Live updates: Israel and Lebanon extend ceasefire amid Hormuz uncertainty

Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told Russian state broadcaster RT that Tehran will fight if the U.S. doesn’t wish to negotiate.

“We have never left negotiating table, we have not betrayed negotiations,” Jalali was quoted as saying in an RT post on Telegram published earlier today. “If other side [is] willing to negotiate, we will negotiate. If they want war, we will fight.”

It comes as Trump has said there was “no time pressure” in talks with Iran and “no time frame” on ending the war after he extended the ceasefire with Tehran. 

A U.S.-sanctioned supertanker flying under the Curaçao flag passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite a naval blockade, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic analyzed by NBC News.

The vessel transited the Strait before anchoring east of Larak Island earlier today.

The tanker has been on the U.S. sanctions list for two years over allegations it transported Iranian oil shipments to China.

A medical report issued by the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed that he has been treated for cancer.

The report said Netanyahu had surgery to remove his prostate gland in late 2024, and that it went without complications. A later examination showed “a small residual area” with suspicious characteristics in the prostate bed. An additional examination indicated that this was a localized finding, at a preliminary stage of recurrent prostate cancer, the report said.

Netanyahu opted for treatment, it added, and testing has confirmed that the lesion has since disappeared.

Iranian Vice President Esmael Saghab Esfahani said any strike on the country’s oil wells would prompt a retaliatory attack, according to a statement carried by the semi-official Mehr News Agency.

“Our country’s response to any possible attack will go beyond an eye for an eye,” Esfahani said. 

“If any of our oil wells are hit, one of the oil phases of the countries from whose territory the attack is launched against us will be targeted,” he added. 

The comments came hours after Trump extended a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon by three weeks.

An Iranian police officer stands guard Thursday at a checkpoint in Tehran. Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Iran has yet to make a final decision on whether it will participate at this year’s soccer World Cup, according to a statement carried by the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.

“Iran has not yet made a final decision on participating in the 2026 World Cup and this decision must be made by the government,” said Mahdi Alinejad, the Secretary-General of Iran’s National Olympic Committee. 

Despite qualifying for the tournament, Iran’s participation remains uncertain after it asked that FIFA move the team’s three group-stage matches from the United States to Mexico — a request that was rejected.

Iran's Mehdi Taremi, center, during a World Cup qualifying match against Uzbekistan in Tehran in 2025.  Vahid Salemi / AP

As the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is extended by three weeks, the U.S.'s ambassador to Israel said the primary challenge lies with Hezbollah rather than with Israel or the Lebanese government.

“The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel are neighbors, and they want to get along,” Mike Huckabee said at the White House yesterday evening. 

Huckabee went on to compare the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah to “a bad kid” in a neighborhood that “throws rocks at windows.”

“The problem is Hezbollah — the bad little kid throwing rocks,” he added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter joined President Donald Trump at the Oval Office yesterday evening alongside Vice President JD Vance.

Trump said Israel and Lebanon will extend their ceasefire by three weeks, a move that creates space to work on a long-term deal and removes a roadblock to ending the war with Iran.

Will Oliver / Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Donald Trump has pushed to bring the war with Iran to a speedy end: He stepped up bombing raids. He threatened to wipe out infrastructure. He has attempted diplomacy and ordered a naval blockade. But Tehran is in no rush to cut a deal.

Despite the assassinations of its leaders and the damage to an array of military sites, Iran’s regime seems to have benefitted politically from the attacks started by the U.S. and Israel, according to a Western diplomat with knowledge of the conflict and five Western officials, all with knowledge of intelligence assessments on Iran. The regime is, improbably, more stable now than before the war and slightly more hard line, five of the officials said.

The mass anti-government protests that rocked the country in the weeks before the war have, at this time, receded. The so-called moderate or reformist faction inside the regime has been marginalized, because heavy U.S. bombing and Trump’s frequent ultimatums have undermined their arguments that a more accommodating approach with Washington could produce benefits, five of the officials said.

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The price of crude oil rose to more than $105 a barrel in early trading today as uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz continues to cloud the market's long- and medium-term outlook.

Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was up almost 17% for the week as the peace process between Iran and the United has stalled.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was up to more than $95 a barrel, a rise of more than 16% this week.

This rise has impacted consumers at gas pumps with the national average more than $4 a gallon — 36% higher than before the war — and President Trump said yesterday that Americans will have to contend with higher prices "for a little while."

A medical aid convoy left Turkey headed for Iran, an official told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency today.

The six trucks departed Van in eastern Turkey to pass through the Gurbulak border crossing, Van Health Director Muhammed Tosun said.

“The materials include medicines and medical supplies,” Tosun said.

“We previously sent three trucks. With today’s trucks, a total of nine trucks of aid materials will have been delivered to our Iranian colleagues to serve their citizens,” he said.

Italy’s Navy chief of staff Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto told state broadcaster RAI this week that his country is ready to deploy up to four vessels to help clear the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

Berutti Bergotto said Wednesday the group could consist of “two minesweepers, an escort vessel and a logistics vessel.”

“Obviously we are not acting alone. We are part of an international coalition, and other nations will also send minesweepers,” he said.

Over 1 million Lebanese people were displaced in Lebanon following Israel's strikes and invasion. NBC News' Yasmin Vossoughian visits a school turned refugee center housing hundreds of people, who overwhelmingly say they want to return to their homes. Israel says it will not withdraw from a buffer zone it is holding in Lebanon until militant group Hezbollah disarms.

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