Overview
- White House officials said Friday that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan for talks with Iran’s foreign minister, who traveled to Islamabad the same day.
- Trump announced Thursday a three-week extension of the Israel–Lebanon ceasefire, even as Hezbollah and the Israeli military reported new incidents in southern Lebanon.
- Trump said he ordered U.S. forces to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Pentagon said U.S. personnel boarded a sanctioned, stateless tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.
- U.S. commanders said the blockade has turned back more than 30 ships and now reaches into the Pacific and Indian oceans, while Iranian media reported the first Hormuz “toll” deposits into Iran’s central bank.
- CENTCOM said three U.S. aircraft carriers are now in the region, underscoring that talks remain fragile as control of Hormuz—where about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil moves—drives risks for shippers, crews, and fuel prices.