JD Vance stays out of next round of Iran peace talks in Pakistan as Trump sidelines US Vice President: Live updates

Iran’s defense ministry said on Saturday that the United States was looking for a “face-saving” way out of the war as American envoys traveled to Pakistan for peace talks.

“Our military force is a dominant force today and the enemy is looking for a way to salvage its reputation in order to get out of the war quagmire it has fallen into,” a ministry spokesman was quoted by media outlet ISNA as saying. he said.

The Israel Defense Forces announced today that Hezbollah rocket launchers were hit in three regions in southern Lebanon during the night.

It was stated that the launchers posed an ‘immediate threat’ to IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah also said this morning that it targeted the Israeli army.

This comes after Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire earlier this month. Both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

File photo: Resident Mohamad Ali Hijazi stands next to an excavator clearing rubble from collapsed buildings in a residential area in Tire on April 23, 2026, after his family was killed in an Israeli attack minutes before a ceasefire came into force

Commercial flights resumed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday for the first time since the war with the United States and Israel began nearly two months ago.

Iran’s state television reported that the airport had flights to Istanbul, Türkiye; Muscat, the capital of Oman; and the Saudi city of Medina.

Flight tracking platform Flightradar24 showed that at least three planes departed for Istanbul on Saturday morning.

Iran partially reopened its airspace during a ceasefire with the United States earlier this month.

Passengers line up in the terminal hall after flights resume at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, Iran, amid a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, April 25, 2026.

Passengers in the terminal hall after the resumption of flights at Imam Khomeini International Airport

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country plans to deploy minesweeper ships to the Mediterranean and that these ships can then be transferred to the Strait of Hormuz.

“We will deploy a minesweeper to the Mediterranean and provide it with a command and supply ship,” Pistorius told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Saturday.

He did not say exactly when the ships would set sail.

German minesweepers could be deployed to the Strait of Hormuz after the end of hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran, but such a mission must be approved by the German Parliament.

“To save time, we decided to deploy some of the German troops to the Mediterranean early, so that we do not waste any more time after the mandate is approved,” Pistorius said.

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, April 22, 2026

Iran today hanged a man for his alleged ties to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and his alleged involvement in anti-government protests in January.

Erfan Kiani was the last in a series of executions carried out in Iran following the war and nationwide protests.

Iran’s judiciary’s Mizan news agency announced that Kiani was convicted of charges including attacks on security forces in the city of Asfahan in January.

The agency claimed, without providing evidence, that he was ‘on a mission for the Mossad’.

Human rights activists have long said Iran has convicted people in closed trials without allowing the defendants to properly defend themselves.

There have been numerous recent executions of alleged spies, as well as protesters and members of an exiled opposition group in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of General Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir late Friday shortly after arriving in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, officials said.

Officials said Araghchi met Munir and Pakistani Interior Minister Muhsin Naqvi on Saturday morning.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Iranian delegation will hold talks with Pakistan’s senior leaders on the latest regional developments and efforts to promote peace and stability.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Pakistani Chief of General Staff Marshal Asim Munir in the place specified as Islamabad, Pakistan, it was announced on 25 April 2026

US envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan on Saturday in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran, although Iran’s top diplomat ruled out direct talks with US representatives when he arrived in Islamabad.

President Donald Trump will send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the White House said Friday. However, soon after Araghchi’s arrival in Islamabad, his ministry said that any talks would be indirect due to messages conveyed by Pakistani officials between the two sides.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the president decided to send Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan “to listen to the Iranians.”

“We’ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last few days,” Leavitt said. He did not offer any details about what U.S. officials heard.

Image: Army personnel stand guard on a closed road in the Red Zone area of ​​Islamabad on April 25, 2026. US envoys arrived in Pakistan’s capital on April 25 to launch a new round of peace talks with Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, but the prospect of direct talks remained uncertain