live Key Bridge In Northern Iran Hit By Strikes

US Vice President JD Vance has been communicating with Pakistani intermediaries in efforts to help broker an end to the Iran conflict, signaling an expanded diplomatic role, Reuters reports.

Acting on President Donald Trump’s direction, Vance reportedly conveyed openness to a cease-fire if certain US demands are met.

Vance also delivered what was described as a "stern message" that Washington’s patience is limited and there would be increasing pressure on Iranian infrastructure unless Tehran agreed to a deal

Pakistan has been serving as a go-between with Tehran, while Vance is part of a broader negotiating team, which also includes Secretary of State Marco ‌Rubio, and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, according to a Reuters source.

Iran launched fresh missile strikes on Israel on April 1 while explosions reportedly rocked Tehran as Israel said it had hit targets in the Iranian capital.

Iran fired around 10 ballistic missiles toward central Israel, including Tel Aviv, in what was described as its largest attack since the war began.

Air defenses intercepted most of the projectiles, though some landed in open areas, and multiple sirens sounded within an hour.

Israeli emergency services said 14 people were wounded, including an 11-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force said it had launched an “extensive” wave of strikes in Tehran, "targeting dozens of Iranian regime infrastructure sites."

AFP journalists reported huge explosions in the Iranian capital, including near the former US Embassy.

Iranian media said steel complexes in central and southwest Iran were also hit, causing “significant damage and destruction.”

Israel also said it air defenses had responded to a missile fired from Yemen -- the third attack by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the weekend.

With reporting by The Times Of Israel, dpa, and AFP

An Israeli strike caused “extensive damage” to production units at the Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan, according to the firm, with multiple areas hit late on March 31.

Assessments indicate heavy losses, though the full extent remains unclear.

A simultaneous attack also damaged facilities at the Sefid Dasht steel complex.

Injured workers were treated and released.

The strikes follow earlier Israeli attacks on Iranian steel plants, prompting Tehran to warn it would respond by targeting industrial sites across the region.

Subsequent reports have described retaliatory or related strikes on aluminum facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

Acclaimed Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi has returned to Iran via a land border.

According to information received by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, the award-winning filmmaker reentered Iran on March 29 through the Bazargan land border crossing.

Panahi, who has been living outside Iran for several months, is widely regarded as one of the country’s most acclaimed and outspoken moviemakers, whose work has repeatedly confronted social and political issues and brought him into conflict with the Iranian government.

His films have been banned or censored at home, although he has continued to make movies and receive major international recognition, including the Palme d’Or at last year's Cannes festival for his most recent film It Was Just An Accident, which also received two Academy Award nominations last month.

Last year, he was allowed to leave the country after 14 years under a travel ban.

Four months ago, he was also sentenced in absentia by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to one year in prison for alleged “propaganda activities" against the state..

US President Donald Trump has said the United States could end its war with Iran soon while reserving the option for limited future strikes.

Speaking hours before he was scheduled to ⁠make a primetime address to the nation on April 1, Trump told Reuters that "we're going to be out pretty quickly" after being asked when the US would consider the conflict to be over.

While he said "I can't tell you exactly" when the war would end, he argued that a primary objectives had already been achieved as US military action had neutralized Iran’s nuclear capacity.

"They won't have a nuclear weapon because they are incapable of that now, and then ⁠I'll leave, and I'll take everybody with me," he said. "And if we ‌have to we'll come back to do spot hits."

Trump said separately on social media that Iran had asked for a truce but that he would not consider it until Tehran ceased blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major fuel shipment route.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said "Iran’s New Regime President" had "just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!"

"We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear," he added. "Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

Iran later denied Trump's claim, state television reported, citing the Foreign Ministry.

"Trump's statements about Iran's request for a cease-fire are false and baseless," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei was quoted as saying.

Trump also told Reuters that he would use his nationwide speech on April 1 to say he was "absolutely" considering withdrawing the United States from NATO for what he considers the alliance's lack of support for US objectives in Iran.

Read more here.

The impact of the US-Israeli war with Iran is beginning to extend far beyond the Middle East, with early signs of disruption across global energy markets and economies.

An Israeli naval strike in Beirut has killed Hezbollah Southern Front commander Hajj Yusuf Ismail Hashem, the country's military said on April 1.

Describing him as a “senior commander with over 40 years of experience and a central figure in the terror organization,” the Israel Defense Forces said his elimination "constitutes a significant blow to Hezbollah’s ability to carry out terror operations against Israeli civilians and to manage ongoing combat against IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon."

Hezbollah -- deemed a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States -- ⁠later confirmed Hashem's death in a statement on April 1, calling him a "beacon of the Islamic ‌Resistance."

Hashem is the most senior Hezbollah commander to have been killed by Israel since intensification of hostilities amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.

With reporting by The Times of Israel and Reuters

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Tehran has requested a cease-fire in the conflict with US and Israel.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on April 1, Trump said "Iran’s New Regime President" had "just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!"

"We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear," he added. "Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

There has not yet been any response to the comments from Iranian authorities.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will convene talks with about 35 countries this week on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions in the Middle East disrupt global energy supplies.

Speaking at a news conference in London on April 1, Starmer said the meeting would "consider all feasible diplomatic and political measures to restore freedom of navigation, ensure the safety of stranded ships and seafarers, and resume the movement of vital goods."

He added that military planners would also be engaged to "make the Strait accessible and secure after the fighting ends."

Acknowledging the challenges, he said: "I have to be honest; this is not going to be easy. These are uncertain times. But we want to be more ambitious: closer economic cooperation, closer security cooperation, and a partnership that recognizes our shared values, shared interests and shared future with the European Union."

"NATO is the most effective military alliance in the history of the world, and we are fully committed to it," he continued. "Regardless of any noise, I will make decisions that are in the British national interest."

US President Donald Trump on March 31 pointedly criticized France and Britain, two of the closest allies the United States has, for failing to back the United States, telling the world to "Go get your own oil!" and "Start learning how to fight for yourself."

Trump said he is strongly considering pulling the country out of NATO, The Telegraph reported on April 1. In an interview with the British daily, Trump called the alliance a "paper tiger."

"I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way," Trump was quoted as saying.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 31 that "unfortunately" the Trump administration will have to "re-examine the value of NATO and that alliance for our country" once the war with Iran is over.

Rubio and other US officials have previously questioned the value of the alliance if the United States cannot freely use bases in allied countries to defend its own interests.

For years, the Caspian Sea was the safe zone of the alliance between Russia and Iran -- a landlocked black hole invisible to Western eyes.

While the inland waterway has served as a sanctuary for Iranian drones bound for the battlefields of Ukraine in Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion, Israel recently launched air strikes on Bandar Anzali, an Iranian naval outpost on the Caspian.

Growing media reports based on intelligence say the corridor is now being used to transfer Russian-produced weaponry back to the Middle East, bringing Israeli air strikes closer to Moscow's backyard.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the Caspian Sea has served as a key corridor between two Western-sanctioned states. It links Russian ports such as Astrakhan with northern Iran, including Bandar Anzali, before cargo moves onward by rail or road toward the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

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