US-Iran ceasefire: Trump warns Iran over Strait of Hormuz tolls as Pakistan prepares for peace talks

World leaders are moving to secure oil and fuel supplies as the two-week Middle East ceasefire enters its final stretch, the BBC reports.

Japan has confirmed it will release 20 days’ worth of oil reserves, with attention focused on shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to media reports.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is visiting Singapore in a bid to strengthen fuel security amid growing concerns over potential shortages.

US Vice-President JD Vance is expected to travel to Islamabad to lead peace talks with Iran starting Saturday, as diplomatic efforts intensify.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has outlined plans for talks on a potential peace deal with Lebanon, following reports of deadly Israeli strikes that killed hundreds in recent days.

Iranian media report former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has died from injuries sustained in an attack earlier this month.

According to BBC reporting, Kharrazi was a prominent reformist figure in Iran’s political establishment, serving as foreign minister from 1997 to 2005. He later headed Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and acted as an adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Reform-leaning outlet Jamaran reported on 1 April that Kharrazi had been severely injured and hospitalised after an attack on his Tehran residence, which it said also killed his wife. The reports indicated his home had been directly targeted.

US Vice President JD Vance, who has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions and outspoken about the prospect of sending troops into open-ended conflicts, sets off Friday to lead mediated talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Vance is joined by Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who took part in three rounds of indirect talks with Iranian negotiators aimed at settling US concerns about Tehran's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and its support for armed proxy groups in the Middle East before Trump and Israel launched the Feb. 28 war against Iran.

The White House has provided scant detail about the format of the talks - whether they will be direct or indirect - and has not provided specific expectations for the meeting.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said in his latest written message that the Islamic republic did not want war with the United States and Israel but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported.

"We will not renounce our legitimate rights under any circumstances, and in this respect, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole," he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon, where Israel is fighting with Tehran's ally Hezbollah.

Khamenei has still not been seen in public since being appointed to succeed his father, who was killed in the initial wave of strikes on February 28.

Multiple times overnight into Friday morning, people around Iran's capital, Tehran, and other parts of the country said they heard what sounded like air defense fire and explosions.

However, Iran's government did not acknowledge any attack during that period.

After past exchanges of fire with Israel, similar incidents happened as troops remained on edge.

Japan said it will release an additional 20 days’ worth of oil reserves in May, in a second round address supply uncertainty over the war in the Middle East.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the planned release of the government reserves will start in early May, after an earlier release last month.

Japan started releasing about 50 days’ worth of oil reserves in March, including from those held by the state, the private sector and oil-producing Gulf nations.

As of April 6, Japan had 230 days’ worth oil reserves, including 143 days’ worth in government stockpiles, according to the Natural Resources and Energy Agency.

Takaichi said her government is working to secure oil imports via routes that do not include the Strait of Hormuz, while Japan seeks to diversify suppliers.

Pakistan said Friday it would issue visas on arrival for those traveling to Islamabad for the Iran-US talks, signaling the interest in the world’s media in the event.

Air raid alerts rang out across Israel early Friday, including in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv and in the southern coastal city of Ashdod following rocket fire from Lebanon.

Continued fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is testing a fragile truce reached between the United States and Iran.

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire repeatedly on Thursday.

The Israeli army's Home Front Command issued alerts for several areas following Friday's rocket fire, including the Tel Aviv area and southern communities far from the Lebanon border.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but Israeli media reported that air-defence systems had intercepted at least one incoming rocket.

Seoul said senior diplomat Chung Byung-ha will soon depart for Iran as a special envoy to discuss the safety of its citizens and Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that Chung plans to push for freedom of navigation for all vessels in the strait, including South Korean ships.

The ministry earlier said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed Seoul’s plan to send a special envoy during a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Thursday.

Underlining Iran’s continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, a Botswana-flagged liquified natural gas tanker called the Nidi attempted to travel out of the Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard but suddenly turned around and headed back early Friday, ship-tracking data showed.

On Thursday, four tankers and three bulk carriers crossed through the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the total number of ships passing through since the ceasefire to at least 12, according to the data firm Kpler. However, other ships not transmitting their locations may have passed through as well. The strait typically saw well over 100 ships passing through it daily in peacetime.

The death toll from Israeli air strikes targeting Lebanon yesterday has risen to 303 killed and 1,150 wounded.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the Lebanese Ministry of Health explained that rescue teams are still retrieving bodies from under the rubble at several sites.

It noted that work is ongoing to identify a number of the deceased in hospitals through DNA testing.

The Ministry indicated that the total toll of victims from 2nd March until 9th April has reached 1,888 killed and 6,092 wounded.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will seek to boost ties with a key supplier of refined fuel in Singapore as a shaky ceasefire between the United States and Iran showed no sign of curbing petrol prices.

Australia relies on imports for an estimated 90 percent of its refined petroleum products.

Three percent of service stations across the country were reported this week to have run out of diesel.

Albanese will meet with Singaporean leader Lawrence Wong on Friday after a tour of Jurong Island, where the city state's key oil refining facilities are located.

The city state provides Australia with more than a quarter of its refined fuel.

In turn, Australia is Singapore's second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas.

"It is in both of our countries' interests to engage with each other to make sure that we are both reliable suppliers," Albanese said on Thursday as he arrived in Singapore.

"It's so important that at difficult times in the world we can rely upon each other," he said.

"This is an important relationship at a time where fuel security is on the agenda, right around the globe due to the conflict in the Middle East," the Australian leader added.

Oil prices continued to rise in early Asian trading as investors weighed concerns over restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with a fragile Iran–US ceasefire under strain amid ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

At 01:00 GMT on Friday, Brent crude futures were up 0.87% at $96.75 per barrel, while US crude also climbed more than 1%.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has signalled that European allies are preparing to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking after White House talks with President Donald Trump, Rutte urged rapid commitments from the 22-nation coalition — including NATO members, South Korea, and Japan —to reopen the vital oil chokepoint, closed by Iranian forces since early 2026. A European diplomat revealed Trump expects a concrete plan "within days", with the UK under Prime Minister Keir Starmer taking a leading role in coordinating naval efforts, Business Review reported.

While Rutte noted that NATO members would not directly fight in the Iran conflict, he said allies are willing to assist in terms of longer-term solutions to ensure freedom of navigation in the strait.

Iran's de facto blockade — via mines, drones, and missile threats — has spiked global oil prices and disrupted 20% of world trade, prompting UN Security Council Resolution 2817 demanding compliance. Trump, frustrated by allies' reluctance to join the US-Israel campaign, has threatened NATO withdrawal, calling it a "one-way street" after European nations deemed the Iran war "not our fight".

US President Donald Trump insisted that only one set of proposed terms is acceptable to the United States as it negotiates with Iran to solidify a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East conflict. In a statement released by the White House, Trump declared there is “only one group of meaningful ‘POINTS’” the U.S. will discuss behind closed doors. Those points, he said, formed the basis for the two-week truce announced late Tuesday. On Thursday, AFP reported that the details of the 10-point plan proposed by Iran that were published was not the one agreed to by the US.

The Trump administration has cautioned Tehran against imposing fees on commercial vessels transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz, amid reports Iran has sought to charge tolls as part of ceasefire arrangements.

The White House warned that if reports of charges are accurate, Tehran “better stop now,” underscoring US opposition to levying transit fees that could violate international maritime norms and disrupt global trade.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters late on Thursday that Trump’s firm “red lines”, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, were key to securing Iran’s agreement.

Kuwait has assailed drone attacks launched from Iran. The Kuwait National Guard said one of its sites was targeted with hostile drones, with no human casualties. Brigadier General Dr. Jadaan Fadel stated in a press statement that the competent authorities in the Guard immediately began taking the necessary security and field measures to deal with the incident.

A statement issued by Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday reads:

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the State of Kuwait's strong condemnation and denunciation of the heinous attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, including factions, militias, and armed groups loyal to it, via drones that targeted several vital facilities in the State of Kuwait, on the evening of Thursday, 9 April 2026, in flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Kuwait and its airspace, and a blatant breach of international law, international humanitarian law, and the United Nations Charter.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the continuation of these brazen attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies against the State of Kuwait and the countries of the region undermines the regional and international efforts that have recently borne fruit with the announcement of a ceasefire between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and constitutes a blatant challenge to the international community."

"While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes the necessity of obligating the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies to immediately and unconditionally cease all hostile acts directed against the State of Kuwait and all other countries of the region in accordance with the provisions of Security Council Resolution 2817 of 2026, it renews its affirmation of the State of Kuwait's firm adherence to its full and legitimate right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and to take all necessary measures to preserve its sovereignty, security, and stability."

Day 41: Kuwait condemns drone attacks, US warns vs Hormuz toll

Day 40: Trump agrees to suspend attack on Iran by two weeks

Day 39: UAE, Qatar on alert as Trump's deadline nears

Day 38: Iran and US receive draft proposal for war ceasefire

Day 37: Second F-15E crew member rescued in Iran

Day 36: Trump warns Iran: 48 hours or all hell will reign down

Day 35: Trump seeks $1.5t defence budget as war intensifies

Day 34: UN chief warns world on 'edge of a wider war'

Day 33: Trump says US to hit Iran 'extremely hard'

Day 32: Debris hits several homes in Dubai, 4 injured

Day 31: Trump threatens to obliterate Iran's Kharg island