War in the Middle East: latest developments

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran FM to Pakistan -

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is to arrive in Islamabad late Friday, Iranian state media and an official source in Pakistan said.

But, while the Pakistani capital hosted the previous -- failed -- round of Iran-US talks, currently there are no senior American officials in Islamabad, and it was not clear whether Araghchi and the delegation accompanying him would meet any. 

- Oil drops -

Oil prices dropped on investors' initial hopes that Araghchi's trip to Pakistan might signal a resumption of negotiations with the United States. 

But after a steep decline, they edged up again as the market weighed that possibility, along with signs of a US military build-up in the Middle East.

- US aircraft carriers -

The US military noted that it now has three aircraft carriers -- the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS George H.W. Bush -- in the Middle East, for the first time since it waged the 2003 Iraq war.

The three battle groups comprise "over 200 aircraft and 15,000 Sailors and Marines", US Central Command said on X.

- Tehran airport to reopen -

International flights from Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport will resume on Saturday, the ISNA news agency reported, days after Iran reopened its airspace. The first flights to resume will be to Istanbul and Muscat, the announcement said.

- 'Tight' gas markets -

The market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has been strained by the war, will remain  "tight" through 2026 and 2027", the International Energy Agency said.

- Deaths in Lebanon -

An Israeli strike killed two people in Lebanon, in the southern area of Touline, the Lebanese health ministry reported, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was extended by three weeks.

- Hezbollah downs drone -

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The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah used a missile to shoot down one of its drones in south Lebanon.

- UAE distrust of Iran -

Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take "ages and ages", UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict.

Gargash spoke at a World Policy Conference near Paris.

- Condom prices up -

Prices of condoms and other products reliant on petrochemical supplies, the world's largest condom maker and a leading glove manufacturer, Karex and Top Glove, both based in Malaysia, said.

- Everyone needs 'stability' -

"It is in everyone's interest for stability to return as soon as possible and for the world's economies to be reassured," French President Emmanuel Macron said as he attended an EU summit in Nicosia, where talks with Middle East leaders were also scheduled.

- Peacekeeper dies -

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, announced that an Indonesian blue helmet died in hospital of wounds suffered on March 29 in an attack on his base.

- Hezbollah 'right to respond' -

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon has "the right to respond at the appropriate time" to any Israeli "aggressions" during the ongoing truce by both sides, Ali Fayad, an MP for the party, said.

Hezbollah said on Thursday it fired rockets at Israel, accusing it of "violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the town of Yater in southern Lebanon".

- Iran welcome at World Cup -

Iran's footballers will be welcome at this year's World Cup, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, distancing the US government from a proposal that Italy could take their place in the tournament.

Rubio denied that Washington had asked the Iranian team not to come, but warned members of its delegation deemed to have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may be barred.

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