The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.3% by 0927 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 1.1%
International News via Reuters:
The main UK stock indexes eased on Thursday after recording their strongest session in months a day earlier, as oil prices rebounded on growing doubts over a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.3% by 0927 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 1.1%.* The FTSE 350 energy index climbed 1% as oil prices jumpedalmost 3% on concerns that energy flows through the crucialStrait of Hormuz will remain restricted. [O/R] * Viability of the ceasefire is in question amid continuedIsraeli strikes on Lebanon, causing Iran to suggest it would be”unreasonable” to proceed with talks to forge a permanent peacedeal. * The FTSE 100 recorded its biggest percentage gain in ayear on Wednesday after the two-week ceasefire deal between theU.S. and Iran. * Rate-sensitive homebuilders came under pressure as bondyields edged higher. Two-year gilt yield, which reflectsnear-term rate expectations, rose to 4.25% after its largestone-day fall since March 2023. * Traders were betting on 40 basis points of rate hikes fromthe Bank of England by the end of this year, compared to 32 bpson Wednesday. * Britain’s housing market cooled noticeably last month aseconomic uncertainty stemming from the Iran war unnerved buyerswho face rising mortgage rates, a survey from the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors showed. * Ceres Power Holdings fell 7.7% after brokerage Peel Huntdowngraded the clean energy technology developer’s stock to”sell” from “hold.” * ME Group International climbed 3.7% after the vendingmachine operator secured a partnership with retailer ASDA toinstall Wash.ME laundry machines.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed
Over 1.3 million Sudanese refugees are living in neighbouring Chad, with most of them arriving since the start of the conflict in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023
International News via Reuters:
More than a million Sudanese refugees face drastic cuts in life-saving aid such as food and water unless donors fill a funding shortfall of over $400 million, two U.N. agencies said on Thursday.
Over 1.3 million Sudanese refugees are living in neighbouring Chad, with most of them arriving since the start of the conflict in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. Among them are survivors of mass killings and famine from Darfur.
The World Food Programme and the U.N. refugee agency do not have enough funds to help them all and envisage further cuts in the coming months unless a $428 million shortfall can be met, they said in a joint statement.
“…With less than half the resources we require, we cannot deliver sufficient food to the people who need it most,” said WFP Chad Country Director Sarah Gordon-Gibson. “This will force them into devastating coping strategies and put lives at risk.”
The U.N. joint statement did not specify which donors had cut money although the UNHCR refugee agency has previously said that U.S. cuts in foreign aid are a major reason for funding gaps. Still, both Sudan and Chad are on a list of 17 countries set to receive $2 billion in U.S. aid in 2026.
Other Western donors have also cut back foreign aid as they shift funds to defence.
Already, the UNHCR said it can only help four of every 10 refugees in Chad, leaving many without access to shelter, while most classrooms have over 100 children for every teacher. In the northeastern province of Ennedi Est, refugees are surviving on less than half the minimum amount of daily water, it said.
The Norwegian Refugee Council described extreme hunger levels in Chad, citing a survey showing that 70% of refugee families in Chad reported reducing meals in the past month.
After more than five weeks of strikes against Iran’s missile launchers, military sites and weapons industry, Trump reverted to tariffs as leverage
International News via Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that imports from countries supplying Iran with military weapons will face immediate 50% tariffs with no exemptions, threatening the move just hours after agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
After more than five weeks of strikes against Iran’s missile launchers, military sites and weapons industry, Trump reverted to tariffs as leverage, using a social media post to warn China and Russia against restocking Tehran’s arsenals.
Beijing and Moscow have denied supplying any weapons recently, although allegations against Russia have persisted.
But the U.S. Supreme Court stripped Trump of his fastest and broadest tariff authority, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, in February, ruling that his broadest global tariffs imposed under the 1977 law were illegal.
“A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately, There will be no exclusions or exemptions! President DJT,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social site, without naming any countries.
China and Russia have helped Iran build military capacity to counter U.S. and Israeli pressure, including by supplying missiles and air-defense systems. That support appeared capped during the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
‘A CHINA-RELATED THREAT,’ LIPSKY SAYS
Reuters reported in February, prior to the first U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, that Tehran was considering a purchase of supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles from China.
Reuters reported in March that China’s top semiconductor maker, SMIC, had sent chipmaking tools to Iran’s military, according to two senior Trump administration officials.
“This is a China-related threat, the way I read it. And China will read it that way,” said Josh Lipsky, vice president and chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council.
Although drone and missile parts routinely flow from Chinese entities to Iran, evading U.S. sanctions, Lipsky said Trump was unlikely to follow through with new tariffs in the near term because that would derail his planned trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China’s defense ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang on Thursday denied reports of Chinese firms providing Iran with chip equipment and satellite imagery.
“China has always been open and above board on the Iran issue, maintaining an objective and impartial stance, and has consistently worked to promote peace talks while never engaging in any activities that could fan the flames or add fuel to the fire,” Zhang said in a statement.
“The international community can clearly see who is saying one thing and doing another, and who is creating war and conflict everywhere.”
On Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Trump wanted to preserve stability in U.S.-China ties, safeguarding U.S. access to Chinese rare-earth minerals while maintaining prior tariff levels and avoiding a “massive confrontation” with Xi.
ALTERNATIVE TARIFF TOOLS
Of Trump’s still available trade tools, an active “Section 301” unfair trade practices action against Chinese goods from his first term would be the most likely vehicle for adding new tariffs quickly, Lipsky said.
A more limited tool would be Section 232 of the Cold War-era Trade Expansion Act of 1962, aimed at protecting strategic domestic industries on national security grounds, but it would limit duties to specific sectors.
Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods over nearly eight years already have cut U.S. imports from China sharply, from a peak of $538.5 billion in 2018 to $308.4 billion in 2025, with further declines in January and February.
Russia has been another source of arms technology for Iran, but U.S. imports of Russian goods also have shriveled since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and financial sanctions imposed on Moscow as a result of that move.
U.S. imports from Russia, one of the only countries not subject to Trump’s now-cancelled “reciprocal” tariffs, jumped 26.1% to $3.8 billion in 2025. These imports are dominated by palladium used in automotive catalytic converters, fertilizers and their ingredients, and enriched uranium for nuclear reactors.
The Commerce Department is moving to impose punitive tariffs on Russian palladium after an anti-dumping investigation.
Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Lawder in Washington; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Matthew Lewis, Paul Simao and Bernadette Baum
The BoE’s quarterly Credit Conditions Survey also showed demand for unsecured consumer lending was likely to remain unchanged
International News via Reuters:
British lenders expect to see demand for mortgages rise in the three months to the end of May after being flat at the start of 2026, according to a Bank of England survey published on Thursday.
The BoE’s quarterly Credit Conditions Survey also showed demand for unsecured consumer lending was likely to remain unchanged.
The survey of lenders took place between February 23 and March 13.
Writing by William SchombergEditing by Suban Abdulla
TAP said it sees positive booking momentum, while “actively monitoring” developments in the Iran war, adding it will be “nimble” in responding to any operating environment changes
International News via Reuters:
Portugal’s airline TAP said on Thursday its 2025 profit fell 92% due to a one-off fourth‑quarter charge which outweighed higher revenue from increased passenger numbers and stronger margins.
TAP said it sees positive booking momentum, while “actively monitoring” developments in the Iran war, adding it will be “nimble” in responding to any operating environment changes.
TAP’s CEO Luis Rodrigues said that despite a challenging environment, with cost inflation and significant industry-wide supply chain and operational constraints, it “maintained resilient margins and strengthened its financial position”.
Rodrigues said TAP will launch two new routes to Brazil, increasing its network there to 15 destinations, while expanding operations at Porto with new routes and a maintenance hub.
The state-owned flag carrier, which is being partially privatised, booked a net profit of just 4.1 million euros ($4.78 million), down from 53.7 million euros in 2024. This still marked a fourth straight year of profit for the airline.
The drop was mainly due to a 42 million euros one-off fourth-quarter charge from a downward revaluation of deferred tax assets – future tax credits it will use – after parliament in November cut the corporate tax rate from 20% to 17% by 2028.
TAP posted a 51 million euros loss in the fourth quarter.
Rodrigues said that despite the one-off charge, TAP delivered “solid results, supported by resilient demand across its network, particularly in the second half of the year”, and by a relevant contribution from the maintenance business.
TAP said “resilient demand and positive booking momentum” should support higher load factors and stronger unit revenues, with fuel price rises partly offset by ticket price increases.
Full‑year revenue rose 1.2% to 4.31 billion euros on a 1.6% increase in passenger numbers to more than 16 million.
Operating costs rose 1.8% to 4.02 billion euros in 2025, as higher traffic, staff and depreciation expenses were partly offset by lower fuel costs.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 4.4% to 725.8 million euros, while EBITDA margin – a measure of profitability – increased to 16.8% from 16.3% in 2024.
($1 = 0.8579 euros)
Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Alexander Smith
Crucially, there was scant sign that the Strait of Hormuz was open in any meaningful way, with Iran flexing its control over the vital oil artery and demanding tolls for safe passage
International News via Reuters:
Share markets sagged on Thursday as cracks quickly began to appear in the fragile Gulf truce, nudging oil prices back up toward $100 a barrel and reminding investors the inflationary fallout would last a long while yet.
Crucially, there was scant sign that the Strait of Hormuz was open in any meaningful way, with Iran flexing its control over the vital oil artery and demanding tolls for safe passage.
President Donald Trump took to social media to declare U.S. forces would remain in the Gulf until a deal was reached and complied with, otherwise the “‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
Meanwhile, Israel has carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since its conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militia began last month, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday.
As a result, Brent crude futures rose 2.5% to $97.28 a barrel, U.S. WTI futures bounced 3.3% to $97.55 and the pan-European STOXX 600 index opened 0.2% lower having leapt 3.7% on Wednesday following the ceasefire announcement. [O/R][.EU]
UBP’s Head of Investment Services UK Peter Kinsella said the moves showed markets remained focused on trading headlines, although apart from the big swings in oil prices, he stressed volatility in most of the main currencies was still limited.
“It is very difficult for investors as they are dealing with a conflict where the protagonists don’t even know what they want,” Kinsella said.
SPLUTTERING GERMANY
Europe’s government bond yields – which drive the cost of borrowing – were also nudging higher again in early trading having plunged on Wednesday.
Data from Germany showed industrial production fell unexpectedly in February, showing Europe’s largest economy was subdued and on course for another quarter of contraction even before the Iran war.
Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei had ended 0.7% lower after jumping 5.4% the previous session. South Korea dipped 1.6%, following a leap of 6.8%.
Chinese blue chips also slipped 0.6%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.7%.
On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both off around 0.4% ahead of their restart later.
INFLATION IS INEVITABLE
With oil prices still around 40% higher than pre-conflict, an inflationary spike is about to show up in the hard data across the globe.
Figures on U.S. core prices for February due later Thursday are expected to show a chunky 0.4% rise for a second month, and that was before the surge in energy costs.
State Street’s PriceStats’ inflation metrics meanwhile show March has seen the biggest month-on-month increase in prices since at least 2008 when its data series began, according to its head of Macro Strategy Michael Metcalfe.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting on Wednesday showed a growing number of members felt a rate hike might be needed to contain inflation, though many hoped the next move would still be a cut.
That tempered a rally in Treasuries, which proved modest compared to the big gains seen in European debt markets on Wednesday. Yields on U.S. 10-year notes sat at 4.296%, compared to 3.96% before the attack on Iran.
Fed fund futures imply only 6 basis points of easing for the rest of this year, having given up on 50 basis points of cuts since the end of February. Europe’s money markets though still, by contrast, price in at least two ECB rate hikes this year.
“The committee broadly agreed that it was too early to act, suggesting the Fed will likely remain on hold this year, in line with our view,” said analysts at JPMorgan in a note.
The shifting outlook for rates saw the dollar pare some of its knee-jerk losses, with the dollar index at 99.06 and the euro flat at $1.1660 and off its previous day’s top of $1.1721.[/FRX]
The dollar inched up to 158.93 yen, having fallen as far as 157.89 at one stage on Wednesday.
In commodity markets, gold inched back to $4,713 an ounce, after bouncing as high as $4,777 while European natural gas prices rebounded to 45.65 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) although the move was far more modest than in oil markets. [GOL/]
The deal appeared to be on thin ice, as Israel continued its parallel war against the Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Tehran accused both Israel and the U.S. of violating the agreement
International News via Reuters:
There was a fragile calm across currency markets on Thursday as traders kept their eyes fixed on whether the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran would hold, a day after its announcement sent the dollar tumbling across the board.
The deal appeared to be on thin ice, as Israel continued its parallel war against the Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Tehran accused both Israel and the U.S. of violating the agreement and said that proceeding with peace talks would be “unreasonable.”
The Strait of Hormuz also remained shut to vessels sailing without a permit and shippers said they needed more clarity before resuming transit, sending oil prices higher.
U.S. President Donald Trump said all of its ships, aircraft, and military personnel would stay in place in and around Iran until it fully complied with a deal.
The uncertainty left currency markets on edge.
The euro was flat at $1.1661. It gained 0.6% on Wednesday, but retreated late in the day having touched a one-month high of $1.1721 earlier in the session.
It was a similar story for the pound and Japanese yen. Sterling was flat at $1.3393, after gaining 0.77% on Wednesday, but retreating from as high as $1.348.
The Japanese currency was slightly softer with the dollar up 0.2% at 158.9 yen, having briefly dropped below 158 on Wednesday. <JPY=?
With the Strait of Hormuz closed, “the entire ceasefire remains tenuous,” said Derek Halpenny head of research global markets EMEA at MUFG. But, he added, “while the U.S. dollar has rebounded, the moves in general have been modest.”
He said the fact that further talks scheduled in Pakistan were still going ahead was keeping any retracement of Wednesday’s moves in check.
There are also a few bits of economic data in the mix around the world, but they are playing second fiddle to war headlines.
Japan’s consumer confidence worsened in March for the first time in three months, a government survey showed on Thursday, adding to a recent string of data pointing to the potential economic hit from the Middle East war, which would complicate the BOJ’s rate-hike decision. The yen showed little reaction to the data.
Speaking in parliament, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said real interest rates are clearly negative and keeping the country’s financial conditions accommodative.
The U.S. is set to release February personal spending and the PCE data on Thursday, though as this covers the period before the war, it is unlikely to have a major effect on markets.
Other currencies were also broadly steady. The Swiss franc was flat at 0.7913 francs per dollar and 0.9228 per euro.
The Australian dollar dropped 0.3% to $0.7024.
Reporting by Satoshi SugiyamaEditing by Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill
Jayvee Sangha, who admitted to running a “stash house” for illegal narcotics out of her home in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in September
International News via Reuters:
A drug dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison in connection with the fatal overdose of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, including her role in supplying the dose of the powerful anesthetic that killed the actor.
Jayvee Sangha, who admitted to running a “stash house” for illegal narcotics out of her home in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in September to five felony drug counts stemming from Perry’s 2023 death.
Sangha, 42, a dual U.S.-British citizen, had faced a sentence of up to 65 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Garnett imposed a 15-year sentence, harsher than the penalties received by any of her four co-defendants in the case, including two physicians.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a 15-year prison term. The defense had urged the judge to limit Sangha’s sentence to time already served. Sangha has been incarcerated since August 2024.
Perry was found by his live-in personal assistant floating face down and lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. He was 54.
An autopsy report concluded Perry died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing the actor to lose consciousness and drown.
Ketamine is a short-acting but potent anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychological disorders. It also has gained popularity for abuse as an illicit party drug.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse that overlapped with the height of his fame playing the sardonic but charming Chandler Bing on the 1990s hit NBC television comedy “Friends.”
His death came a year after publication of Perry’s memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” which chronicled bouts with addiction to prescription painkillers and alcohol that he wrote had come close to ending his life more than once.
In the months before he died, Perry had claimed to have regained sobriety. But according to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been undergoing medically supervised ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, Perry turned to unscrupulous providers willing to exploit his drug dependency for their own financial benefit, authorities said.
Within weeks, he was dead from an overdose of ketamine supplied by Sangha, who was known to her customers on the street as the “Ketamine Queen.” Sangha acknowledged selling a total of 51 vials of ketamine to a go-between dealer, Erik Fleming, who in turn sold the doses to Perry through the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
It was Iwamasa, prosecutors said, who later injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from the vials Sangha had supplied, resulting in the actor’s death.
As part of her deal with prosecutors, Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, plus three counts of illegal distribution of ketamine and one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death.
Sangha admitted then that she was aware that vials she sold to Fleming were intended for Perry. She also admitted to selling ketamine to a person in August 2019 who died hours later from an overdose.
Fleming, Iwamasa and the two medical doctors charged in the case – Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia – have all pleaded guilty to federal drug offenses in the case.
Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and Will Dunham
The centrist Liberals, governing with a minority after the April 2025 election, need opposition support to pass key legislation
International News via Reuters:
A Canadian opposition legislator defected to the ruling Liberal Party on Wednesday, leaving Prime Minister Mark Carney on the verge of a parliamentary majority that would make it easier to push through his agenda.
The centrist Liberals, governing with a minority after the April 2025 election, need opposition support to pass key legislation. Carney says he needs a majority to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade measures.
The prime minister welcomed the defection by Marilyn Gladu – a longstanding member of the right-leaning Conservatives – saying it would help the government at a time of global uncertainty.
FOURTH CONSERVATIVE DEFECTION
Gladu is the fourth Conservative legislator to defect to the Liberals since November. A member of the small left-leaning New Democratic Party joined the Liberals last month.
“We need a global leader with a plan to make a more resilient Canada, a stronger Canada, a more self-reliant Canada for this critical moment and that man is our Prime Minister Mark Carney,” Gladu said during a meeting with Carney.
The Liberals now have 171 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons, one short of a majority, and look set to gain at least two more in special elections due to be held on Monday to fill vacant seats.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney of “seizing a costly Liberal majority that voters denied him, and doing so through backroom deals.” He said in a statement that Gladu should step down and face voters in a special election.
Only the governments led by John A. Macdonald and Jean Chretien have seen more politicians defect to the ruling party, including five legislators who joined Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, in a single day in 1869.
Semra Sevi, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said the number of defections to Carney’s government was “extraordinary by any historical measure.”
“Switching in the 19th century occurred in a system where party labels barely registered with voters,” Sevi said in an email. In the modern era, she said the number of politicians from opposition parties who have now jumped to Carney’s government “is without precedent at this rate and in this compressed a timeframe.”
A majority would open the way to Carney serving until October 2029.
According to Nanos polling from late last month, Carney was the preferred prime minister of 54.5% of Canadians, with Poilievre scoring 22.9%. Carney has said he has no plans to call an early election.
The latest defection will put more pressure on Poilievre, who survived a leadership review in January after he blew a large lead and lost the 2025 election. The party was not immediately available for comment.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Maria Cheng, Paul Simao, Rod Nickel
Though numbers remain comparatively small, there have been 17 such departures this year, compared with no more than two per year since 2021, police spokesperson An Berger told Reuters
International News via Reuters:
Smugglers are increasingly using Belgium’s shoreline to transport migrants to Britain since tighter controls began along the French coast, authorities say.
Though numbers remain comparatively small, there have been 17 such departures this year, compared with no more than two per year since 2021, police spokesperson An Berger told Reuters.
Britain and France have both cracked down on small boats bringing thousands of migrants each year across the English Channel, for example introducing a “one in, one out” scheme.
“The shift to Belgian beaches is driven by a combination of factors, and the intensification of French coastal patrols is the most significant one from our perspective,” said EU border agency Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski.
Smugglers have been using so-called “taxi boats,” Borowski said. A vessel departs from a quiet beach in Belgium with a small group, then travels along the coast to pick-up points before crossing to the UK.
Migrants pay about 2,000 euros ($2,300) to smugglers, with no guarantee of boarding a boat and sometimes face threats and abuse including sexual violence, authorities say.
Last month, volunteers pulled 19 people from a sinking dinghy during a night-time operation in the Belgian coastal municipality of De Haan, Berger said, adding only one had a life jacket.
More attempts are expected with better weather coming.
“Every boat that departs is one too many,” said Belgian Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt in an emailed response to a Reuters request for comment.
The numbers from Belgium are still dwarfed by the France-Britain route, where about 41,500 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats last year.
Some 2,200 people crossed in the first two months of 2026, according to data from the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory.
($1 = 0.8664 euros)
Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Amina Ismail, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
The effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy
International News via Reuters:
Mediation efforts to halt the war in Iran were hours from collapse when Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations, four Pakistani sources told Reuters.
The effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy, the sources – with direct knowledge of the talks – said.
With a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump looming, Pakistani officials mounted a last-ditch attempt to pass messages between Tehran and Washington, after Trump warned that continued fighting that night could wipe out “a whole civilization.”
Pakistan’s effort involved direct contact with top officials across all sides, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and senior Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, one of the sources said.
After what a second source described as several “intense, breathless” hours during which “the talks were almost dead”, Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions and to enter negotiations.
“In the evening, Iran was on thin ice after the attacks on KSA (Saudi Arabia) but they knew there would be no extension to the deadline,” the first source said.
Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership remained engaged through the night, speaking to senior U.S. and Iranian, Saudi and other officials until Trump announced the breakthrough.
Minutes before Trump posted the announcement, he was on the phone with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, the source said.
ASSURANCES ON ISRAEL
While Pakistan conveyed its “strongest ever anger” to Iran over the strike on Saudi Arabia, with whom Islamabad has a mutual defence pact that could drag it into the war, it simultaneously sought assurances from Washington that it would rein in Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian officials said they had launched the strike on the petrochemical complex in Jubail after an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical facility, the second source said. Tehran could not enter negotiations if such strikes continued, they added.
Pakistan then told Washington that Israeli actions were jeopardising its peace efforts and that Islamabad might not be able to persuade Iran to come to the table, the source said.
Only after receiving an assurance that Israel would hold back, was Pakistan able to persuade Tehran to agree to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions.
Two Israeli sources said Israel had opposed a deal with Iran, believing more could be achieved militarily, although it ultimately decided to support any decision taken by Trump.
An Israeli official said Washington had coordinated with Israel and the truce did not include any commitment to permanently end the war, compensate Iran or lift sanctions.
The official added that in any negotiations with Tehran, the United States would insist Iran hand over its nuclear material, halt uranium enrichment and remove the threat posed by its ballistic missile programme.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
NO ONE SLEPT
Around midnight (1900 GMT), Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to observe a ceasefire to allow the peace process to begin.
The request was a coordinated move to lock in the ceasefire and came after both sides had already agreed in principle, the first source said.
“We wouldn’t have made the request if the answer was going to be negative,” the source said.
The late-night conversations included repeated exchanges over a 15-point U.S. proposal and two core questions: what would the ceasefire look like and the parameters for the talks, a diplomat from the Middle East who has been in contact with both sides said.
Iran proposed recognition of its sovereignty over the international waterway at the centre of much of the conflict – the Strait of Hormuz – a demand likely to be unacceptable to Washington, the diplomat said.
Tehran was also asking for the right to pursue nuclear energy and strike bilateral defence deals with regional states, as mediators tried to steer talks away from issues that could cause immediate clashes, the diplomat added.
Talks will start on Saturday and the U.S. delegation will be led by Vance, with Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also part of the team, the White House said in an announcement that followed hours of speculation on what Trump would decide.
Iran has indicated it would turn over its stocks of enriched uranium, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters as she made the announcement about talks.
Two Pakistani sources said the Iranian delegation would be led by Araqchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
A third Pakistani source said the hardest part of the process was convincing Iran to accept a truce without preconditions.
“Until the last hours, Iran acted as a hardliner. The Iranians were not ready to budge without first putting their demands forward. We told them the demands can wait for the talks to happen,” the source said.
By the time Trump announced the ceasefire and Sharif extended invitations to delegations from both countries, the sun was nearly rising over Islamabad.
“We have been working throughout the night,” Sharif said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “… if we turn it into a book it will serve as a big lesson for this nation and for generations to come, about how not to give up in a hopeless situation.”
Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Saad Sayeed in Islamabad, Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Humeyra Pamuk in Budapest, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Timour Azhari in Dubai and Ethan Wang in Beijing; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Ros Russell
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