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.

The foreign ministers of Japan and India have ‘confirmed [their] commitment to closely collaborate toward calming the situation and ensuring stable energy supplies’ amid the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Japan’s foreign ministry said.

India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar said in a post following their phone call: ‘Discussed developments in West Asia, including international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Appreciate his condolences for the Indian lives lost in the conflict.’

European indexes are wobbling this morning, amid concerns that the US-Iran ceasefire may not last.

The Stoxx Europe 600, which represents the value of 600 European firms, opened 0.1% higher at the opening of markets, while the UK’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.2%.

Hamidreza Haji Babai, the deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, said today that he does not trust the negotiations that are set to take place this weekend.

He added that he only trusts Iran’s military capabilities: ‘We have 100% trust in our commanders, but not in negotiations.

‘Anyone who cannot negotiate like our missiles and our people in the streets should not go.’

Luke Pollard, the UK’s defence procurement minister, told BBC Breakfast that Trump’s claims that the Royal Navy is ‘too old’ and that its aircraft carriers ‘don’t work’ are not true.

He said: ‘We’ve got a strong Royal Navy, HMS Sutherland, the Type 23 frigate behind me here, is crewed by brilliant men and women. We’ve got a globally deployed navy at the moment.’

He claimed the UK has a ‘unique convening role’ that it can use to bring allies together to hash out solutions to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.

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.