Pete Hegseth claims ‘Iran begged for this ceasefire’: Live

US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth claimed today that Iran begged for a ceasefire

At a Pentagon press briefing, Hegseth added that Trump achieved ‘victory with a capital V.’

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump in a phone call today that the ceasefire process must not be sabotaged.

His office said he told Trump that the two-week ‘window of opportunity’ should be used effectively for a permanent peace agreement.

Kuwait’s interior ministry said that it has been attacked since dawn, resulting in ‘severe’ damage to oil production plants, power stations and water distillation plants.

Fires have broken out at several sites, it said on X.

It said in its statement: ‘The Ministry confirms that all necessary precautionary measures have been taken to ensure the safety of workers and secure the sites, in coordination with the relevant authorities.’

Pakistan’s PM said breaches of the US-Iran ceasefire ‘undermine the spirit of [the] peace process.’

The leader of Pakistan, which is mediating talks between the US and Iran, did not point any fingers.

He wrote on X: ‘I earnestly and sincerely urge all parties to exercise restraint and respect the ceasefire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.’

UK PM Sir Keir Starmer today said there is still ‘a lot of work to do’ before the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened.

He said that while it’s still ‘early days’, there is a ‘real sense’ of relief following last night’s ceasefire.

Trump today told a PBS correspondent that Lebanon and Hezbollah were not part of the deal to enact the two-week ceasefire with Iran.

He told Liz Landers, PBS’ White House correspondent: ‘Yeah they were not included in the deal.’

When asked why, Trump said: ‘Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of too. It’s alright.’

Asked whether he was okay with Israel’s ongoing strikes against Hezbollah and Lebanon, he said: ‘It’s part of the deal – everyone knows that. That’s a separate skirmish.’

Qatar’s defence ministry says it has intercepted all of Iran’s missiles and drones that were launched today, following the announcement of the ceasefire.

Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire agreement the US has with Iran, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.