Pakistan has invited Iran and the US for talks on Friday, as Iran says its military will coordinate passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
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See Trump’s social media post agreeing to two week ceasefire
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What we know
• 11th hour deal: Both President Donald Trump and Iran have portrayed the last minute ceasefire deal as a victory for their nations. The ceasefire pauses a spiraling conflict that has upended the global economy and sparked a historic oil crisis.
• Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s military will coordinate passage of vessels through the critical Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire, Iran’s foreign minister said. Trump said reopening the strait was a key condition of the ceasefire deal.
• What happens next? Pakistan’s prime minister has invited delegations from both Iran and the US to Islamabad for talks on Friday. Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan proposed the two-week ceasefire to allow for diplomacy.
• Lebanon not included: The Israeli military today said it will continue its intensified ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire, despite Pakistan’s prime minister saying it is.Allcatch up
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Israeli military issues more evacuation warnings for residents in Lebanon
By Mona Kosar Abdi and Roz Abrams
Smoke rises from an explosion in the Abbasiyeh neighbourhood following an Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
The Israeli military just issued more “urgent” evacuation warnings for residents in Lebanon today, including in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold.
The IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation warning for seven different neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He also warned residents of a building in the city of Tyre – the second one today.
It comes after earlier warnings for residents of Tyre, where a large blast was seen shortly after, according to footage from Reuters news agency. Also on Wednesday morning, an airstrike in the Sidon area of southern Lebanon killed eight people and wounded 22 others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
For context: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire agreement between the US, Israel and Iran that was announced Tuesday. Israel’s position runs counter to a statement from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped broker the deal between the US and Iran, that said the agreement included Lebanon.
At least 1,530 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 130 children, and thousands more have been wounded since the war began, the country’s health ministry said in its latest update.
Pope Leo welcomes Iran ceasefire with “satisfaction”
By Mary Calvi
Pope Leo XIV speaks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Italy, on Wednesday. Gregorio Borgia/AP
Pope Leo XIV today welcomed the announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war with “satisfaction.”
The pontiff, who has been an outspoken critic of the war, also hailed the pause in fighting as a sign of “hope.”
“Only through a return to negotiations can the war be brought to an end. I urge that this period of delicate diplomatic work be accompanied by prayer, in the hope that openness to dialogue may become the means to resolve other situations of conflict around the world,” he said at an address at the Vatican on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
It comes after Leo on Tuesday said that threats against the people of Iran are “truly unacceptable,” hours after US President Donald Trump had warned Tehran that a “whole civilization will die tonight.”
Why is JD Vance in Hungary?
US Vice President J.D. Vance, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend an election campaign rally in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday. Janos Kummer/Getty Images
While his boss spent Tuesday contemplating whether to wipe out “a whole civilization,” US Vice President JD Vance had taken time out of the Trump administration’s busy wartime schedule to visit Hungary.
That’s because Viktor Orbán – Hungary’s longtime prime minister, and a darling of the MAGA movement – is in electoral trouble.
After 16 years in power, Orbán faces his stiffest electoral challenge yet. While Orbán has run mostly on foreign policy, pledging to defend Hungary from the vague, alleged threats posed by Brussels and Kyiv, his opponent, Péter Magyar, has run on kitchen-table issues – corruption, health care and people’s wallets.
Vance’s visit to Budapest, just days before Hungary’s election, marked an extraordinary departure from democratic norms.
After decrying what he claimed was an egregious attempt by the European Union to interfere in Hungary’s election, without providing evidence, he then urged Hungarians to “go to the polls in the weekend, (and) stand with Viktor Orbán, because he stands with you.”
His endorsement – echoed by US President Donald Trump – is a measure of the deep ties Orbán has forged between the Hungarian and American right.
Whether Vance’s trip can buoy Orbán’s election campaign is not yet clear. Tisza, the opposition party led by Magyar, has held a double-digit lead over Orbán’s Fidesz party in most polls for more than a year.
Israel has halted strikes on Iran but will continue attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon
By Eugenia Yosef and Lauren Kent
First responders carry a body recovered from the rubble into an ambulance at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Wednesday. Kawnat Haju/AFP/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday that it has halted strikes in Iran but will continue ground operations against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“In accordance with directives from the political echelon, the IDF has ceased fire in the operation against Iran, and is highly prepared to respond defensively against any violation,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Israeli military also said it conducted a wide-scale wave of strikes on Iran overnight into Wednesday, “in order to significantly degrade and neutralize its launching capabilities” before the ceasefire.
“Simultaneously, in Lebanon, the IDF is continuing to conduct targeted ground operations against the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” the IDF statement added.
Earlier on Wednesday: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office said that Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran. A large blast was seen in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre on Wednesday morning, according to footage from Reuters news agency, shortly after Israel’s military issued an “urgent” evacuation warning to residents.
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