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• Point of contention: Massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon this week are threatening to derail the US-Iran ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants direct negotiations with Lebanon on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations, but said there is no ceasefire currently in place.
• Lebanon’s response: Lebanese officials say they have not heard about a potential meeting between Beirut and Washington next week, with one of them insisting there will be “no negotiations under fire.”
• Murky waters: Few vessels are traveling through the Strait of Hormuz as analysts say it’s still too risky to make the journey. US President Donald Trump has warned Iran against charging tolls, while Abu Dhabi’s oil chief says the critical waterway is “not open.”
• High-stakes talks: Negotiations between Iran and the US are set to take place from Saturday in Islambad. They are the first talks between both sides since the war began.
Saudi Arabia confirms attack on crucial East-West Pipeline
Saudi Arabia confirmed attacks against its oil and gas facilities, including the crucial East-West Pipeline, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an anonymous official from the Ministry of Energy.
The report dated Thursday did not say when the attack took place.
CNN previously reported that satellite imagery provided by the European Space Agency showed fire and large plumes of thick black smoke rising from Saudi Aramco’s vital Abqaiq processing facility following reports of an Iranian attack Wednesday. The cause of the fire seen in the satellite image was not immediately clear.
The image was taken on April 8 at around 10:00am local time (03:00am ET) just hours after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.
Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, located in eastern Saudi Arabia, is the world’s largest crude stabilization plant and provides around 5% of global oil supplies, according to the company. The facility is a starting point for the East-West Pipeline.
The 1,200 kilometer pipeline is one of two in the region that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, where the war in Iran has caused significant trade disruption.
CNN has reached out to Saudi Aramco for comment.
Photos show displaced families desperate for food in Beirut
Photos from the Associated Press show displaced people desperately waiting for donated food in Beirut on Thursday after fleeing Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon on Wednesday experienced the heaviest round of Israeli attacks across the country since the war began, including in capital, Beirut. Large explosions were heard and smoke was seen at the Israel-Lebanon border, with residents telling CNN there was no safe place to go. Israel says it targeted Hezbollah positions across the country.
More than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon since the start of the latest conflict. At least 1,888 people have been killed and 6,092 injured since the conflict began, according to the health ministry on Thursday.
Israel’s massive strikes on Lebanon this week are threatening to derail a fragile ceasefire with the US and Iran. Disagreements as to whether Lebanon was included in the ceasefire deal remain a key sticking point.
Meanwhile, the United States and Iran are preparing to begin their high-stakes talks in Islamabad which is expected to begin on Saturday, according to the White House.
As planting season begins, Iowa farmers hit by Iran war, tariffs
Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with President Donald Trump’s tariffs, is squeezing farmers as fertilizer and diesel prices rise.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny spoke with two Iowa farmers who shared their concerns as a new planting season begins:
The war in Iran, coupled with President Donald Trump’s tariffs, is squeezing farmers as fertilizer and diesel prices rise. CNN’s Jeff Zeleny spoke with two Iowa farmers who shared their concerns as a new planting season begins.
For context: The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, ordinarily carries about a fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies and a third of the world’s urea fertilizer exports.
The waterway may be officially reopening for business since the US-Iran ceasefire, but shipping company executives and analysts told CNN that uncertainty surrounding the agreement is still making transit too risky right now. Only a few ships have made the journey in recent days.
CNN’s Hanna Ziady, Vanessa Yurkevich, Chris Isidore and Matt Egan contributed to this report.
Iran truce may be too late for many African countries
In northern Malawi, Suteny Williams Nsamba is struggling to buy fertilizer for his small farm, where he grows corn, groundnuts and tobacco. The war in Iran sent living costs soaring, and he warns if shipping disruption continues into Malawi’s crop-growing season in November, a “devastating low yield” is inevitable.
“The prices of many commodities will rise, and life will be unbearable,” he told CNN.
Nsamba’s struggles echo across Africa, with economies hit hard as fuel prices surge and the obstruction of trade routes leads to shortages of fertilizer during the key planting season.
The two-week ceasefire announced between the United States and Iran brings hope, but even if it holds, few expect a swift return to normality. Aliko Dangote, the owner of Africa’s largest oil refinery in Nigeria, told CNN last month that it may take several months for oil prices to stabilize.
While nowhere has been spared the impact of the Iran war, African countries – which rely heavily on imports of fuel, food, and fertilizer – are especially vulnerable.
US-Iran talks begin tomorrow. Here's what we know as world waits to see if they can deliver
The lives of millions of people across the Middle East – and the fate of the global economy – will hinge on the outcome of make-or-break talks between the US and Iran this weekend in Pakistan.
A fragile two-week ceasefire that paved the way for the talks is holding for now. But Israel’s massive deadly bombardment of Hezbollah and disagreements over whether Lebanon is included in the truce, could still derail the meetings.
Here’s what we know about the talks, which begin Saturday morning local time in Islamabad, according to the White House:
- Who’s attending the talks: The US delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son in law. Tehran has not officially announced its delegation, but some local media reports say it will be led by the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
- What’s on the agenda: Trump has cited “a 10-point proposal from Iran,” which he called “a workable basis on which to negotiate.” But Iran began sharing a 10-point list that included demands, such as acknowledging its control over the Strait of Hormuz and reparations for war damages and the lifting of all sanctions. Meanwhile Trump and his team have their own 15-point proposal.
- What the talks could achieve: Despite the confusion, American officials on Thursday were moving quickly to prepare for the negotiations, people familiar with the matter told CNN. Despite the disagreements, Trump told NBC he was “very optimistic” about a peace deal, saying that Iran’s leaders seemed open to peace in private discussions.
Trump warns Iran against Hormuz tolls while Israel wants talks with Lebanon. Here's the latest
We have been reporting on the developments in the Middle East, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel sought direct talks with Lebanon on disarming Hezbollah, but said Beirut is not part of the ceasefire deal. Read what we know so far here.
Catch up on other headlines:
- President Donald Trump warned Iran against implementing tolls following reports the country was considering charging tankers to traverse the Strait of Hormuz. During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump pushed for urgent concrete measures from NATO members to help secure the strait, two European diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN.
- The head of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company said the Strait of Hormuz is “not open,” adding that passage through the waterway is subject to “conditions and political leverage” by Iran.
- South Korea will send a special envoy to Iran to discuss the safe passage of its vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. It currently has 26 vessels, including oil tankers, unable to travel through the strait.
- World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Israel to rescind its evacuation orders for two hospitals in Beirut, calling the orders “operationally unfeasible.” Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces issued a broad evacuation order for multiple neighborhoods in southern Beirut, including some areas that had not previously been targeted. Such warnings have often previously been followed by Israeli strikes.
- A top US State Department official summoned Iraq’s ambassador to the United States “to express the U.S. government’s strong condemnation” of attacks by Iranian-backed militias against US diplomatic facilities and personnel in Iraq.
- Kamal Kharazi, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has died after being injured in what Tehran said was a US-Israeli strike that targeted his home earlier this month. Kharazi’s wife was killed in the strike, while he was critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, Iranian officials said last week.
CNN’s Donald Judd, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Michael Rios and Yoonjung Seo contributed reporting.
What we know so far about Israel's bid to negotiate with Lebanon over Hezbollah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced Israel wants direct negotiations with Lebanon on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations. He insists that Lebanon is not part of the Iran ceasefire deal. A Lebanese official said there would be “no negotiations under fire.”
A Lebanese official told CNN there would be “no negotiations under fire” in response to Israel’s plan to start “direct negotiations” with an aim of ending hostilities, while an Israeli source told CNN there is “no ceasefire” and that the “talks will be held under fire.” In a separate video message, Netanyahu reiterated there will be no ceasefire with Lebanon as he orders these talks. CNN's Nada Bashir reports from Lebanon.
Lebanese officials told CNN their government has not heard about a potential meeting between Israel and Beirut in Washington, DC, next week after an Israeli official and a US official said negotiations between Israel and Lebanon were expected to begin at the US State Department.
Lebanon’s foreign ministry and the presidential palace have not been officially notified of Netanyahu’s invitation to open talks, a Lebanese official said.
Netanyahu’s decision to seek direct negotiations with Lebanon comes at US President Donald Trump’s request, sources told CNN. Trump told NBC News in an interview that he asked Netanyahu to be “a little more low-key” in operations in Lebanon as the US seeks to negotiate an end to the war with Iran, with talks expected to be held Saturday in Pakistan.
Israel’s attacks across Lebanon are threatening to derail the uneasy US-Iran ceasefire. At least 303 people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Despite ceasefire, few ships have gone through the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz may be officially reopening for business, but shipping executives and analysts say uncertainty surrounding the ceasefire is still making transit too risky right now. Explicit approval and safety assurances from Iran, clear guidance on how and when to transit and a long-term view of the strait’s future are all missing so far, shippers told CNN.
The strait’s future has real impacts on everyday Americans: Average gas prices are up 40%, about $1.18, per gallon since the start of the war, according to AAA. Getting gas prices back to the pre-war $3 a gallon level is still a long way off, even if oil begins to flow freely again.
Iran supreme leader's adviser dies of injuries sustained in earlier strike
Kamal Kharazi, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has died after being injured in what Tehran said was a US-Israeli strike that targeted his home earlier this month.
Kharazi, “who had previously been injured following an attack by the American-Zionist enemy, was martyred a few hours ago,” Iranian official media announced Thursday.
Kharazi’s wife was killed in the strike, while he was critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, Iranian officials said last week.
CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen interviewed Kharazi in Tehran in March in an exclusive conversation conducted with the permission of the Iranian government, as required under local regulations.
In that interview, Kharazi told CNN he believed that Iran could sustain the conflict for an extended period and said he did not see room for diplomacy. He predicted that the war would end only through the economic pain it inflicts.
