Talks, statements, sanctions, nuclear policy, and government decisions.
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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the group 'categorically' rejects the US-brokered direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel and their outcomes and will not give up its weapons. President Joseph Aoun replied that talks are not treason, 'treason is committed by those who take their country to war to achieve foreign interests', and said a ceasefire is the necessary first step.
Iran passed the US a proposal through Pakistani mediators to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to the US blockade, leaving nuclear negotiations for a later stage, Axios first reported and two regional officials confirmed to AP. The White House said Trump's national security team discussed it but that his red lines were 'very, very clear', and Rubio said Iran's idea of an open strait, with permission and payment required, was not acceptable.
Iran's foreign minister met Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Muscat, then spent about three hours in Islamabad, where Fars said he relayed messages to Washington on Iran's 'red lines' on nuclear issues and Hormuz, before leaving for Russia. Trump told Fox News Iran 'can call us' and that he would not send envoys on an 18-hour trip, while Pezeshkian told Pakistan's prime minister the US must first lift its blockade.
Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman after meeting Sharif and Munir but no U.S. officials, and Trump then said he had cancelled his envoys’ trip, citing “too much time wasted on traveling” and “infighting” in Iran’s leadership: “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call.” Trump later told reporters Iran sent a new, “much better” paper within 10 minutes of the cancellation, while insisting Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad, received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the start of a tour to Pakistan, Oman and Russia; the White House said Witkoff and Kushner would fly to Pakistan the next morning, with Vance on standby. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said no meeting with U.S. officials was planned and Pakistan would relay messages.
Treasury sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it called one of Iran’s largest crude customers, along with 19 “shadow fleet” tankers and 19 firms in Iran’s petroleum sector. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said $344 million in Iran-linked cryptocurrency had been frozen and told AP that no Iranian oil waiver would be renewed.
After Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met at the White House with Vance, Rubio and U.S. envoys, Trump announced the ceasefire would be extended by three weeks and said he hoped to host Netanyahu and President Joseph Aoun soon; he said ending Iranian funding of Hezbollah was a “must” in any deal with Iran. Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad called the extension “meaningless” and said the group “firmly rejects” it.
Hours before the truce was due to expire, Trump said that at the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif he would extend the ceasefire until Iran submits a “unified proposal” and talks conclude, while ordering the military to continue the blockade. Vance’s trip to Islamabad had been put on hold, and Tasnim reported Iran had told Pakistan it would not attend talks.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg reached political agreement to extend the bloc’s Iran sanctions regime to those responsible for breaches of freedom of navigation, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, adding that transit through Hormuz “must remain free of charge” and asking ministers to bolster the EU’s naval mission in the region.
The UAE State Security Department said it had arrested at least 27 men in an Iran-linked group that held clandestine meetings, recruited Emirati youth, sent funds abroad and planned “systematic terrorist and sabotage operations” inside the country. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the arrests “baseless.”
The U.S. Embassy said Iran-linked militias were plotting attacks on U.S. citizens and targets across Iraq and accused “some elements associated with the Iraqi government” of giving them political, financial and operational cover, urging Americans to leave. The commander of Iraqi group Saraya Awliya al-Dam said its fighters were ready to resume operations “at a higher frequency.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said “we have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has been made,” without ruling out attending, as Pakistan prepared Islamabad for talks Trump said would be held that day. Iranian state media cited the blockade and U.S. demands; Tasnim reported Iran had sent drones toward U.S. ships after the Touska seizure.
Trump posted that the U.S. would get all of Iran’s “nuclear dust” with no money changing hands, told reporters U.S. and Iranian crews would excavate it together and ship it to the U.S., and said Israel was “PROHIBITED” from bombing Lebanon. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the enriched uranium would “not be transferred anywhere,” and parliament speaker Ghalibaf called Trump’s claims false.
A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight Beirut time (5 p.m. EDT on April 16), hours after Trump said he had agreed it in calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The terms published by the State Department let Israel act in self-defence against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks while halting offensive operations; Hezbollah, not a party to the deal, said Israeli occupation gave Lebanon the right to resist.
OFAC sanctioned more than two dozen people, companies and vessels in an oil-shipping network run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, son of the late security official Ali Shamkhani, plus a Hezbollah financier and firms tied to an Iran-Venezuela oil-for-gold scheme. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries buying Iranian oil or holding Iranian money now faced secondary sanctions, the “financial equivalent” of the bombing campaign.
Field Marshal Asim Munir landed in Tehran and was received by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in what Pakistan’s military called part of ongoing mediation; Iranian state TV said the delegation carried a new message from Washington and would discuss a second round of talks. A senior U.S. official said no new terms for extending the ceasefire had been agreed.
The U.S. Treasury said the short-term authorization allowing sale of Iranian oil already at sea, set to run through April 19, would not be renewed, and that it was prepared to use secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions supporting Iran. AP reported a Treasury letter warned banks in China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Oman over Iranian money flows.
A U.S. official told CBS News that American negotiators in Islamabad proposed at least a 20-year suspension of Iranian uranium enrichment plus other restrictions; AP, citing a regional official and a person briefed, said Iran rejected it and offered a five-year moratorium, which the White House turned down. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the length of any moratorium was a political decision but any deal needed “very detailed” verification.
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad met for two hours with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries since 1993; Hezbollah, which opposed the talks, was not represented. The State Department called the meeting productive and said all sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered up to $10 million for information on Ahmad al-Hamidawi, secretary general of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, which it said was responsible for attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq and kidnappings of U.S. citizens, including the recent abduction of journalist Shelly Kittleson.
In a televised speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected negotiations with Israel as “futile,” called on Lebanon to cancel the ambassadors’ meeting set for Washington the next day, said no one could take Lebanon down that path without internal consensus, and vowed Lebanon would not lose “a single metre” to an Israeli buffer zone.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry handed Iraq’s ambassador, Safia Taleb al-Suhail, a formal protest note over what it called continued drone attacks and threats against the kingdom and other Gulf states from Iraqi territory, demanding Baghdad take responsibility. Iran-backed Iraqi militias had claimed dozens of attacks during the war and announced a two-week pause with the ceasefire.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters the talks had ended without a deal because Iran would not give an “affirmative commitment” not to seek a nuclear weapon or the tools to build one quickly, and said the U.S. left a “final and best offer.” Iranian state broadcaster IRIB blamed “unreasonable demands” by the U.S.; Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said the sides had been “inches away” from an “Islamabad MoU.”
Talks between Iran and the U.S. began in Islamabad, and the White House said Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met face to face with an Iranian team led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Pakistani officials present. Al Jazeera’s sources said planned proximity talks had shifted to direct negotiations.
Ghalibaf, accompanied by Foreign Minister Araghchi and security, political, military, economic and legal teams, arrived late Friday and was received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan said. Iranian state TV said negotiations would begin only if the other side accepts Iran's preconditions, and Tasnim said talks were set for Saturday afternoon on that basis.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote that two "mutually agreed" measures, a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets, had not been implemented and "must be fulfilled before negotiations begin." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately urged Washington to adhere to its commitments on halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Leaving Washington on Friday, Vance said Trump had given the team "pretty clear guidelines," that he expected the talks to be positive, and that if Iran tried "to play us" the negotiators would not be receptive. Trump told the New York Post U.S. warships were being loaded with "the best ammunition" for use if there was no deal.
Netanyahu said he had instructed the cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible," focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations, while insisting there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. A U.S. official said the State Department would host the talks next week, with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa leading and Israel's envoy Yechiel Leiter taking part; CBS said Lebanon would send Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance would lead the U.S. delegation, with envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, at talks in Islamabad whose first round would be Saturday morning local time. Leavitt also said the ceasefire was conditioned on a free reopening of Hormuz with no tolls.
Trump wrote that "there will be no enrichment of Uranium" and that the U.S. would work with Iran to "dig up and remove" its deeply buried enriched material, adding that tariff and sanctions relief were being discussed and "many of the 15 points" had been agreed. In another post he said any country supplying military weapons to Iran would face an immediate 50% tariff on all goods sold to the U.S., with "no exclusions or exemptions."