US-Iran war live updates: Two-week ceasefire takes effect; Israel launches record strikes on Lebanon; Iran says Strait of Hormuz closed

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• The US and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said he had received a 10-point peace proposal from Iran and was willing to negotiate.
• However, Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz after Israel launched its biggest wave of airstrikes against Lebanon since the outbreak of war more than a month ago. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon”, where Israel is continuing to attack Hezbollah.
• Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf named the Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a key factor in arguing the bilateral ceasefire is being violated before it has even begun.
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited delegations from the US and Iran to meet for talks in Islamabad on Friday.
• Trump will meet with NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday (US time) after the president’s comments that he was considering withdrawing the US from the alliance.
• The Australian sharemarket surged on Wednesday in an $80 billion rally.

The exiled Iranian leader who seeks to unite the country against its current rulers, former crown prince Reza Pahlavi, has called on Iranians to be patient and protect themselves in the hope that the regime will fall in the wake of the ceasefire deal.

His statement goes to the heart of the debate about whether there will be “regime change” in Iran after US President Donald Trump urged Iranians five weeks ago to rise up against the government.

Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, left Iran in 1979 when he was 19 and the Islamic Republic swept away the former monarchy. Now based in the US, he issued a video message to Iranians thatdescribed the ceasefire as a defeat for the regime. Observers, however, are warning that the outcome leaves the regime in place and allows its leaders to rebuild.

“My singular objective is to ensure that the final action to topple the Islamic Republic comes at the lowest possible cost to human life,” Pahlavi said in the video, which was released at about 4am on Thursday AEST.

Iran says it has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz after Israel stepped up its attacks against Lebanon, as the White House insists it will hold the Iranian regime to the conditions of a “fragile ceasefire” that is less than 24 hours old.

Multiple Iranian state-affiliated news agencies said Iran had halted the passage of oil tankers through the strait after Israel conducted its largest strikes against Hezbollah since the war began. The Israeli Defence Forces said they hit 100 targets – including command centres, missile infrastructure and other assets – in just one minute.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Lebanon was not part of the agreed ceasefire, despite Pakistan’s Prime Minister earlier saying that it was.

She said the White House was closely monitoring traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and that what Iran was saying publicly about its closure was different to what the US was being told privately.

“We have seen an uptick in traffic in the strait,” she said. “It’s something we are monitoring minute by minute, hour by hour.”

Iran has accused US President Donald Trump of breaking a ceasefire agreement within hours of announcing the deal, naming the Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a key factor in arguing the bilateral ceasefire is being violated before it has even begun. The claim came from one of the most senior remaining Iranian leaders, parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

First, the Iranian leader accused the US of violating the agreement for an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and other regions, effective immediately. Secondly, he said the US had allowed the entry of an intruding drone into Iranian airspace, also in violation of the terms. Thirdly, he declared that Iran had a right to continue to enrich uranium despite Trump’s claim that this would stop.

“Now, the very ‘workable basis on which to negotiate’ has been openly and clearly violated, even before negotiations began,” Ghalibaf said in a social media post. “In such [a] situation, a bilateral ceasefire is unreasonable.”

European leaders are calling for a halt to attacks on Lebanon as part of a broader ceasefire in the Middle East despite Israel’s insistence that its war with Hezbollah is separate to the temporary truce outlined with Iran.

The statement from European leaders was backed by Japan and Canada on Wednesday, although their calls have failed to sway US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past.

“We strongly encourage quick progress towards a substantive negotiated settlement,” said the statement from French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Netherlands Prime Minister Jetten, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. It was also signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.

“This will be crucial to protect the civilian population of Iran and ensure security in the region,” they said. “It can avert a severe global energy crisis. We support these diplomatic efforts. To this end, we are in close contact with the United States and other partners. We call upon all sides to implement the ceasefire, including in Lebanon.”

Israel has launched its biggest wave of airstrikes against Lebanon since the outbreak of war more than a month ago, hitting more than 100 targets in the space of 10 minutes on the morning after a ceasefire with Iran. The Israel Defence Forces said the targets included military centres run by Hezbollah, the militia aligned with Iran.

The airstrikes demonstrated Israel’s belief that the ceasefire in the Iran war does not apply to the fighting in Lebanon. Television footage showed explosions in residential areas of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, fuelling concerns that civilians were being killed despite IDF claims that it was hitting military targets.

Trump confirmed his view that the war in Lebanon was separate to his two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran.

“They were not included in the deal,” the US president told US broadcaster PBS. “That’ll get taken care of too. That’s a separate skirmish.”

The Lebanese government said 112 people were killed and 837 were wounded on Wednesday alone.

The intensity of the attack is putting the ceasefire at risk, with Iran’s Tasnim news service citing a government official saying Iran will withdraw from the agreement if the attacks on Lebanon continue. Another Iranian service, Fars News Agency, said the government had halted oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz because of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• The US and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said he had received a 10-point peace proposal from Iran and was willing to negotiate.
• However, Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz after Israel launched its biggest wave of airstrikes against Lebanon since the outbreak of war more than a month ago. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon”, where Israel is continuing to attack Hezbollah.
• Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf named the Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a key factor in arguing the bilateral ceasefire is being violated before it has even begun.
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited delegations from the US and Iran to meet for talks in Islamabad on Friday.
• Trump will meet with NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday (US time) after the president’s comments that he was considering withdrawing the US from the alliance.
• The Australian sharemarket surged on Wednesday in an $80 billion rally.