Washington
\nUS President Donald Trump on \u200bFriday said the United States had agreed to \u200ctalks with Iran after Tehran asked to continue negotiations, while stressing that the June ceasefire between \u200bthe two nations was over.
\n\u201cThe Islamic \u200bRepublic of Iran has asked us to continue \u2018talks.\u2019 We have agreed to do \u200bso, but the United States has stated \u200bto them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!\u201d Trump wrote in a \u200bpost on Truth Social.
\nThe US and Iran \u200btraded strikes this week, with the Iranian armed forces \u200claunching attacks on US military infrastructure in Gulf states on Thursday following US strikes on Iran\u2019s southern coastal and eastern provinces.
\nThe \u200btwo nations \u200breached an interim deal last month to end a four month conflict \u200bthat has throttle worldwide energy supplies.
\nTrump\u2019s \u200binability to end the war has frustrated the president, whose Republican Party faces midterm elections later \u200bthis year amid high \u200bgas prices and voter discontent.
\nQatar urges US-Iran to honour deal, protect Strait of Hormuz
\nQatar has called on the United States and Iran to honour their memorandum of understanding and continue dialogue to prevent further escalation, according to Al Jazeera.
\nQatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said in a post on X that he made the appeal during a phone call with Egypt\u2019s Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty.
\nHe also emphasised the importance of safeguarding freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, warning that maintaining safe passage is vital for regional security.
\nIRGC commander vows revenge for \u2018cowardly assassination\u2019 of supreme leader
\nThe IRGC\u2019s top commander has pledged vengeance against the US and Israel for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it won\u2019t \u201cbe erased from the historical memory\u201d.
\nAccording to Al Jazeera, Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi called for the \u201cfull realisation of justice and a fitting response to the criminals, especially the child-killing American army\u201d.
\n\u201cThe criminal leaders of America and all enemies of the Islamic Revolution and the Resistance Front must know that by the cowardly assassination of this divine leader they will never \u2026 bring the flag of resistance to the ground,\u201d Vahidi said in a statement carried by Sepah news agency.
\n\u201cAvenging the martyrs and the punishment of the perpetrators \u2026 will remain a definitive, legitimate, and an unforgettable demand.\u201d
\nVahidi\u2019s comments come after Khamenei was buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, four months after he and four family members died in US-Israeli air strikes.
\nAdditionally, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council stated in a post carried by Fars that retaliation \u201cwill be carried out against attacks on infrastructure, and the criminal Zionist regime will not be safe from the response of the fighters either.\u201d
\nUS pauses strikes on Iran to let diplomacy work: CNN report
\nDiplomacy is happening behind the scenes right now to ease tensions in the US-Iran conflict, CNN reported Friday, citing US officials.
\nThe US has been deliberately striking and then pausing to avoid escalation and let diplomacy work, one US official said. It is maintaining a target list as leverage.
\nMultiple officials reportedly said there were preparations for potential US strikes if needed tonight, but they are currently letting diplomacy take the lead.
\nEarlier today, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, flight crews armed fighter aircraft while pilots conducted training exercises to prepare for any potential strike missions.
\nThe carrier\u2019s captain informed the thousands of sailors on board that regional tensions were increasing and emphasised the importance of remaining prepared, as is standard practice.
\nAlongside strike preparations, fighter pilots continued routine defensive operations, launching sorties throughout both the day and the night.
\nUS officials said Iranian claims that there had already been more US strikes tonight were inaccurate. However, the situation is dynamic, and strikes could resume if needed, they added.
\nMaritime threat level in Strait of Hormuz remains \u2018severe\u2019: UK maritime agency
\nThe maritime security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz remains \u201csevere\u201d following recent attacks on commercial vessels, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday.
\nIn a notice issued by its Joint Maritime Information Center, UKMTO said the southern route through the strategic waterway had been expanded and remains available to all maritime traffic.
\n\u201cNotwithstanding recent unprovoked attacks on merchant vessels, mariners are reminded that the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz has been expanded and remains available for all traffic,\u201d it said. The center warned vessels transiting the area to expect radio contact over very high frequency channels from naval forces and to remain alert for a designated mine-danger area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington US President Donald Trump on \u200bFriday said the United States had agreed to \u200ctalks with Iran after Tehran asked to continue negotiations, while stressing that the June ceasefire between \u200bthe two nations was over. \u201cThe Islamic \u200bRepublic of Iran has asked us to continue \u2018talks.\u2019 We have agreed to do \u200bso, but the United …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":100152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100158,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100141\/revisions\/100158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}