US-Israel-Iran War Live News Updates: Ceasefire Threatened After Israel Strikes Lebanon; Iran Closes Strait Of Hormuz

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says,"I can announce that the President is dispatching his negotiating team, led by the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Mr Kushner, to Islamabad for talks this weekend. The first round of those talks will take place on Saturday morning, local time, and we look forward to those in-person meetings..."

#WATCH | White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "I can announce that the President is dispatching his negotiating team, led by the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Mr Kushner, to Islamabad for talks this weekend. The first… pic.twitter.com/V9ToA8d9xO

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2026

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire. That has been relayed to all parties involved in the ceasefire. As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a statement last night in support of the ceasefire, in support of the United States' efforts, and he's also assured the President they'll continue to be a helpful partner throughout the course of the next two weeks..."

#WATCH | White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire. That has been relayed to all parties involved in the ceasefire. As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a statement last night in support of the ceasefire, in support of the… pic.twitter.com/gaXOUm7BVo

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2026

(Source: The White House)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says," President Trump and the team determined the new modified plan was a workable basis on which to negotiate and to align it with our own 15-point proposal. The President's red lines, namely the end of uranium enrichment in Iran, have not changed. And the idea that President Trump would ever accept an Iranian wish list as a deal is completely absurd. The President will only make a deal that serves in the best interests of the United States of America, and he and his negotiating team will focus on this effort over the next two weeks, so long as the Strait of Hormuz remains open, with no limitations or delays. These extraordinarily sensitive and complex negotiations will take place behind closed doors over the course of the next two weeks..."

#WATCH | White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "President Trump and the team determined the new modified plan was a workable basis on which to negotiate and to align it with our own 15-point proposal. The President's red lines, namely the end of Iranian enrichment in… pic.twitter.com/egMK5CJsbV

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2026

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "Iran has agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, and as the president said, we have received a proposal from the Iranians that has been determined to be a workable basis on which to negotiate...The Iranians originally put forward a 10-point plan that was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable, and completely discarded. It was literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump and his negotiating team..."

#WATCH | White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, "...Iran has agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, and as the president said, we have received a proposal from the Iranians that has been determined to be a workable basis on which to negotiate...The Iranians originally… pic.twitter.com/kBLBqd5Hb4

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2026

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has cautioned that the US-Israel conflict with Iran could deepen further if the temporary ceasefire, reached “under political compulsions” by President Donald Trump, does not hold through.

In an interview with PTI Videos, Bolton said Trump pushed for a ceasefire because of the political implications of rising gas prices in the US, the plunge in his popularity among the masses, and because an extended conflict with Iran could result in a severe setback for the US.
 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met separately with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the State Department before the White House talks.

In a statement, the State Department said Rubio and Rutte discussed the war with Iran, along with US efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and “increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO allies”.

US President Donald Trump repeated his complaint about NATO after a closed-door meeting with the alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte for discussions that had been expected to be aimed at soothing Trump's anger with the military alliance over the Iran war. Trump previously had suggested the US may consider leaving the trans-Atlantic alliance after NATO member countries ignored his call to help as Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping waterway, and sent gas prices soaring.

“NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” Trump said in his post.

The White House said US Vice President JD Vance would lead the American negotiating team in talks in Pakistan aimed at finding a permanent end to the war. Pakistan said the talks could begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the closing of the strait reported in Iranian state media was “completely unacceptable”. She repeated Trump's “expectation and demand" that the channel be reopened.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said American and Israeli forces had achieved a “capital V military victory” and that the Iranian military no longer posed a significant threat to US forces or the region. The Iranian military said the country forced Israel and the US to accept its "proposed conditions and surrender”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said American and Israeli forces had achieved a “capital V military victory” and that the Iranian military no longer posed a significant threat to US forces or the region. The Iranian military said the country forced Israel and the US to accept its "proposed conditions and surrender”.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 182 people on Wednesday, the highest single-day death toll in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
 

The Iranian Parliament speaker said planned talks with the US to seek a permanent halt to hostilities were “unreasonable” because Washington broke three of Tehran's 10 conditions for an end to the fighting.

In a social media post, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf objected to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire went into effect and the US assertion that it will not accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities in a final agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that an end to the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire deal with the US, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump said the truce did not cover Lebanon.

"The world sees the massacres in Lebanon," Araghchi said in a post on X. "The ball is in the US court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments."
 

The US-Iran ceasefire is hanging by a thread after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, prompting the White House to demand its reopening. Both the US and Iran claim victory, but tensions remain high with Israel intensifying attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.