Image source, @netanyahu via X

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is "prepared for any scenario" in regards to the war in Iran and Lebanon.

In a video address, Netanyahu says that Israel is "on the verge of eliminating" a "major Hezbollah stronghold" in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon.

The prime minister confirms that he has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to also "continue securing the security zone" in this area and to "extend it eastward".

Netanyahu also says Israel's goals in the war remain aligned with those of the United States.

"It is still too early to say how this will end or even how it will progress. In light of the possibility that the fighting may resume, we are prepared for any scenario," he says.

Image source, Reuters

We've just finished covering a briefing at the White House. While not substantively on the Iran war, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did answer a few questions on it.

Here's a look back at the key bits:

• Bessent said any movements in the price of oil would depend on how negotiations with Iran go, but added he was "optimistic" that petrol prices in the US will fall back to $3 a gallon by late September
• Plans for another round of in-person peace talks are still being discussed, and would likely be held again in Islamabad, Pakistan, Leavitt said
• The US has asked Middle East countries to freeze Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bank accounts, and will consider secondary sanctions if they don't, Bessent said
• President Xi Jinping has assured Trump that China is not supplying Iran with weapons, and Chinese banks have been warned about holding Iranian funds, Leavitt said
• The US will not be renewing temporary waivers allowing the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil, Bessent said
• Leavitt said she did not have a timeline for the duration of the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports

A reporter asks Leavitt how long the US navy blockade of Iranian ports will go on.

She says she will "never set timelines on behalf of the president", but notes that the operation has now been fully implemented.

The blockade is being enforced against vessels of all nations that are entering or departing Iranian ports, she says.

For vessels transiting the strait outside of the ports, US forces are supporting freedom of navigation, she adds.

The briefing concluded shortly afterwards.

We'll bring you a recap of the key points in a moment.

Image source, Reuters

Bessent says that the US government "will not be renewing the general licence on Russian oil", nor one on Iranian oil.

These were temporary waivers of sanctions that allowed for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil that was already at sea at the time.

Bessent clarifies that those waivers were on "oil that was on the water prior to March 11th, so all that has been used".

Leavitt and Bessent are asked if Trump's threats of a 50% tariff on China are still on the table.

Leavitt says President Xi Jinping assured Trump "they are not supplying Iran" with weapons in this conflict.

Bessent says two Chinese banks got letters from the US treasury that if they can prove there is Iranian cash in their accounts the US is willing to slap secondary sanctions on those banks.

He did not identify the banks that received the letters.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says "Operation Economic Fury" is now under way, with the US putting financial pressure on Iran.

He says Iran made the mistake of bombing other nations in the Middle East, and those countries are now being "more transparent" about the Iranian funds in their banking systems.

The US has requested that those nations freeze the funds of the IRGC leadership, Bessent says.

He adds that countries are being cautioned against buying Iranian oil. If they have Iranian cash in their banks, the US will consider secondary sanctions.

Leavitt is next asked about the Iran ceasefire, and says that reports the US has asked to formally extend it are "not true".

"We remain very much engaged in these talks," she says, and conversations are "productive and ongoing".

On reports that there are in-person talks being planned, she says "those discussions are being had but nothing is official until you here it from us here at the White House".

"We feel good about the prospects of a deal", Leavitt says, adding that it's "in the best interests of Iran" to meet Trump's demands - which she says he's made "very clear".

If talks happen, they would "very likely" be in the same place they were last time - Islamabad - she says.

Image source, Getty Images

After an early section of the briefing focused on domestic issues, the news conference touched on the economic impact of the war in Iran - specifically, the price of oil.

Bessent is asked when US drivers will begin to see lower petrol prices which have gone up considerably since the start of the war.

He says prices will depend on how Iran negotiations go and that the US has obeyed the ceasefire conditions although the Strait of Hormuz hasn't been fully reopened.

"I am optimistic that sometime between June 20 and September 20, we can have $3 gas again," he says.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A briefing from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has just started.

Leavitt is joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and is expected to speak mainly about domestic issues (specifically taxes as 15 April is Tax Day in the US).

It's likely, though, that reporters will get the opportunity to pose questions about the war in the Middle East, too.

We're listening across and will bring you the key lines. You can also watch live at the top of the page.

'Zombie ship' transmitting false identity in Gulfpublished at 17:56 BST

17:56 BST

By Joshua Cheetham

As part of monitoring the US blockade of Iran, BBC Verify has identified a vessel in the Gulf which appears to be trying to hide its real identity, sometimes referred to as a “zombie ship”.

The ship, currently using its onboard tracker to identify itself as "Race", cannot be what it claims to be, as that is the name if a vessel which was scrapped in 2023. Its last reported position was close to the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

This practice of trying to hide a real vessel’s identity by adopting the name of a decommissioned ship is one of the tactics which means we can’t rely on onboard trackers alone to identify shipping and follow movements in the region.

BBC Verify has seen evidence that many other vessels are turning off their trackers, having their signal jammed, or “spoofing” them to hide their location and suggest they’re elsewhere.

Details of how the US is enforcing the blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports are still unclear. BBC Verify has also tracked the US-sanctioned tanker Alicia, which sailed west across the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf today.

The vessel, which is falsely registered under the flag of Curaçao, is not publicly reporting any destination.

Image source, MarineTraffic

Faisal Islam
Economics editor, in Washington DC

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva tells me at the IMF Spring Meetings that countries should start to economise on energy supplies.

She says this is due to the reality of physical shortages, especially in Asia of some petrochemical derivatives - obviously energy, but also helium, naphtha, urea - used for semiconductors - plastics and fertilisers.

She says it will still take weeks to turn around even if a ceasefire is agreed imminently, and perhaps longer given the damage to petrochemical facilities.

“What do we tell countries? Use measures that can economise energy? And I have seen some countries doing exactly that, putting in place incentives like make public transport free... We did it during Covid. I don't see a reason why not do more of it now or switch to a less energy intensive activities over time.”

She also warned the world’s central banks not to rush raising interest rates to deal with inevitably higher inflation, as assumed in markets.

“What we tell central banks is: 'If you have high credibility, signal that your objective is to protect price stability, but don't rush wait to see how conditions would evolve if we are to move faster out of the war."

Image source, Reuters

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described the US-Israel war with Iran as a "mistake", adding that she is "not convinced" it has made the world a safer place.

Reeves made the comments while speaking at an event hosted by the American news channel CNBC in Washington.

“The question is not whether you like or dislike the Iranian regime – I strongly dislike the Iranian regime – but how to achieve the change that you want to achieve", she says.

“There was a diplomatic channel open, conversations, formal discussions were happening."

She adds that it was a "mistake" to end those discussions "and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago".

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Beirut

Three successive Israeli attacks have killed at least three paramedics in southern Lebanon, including one featured in a BBC report this week, Lebanese officials say, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting health workers in the war.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, the first team of paramedics was attacked as it tried to rescue people from the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Mayfadoun, in the Nabatieh region. When a second then a third teams headed to the site, they too were attacked.

The victims included 43-year-old Fadel Serhan. Earlier this month, the BBC spent days with his team as it operated in a tent set up outside the Nabatieh’s Nabih Berri Hospital after their own station in Mayfadoun was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the first days of the war.

The Israeli military has been approached for comment. Israel has frequently accused Hezbollah of using ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes, without provided evidence. Lebanon’s health minister has denied the claims.

The ministry says 91 health professionals have been killed and 208 other wounded in the war, with more than 120 Israeli attacks recorded on ambulances and medical facilities.

In a statement, the ministry said Wednesday’s attacks were a “flagrant crime”. “Paramedics have become direct targets, pursued relentlessly in a blatant violation that confirms a total disregard for all norms and principles established by international humanitarian law,” it said.

Human rights groups say some of Israel’s actions in Lebanon may constitute war crimes.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The death toll in Lebanon since the start of of the war has reached 2,167, according to an update from Lebanon's health ministry reported by the state-run National News Agency.

This is an increase of 43 people on Tuesday's figures. A further 7,061 have been wounded - up from 6,921.

Lebanon wants peace, but dispute over Hezbollah’s weapons remainspublished at 16:56 BST

16:56 BST

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Image source, EPA

We're now turning to the conflict in Lebanon, where Israel's attacks on Hezbollah targets continue.

The Lebanese are exhausted, and the authorities say the priority here is for a ceasefire in a war that has been devastating for the country.

More than 2,100 people have been killed, the health ministry says, without distinguishing combatants from civilians, and over one million have been displaced (or one in five of the population).

One of the roots of this conflict is the dispute over Hezbollah’s arsenal.

Opponents say the group defends the interests of its Iranian patron, dragging the country into unwanted wars, and want it to be disarmed.

Supporters, mainly in the Shia Muslim community, say Hezbollah is the only protection they have in a weak state.

The Lebanese government cannot deliver Hezbollah’s disarmament without the group's consent. The use of force could lead to violence in a country where the deadly 1975-1990 civil war is still remembered by many.

Given Iran’s role, any decision about Hezbollah’s weapons will likely be made by Tehran.

For now, Hezbollah says it opposes the talks between Lebanon and Israel and that it will not abide by any decision made there.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim news agency says Iran will decide about a next round of talks with the US after meeting with the Pakistani delegation today, citing an "informed source".

They say the US and Israel agreeing a ceasefire deal with Lebanon would be a "positive sign for Iran’s decision" on the next round of talks.

However, it adds that the US "must adhere to a reasonable framework for negotiations", must not "obstruct the process through excessive demands" or breach commitments made prior to the ceasefire.

Tasnim also notes that US media outlets have reported Washington’s willingness to begin the next round of negotiations, but the Iranian the delegation has emphasised the need for the US to "observe certain principles required for initiating a reasonable negotiation".

• In case you missed it: The BBC understands that the US is in discussion with Iran about a second round of talks, but no date has yet been set

In the first 48 hours of the US blockade on ships entering and exiting through Iranian ports, no vessels have made it past American forces, says the US Central Command (Centcom).

Centcom adds that during this period nine vessels have "complied with direction from US forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or coastal area".

• Why and how is US blockading Iranian ports in Strait of Hormuz?

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

A two-week ceasefire between Iran and the US is still in place. Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah are continuing to exchange fire across the border.

Talks have opened up on both fronts, in the hopes of bringing peace to the region. Here's what you need to know about them:

US-Iran talks

• Twenty-one hours of talks between Washington and Tehran - hosted by Pakistan - ended on Sunday without any breakthrough towards ending the war
• On Tuesday, Donald Trump suggested talks could resume in "the next two days". Iran said it had "no information" about a follow-up meeting
• The BBC understands the US is having discussions with Iran abut a second round of talks, but nothing has been scheduled yet. Iran said exchanges with the US were "continuing" via a Pakistani intermediary
• A White House official has separately told the BBC that talks to extend the current ceasefire are ongoing
• Meanwhile, a delegation from Pakistan has arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran

Lebanon-Israel talks

• A meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the US was held in Washington on Tuesday

• Both parties agreed to launch "direct" negotiations following the meeting. Lebanon's ambassador called the talks "productive", while his Israeli counterpart said they showed the US, Lebanon and Israel to be on "the same side of the equation"
• As the talks took place, Israel and Hezbollah continued to strike each other. Israel had previously said the ceasefire did not apply to its operations in Lebanon

Image source, Reuters

The US is having discussions with Iran about a second round of negotiations, but nothing has been scheduled yet, the BBC understands.

It is also understood that US President Trump is content to leave the US's naval blockade in place until he feels Iran is serious about reaching a deal.

Image source, Government of Iran

A delegation from Pakistan, which has been acting as a mediator in talks to end the war, has arrived in Tehran.

Among them are field marshal Asim Munir - who Trump has previously described as his "favourite" - and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, according to a statement from Pakistan's UN mission.

Earlier, Iranian state media IRIB news agency said the delegation was going to convey a message from the US and plan a second round of talks. (The first round in Islamabad last weekend failed to yield a deal.)

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, "to exchange views on the regional situation", according to his office.