Archie Mitchell
Business reporter

US stocks reached record highs on Wednesday as investors expressed hope ongoing talks could bring about peace in the US-Israel war in Iran.

After strikes on Iran began on 28 February, the major Wall Street indexes saw sharp falls amid fears a long conflict could lead to an economic downturn.

But, with the US hailing recent peace talks as “productive”, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.8% on Wednesday to sit above 7,000 points for the first time. It was at 6,878 points when the strikes began.

The Nasdaq rose by 1.6% on the day to 24,016 points, also a record and comfortably above pre-conflict levels.

Another major index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), has yet to return to its pre-war levels, and remained flat on Wednesday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin says its chief of general staff, Eyal Zamir, "has approved plans for further fighting both in Lebanon and in Iran".

The chief of staff has also declared "all territory of southern Lebanon until Litani River line" as a "killing area for Hezbollah terrorists", he adds.

Defrin says the IDF has killed over 1,700 Hezbollah members in its military operation in Lebanon so far, and that it is "going to continue and persecute [Hezbollah] wherever they hide".

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol HIll

For the fourth time, a resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's ability to wage war in Iran has failed in the US Senate, as the conflict nears its seventh week.

The war powers measure was rejected in a 52-47 vote largely along party lines. Had it passed, it would have halted US military action in Iran without congressional approval.

Democrats have said they plan to bring similar measures on a weekly basis to get lawmakers on the record about the strikes.

"If we're unsuccessful [with the votes], at least we'll make clear to the American people who owns this war," Senator Tim Kaine, of Virginia, told the BBC ahead of the vote.

Most Republicans blocked the resolution on Wednesday, but some said they would consider changing course if the war reached the 60-day mark, the deadline for congressional authorisation for continued military operations.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri told the BBC that the administration is currently in compliance with the war powers resolution, prompting his vote against the measure on Wednesday.

But if the administration cannot show it's drawing down on the conflict and get a 30-day extension of congressional authorisation, Hawley said that is when he wants to see the Senate vote on a war powers resolution.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iranian outlets have reported that the country has suspended exports of all petrochemical products “until further notice” to meet “domestic needs”.

Since the war began, Israel has claimed responsibility for attacks on a number of petrochemical complexes in Iran, including in Asaluyeh and Mahshahr, both in the country's south.

Iranian outlet Jamaran says facilities, such as Fajr Energy Persian Gulf in Mahshahr, and Mobin Energy and Damavand Energy in Asaluyeh have been “severely damaged”, with production halted at more than 50 petrochemical complexes across the two regions.

Products from this industry range from plastics to fertiliser, meaning the impact could affect several industries and jobs within Iran.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The US Treasury has announced a series of new sanctions against individuals, organisations and vessels linked to Iran.

Three people, nine vessels, and 17 entities - which can mean companies or organisations - have had sanctions placed on them, according to the update on the Treasury website.

It follows an announcement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a short while ago, that the US would not be renewing a waiver on sanctions that had allowed for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil floating at sea.

Little new information from the White House on talkspublished at 19:42 BST

19:42 BST

Bernd Debusmann Jr
reporting from the White House

We've just wrapped up a briefing at the White House.

The US public learned little from that briefing with regards to the potential for future talks or a timeline for the conflict to end, with Leavitt saying only that the US remains "engaged" in the talks and that conversations are "ongoing".

Similarly, Leavitt declined to put any timeline on the US naval blockade, leaving open the possibility of an open-ended military commitment to enforce it in the long-term.

While President Trump had earlier suggested that other nations would join in the enforcement of the blockade, we heard nothing about that today, despite Leavitt saying it was now fully implemented.

Much more clear is that the White House is seeking to calm the nerves of Americans who are growing increasingly anxious that the conflict will have an impact on wallets, most notably when it comes to the petrol pump.

But while Bessent said he was "optimistic" that gas prices would fall, he provided few details as to why he believes that.

Image source, @netanyahu via X

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is "prepared for any scenario" in regards to the war in Iran and Lebanon.

In a video address, Netanyahu says that Israel is "on the verge of eliminating" a "major Hezbollah stronghold" in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon.

The prime minister confirms that he has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to also "continue securing the security zone" in this area and to "extend it eastward".

Netanyahu also says Israel's goals in the war remain aligned with those of the United States.

"It is still too early to say how this will end or even how it will progress. In light of the possibility that the fighting may resume, we are prepared for any scenario," he says.

Image source, Reuters

We've just finished covering a briefing at the White House. While not substantively on the Iran war, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did answer a few questions on it.

Here's a look back at the key bits:

• Bessent said any movements in the price of oil would depend on how negotiations with Iran go, but added he was "optimistic" that petrol prices in the US will fall back to $3 a gallon by late September
• Plans for another round of in-person peace talks are still being discussed, and would likely be held again in Islamabad, Pakistan, Leavitt said
• The US has asked Middle East countries to freeze Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bank accounts, and will consider secondary sanctions if they don't, Bessent said
• President Xi Jinping has assured Trump that China is not supplying Iran with weapons, and Chinese banks have been warned about holding Iranian funds, Leavitt said
• The US will not be renewing temporary waivers allowing the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil, Bessent said
• Leavitt said she did not have a timeline for the duration of the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports

A reporter asks Leavitt how long the US navy blockade of Iranian ports will go on.

She says she will "never set timelines on behalf of the president", but notes that the operation has now been fully implemented.

The blockade is being enforced against vessels of all nations that are entering or departing Iranian ports, she says.

For vessels transiting the strait outside of the ports, US forces are supporting freedom of navigation, she adds.

The briefing concluded shortly afterwards.

We'll bring you a recap of the key points in a moment.

Image source, Reuters

Bessent says that the US government "will not be renewing the general licence on Russian oil", nor one on Iranian oil.

These were temporary waivers of sanctions that allowed for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil that was already at sea at the time.

Bessent clarifies that those waivers were on "oil that was on the water prior to March 11th, so all that has been used".

Leavitt and Bessent are asked if Trump's threats of a 50% tariff on China are still on the table.

Leavitt says President Xi Jinping assured Trump "they are not supplying Iran" with weapons in this conflict.

Bessent says two Chinese banks got letters from the US treasury that if they can prove there is Iranian cash in their accounts the US is willing to slap secondary sanctions on those banks.

He did not identify the banks that received the letters.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says "Operation Economic Fury" is now under way, with the US putting financial pressure on Iran.

He says Iran made the mistake of bombing other nations in the Middle East, and those countries are now being "more transparent" about the Iranian funds in their banking systems.

The US has requested that those nations freeze the funds of the IRGC leadership, Bessent says.

He adds that countries are being cautioned against buying Iranian oil. If they have Iranian cash in their banks, the US will consider secondary sanctions.

Leavitt is next asked about the Iran ceasefire, and says that reports the US has asked to formally extend it are "not true".

"We remain very much engaged in these talks," she says, and conversations are "productive and ongoing".

On reports that there are in-person talks being planned, she says "those discussions are being had but nothing is official until you here it from us here at the White House".

"We feel good about the prospects of a deal", Leavitt says, adding that it's "in the best interests of Iran" to meet Trump's demands - which she says he's made "very clear".

If talks happen, they would "very likely" be in the same place they were last time - Islamabad - she says.

Image source, Getty Images

After an early section of the briefing focused on domestic issues, the news conference touched on the economic impact of the war in Iran - specifically, the price of oil.

Bessent is asked when US drivers will begin to see lower petrol prices which have gone up considerably since the start of the war.

He says prices will depend on how Iran negotiations go and that the US has obeyed the ceasefire conditions although the Strait of Hormuz hasn't been fully reopened.

"I am optimistic that sometime between June 20 and September 20, we can have $3 gas again," he says.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A briefing from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has just started.

Leavitt is joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and is expected to speak mainly about domestic issues (specifically taxes as 15 April is Tax Day in the US).

It's likely, though, that reporters will get the opportunity to pose questions about the war in the Middle East, too.

We're listening across and will bring you the key lines. You can also watch live at the top of the page.

'Zombie ship' transmitting false identity in Gulfpublished at 17:56 BST

17:56 BST

By Joshua Cheetham

As part of monitoring the US blockade of Iran, BBC Verify has identified a vessel in the Gulf which appears to be trying to hide its real identity, sometimes referred to as a “zombie ship”.

The ship, currently using its onboard tracker to identify itself as "Race", cannot be what it claims to be, as that is the name if a vessel which was scrapped in 2023. Its last reported position was close to the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

This practice of trying to hide a real vessel’s identity by adopting the name of a decommissioned ship is one of the tactics which means we can’t rely on onboard trackers alone to identify shipping and follow movements in the region.

BBC Verify has seen evidence that many other vessels are turning off their trackers, having their signal jammed, or “spoofing” them to hide their location and suggest they’re elsewhere.

Details of how the US is enforcing the blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports are still unclear. BBC Verify has also tracked the US-sanctioned tanker Alicia, which sailed west across the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf today.

The vessel, which is falsely registered under the flag of Curaçao, is not publicly reporting any destination.

Image source, MarineTraffic

Faisal Islam
Economics editor, in Washington DC

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva tells me at the IMF Spring Meetings that countries should start to economise on energy supplies.

She says this is due to the reality of physical shortages, especially in Asia of some petrochemical derivatives - obviously energy, but also helium, naphtha, urea - used for semiconductors - plastics and fertilisers.

She says it will still take weeks to turn around even if a ceasefire is agreed imminently, and perhaps longer given the damage to petrochemical facilities.

“What do we tell countries? Use measures that can economise energy? And I have seen some countries doing exactly that, putting in place incentives like make public transport free... We did it during Covid. I don't see a reason why not do more of it now or switch to a less energy intensive activities over time.”

She also warned the world’s central banks not to rush raising interest rates to deal with inevitably higher inflation, as assumed in markets.

“What we tell central banks is: 'If you have high credibility, signal that your objective is to protect price stability, but don't rush wait to see how conditions would evolve if we are to move faster out of the war."

Image source, Reuters

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described the US-Israel war with Iran as a "mistake", adding that she is "not convinced" it has made the world a safer place.

Reeves made the comments while speaking at an event hosted by the American news channel CNBC in Washington.

“The question is not whether you like or dislike the Iranian regime – I strongly dislike the Iranian regime – but how to achieve the change that you want to achieve", she says.

“There was a diplomatic channel open, conversations, formal discussions were happening."

She adds that it was a "mistake" to end those discussions "and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago".

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Beirut

Three successive Israeli attacks have killed at least three paramedics in southern Lebanon, including one featured in a BBC report this week, Lebanese officials say, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting health workers in the war.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, the first team of paramedics was attacked as it tried to rescue people from the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Mayfadoun, in the Nabatieh region. When a second then a third teams headed to the site, they too were attacked.

The victims included 43-year-old Fadel Serhan. Earlier this month, the BBC spent days with his team as it operated in a tent set up outside the Nabatieh’s Nabih Berri Hospital after their own station in Mayfadoun was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the first days of the war.

The Israeli military has been approached for comment. Israel has frequently accused Hezbollah of using ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes, without provided evidence. Lebanon’s health minister has denied the claims.

The ministry says 91 health professionals have been killed and 208 other wounded in the war, with more than 120 Israeli attacks recorded on ambulances and medical facilities.

In a statement, the ministry said Wednesday’s attacks were a “flagrant crime”. “Paramedics have become direct targets, pursued relentlessly in a blatant violation that confirms a total disregard for all norms and principles established by international humanitarian law,” it said.

Human rights groups say some of Israel’s actions in Lebanon may constitute war crimes.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The death toll in Lebanon since the start of of the war has reached 2,167, according to an update from Lebanon's health ministry reported by the state-run National News Agency.

This is an increase of 43 people on Tuesday's figures. A further 7,061 have been wounded - up from 6,921.