Negotiators from Iran and the US prepared for high-level talks on their ceasefire were still faltering on Friday, as Israel and Hezbollah traded fire and Tehran maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
There are still many issues that could derail the deal – and negotiations for a comprehensive agreement to end the war once and for all.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, said the talks scheduled for Saturday will not take place unless Israel halts its attacks on Lebanon. And US President Donald Trump lamented that Iran was “doing a very poor job” by not allowing free passage of ships through the strait, through which 20% of the world’s traded oil once passed.
Kuwait, meanwhile, said it faced a drone attack on Thursday night that it blamed on Iran and its military allies in the region. Although Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has denied launching any attacks, it has launched unprovoked attacks in the Mideast in the past.
However, preparations for talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan appear to be moving forward, with US Vice President JD Vance set to leave Washington. Meanwhile, talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected to start next week in Washington, according to an American official and a person familiar with the plans, who did not want to be named because of the seriousness of the issue.
Israel, Lebanon will have direct talks
Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire with Iran does not include a pause in its fight against Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of its ally, Iran, has threatened to renege on the deal.
On the day the agreement was announced, Israel hit Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. It was the worst day in the country since the war began on 28 February.
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Trump said Thursday he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off the strikes. Early on Friday, the Israeli army said it had shot down about 10 rockets in Lebanon that had fired rockets into northern Israel the previous day.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned Thursday that Israel’s continued attacks on Hezbollah would bring “clear costs and strong responses.”
Netanyahu, on the other hand, said he authorized talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible” with the aim of disarming Hezbollah terrorists and establishing relations between the neighbors, who have been technically at war since Israel’s founding in 1948.
The Lebanese government had not responded as of Friday morning. The time and place of the talks were first reported by Axios.
Two days after the massive Israeli riot, people were sorting through the rubble of their homes, trying to salvage whatever furniture and memorabilia they could find in the rubble. Some expressed gratitude that they only lost their homes and property, not their loved ones, as others did.
“Nothing can replace family,” said Wissam Tabila, 35. “Everything else can be replaced.”
The Strait of Hormuz is a sticky place
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices soaring, sending stocks lower and disrupting the global economy. Tehran’s control over the waterway proved a major strategic advantage in the war.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $97 on Friday, up more than 30 percent since the war began.
Before the conflict, more than 100 ships passed through the crisis every day – many carrying oil to Asia. Since the ceasefire, only 12 have been recorded passing through.
Underscoring the critical situation, a Botswana-flagged natural gas ship tried to leave the Persian Gulf through a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard, but turned around early Friday morning, according to ship tracking information.
The head of the largest oil company of the United Arab Emirates, Sultan al-Jaber, said that about 230 ships loaded with oil are waiting to pass through the channel and must be allowed to “navigate the tunnel without conditions.”
US President Donald Trump lamented the situation, writing on his social media: “Iran is doing a very bad job, disrespectful as some may say, of allowing Oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That’s not the deal we have!” Trump has written about the manipulation of ships that Iran has allowed to pass.
The agreement to end the war is still fragile
There are questions about the fate of Iran’s missile and nuclear programs – which the US and Israel wanted to eliminate when they went to war.
The US insists that Iran must not be able to build nuclear weapons and wants to remove Tehran’s highly enriched uranium, which could be used to make them. Iran insists its program is peaceful.
Trump has said the US will work with Iran to remove uranium, although Tehran has not confirmed that.
The head of Iran’s nuclear power plant, Mohammad Eslami, said on Thursday that protecting Tehran’s right to enrich uranium was “necessary” in any talks to end the war.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, according to Iran’s top medical official. Iran’s government has not given an exact death toll from the week-long war.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
