JD Vance says Iran would be dumb to abandon ceasefire after huge Israeli attack on Lebanon prompted fury: Live updates

Speaking to reporters as he left Hungary yesterday, US vice president JD Vance said Iran would be 'dumb' to pull out of the fragile ceasefire deal.

He added: 'If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart – in a conflict where they were getting hammered – over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice.'

Lebanon has declared a national day of mourning after Israel destroyed much of the country with a blitz of strikes that killed nearly 200 and left nearly 900 injured.

In Lebanon, where UN rights chief Volker Turk called the scale of killing 'horrific', strikes across the capital Beirut that came without warning triggered horror and panic.

'People started running left and right, and smoke was billowing,' said Ali Younes, who was waiting for his wife near Corniche Al-Mazraa, one of the areas targeted.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched airstrikes and a ground invasion last month, local officials said.

Pakistan has imposed a major security lockdown in Islamabad ahead of US-Iran talks set to be held tomorrow.

Authorities have declared public holidays for two days, sealed off parts of the capital and have cleared a hotel in the high-security Red Zone to host the delegations.

Ordinary entry points into the city are expected to be closed, while hospitals and emergency services remain on high alert.

The IDF has claimed to have killed the secretary to the head of Hezbollah.

It said that it killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, Naim Qassem's nephew and close confidant, in an overnight airstrike.

The Israeli military said: 'Harshi was a close associate and personal adviser to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and played a central role in managing and securing his office.'

Trump said this morning via Truth Social that all of the US' military assets in the Middle East would 'remain in place' until a 'REAL AGREEMENT' is reached.

He wrote:

All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.

If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shootin’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE. In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!

The ceasefire agreed by Iran and the United States must also cover military actions in Lebanon, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said today, adding France condemned 'massive' Israeli strikes the previous day.

Barrot added that he expects Iran to make a series of concessions as part of the peace talks due to start in Pakistan.

'Iran must give up to have nuclear weapons and means to obtain them, must give up using its missiles and drones to threaten countries in the region and give up supporting groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis who destabilise the region,' he said in an interview with Radio Station France Inter.

Iran must also open the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, he said.