Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump says Iran has agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, one of the key sticking points in negotiations to bring the war to an end.

Fresh talks, he said, could resume as early as this weekend with Washington and Tehran "very close" to making a deal.

Speaking at an event in Las Vegas, focusing on the US economy, the US president gave one of his most upbeat assessments of the war since it started. He said it was going "swimmingly" and should be ending soon.

Earlier, at the White House, he said Iran had agreed not to obtain a nuclear weapon and would turn over what he called the "nuclear dust" - enriched uranium believed to be buried underground following the US-Israeli airstrikes last year. Iran has not commented on the president's claim.

Apparently confident that a fresh round of face-to-face talks is imminent, Trump said he wasn't sure an extension to the ceasefire with Iran, which is due to expire in five days, was necessary.

The Israeli military has warned residents in Lebanon not to move south of the Litani River as its troops remain deployed there.

On Thursday, the Lebanese army said the area south of the river, about 40km north of its border with Israel, has been cut off from the rest of the country because of Israeli strikes.

• For context: Last month, Israeli forces were instructed to destroy crossings over the Litani river that it said were being used by Hezbollah to send reinforcements.

Donald Trump has just described this as a "historic" day for Lebanon.

"Good things are happening!!!" he says in a Truth Social post minutes ago.

In a separate post earlier, he had said he "hopes Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time".

Four Iran-linked ships have crossed the blockade linepublished at 03:54 BST

03:54 BST

By Joshua Cheetham

Four ships have crossed over the US blockade line after sailing from Iranian ports, according to tracking data.

All the vessels we’ve been monitoring are container ships, three are flagged to Iran and the fourth, Tava 4, is registered in Comoros.

Since the blockade was introduced at 15:00 BST on Monday, the ships to cross it that we’ve tracked in MarineTraffic data are:

• Azargoun - left the port of Shahid Rajee and crossed at around 16:00 and has apparently sailed to Kandla in north-western India
• Ashkan3 - left the eastern Iranian port of Chabahar just after 12:00 and is currently showing as being in Karachi, Pakistan
• Shabdis - which also departed Chabahar and crossed at around 21:00 and is showing as off the south-west coast of India near Kerala, giving its destination as Zhuhai in China
• Tava 4 - sailed from Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran and crossed the blockade line at 13:00, it reports to be off India’s west coast and heading to Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai

This assessment is based on these ships self-reported positions via their tracking data. However, some vessels may be turning their trackers off or be transmitting a false position, a practice known as "spoofing".

At a press conference earlier today Gen Dan Caine said the US “[continued] to hold the blockade”. When asked about the timing of these crossings, US Central Command told the BBC it had “nothing to add to the chairman's statements”.

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

As news of the ceasefire spread through Israel's northern communities, sirens blared three times this evening warning of incoming rockets from Lebanon.

In the sky above the northern city of Nahariya, Israel's air defence interceptors shot up to block them, triggering loud explosions. Ambulance crews said at least three people were wounded by shrapnel in the hours before the ceasefire took effect, including two seriously.

On the ground here – and across the country – there's scepticism about why Israel's leader has signed up to the truce.

"I feel like the government lied to us," said Gal, a student in Nahariya. "They promised that this time it would end differently, but it seems like we're once again heading toward a ceasefire agreement that solves nothing."

Read Lucy Williamson's report from Jerusalem.

Image source, Getty Images

Oil prices retreated slightly on Friday morning in Asia after a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel came into effect.

The conflict strained a two-week conditional ceasefire between the US and Iran, with Tehran saying Israel's attacks on Lebanon were a breach of the agreement.

The price of the global benchmark Brent crude fell by nearly 1% to $98.50 (£72.86) a barrel, while US-traded oil was down by 1.2% at $93.60.

Major Asian markets edged lower on Friday morning after climbing during the week. Japan's Nikkei 225 index dipped by 0.8%, while the Kospi in South Korea was lower by 0.3%.

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump addressed the war in Iran briefly during a tax day roundtable in Nevada. He said, "I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly" and that It "should be ending pretty soon".

He did not elaborate, but commended the US military for being good at shooting down rockets.

Over the weekend, talks in Islamabad between the US, Iran and mediators failed to bring about a deal.

The White House says discussions around a possible second round of peace talks are "ongoing" but no time or place has been confirmed.

The Lebanese Army says there have already been a number of violations of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

In a post on its official account on X, the army says it has recorded several Israeli attacks, including intermittent shelling, on Lebanese villages.

It urges displaced people to exercise caution in returning to southern towns and to avoid hazardous areas.

There has been no comment yet from the IDF.

Lebanon forms an "integral part" of a comprehensive ceasefire with the US, a speaker for the Iranian parliament has said.

In a statement on Telegram, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf sets out that Lebanon will play "an important role in moving forward for lasting peace in the region".

His comments follow a meeting with a Pakistani military officer.

"The issue of establishing a comprehensive ceasefire in all conflict areas is one of the clauses of the initial ceasefire agreement between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan," the statement says.

US President Donald Trump is urging Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in southern Lebanon, to abide by the ceasefire with Israel that has gone into effect.

"I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time," the president writes on Truth Social.

"It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!"

The ceasefire is technically between Israel and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.

An Israeli official told the the BBC's US partner CBS News that Israel will only respond militarily during the ceasefire to "imminent threats from Hezbollah".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a more lasting peace deal will require that the Iran-backed group is disarmed.

There have been scenes of celebration and relief in Lebanon as displaced people started returning to their homes after the truce began.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reu

Image source, Reuters

Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is very fragilepublished at 01:16 BST

01:16 BST

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Reactions to this latest ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon may be one of relief tempered with a fairly hefty dose of scepticism.

Remember that the conflict is not between Israel and Lebanon - it's between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, of course, is completely embedded in Lebanon, both politically and militarily - and the fact that there initially hadn't been any announcement or immediate reaction from Hezbollah is a little bit ominous.

The group has since signalled it is likely to abide by the ceasefire - but adds that a deal will need to include a "comprehensive halt" to all attacks in Lebanon.

The Israelis will take very little provocation from Hezbollah before they are tempted to break that ceasefire.

This is a very fragile ceasefire, even more fragile, I would say, than the one between Iran and the US, and of course the two are not disconnected.

Israel and the US are trying to say that this is a separate issue but for there to be peace in the Middle East, there has got to be peace in the Gulf, in Iran and in Lebanon - and we are a very, very long way off resolving the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has got very deep roots and extends right back into events that take place in the West Bank and Gaza.

This is breathing space at best.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement came into force just a few hours ago, at 00:00 in Israel and Lebanon (22:00 BST and 17:00 EST).

What we know:

• The ceasefire is set to last for 10 days initially, but the US says it could be extended

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it will create an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement" with Lebanon
• Iran-backed Hezbollah has agreed to abide by the ceasefire, while demanding it must include "a comprehensive halt to attacks across all Lebanese territory" and "no freedom of movement for Israeli forces"
• Netanyahu says Israeli troops will remain in a 10km-deep (6.2 mile) "security zone" in southern Lebanon - which goes against Hezbollah's demand for them to withdraw
• The US State Department says under the terms of the deal, the Lebanese government must "take meaningful steps" to prevent Hezbollah attacking Israel
• It adds that Lebanon’s security forces have "exclusive responsibility" for Lebanon’s sovereignty and national defence
• Just as the ceasefire came into force, the Israel Defense Foces (IDF) issued a statement saying it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the previous 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves

We don't know what the next steps will be. Trump says he has invited the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House, but nothing is confirmed yet.