message broadcast on Lebanese TV: ‘We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions.’

He also denounced the ‘bloody criminality on Wednesday’, referring to Israel’s blitz attack against Lebanon.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that while the United States is trying to maintain a stable relationship with China, if Beijing gets involved with Iran in a way that is counter to US interests, that would complicate matters.

‘The underlying goals of our economies are so different. But there’s a way where we can have some economic stability,’ he said in an interview on CNBC.

‘If China is going to be involved in Iran in a way that’s harmful to US interests, then that obviously complicates it, and that’s China’s responsibility to eliminate that,” Greer said.

Greer also said he expects Donald Trump to have a good meeting next month with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The trip comes just a year after Washington rolled out sweeping and at times erratic global tariffs.

‘I think the thing to remember with China is, although we’re trying very hard to have stability with China, particularly in trade and economics, not every challenge with them is resolved,’ Greer said.

Hezbollah claims it targeted Israel naval base in Ashdod with missiles.

The group said in a statement: ‘In response to the enemy’s violation of the ceasefire and its repeated attacks on Beirut, and after the Resistance adhered to the ceasefire while the enemy did not, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted… the naval base in the port of Ashdod with missiles’

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, Majid Takht Ravanchi, said his nation doesn’t want a ceasefire that allows the US and Iran to attack again.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported he made the remarks at a meeting with ambassadors in Tehran.

He reportedly said: ‘We do not want a ceasefire that allows the aggressor enemy to re-arm and launch another aggression.’

He also claimed that ‘it has been agreed that Iran’s 10-point plan will be the basis for negotiations.’