US and Israeli strikes against Iran - 28 February 2026, Media, Maps & Timelines *NO DISCUSSION*

[imstilla.grandma]

As Vice President JD Vance was heading to Pakistan on Friday for peace talks with Iran, a senior Iranian official laid out new conditions for the negotiations, adding even more uncertainty about the durability of the cease-fire and whether the two sides could reach a long-term deal.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, wrote in a post on X that two requirements — a cease-fire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets — “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.” Mr. Ghalibaf, one of the key Iranian figures overseeing the war, did not say what he meant by blocked assets, but Iranian funds overseas are often frozen as a result of sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations.

Iran War Live Updates: Vance Heads to Peace Talks as Lebanon Impasse Threatens Cease-Fire

The speaker of Iran’s Parliament demanded the release of blocked Iranian assets, in addition to a cease-fire in Lebanon, before negotiations with the United States can begin.

www.nytimes.com

 

[otto]

According to Pakistan negotiators: US/ Israel in violation of ceasefire agreement.

"According to US President Donald Trump, Iran holds no trump card other than the ability to blackmail the world in the short term. He wrote this on Truth Social, referring to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. "The only reason they are still alive today is to be able to negotiate," said Trump.

In another message, he lashes out at Iran's communication strategy. According to Trump, the Iranians are better at manipulating "lying media and public relations than at fighting." Negotiations between the United States and Iran are scheduled to start tomorrow in Pakistan.

Earlier, Trump said in an interview with the New York Post that the US military is preparing for further attacks should the talks in Pakistan yield no results.
...

The negotiations between the United States and Iran cannot start if there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. That is what Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the chairman of the Iranian parliament and likely one of the Iranian negotiators, says in a post on X. ...

The United States and Iran reached a temporary two-week ceasefire on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. According to initial reports from mediator Pakistan, the agreement also applied to Lebanon.

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/liveblog/pakistan-bereidt-zich-voor-op-gesprekken-tussen-vs-en-iran-trum~1775452674051/

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042678646351999379

 

[Dotta]

"Peace Negotiations? ​

Iran Sets Conditions.​

Key information:​

• Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf demands a ceasefire in Lebanon and the unblocking of Iranian assets before negotiations with the US begin.
• Peace talks are scheduled to start on Saturday in Islamabad with the participation of an Iranian delegation led by Ghalibaf.
• The US and Iran have agreed on a two-week ceasefire, but the dispute is over whether it also covers Lebanon.

'Two of the actions agreed by the parties have not yet been implemented:
a ceasefire in Lebanon
and the unblocking of Iranian assets before the start of negotiations.
These two issues must be resolved before the negotiations begin',
wrote Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf on his X platform profile."

Negocjacje pokojowe? Iran stawia warunki

Przewodniczący irańskiego parlamentu Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf oświadczył w piątek, że przed rozpoczęciem negocjacji pokojowych z USA konieczne jest wdrożenie dwóch wcześniej uzgodnionych punktów: zawieszenia...

wiadomosci.wp.pl

 

[SouthAussie]

Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman report that, in that Situation Room meeting, Netanyahu and his team "outlined conditions they portrayed as pointing to near-certain victory: Iran's ballistic missile program could be destroyed in a few weeks".

"The regime would be so weakened that it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz, and the likelihood that Iran would land blows against US interests in neighbouring countries was assessed as minimal."

In what may prove one of those statements that will echo down the historic record, Trump's assessment was: "Sounds good to me."

'Sounds good to me': How Trump was sold war in Iran

Extraordinary reporting reveals how Israel made the case for regime change in Iran — and how the fallout is driving a profound shift in American opinion, amid deep uncertainty about what the war has achieved.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SouthAussie]

Harvest-ready rice fields are lying idle and farmers are deciding whether to skip planting for the coming season, as spiking fuel and fertilizer costs from the war in the Middle East hit one of the world’s biggest rice-growing regions.

Across Southeast Asia, tens of millions of smallholders are struggling to find affordable crop nutrients as well as the diesel needed to run tractors, irrigation pumps and rice planters. In Thailand, some farmers are leaving the crop in the ground as it’s too expensive to harvest.

"There’s a lot of panicked farmers,” "Most are involved in agriculture — and they’re all hurting,”

Rice is a staple for more than half of the world’s population

Fuel shortages from Iran war threaten Asia’s biggest food staple

Across Southeast Asia, tens of millions are struggling to find affordable crop nutrients as well as the diesel needed for operating machinery.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[SouthAussie]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042656550146474060

Trump says US in ‘very deep’ Iran negotiations as Islamabad talks continue

High-level US and Iranian delegations are holding historic, in-person ceasefire talks in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Wars have three phases: an opening, a middle game, and an endgame. As in chess, the opening involves deploying forces and engaging the enemy. If that doesn’t produce a quick victory, the contest moves into a middle game in which the two sides fight it out and try to get one another to surrender. As the trends in battle become clear, eventually the rough shape of a logical outcome emerges and the war enters its endgame, during which the details of the final settlement are hammered out.

In Iran, the endgame began with Trump’s threat of massive destruction if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz, and it will continue until the belligerents come to a stable agreement ending hostilities. The cease-fire is likely to hold for the same reason it was agreed to in the first place: both sides were hurting and would hurt even more if the war escalated instead of ending.

The Trump administration launched the war confident that the conflict would be relatively quick and cheap and that Iran wouldn’t be able or willing to hit back. Neither assumption proved true, and as the fighting continued, the war started looking not like chess but a deadly game called “the dollar auction,” which traps the players in unprofitable escalation.

The concept is straightforward: Two players bid for a prize of one dollar, with both agreeing to pay their last bid whatever happens. At first, the players bid eagerly in hopes of making a profit. As the price rises, the trap springs shut. The first player to bid $1 would come away even. But the other player would be out almost a dollar (his last bid) and so has an incentive to bet a little more—say, $1.05—in hopes of at least losing less (only five cents). Unfortunately, the same logic applies to the first player, who now has an incentive to raise as well. From here on in, the game has no internal stopping point; seemingly fruitless costs pile up as the players bet more and more until they walk away or bleed out

Why the Cease-Fire With Iran Will Hold

The de-escalatory logic that will shape negotiations.

www.foreignaffairs.com

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2043094739663114610

 

[SouthAussie]

American ships have moved through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the war with Iran broke out. It was followed by an ominous threat.

Tehran warned Pakistani mediators that “if the vessel continues to move, it will be targeted within 30 minutes, and the Iranian-American negotiations will suffer,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Khabar Network, according to Fars News Agency.

The warning comes just after reports broke that two US vessels had crossed the strait for the first time in months in a move that “was not co-ordinated with Iran”, as US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US had started “clearing out” the strategic waterway.

https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/usiran-war-fuel-crisis-live-updates-iran-threatens-to-attack-us-navy-ships/live-coverage/14ec4b8acbc1745f538a7b0294cf7299

 

[SouthAussie]

Qatar has announced the “full return of maritime navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz as negotiations between the US and Iran drag on.

The country’s Ministry of Transport said the strait would be fully open from 6am to 6pm on Sunday local time – starting in about five hours from now.

It comes after two US destroyers passed through the strait on a mine-clearing mission.

https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/usiran-war-fuel-crisis-live-updates-iran-threatens-to-attack-us-navy-ships/live-coverage/14ec4b8acbc1745f538a7b0294cf7299

 

[SouthAussie]

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have spoken to a diplomatic source in the Pakistani government about the talks in Islamabad. The source said:

• The US-Iran negotiations were direct, with Pakistani participation.
• The Pakistani delegation put forward a proposal on regulating navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
• The Pakistani proposal includes joint patrols in the strait.

The Fars news agency is reporting that negotiations between the US and Iran have been “extended to a second day” and will continue on Sunday.

“About 15 hours have passed since the start of the joint negotiations, and expert discussions are still ongoing at the Serena Hotel,” it reported.

Trump says US in ‘very deep’ Iran negotiations as Islamabad talks continue

High-level US and Iranian delegations are holding historic, in-person ceasefire talks in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[sds71]

Vice President JD Vance said negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranians have ended without a deal after the Iranians refused to accept American terms to not develop a nuclear weapon.

The high-stakes talks ended after 21 hours, Vance said, with the vice president in constant communication with President Donald Trump and others in the administration.

“But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

Vance says talks with Iran have ended without an agreement

Vice President JD Vance said negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranians have ended without a deal after 21 hours.

apnews.com

 

[SouthAussie]

Hundreds of Israelis have rallied in Tel Aviv against the government, demanding an end to war and warning against what some describe as a cycle of never-ending conflict.⁠

JD Vance leaves Islamabad after talks with Iran end without a deal

Iranian media say the US was looking for an excuse to leave the peace talks and that the 'ball is in America's court'.

aje.news

 

[SouthAussie]

Morbi, in western India, is home to the world's second largest ceramics industry, worth $11 billion. Nearly all of India's tiles and bathroom fittings are made here — exported to construction markets across America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The industry depends on two things: constant heat, and a large migrant workforce. It directly employs more than 400,000 people.

As conflict escalated in the Middle East, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a key route for India's energy imports — was constrained. Gas supplies tightened. Prices rose sharply.

Within days, factories began shutting and more than 500 units stopped production.
"If gas isn't available, manufacturing is not possible at all."

No work, no savings, no way to wait: India's migrant workers head home

The war in the Middle East has brought one of India's largest industrial hubs to a standstill. In the city of Morbi, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs, after gas supplies were disrupted thousands of kilometres away.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SouthAussie]

The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations.

The demolitions came after Israel’s minister of defence, Israel Katz, called for the destruction of “all houses” in border villages “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza”

‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon

Rights groups fear tactic of ‘domicide’ trialled in Gaza, where entire areas are made uninhabitable, is being used again

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dotta]

"Pakistan reacts to the breakdown of peace talks. Vance leaves.​

Key information:​

• Iran-US negotiations in Islamabad ended in failure.
• Pakistan declares its continued role as a mediator and appeals for compliance with the ceasefire.
• Delegations from both countries have left Pakistan; six weeks have passed since the outbreak of Iran's war with Israel and the US.

Pakistan has declared
that it will continue to engage in facilitating contacts and dialogue between Iran and the United States,
said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar,
referring to the failure of the peace talks held in Islamabad.

'We hope that both sides will continue to work in a positive spirit
to achieve lasting peace and prosperity
for the entire region and beyond.
It is imperative that the parties continue to honor their ceasefire commitment',
Dar wrote on Platform X."

Pakistan po fiasku rozmów Iran-USA. Islamabad dalej chce pośredniczyć

Pakistan zadeklarował, że w dalszym ciągu będzie angażował się w ułatwianie kontaktów i prowadzenie dialogu między Iranem a Stanami Zjednoczonymi - poinformował minister spraw zagranicznych tego kraju Ishaq Dar....

wiadomosci.wp.pl

 

[SouthAussie]

Trump says the US Navy will immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz and will also intercept by force every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran.

Trump claims “other countries” will also be involved in his blockade, but does not identify them by name.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-declares-us-navy-to-begin-blockading-strait-of-hormuz-effective-immediately/

 

[imstilla.grandma]

President Trump said Sunday that the United States will blockade the Strait of Hormuz, stepping up pressure on Iran after marathon peace talks between top Iranian and American leaders in Pakistan ended without a breakthrough.

The announcement by Mr. Trump plunged the already brittle truce into further uncertainty. Vice President JD Vance and the chief Iranian negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, met in Pakistan over the weekend, but did not reach a deal to fully reopen the strait or conclusively end the war

Iran War Live Updates: Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Blockade’ Strait of Hormuz After No Peace Deal Reached

Vice President JD Vance said that marathon talks between the United States and Iran had failed to produce a deal to fully reopen the strait and end the war. Iran’s top negotiator suggested further talks were possible.

www.nytimes.com

In back-to-back posts made to social media early Sunday, April 12, Trump said the United States will also interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran to pass through the critical shipping route.

"No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"

Iran war updates: Trump says Navy to blockade Strait of Hormuz after failed talks

In a post made to social media early April 12, Trump said the U.S. will blockade the shipping route, marking an escalation in the more than six-week-long war.

www.usatoday.com

 

[otto]

The US threatens to blockade the 11 or so ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

"US President Trump is now personally threatening to block shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz to get the strait reopened. "The US would likely stop passage in the nearby Gulf of Oman, in international waters," says Bert De Vroey.

Until now, Iran occasionally allowed ships to pass, for example towards China. "Now Trump says: it is everyone or no one. He wants to stop the ships that managed to get through with Iran's permission. In doing so, he wants to cut off Iran's exports and put the country under economic pressure until it clears the Strait of Hormuz again. But that will come at the expense of quite a few other countries."

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/liveblog/hoe-moet-het-verder-nu-trump-zelf-een-zeeblokkade-wil-instellen-~1775452674051/