LIVE! Iran FM Araghchi visits Pakistan again, meets Munir as US-Iran talks falter

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,496 people in Lebanon, where the Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war started.

Also, 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 US service members in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.

Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.

But Israel struck southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least six people, it said were Hezbollah militants, and several rockets and drones were launched at Israel from Lebanon.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday (April 25) evening spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed the evolving regional situation.

During the telephonic conversation, which coincided with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's visit to Islamabad, PM Shehbaz expressed his commitment to serve as a "sincere and honest" facilitator in promoting lasting peace in the region, according to his office.

"During their warm and cordial conversation that lasted 50 minutes, the two leaders had a detailed exchange of views on the current regional situation and ongoing efforts to promote peace and stability in the region," the prime minister's office said.

Shehbaz provided Pezeshkian with an overview of his recent diplomatic outreach to various world leaders. He emphasised that these interactions have contributed to building a broader consensus in favour of sustained dialogue and diplomacy, aimed at achieving lasting peace in the war-affected region.

He appreciated Iran’s continued engagement and "reaffirmed that, with the support of friends and partners, Pakistan remains committed to serving as an honest and sincere facilitator - working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region".

Pezeshkian thanked Shehbaz, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar for their significant contribution to the peace efforts.

While expressing Iran's desire for peace, he also expressed confidence that the fraternal ties between Iran and Pakistan would continue to strengthen and expand in the future.

Shehbaz appreciated the participation of the high-level Iranian delegation in the talks held in Islamabad on April 11-12, and also welcomed Iran's decision to send a delegation led by Foreign Minister Araghchi, who held important meetings, including a detailed two-hour meeting with the Prime Minister.

Shehbaz conveyed his respectful greetings and regards to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. “Both leaders agreed to continue their close coordination,” the PM Office said.

US President Donald Trump says the US Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea route for oil shipments whose disruption is increasingly threatening the global economy.

Sweeping for underwater explosives could take months despite a tenuous ceasefire between the United States and Iran in the weeks-long war, experts say. Any future claims that the US cleared the waterway where 20 per cent of the world's oil typically passes might fail to convince commercial freighters and their insurers that it is finally safe.

Pentagon officials told lawmakers it would likely take six months to clear the mines that Iran has set in the strait. The information was delivered during a classified briefing at the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

When asked about the estimate, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday that the military would not speculate on a timeline, but he did not deny it.

“Allegedly that was something that was said,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news conference. “But we feel confident in our ability, in the correct period of time, to clear any mines that we identify.” Trump said he has ordered the Navy to attack any boat laying mines in the strait.

“Additionally, our mine sweepers' are clearing the Strait right now,” the president said on social media Thursday. “I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US commander in the Middle East, recently told reporters that the military would be working to clear mines from the strait. He did not offer details.

Iran's foreign minister will visit Pakistan again, according to a report by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.

It said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.

The report said he was expected to be back in Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”

Amid the stalled negotiations with Iran, US President Donald Trump said the Iranians sent over a new peace proposal, but that it “could have been better,” and rejected it.

“They gave us a paper that could have been better, and interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump said to reporters on Saturday before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Florida.

The US President wouldn't offer specifics about what was in the latest proposal other than saying “they offered a lot.” But he stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon.”