Trump Says Israeli-Lebanese Cease-Fire Extended 3 Weeks, Even As Violence Flares

The US State Department has offered up to $10 million for information leading to Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada, which Washington designates as a terrorist organization.

US officials have accused the group of killing Iraqi civilians and attacking American diplomatic facilities, bases, and personnel in Iraq and Syria.

Al-Saraji also holds a seat in Iraq’s ruling Shi'ite Coordination Framework alliance.

Earlier this month, Washington announced a similar reward for the head of Kataeb Hezbollah, accused of kidnapping US journalist Shelly Kittleson for a week last month.

With reporting by AFP

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 23 said the American government has no ⁠objections to the Iranian ⁠team ‌participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite the armed conflict being waged between the two countries.

"Nothing from the US has told them they can't come," Rubio told reporters, adding, though, that players will not be allowed to bring with ⁠them people with ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

"The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people ‌they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in but not the athletes themselves," Rubio said.

"They can't bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers," Rubio added. Washington has designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

Paolo Zampolli, a special US envoy to Italy, earlier suggested that the Italian team -- which did not qualify for the tournament -- should replace Iran at the World Cup.

That proposal was quickly dismissed by the Italian government and FIFA officials.

After the start of the US-Israeli war, Iran ⁠requested that FIFA move the team's three group matches ‌from the US to Mexico, but the request was turned down.

Iran is scheduled to play its three group matches in the US -- beginning with a clash against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

US President Donald Trump said a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks following his meeting with the envoys from the two countries, even as renewed violence flared along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

“The meeting went very well!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on April 23.

“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah. The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks,” he added. The truce was scheduled to end on April 26.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU has blacklisted only its armed wing.

The Lebanese government is not an active participant in the conflict and has vowed to disarm Hezbollah.

Trump said he looks forward “in the near future” to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with the US ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon, were among those who met with “high-ranking representatives" of Israel and Lebanon, the US president said.

Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter represented their countries in the talks.

The remarks came even as violence flared near the Israeli-Lebanese border, with both sides firing on the other after accusations of violations of the 10-day cease-fire already in place.

US President Donald Trump said he has ruled out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and also told reporters, “Don’t rush me,” when asked how long he was willing to wait for a peace deal as the war passed its 54th day.

"Why ⁠would I use a nuclear weapon? We've totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it," Trump told reporters on April 23 at the White House when asked ⁠if he would use such ‌a weapon.

“No I wouldn't. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," said Trump, who has in the past threatened to wipe out the entire Iranian civilization if the country’s leaders fail to agree to a US peace deal.

Trump also said he could, if he wanted to, reach a peace agreement with Tehran “right now” but insisted he wants an deal to be one that will hold.

"I want to make the best ⁠deal. I ‌could make a deal right now...but I don't want to do that. I want to have it everlasting," Trump said.

"Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone, their antiaircraft is gone...maybe they loaded up a little bit during the two-week hiatus, but we'll knock that out about one day, ‌if they did," Trump said.

The US military has confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush has arrived in the Middle East, joining the other US naval forces already deployed to the region.

"Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in the Indian Ocean in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 23," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.

The deployment of the USS George H. W. Bush has brought the total number of US aircraft carriers to three, after the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln were sent to the area of CENTCOM operations in the region earlier in the year.

US President Donald Trump said a deal with Tehran will be made when it is "appropriate and good" for the United States, amid reports that the White House is seeking to fast-track an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran.

"I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't -- The clock is ticking!" Trump said in his Truth Social post on April 23.

"Iran's Navy is lying at the bottom of the Sea, their Air Force is demolished, their Anti Aircraft and Radar Weaponry is gone, their leaders are no longer with us, the Blockade is airtight and strong and, from there, it only gets worse -- Time is not on their side!" he added.

While no peace deal was reached in the first round of negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad two weeks ago, both sides have been discussing indirectly a second round.

While Washington has intensified pressure on Iran's economy by curbing its lucrative oil revenues by blockading the key Strait of Hormuz, Iran has refused to come to the negotiating table unless the United States lifts the blockade.

The United States has previously insisted that the blockade will only end when a peace deal is signed.

Pope Leo XIV condemned the killing of protesters in Iran after US President Donald Trump criticized the Roman Catholic pontiff for not doing so and for not speaking out against the war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

"When a regime, when a country takes decisions, which takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be ‌condemned," Leo told journalists on April 23 aboard a flight from Equatorial Guinea to Rome.

"I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people's lives," he added.

Leo’s latest comments came amid criticism from Trump, who had previously said he was "not a big fan" of the Catholic leader, calling him on the Truth Social platform "WEAK on crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

In a separate post, Trump also wrote: "Will someone please tell Pope Leo" about the deaths of Iranian protesters.

Iranian authorities killed thousands of people during the brutal January crackdown on anti-government protests.

UPDATE: Pope Leo later called on the United States and Iran to return to the negotiating table.

"One day Iran says yes, the United States says no and vice versa. We don't know where it will go," he said.

"I would like to encourage everyone to find responses that come from a culture of peace and not hatred and division.”

Talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held at the White House, a US official has said.

“The ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon will now take place at the White House. President Trump will greet both representatives upon their arrival,” the official said.

The talks were originally going to be held at the State Department. A first round was held on April 14.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah started again in early March. A US-brokered cease-fire took effect on April 16, but there have been violations from both sides.

Two container ships seized by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz with about 40 crew aboard have been taken toward the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, sources told Reuters on April 23 after Tehran vowed retaliation for the US seizure of an Iranian vessel three days earlier.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seized the ships on April 22, one operated by MSC, the world’s largest container shipping group, and another chartered by the firm, sources said.

Iran accused the vessels of lacking permits and tampering with navigation systems.

Montenegro's Maritime Affairs minister, Filip Radulovic, said four Montenegrin sailors, including the captain, were aboard the MSC Francesca and were safe, adding that “negotiations between the shipping company and the Iranian side are ongoing.”

The Liberia-flagged Epaminondas reported being fired on and damaged before being boarded by Iranian forces while the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca was hit by gunfire but not damaged.

A third ship, Euphoria, was fired upon but managed to resume sailing.

The seizures have deepened disruption to the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and gas flows.