JD Vance warns Iran ‘to not try to play us’ and says Trump has given ‘clear tips for negotiations’ as he units off for peace talks – Live updates

Speaking shortly before his departure to Pakistan from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Vance said of Iran: ‘If they’re gonna try to play us they’re gonna find the negotiating team is not going to be that receptive.

‘The president gave us some pretty clear guidelines.’

If you’re just joining our coverage of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, here are the latest developments:

• Donald Trump is sending JD Vance to lead the US delegation at talks in Islamabad, Pakistan. He will be joined by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
• Iran, meanwhile, has already sent its delegation over, which is being led by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
• Trump accused Iran of reneging on its promise to open the Strait of Hormuz, writing on Truth Social yesterday: ‘That is not the agreement we have!’
• Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, demanded in a written statement ‘blood money’ from the US and Israel after denouncing them as ‘criminal aggressors.’
• Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said earlier today that the IDF is in ‘a state of war’, adding that his forces are not in a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israel has expelled Spain from the US’ Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) following escalating tensions between the nations.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said the move was made in coordination with the US and came from the Spanish government’s ‘blatant anti-Israel bias.’

Sa’ar said: ‘The Sanchez government has such a blatant anti-Israel bias that it has lost all ability to serve as a useful factor in the implementation of [US President Donald] Trump’s peace plan and in the CMCC that operates within the plan.’

The CMCC, which falls under the control of the US Army’s Central Command, was created in October 2025 to oversee the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance to the Gaza Strip under Trump’s Gaza peace deal.

Personnel from militaries all over the world, including the UK, Italy and Australia, work there to coordinate stabilisation efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Naim Qassem, the head of Hezbollah, warned the Lebanese government against giving ‘free concessions’ to Israel ahead of slated talks in the US.

Qassem said in a written message broadcast on Lebanese TV: ‘We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions.’

He also denounced the ‘bloody criminality on Wednesday’, referring to Israel’s blitz attack against Lebanon.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that while the United States is trying to maintain a stable relationship with China, if Beijing gets involved with Iran in a way that is counter to US interests, that would complicate matters.

‘The underlying goals of our economies are so different. But there’s a way where we can have some economic stability,’ he said in an interview on CNBC.

‘If China is going to be involved in Iran in a way that’s harmful to US interests, then that obviously complicates it, and that’s China’s responsibility to eliminate that,” Greer said.

Greer also said he expects Donald Trump to have a good meeting next month with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The trip comes just a year after Washington rolled out sweeping and at times erratic global tariffs.

‘I think the thing to remember with China is, although we’re trying very hard to have stability with China, particularly in trade and economics, not every challenge with them is resolved,’ Greer said.

Hezbollah claims it targeted Israel naval base in Ashdod with missiles.

The group said in a statement: ‘In response to the enemy’s violation of the ceasefire and its repeated attacks on Beirut, and after the Resistance adhered to the ceasefire while the enemy did not, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted… the naval base in the port of Ashdod with missiles’

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, Majid Takht Ravanchi, said his nation doesn’t want a ceasefire that allows the US and Iran to attack again.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported he made the remarks at a meeting with ambassadors in Tehran.

He reportedly said: ‘We do not want a ceasefire that allows the aggressor enemy to re-arm and launch another aggression.’

He also claimed that ‘it has been agreed that Iran’s 10-point plan will be the basis for negotiations.’

Activists in Tel Aviv have created an excoriating piece of protest art on a Tel Aviv.

The installation was placed directly across from the US embassy.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has called on the nation’s citizens to ‘be constantly vigilant’ in order to avenge Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The country’s new leader has not been seen in public since war broke out on February 28, but this new message appeared on his social media today.

In the statement, he said a ‘firm determination to avenge’ his father would remain 40 days after his assassination, despite the end of the ‘official mourning period’ for his killing.

The 56-year-old wrote: ‘Dear nation, although official mourning period for the martyrdom of your great leader has come to an end… there remains a firm determination to avenge him and all the martyrs… and we will be constantly vigilant to realise this.’