An Iranian delegation is set to arrive in Islamabad for talks aimed at resolving the conflict with the US and Israel, as tensions remain high despite a fragile ceasefire.

Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said the team would reach the Pakistani capital tonight for negotiations based on proposals put forward by Tehran.

“Despite skepticism of Iranian public opinion due to repeated ceasefire violations by Israeli regime … Iranian delegation arrives tonight in Islamabad for serious talks based on 10 points proposed by Iran,” he said in a post on X.

The talks come as both sides test the limits of a recently announced ceasefire, with continued strikes in Lebanon fuelling uncertainty over whether it will hold.

Pakistan has shut down offices in its capital city ahead of the talks in what is being seen as a heightened security measure [see post below for details]

Hours earlier, Donald Trump said the US would maintain a military presence in the region until what he described as a “real agreement” is secured.

Posting on Truth Social, he said American forces would remain in place with additional “Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary”.

Britain’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said that “escalation from Israel on Wednesday was deeply damaging” as confusion ensued following a US-Iran ceasefire agreed earlier this week.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have continued as both the White House and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that Lebanon was not included in a deal to stop strikes on Iran in exchange for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and Pakistan, which brokered the deal independently, both said that the halting of strikes on Lebanon were a part of the agreement. Iran’s deputy foreign minister called the attacks a “grave violation”.

Ms Cooper insisted that Lebanon must be a part of the deal.

“We want to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire,” she told Times Radio on Thursday.

“We want it extended to cover Lebanon, because otherwise that will destabilise the whole region.

“That escalation that we saw from Israel yesterday was deeply damaging, and we want to see an end to hostilities.”

On Wednesday French president Emmanuel Macron also called for attacks on Lebanon to be stopped.

Nato chief Mark Rutte said Donald Trump was “clearly disappointed” with the alliance’s response to the Iran war after what he described as a “very frank, very open discussion” at the White House.

Speaking to CNN after the talks, Mr Rutte said: “Let me be absolutely clear, he is clearly disappointed and with many Nato allies, and I can see his point.”

“The large majority of European nations have been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they lived up to their commitments.”

But the meeting failed to calm Trump’s anger, with the US president later posting on Truth Social: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”

Pakistan has declared two local holidays in its capital, Islamabad, ahead of planned talks between the United States and Iran, with authorities giving no official reason for the move.

A notification issued late last evening by the Islamabad district administration confirmed the business closures from today, just as the city prepares to host high-level negotiations linked to the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

While officials did not explain the decision, the measure is being seen as a security and logistical control ahead of sensitive diplomatic events in the capital.

Keir Starmer met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, warning that the fragile Iran ceasefire must hold to stabilise energy supplies.

Downing Street said the prime minister stressed “it was vital now to continue work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz”, as the UK works with allies to “agree and plan the practical steps required to give shipping the confidence to transit the Strait”.

Speaking during his visit, Mr Starmer said there was a “sense of real relief” after the pause in fighting, but cautioned it was “early days”.

“There is still a lot of work to do,” he said, adding the aim was to ensure “this ceasefire should be not a temporary ceasefire but a permanent ceasefire”.

“It is very important we get the Strait of Hormuz open. There is a lot of work to do there.”

At least 182 people have been killed in Lebanon after Israel launched what it described as its largest wave of air strikes in the conflict, hitting more than 100 targets in just 10 minutes.

The strikes targeted areas including Beirut’s southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

A total of 254 people were killed and over 1,100 wounded across Lebanon, the country’s civil defence service said. The highest toll was in Beirut, where 91 people were killed.

Israel said it struck Hezbollah command centres and military sites, as fighting continues despite a ceasefire with Iran that does not cover Lebanon.

Israel is expected to scale back its attacks on Lebanon in an effort to preserve the ceasefire with Iran, US vice-president JD Vance has suggested.

Mr Vance said Israeli officials had indicated they were willing to “check themselves a little bit in Lebanon” to ensure ongoing negotiations succeed.

“They want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” he said, signalling a possible de-escalation after strikes in Beirut raised fears of the ceasefire unravelling.

Tensions have persisted despite the truce, with Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz and warning it could resume hostilities with the United States in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Washington has maintained that Lebanon is not covered under the ceasefire, even as Israel continues to target Hezbollah, which it describes as an Iranian proxy.

Mr Vance acknowledged there were disagreements over the scope of the deal.

“It’s a legitimate misunderstanding,” he said, adding that Iranian officials had believed the ceasefire extended to Lebanon “and it just didn’t”.

The vice-president, who is due to lead further talks alongside US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, also dismissed claims from a senior Iranian official that Washington had violated the agreement.

Iran has accused the US of breaching the ceasefire and earlier launched strikes on a key oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, while Gulf states reported multiple drone attacks.

Donald Trump has warned US forces will remain “in, and around, Iran” with additional “ammunition, weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary” until a “REAL AGREEMENT” is fully complied with.

“If for any reason it is not… then the ‘shootin’ starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Mr Trump said it had long been agreed there would be “NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS” and that the Strait of Hormuz would remain “OPEN & SAFE”.

“In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward… to its next Conquest,” he added.

Asian stocks turned cautious this morning as oil prices edged higher again, with investors reassessing risks from the fragile Gulf ceasefire.

Crude prices rose after a sharp drop yesterday, with US futures up 2.8 per cent to $96.99 a barrel and Brent gaining 2.1 per cent to $96.74, as uncertainty persisted over access through the Strait of Hormuz.

Asian equity markets lost momentum after a sharp rally in the previous session. Japan’s Nikkei hovered around flat, while South Korea slipped 0.4 per cent. A broader index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 per cent.

Futures for US stocks also dipped, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both down 0.2 per cent.

Investors remain wary that higher energy prices could feed into inflation, with oil still around 40 per cent above pre-conflict levels.

“You have a fifth of the world’s oil supply moving through a corridor that is still effectively under the influence of one of the parties to the conflict,” Nigel Green, CEO at deVere Group told Reuters. “That’s not stability.”

“You don’t need ​a ⁠full blockade to move oil markets sharply higher again,” he added. “Missiles are still being launched in the Gulf, Israel is still engaged on another front, and yet markets are behaving as though the region ⁠has normalised.”