Pete Hegseth, America’s defence secretary is due to give a press conference shortly.

Yesterday’s event was cancelled. It will mark his first statements since a US-Iran ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday.

Stuti Mishra reports:

Shipowners are unlikely to return to the Gulf immediately despite the ceasefire, as risks remain elevated, an analyst said.

“The situation remains highly volatile, and despite the ceasefire, shipowners are unlikely to rush back into the Gulf to load fossil fuels,” Isaac Levi, senior analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) told The Independent.

The Israeli military ⁠said on Wednesday it ⁠had ​carried ⁠out ⁠the largest ​strikes ⁠against Lebanon's ‌Hezbollah since this ‌war began, ‌striking ⁠the militant group's infrastructure within the heart of ‌civilian ​areas ‌across the ⁠country.

An Indian government spokesperson has welcomed the US-Iran ceasefire, saying New Delhi "continuously advocated" for an end to the conflict.

India has, alongside the rest of South Asia, seen price rises and fuel shortages since the war began. The statement noted that the war had "already caused immense suffering to people and disrupted global energy supply and trade networks".

"India has always been in favour of peace," spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "We welcome all steps that lead to peace and stability."We hope that this development in West Asia will also encourage peace efforts in Ukraine."

There are discussions about ⁠in-person talks, but nothing is ⁠final ​until ⁠U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump ​or the ⁠White ‌House make an announcement, ‌White House spokeswoman ‌Karoline Leavitt ⁠said on Wednesday after Washington and Tehran agreed to ‌a two-week ​ceasefire.

It follows reports that ceasefire talks will be held in Islamabad on Friday.

The abrupt turnaround came only hours after the president threatened that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless Iran met his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

James C Reynolds reports:

Following his statement about working closely with Iran towards a ceasefire, US president Donald Trump has threatened tariffs for any country supplying Tehran with weapons.

He said on Truth Social: “A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately. There will be no exclusions or exemptions! President DJT”

US president Donald Trump has said he believes that Iran is undergoing a ‘very productive Regime Change’ as the United States homes to work closely with Tehran.

In a post on Truth Social, he said: “The United States will work closely with Iran, which we have determined has gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change!

“There will be no enrichment of Uranium, and the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) Nuclear ‘Dust.’ It is now, and has been, under very exacting Satellite Surveillance (Space Force!). Nothing has been touched from the date of attack.

“We are, and will be, talking Tariff and Sanctions relief with Iran. Many of the 15 points have already been been agreed to. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

US president Donald Trump is "impatient" about ​making progress toward ending the Iran war and has instructed his negotiating team to engage the Iranians in good faith, vice president JD Vance said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event in Budapest during his trip to Hungary, Vance said a deal was possible ⁠if Iran negotiated sincerely, but cautioned that while some parts of the Iranian system were approaching the talks constructively, others were "lying" about the ceasefire. He described the situation as a "fragile truce".

"The President of the United States has told me - and he's told the entire negotiating team, secretary of state, the special envoy Steve Witkoff - ⁠he said go and work in good faith to ​come ⁠to an agreement," he said.

"He's impatient. He's impatient to make progress," Vance added. "He has told us to negotiate in good faith, and I think if they negotiate in ⁠good faith, we will be able to find a deal. But that's a big if, ​and ⁠ultimately, it's up to the Iranians ‌how they negotiate. I hope they make the right decision."

The United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, potentially halting a six-week-old war that has killed thousands, ‌spread across the Middle East and caused unprecedented disruption to ‌the world's energy supplies.

The EU Commission has declined to comment on possible future steps to secure traffic in the Strait of Hormuz as a US-Iran ceasefire remains fresh.

“We have the news of the ceasefire. We're welcoming it. As the High Representative (Kaja Kallas) has said, we have a window in terms of mediation that needs to stay open and then we take it from there,” EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said during a daily press briefing on Wednesday.

He emphasised that the Strait of Hormuz was a global “public good”.