Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• President Donald Trump says the US is extending its ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request, as he awaits a unified proposal from the Islamic Republic.
• The deadline for the two-week ceasefire between the US-Israel and Iran had been due to expire on Tuesday evening Washington time (Wednesday AEST)
• Earlier, Trump told CNBC he was optimistic about ending up “with a great deal”, but said there was not much time left, and he expected “to be bombing” Iran if progress was not made.
• Iran’s parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed.
• Two Israeli soldiers have been sentenced to 30 days in military detention and removed from combat duty for destroying a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon, which has since been replaced, Israel’s military said.

• The Pentagon has shared footage of US forces boarding a tanker carrying Iranian oil in international waters. It said the US had “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction ... without incident”. The Tifani was captured in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean – between India and South-East Asia this week.

Trump said the US was considering offering financial support to the UAE as it grapples with economic fallout from the war with Iran.

“It’s been a good ally of ours, and you know, these are unusual times,” Trump told CNBC on Tuesday.

The UAE is an unlikely recipient of economic support, The New York Times reports, and the fact that it has inquired about assistance demonstrates the unprecedented effects of the war.

The oil-rich country has been hit hard by the war, and Iranian strikes on key oil and gas infrastructure have caused significant damage.

Emirati officials met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington last week on the sidelines of annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In the talks, officials “emphasised that the United States seeks to deter future attacks and ensure that energy markets are not further impacted by Iran,” a spokesperson from the Treasury Department said.

In breaking news just now, Trump says the US is extending its ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request, as he awaits a unified proposal from the Islamic Republic.

However, Trump said in a social media post that he would continue the blockade of Iranian ports.

AP

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said Tehran had “received some sign” that the US was ready to stop its blockade of Iranian ports. The US had made no public statements about lifting the blockade.

Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, speaking at the UN headquarters in New York overnight, said ending the blockade remained a condition for Iran to rejoin peace talks. When that happens, he said, “I think the next round of the negotiations will take place.”

The US imposed the blockade to pressure Tehran into ending its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which 20 per cent of the world’s natural gas and crude oil transits in peacetime.

Iran’s grip on the strait has sent oil prices soaring. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at close to $US95 per barrel on Tuesday, up more than 30 per cent from February 28, the day that Israel and the US attacked Iran to start the war.

Before the delay to US Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Pakistan, President Donald Trump spoke to CNBC’s morning program Squawk Box, during which he said the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had been a success, claiming the military had seized a ship with “a gift from China, perhaps” to Iran.

“We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice,” Trump said overnight.

“A gift from China, perhaps? I don’t know, but I’m sort of surprised because I have a very good relationship, and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi [Jinping], but that’s all right. That’s the way war goes, right?”

Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi in China in May.

Two Israeli soldiers have been sentenced to 30 days in military detention and removed from combat duty for destroying a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon, Israel’s military said.

Images of an Israeli soldier with a sledgehammer smashing the statue’s head emerged over the weekend, bringing widespread condemnation.

Israel said one of the soldiers being punished hammered the statue to the ground. The other filmed the destruction.

The damaged statue has been replaced, the Israel Defence Forces said. “The IDF expresses deep regret over the incident, and is working to ensure that it does not happen again in the future.”

with AP

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have arrived at the White House, CNN reports.

The pair were seen about 2.30pm on Tuesday (4.30am Wednesday AEST).

Witkoff and Kushner travelled to Islamabad with Vice President JD Vance earlier this month for the first round of talks with Iran’s ‌parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The Pentagon has shared footage of US forces boarding an oil tanker linked to Iran in international waters.

The Department of War, officially the Defence Department, said it had “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” and boarded the sanctioned M/T Tifani “without incident” in the US Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.

The announcement overnight described the boarding as happening overnight. It added that “international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.”

The Tifani was captured in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean – between India and South-East Asia – and was carrying Iranian oil, according to a US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing military operation. The US military would decide in the next four days what to do with the vessel, such as tow it back to the US or turn it over to another country, the official said.

with AP

The long and the short of it is that Vice President JD Vance and the US delegation have still not left Washington for Islamabad.

There is a stand-off with the Iranians over the US naval blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, which Iran regards as a violation of the ceasefire.

Tehran seems to want the blockade called off before it confirms its attendance at the talks. Gregory Brew, an Iran and oil analyst at the Eurasia Group, said the US couldn’t go that far, but it could make some concessions involving the two ships seized by US forces.

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were still meeting with President Donald Trump and advisers at the White House as of 2pm Washington time (4am Wednesday AEST), a US official said.

Meanwhile, the ceasefire is due to expire in a matter of hours.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has posted online as the prospect of peace talks in Pakistan remains up in the air.

Araghchi said the US blockade of Iranian ports “is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire”.

“Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation,” Araghchi said on X.

“Iran knows how to neutralise restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”

In an interview earlier, US President Donald Trump was optimistic about reaching a “great deal” in peace talks with Iran, but said there was not much time left, and the military was ready to begin bombing again.

“I think we’re going to end up with a great deal, I think they have no choice,” Trump told CNBC.

Vice President JD Vance’s departure for talks in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has been delayed.

The president was asked whether he would let the ceasefire “keep going” if there was progress in talks. He has said the two-week truce was due to expire on Wednesday evening, US time.

“Well, I don’t want to do that,” Trump said. “We don’t have that much time. They have to negotiate.”

Asked whether he needed “at least the prospects of a signed deal” or else he would resume bombing Iran, Trump replied: “I expect to be bombing. Because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with.”

By the original timeline, the ceasefire was due to expire on Tuesday evening (this morning, AEST).