Overview
- The United States and Iran announced a two‑week ceasefire Tuesday with face‑to‑face talks scheduled to start in Islamabad on Friday, and Tehran publicly confirmed the plan.
- Within hours, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain said they intercepted missiles and drones launched from Iran, with Bahrain reporting minor injuries and the UAE pausing work at its Habshan gas complex after debris sparked a fire.
- Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said fragments from an intercepted Iranian drone damaged homes near Sitra and left two people with light wounds.
- France said about 15 countries are preparing a France‑led defensive mission to restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Ukraine’s military logged 164 clashes on Wednesday with the heaviest Russian assaults toward Kostyantynivka, Pokrovsk and Huliaipole, and satellite images showed fires at the Feodosia oil terminal after a claimed Ukrainian drone strike, as officials in Kyiv and Washington pointed to fresh openings for talks with Moscow.