Pakistani officials said Tuesday that Islamabad has proposed a second round of talks to the US and Iran
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CAIRO (AP) — Pakistani officials said Tuesday that Islamabad has proposed a second round of talks to the US and Iran, while US Vice President JD Vance earlier said negotiations with Iran “did make some progress" and US President Donald Trump said Monday “we've been called by the other side” and “they want to work a deal.”
The Pakistani officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the press.
A senior Hezbollah official on Monday said the Lebanese militant group will not abide by any agreements that may result from direct Lebanon-Israel talks set to start Tuesday in Washington.
Lebanese officials hope to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war that has killed at least 2,089 people in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he doesn't want a ceasefire, and the goal is Hezbollah's disarmament and a potential peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
A US blockade of Iranian ports that began Monday and Iran's threatened retaliation set up an extraordinary showdown posing serious risks for the global economy and raising the spectre of a ceasefire collapse and resumed fighting.
Also read: We have not forgotten US breaches: Iran hardens stand amid peace talks
Here is the latest:
Italy suspends military partnership with Israel
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday that her government has suspended the automatic renewal of a defence agreement with Israel, citing “the current situation.”
Meloni and other Italian government officials have strongly condemned Israel's air and bombing campaign in Lebanon, which has hit civilians as well as an Italian convoy that is part of a UN peacekeeping force. The agreement, ratified in 2005, includes ongoing cooperation between the two countries' defence ministries and armed forces. It is automatically renewed every five years.
Citing fallout from the Iran war, the IMF cuts the outlook for global growth and expects higher inflation
The Iran war has stalled the world's economic momentum, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday as it downgraded its forecast for global growth to 3.1 per cent in 2026, an expected deceleration from last year's 3.4 per cent expansion.
Read more: Middle East tensions cut global growth outlook, warns against costly energy subsidies: IMF
US and Israeli strikes on Iran — and Tehran's closing of the Strait of Hormuz and retaliatory strikes on oil refineries and other energy infrastructure in neighbouring countries — have driven oil and gas prices sharply higher around the world. As a result, the IMF marked up its expectation for global inflation to 4.4 per cent from 4.1 per cent in 2025.
Massive investment in data centres and artificial intelligence, and rising productivity combined to strengthen economic numbers, but “War in the Middle East has halted this momentum,'' IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote in a blog post accompanying the fund's latest World Economic Outlook.
The IMF's forecast assumes the war ends soon and energy prices rise “a moderate 19 per cent this year. Things could be much worse.
Israel's top diplomat denies disputes with Lebanon, says the problem is Hezbollah'
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is floating the idea of cooperation with the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah has also its financial roots; there are a lot of dimensions holding this organisation, practically keeping Lebanon under Iranian occupation,” Saar said Tuesday, adding that the Lebanese government itself views the Iran-backed militant group as “unlawful.”
Israel and Lebanon are set to begin their first direct talks in decades on Tuesday, with large gaps in what each side wants from the negotiations.
Lebanese officials want a ceasefire, while Israeli officials have said they are not interested in a ceasefire but want the talks to focus on disarming Hezbollah as an essential step toward a potential peace deal between the two countries.
Hezbollah militant group renewed its war with Israel on March 2, when it fired missiles into northern Israel. About 2,088 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since then, according to figures from Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Macron urges US-Iran talks to resume
French President Emmanuel Macron urged the resumption of negotiations between the US and Iran as he had phone calls with President Donald Trump and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“It is essential, in particular, that the ceasefire be strictly respected by all parties and that it include Lebanon,” Macron said in a post on X Tuesday.
He also called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “without restrictions or tolls.”
Macron stressed France and the UK will also host a conference in Paris this Friday, bringing together by videoconference non-belligerent countries ready to contribute to a mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow.