Middle East crisis live: Trump insists Iran wants a deal despite initial rejection; China sees ‘glimmer of hope’ for talks | US-Israel war on Iran

Israel has reportedly taken Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, off its hit list after Pakistan requested the US not to target them, according to Reuters news agency, citing a source from Islamabad with knowledge of the matter.

Araghchi had been heading Iran’s delegation in nuclear talks with the US and is one of Iran’s most experienced diplomats, while Ghalibaf is supposedly seen by some in the White House as a workable partner.

“The Israelis had their coordinates and wanted to take them out, we told the US if they are also eliminated then there is no one else to talk to, hence the US asked the Israelis to back off,” the Pakistani source was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the claim, cited American officials as saying the two Iranian men were removed from the US and Israel’s target list for up to four or five days, as Donald Trump attempts to reopen negotiations with Iran. The report did not mention any Pakistani involvement.

A number of senior Iranian officials have been killed by Israel since the onset of the current war, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and security chief Ali Larijani. Israel has vowed to continue hunting down Iran’s leaders, while Trump has acknowledged that many potential interlocutors, including negotiators involved in talks before the war, have been killed in strikes.

“We killed all their leadership, And then they met to choose new leaders, and we killed all of them,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”

In London, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 64 points, or 0.63%, in early trading, to 10,042 points. Mining companies, a gauge of economic growth prospects, are among the top fallers on the index with copper producer Antofagasta down 3.9%.

Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank, says:

For markets, the issue is there’s still plenty of doubt about whether a US-Iran deal can be reached, given how Iran have publicly rejected the US on several occasions. So that’s seen markets become increasingly sceptical about positive headlines from the US side, because we haven’t seen similar noises from Iran.

Germany’s DAX dropped by 0.9% at the open in Frankfurt, with France’s CAC 40 down 0.65% in Paris.

You can follow our business live blog for updates on the financial markets and the world economy here:

Here are some images on the newswires from the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Qasim, which came under attack this morning. The Israeli military said air defences shot down missiles launched from Iran, leaving six people injured and causing damage to properties.

The majority Arab town lies about 12 miles east of Tel Aviv and less than a mile from the “green line” that separates Israel from the occupied West Bank.

Lorenzo Tondo

It’s been an intense morning in Jerusalem, with heavy explosions in the sky and non-stop air raid alerts, as any prospect of a peace deal feels more distant than ever.

Iran has launched at least six missiles in the past two hours, including some reportedly carrying cluster munitions. At least six people have been injured. Sirens also sounded across central Israel in the early hours of the day.

According to videos and photos circulating on Telegram, some fragments are said to have struck the outskirts of Jerusalem, though this cannot be independently verified at this stage. Missile debris has also reportedly landed in the Modiin area, about 20 minutes from Jerusalem.

Elsewhere, two people have been killed in Abu Dhabi after debris from an intercepted missile fell on Sweihan Road, according to the emirate’s media office. Three others were injured and several vehicles damaged.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said one of its soldiers was killed during combat in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing fighting with Hezbollah militants along the border.

This brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed in southern Lebanon to three, after the military said two were killed on 8 March.

Authorities in Israel have provided an update on the Iranian missile attack in the central town of Kfar Qasim, saying six people were “lightly injured by blast effects”, increasing an earlier toll of two injured.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said paramedics were providing treatment to the wounded.

The city’s mayor, Haitham Taha, said the blast this morning was caused by cluster munitions. Cluster bombs are designed to release dozens of smaller bombs, called submunitions, over a wide area. Smaller munitions do not always explode immediately, posing a further risk to civilians.

Two people have been killed by falling debris in Abu Dhabi after a missile was intercepted in the UAE capital, according to local media.

In a post on X, the official Abu Dhabi Media Office said three others were injured in the incident. It did not say where the missile was launched from or provide the nationalities of the victims.

Since the US-Israeli war on Iran began, at least 10 people have been reported killed in the UAE from Iranian attacks. In its last update on Saturday, the UAE defence ministry said eight people have died, including two members of the armed forces and six civilians of Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi and Palestinian nationalities.

In case you’re just joining today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here’s a rundown on the latest. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.

• Donald Trump has insisted Iran is still interested in a deal after Tehran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal, countered with a plan of its own and claimed it had no intention to negotiate. The US president later suggested Tehran’s claims were because Iranian negotiators feared being killed by their own side, while the White House said Trump was prepared to “unleash hell” if Iran did not accept defeat.

• Israel’s military said on Thursday it had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan. It said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure” of the regime.

• China’s foreign minister said a “glimmer of hope” for peace had emerged amid the war, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting.Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting Tehran and Washington had both shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.

• Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would expand its occupation of southern Lebanon, with what he described as a “larger buffer zone” to push back the threat of Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, said Israel should “apply sovereignity” areas in southern Lebanon, signalling an expansionist vision that has alarmed critics at home and abroad.

• Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” as the Iran-backed group launched fresh attacks on the country.

• Uncertainty over the war has kept oil prices above the $100-a-barrel mark. At 05.30 GMT, the price of Brent crude was hovering around $104 a barrel. Asian stocks were mostly lower.

• Two people were lightly hurt from a Iranian cluster bomb hit in the central Israeli city of Kfar Qasim on Thursday morning, the Times of Israel quoted medics as saying. The Israeli military earlier said air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks and sirens were activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

• An Iranian envoy said South Korean ships could pass through the strait of Hormuz only after coordinating with Tehran, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

• An Israeli solder was seriously injured in mortar fire in Lebanon, Israel’s military said.

• Kuwait said it had arrested six people over an alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate leaders in the Gulf state.

• Russia is close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine and food to Iran, according to western intelligence reports that detail Moscow’s efforts to keep its embattled partner fighting, the Financial Times reported.

With the war in Iran leading to a near-total internet blackout in the country, activists around the world – especially in the US – are mobilising to help Iranians stay connected via Starlink, Agence France-Presse is reporting.

Despite being banned, Elon Musk’s satellite internet system has gained ground in Iran thanks to a network of international activists, multiple people involved in these efforts told the news agency.

The digital activists’ efforts began in 2022, when mass protests broke out after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was being held by Iran’s police for violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

“As of this year, we have more than 300 devices that we have delivered to the country,” said Emilia James of the US-based organization NetFreedom Pioneers. She declined to go into further detail to protect the operation and the users.

Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of Holistic Resilience, said his organisation purchased Starlink devices in European countries or elsewhere before moving them into Iran via “neighbouring countries”.

The government cracked down hard on the Starlink terminals in 2025, and those caught using them face imprisonment.

An Iranian envoy has said South Korean ships can pass through the strait of Hormuz only after coordinating with Tehran, the Yonhap News Agency has reported.

Such an agreement had to be reached in advance of the transit, said Saeed Khuzechi, the Iranian ambassador to South Korea, at a press conference in response to a question about guarantees for South Korean vessels to navigate the vital conduit for oil.

It was reported that Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi officially requested a list of South Korean ships and detailed information about each vessel during a recent phone call with foreign minister Cho Hyun, Yonhap said.

Iran has effectively blocked the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies usually pass.

Uncertainty over the Iran war has kept oil prices above the $100-a-barrel mark.

At 05.30 GMT, the price of Brent crude was hovering around $104 a barrel, as the US and Iran continue to be at odds over a reported peace plan.

As the 28 March deadline for President Donald Trump’s ultimatum for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz approaches, markets are hoping the conflict pivots from brinkmanship towards a de-escalation window.

Over the weekend, the price of Brent – the benchmark global oil price – soared to $113 a barrel over fears the conflict was escalating, before dropping this week. Brent crude has risen over 40% since the start of the conflict.

Shares in western gas suppliers have emerged as beneficiaries of the US-Israeli war on Iran, as investors expect companies with supply routes that bypass the Middle East to reap a windfall from high energy prices. Natural gas futures early on Thursday were sitting just under $3.

While Europe imports relatively little gas directly from Qatar – the world’s second-largest LNG producer – the effective closure of the strait has forced Asian buyers to compete with Europe for US cargoes, pushing up global prices.

Two people have been lightly hurt from a Iranian cluster bomb hit in the central Israeli city of Kfar Qasim on Thursday morning, the Times of Israel is quoting medics as saying.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated a man and a woman – both aged 55 – who were hurt from a blast after a bomblet hit a building there, the report said.

Medics were scanning other areas in the city where submunitions from the Iranian ballistic missile struck, it said.

The Times said earlier it was the first Iranian attack on Israel in nearly 15 hours.

As mentioned a little earlier, the Israeli military said air defences were responding to missile attacks from Iran and sirens had activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said air defences were responding to missile attacks from Iran on Thursday, with sirens activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

In two separate statements about 20 minutes apart, the military said it had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the state of Israel”.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” said the statements, cited by Agence France-Presse.

After the first attack, the military said people were “now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country”.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no reports of casualties.

The attacks came more than 14 hours after the military had previously announced incoming missiles from Iran.

Central Israel came under fire overnight from Lebanon, where Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks targeting military sites. Israeli media said six rockets were intercepted.

Analysis: Gulf states’ scepticism over alleged US-Iran talks signals a distrust of Trump

Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Not long after Donald Trump said the US was engaged in “strong talks” to bring the war with Iran to an end this week, Qatar took the unusual step of distancing itself from the alleged diplomatic negotiations.

Qatar was not involved in any mediation efforts, Majed al-Ansari said at a briefing on Tuesday night, before adding as a telling aside: “If they exist.”

It signalled a notable break from Qatar’s historic and recurring position as chief mediator in Middle East and wider regional conflicts.

Qatar and fellow Gulf countries have found themselves on the war’s frontlines, but analysts say their reluctance to cheerlead the alleged ceasefire efforts reflect both the heavy toll they continue to suffer from the war as well as a lingering suspicion over whether Trump’s talk of peace is genuine or another foil for escalation.

“They’ve been burned by their previous experience,” said Bilal Saab, senior managing director of advisory group Trends US and former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration.

There’s a lot of pent-up frustration and disappointment that is affecting their willingness, and perhaps even ability, to mediate anything.

The full analysis is here:

Asian stocks were mostly lower and oil prices gained on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained uncertain.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4% and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6%, the Associated Press reports.

Australia’s S+P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2%, whileTaiwan’s Taiex was trading 0.4% higher. US futures were down 0.1%.

Oil prices were up again on Thursday after an earlier dip. Brent crude – the international standard – rose 1.3% to $98.51 per barrel. It was below $95 on Wednesday. Benchmark US crude was 1.6% higher at $91.75 a barrel.

The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire plan by the US after the Trump administration offered a 15-point proposal to Iran.

The Israeli military has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack after a lull of nearly 15 hours, the Times of Israel has just reported.

It said:

Sirens are expected to sound in central Israel and the Jerusalem area in the coming minutes.

An Israeli solder has been seriously injured in mortar fire at its forces in Lebanon, Israel’s military says.

In a post on X it said (in a translation):

The fighter was evacuated to receive medical treatment at the hospital, and his family was notified.

Israel has said it will seize parts of southern Lebanon to create what it calls a “defensive buffer” up to the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the border, and the army has been engaging in ground fighting with Hezbollah fighters south of the river.

The army is slowly advancing northwards despite fierce resistance, with soldiers posting videos in the previously contested towns of Taybeh and Khiam.

Israel is also continuing to pound Hezbollah targets across Lebanon. Read more in this full report from William Christou in Beirut:

China’s foreign minister has said that a “glimmer of hope” for peace has emerged due to moves to stop the war in the Middle East, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting.

Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting that both Tehran and Washington had shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.

“With both the United States and Iran signalling a willingness to negotiate, a glimmer of hope for peace has emerged,” Wang told Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, according to a Beijing readout published late on Wednesday and reported by Agence France-Presse.

The statement came hours before Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that “so far, no negotiations have taken place, and I believe our position is completely principled”.

Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat.

Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, suggesting Tehran’s denials were because Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.

Wang told Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, during the call that the rights and wrongs of the conflict in the Middle East were “crystal clear”, offering support to the country in helping to facilitate the resumption of negotiations.

Turkey has engaged in “intense” diplomatic efforts to end the war by talking to both Washington and Tehran, Fidan said this month.

Wang said:

Prolonging this war would only result in further casualties and needless losses, leading to a further spillover of the conflict.

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the consequences for the region, the world and the global economy.

Donald Trump has insisted Iran is still interested in a deal, after Tehran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal, countered with a plan of its own and claimed it had no intention to negotiate.

Iranian state TV quoted an anonymous official as saying Tehran had rejected the plan it had received via Pakistan, saying it would “end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met”. Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi later said the proposals had been “passed on to the country’s senior authorities” but Iran had “no intention of negotiating for now”.

The US president later suggested Tehran’s denials were because Iranian negotiators feared being killed by their own side. “They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Trump said.

“They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us,” he said, before quipping that no one wanted to lead Iran for fear of being assassinated by the US.

The US military said late on Wednesday its forces had hit more than 10,000 targets so far in the Iran war, including destroying 92% of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels. Thousands more targets had been hit by Israeli forces, claimed US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper from US Central Command. “We have damaged or destroyed over two-thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards, and we’re not done yet.”

In other developments:

• Israel’s military said on Thursday its had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan. It said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in several areas across Iran”.

• Kuwait said it had arrested six people over an alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate leaders in the Gulf state. The interior ministry said five of those arrested were Kuwaiti citizens. It added that 14 more members of the group had fled the country: five Kuwaitis, five more Kuwaitis whose nationalities have been revoked, two Iranians and two Lebanese.

• Iran reportedly received the US’s 15-point plan, which Tehran initially rejected but Araghchi later suggested was still under review. “If a position needs to be taken, it will certainly be determined,” he said. Earlier it was reported that Tehran had rejected the “excessive” demands in the proposal. Among the demands were a complete termination of Iran’s nuclear program and strict limitations on its missile arsenal.

• The White House, meanwhile, warned that Trump was prepared to “unleash hell” if Iran did not accept defeat, and continued to insist that negotiations were ongoing. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt Leavitt said the US president preferred a peaceful path but was prepared to “hit [Iran] harder than they have ever been hit before” if necessary.

• Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would expand its occupation of southern Lebanon, with what he described as a “larger buffer zone” to push back the threat of Hezbollah. The Israeli prime minister’s forces have also continued to bomb Beirut. Many in Lebanon fear that Israel’s plans could echo its previous protracted occupation in the south, which ended in 2000.

• Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” as the Iran-backed group launched fresh attacks on the country. Hezbollah said it launched missiles early on Thursday at military sites in central Israel, where air raid sirens sounded, Agence France-Presse reported.

• Russia is close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine and food to Iran, according to western intelligence reports that detail Moscow’s efforts to keep its embattled partner fighting, the Financial Times reported.

• “The Gaza model must not be replicated in Lebanon,” the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said. He also told the US and Israel it was “high time” to end the war and called on Iran to stop attacking its neighbours.