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

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.

Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has deleted a post to X in which he describes Israel as ‘cancerous’ and a ‘curse for humanity.’

His post infuriated the Israeli government, who called Pakistan’s role as a neutral mediator between the US and Iran into question.

Asif wrote in his post that as ‘peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon.’

He added: ‘Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated.’

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the minister’s words were ‘outrageous’, adding: ‘This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.’

A British minister involved in defence has today denied reports that Donald Trump threatened to pull support from NATO if it did not send warships to the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days.

Yesterday, NATO chief Mark Rutte reportedly told members that Trump was pushing for concrete commitments to sending military vessels or other equipment to the Middle East.

That report came shortly after he called NATO ‘very disappointing’ and accused it of only acting when pressure was applied

Luke Pollard, the minister for defence procurement, told Times Radio: ‘That’s not an activity that we recognise.

‘We’ve been very clear that the war in Iran is not our war, but we have stepped up in support of defending our allies from the reckless Iranian attacks on, not only British and coalition bases, but also our allies in the Gulf.

‘And indeed, the secretary general of Nato, Mark Rutte, said yesterday that he praised the work of Keir Starmer and the UK in bringing together allies in support of opening the Strait of Hormuz to allow the flow of energy and ships through that important shipping channel.’

The IDF’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, chillingly said that his forces are not in a ceasefire Hezbollah.

Speaking on a visit near Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, Zamir said: ‘The IDF is in a state of war, we are not in a ceasefire, we continue to fight here in this sector, this is our main fighting sector. In Iran, we are in a ceasefire, and we can return to fighting there at any moment, and in a very powerful manner.’

Many leaders across the world, including the UK, have condemned Israel’s strikes against Lebanon and have said the nation needs to be included in peace talks.

An Iranian delegation arrived in Pakistan’s capital city late on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s talks to resolve the US-Iran war.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran’s team is being led by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

Vance is set to travel to Islamabad today, alongside Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning that he sent drone experts to the Middle East to demonstrate how interceptors work, destroying Iranian Shahed drones in the process.

He said drones were taken down in several countries, though did not name any specific nations.

He said: ‘This was not about a training mission or exercises, but about support in building a modern air defence system that can actually work.’

Israel and Hezbollah separately said they attacked each other overnight, despite the ever-fraying ceasefire.

The IDF said it had hit Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon, following Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the nation was not part of the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its forces had launched a barrage of rockets against a group of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon early this morning.

Trump told NBC overnight that he has spoken to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him to scale back strikes against Lebanon, which have killed hundreds and left over 1,000 injured.

He told the US media outlet: ‘I spoke with Bibi [Netanyahu] and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key.’

Save for patrolling soldiers, the streets in large swathes of Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad, are empty.

The city is hosting peace talks between Iran and the US this weekend, and Pakistan is taking its role as mediator seriously.