Issued on: 30/04/2026 - 04:49Modified: 01/05/2026 - 05:17
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with Democratic lawmakers in Congress for a second day Thursday, rejecting senators’ accusations that the Iran war was launched without evidence of an imminent threat and waged with no coherent strategy. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
US hostilities with Iran that began in February have 'terminated', official says
For War Powers Resolution purposes, the United States' hostilities with Iran that started in February have "terminated", a senior Trump administration official said late on Thursday.
"Both parties agreed to a 2-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7 that has since been extended," the official said. "There has been no exchange of fire between US Armed Forces and Iran since Tuesday, April 7."
Lebanon's president condemns 'continuing Israeli violations'
Iran threatens painful response if US renews attacks
Midnight legal deadline looms for Trump's Iran war
President Donald Trump was facing a midnight deadline Thursday to secure congressional authorisation for the war against Iran, though the looming cutoff is not expected to rein in his military plans.
The 60-day clock, triggered when Trump notified Congress of strikes in early March, requires the administration to begin winding down hostilities unless lawmakers authorise the use of force.
With no such approval in place, the deadline sets up a direct constitutional clash between the White House and Congress.
Democrats say the president is already on shaky legal ground -- and will be in clear violation once the threshold passes.
Iran's air defences engaging drones over parts of Tehran, Tasnim reports
Iran's air defences are engaging small drones and surveillance UAVs over parts of the capital Tehran, with air defence fire continuing to be heard in western, central and southeastern areas of the city, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Air defences heard in Tehran, Iranian media reports
UAE bans citizens from travel to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, urges those there to leave
The United Arab Emirates has banned its citizens from travelling to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, and urged Emiratis currently in those countries to leave immediately and return home, citing regional developments, the foreign ministry said.
At Iranian film's Berlin premiere, crew urges audiences not to forget Iranian people
The Iranian film crew behind "Roya", which recounts the torment and trauma of a political prisoner in Tehran's Evin prison, urged the Iranian people "not to be forgotten" at the film's German premiere.
Director Mahnaz Mohammadi, 51, likened the "existence of the Iranian people today" to the unbearable life endured by the film's imprisoned protagonist, Roya.
Mohammadi, in an interview with AFP on Wednesday at the screening at a Berlin cinema, said Iranian prisoners are being put to death every four to six hours in the country "without justice".
She said she had been forced to witness several hangings while imprisoned in Iran herself.
The film was presented at the prestigious Berlinale film festival in February.
It is set to be released in German theatres on May 7.
Trump says gas prices will drop as soon as Iran war is over
Speaking to reporters at the White House Oval Office, President Donald Trump said gas prices would "drop like a rock" as soon as the Iran war ended.
Global oil prices earlier hit a four-year high of more than $126 a barrel over concerns that the conflict could lead to a prolonged crisis.
Trump says he is OK with Iran playing in FIFA World Cup
President Donald Trump has told reporters that "I'm OK" with Iran playing their World Cup games in the US, after FIFA chief Gianni Infantino reiterated that the team would do so despite the US-Israeli war on Iran.
"Well, if Gianni said it, I'm okay," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the comments by Infantino, with whom the US leader has close ties. "I think let 'em play."
Mapping the environmental toll of the Middle East war
Since the US and Israel declared war on Iran on February 28, the conflict has inflicted a heavy toll on the environment, from oil refineries set ablaze, missiles hitting pesticide factories, and an oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz.
FRANCE 24's Observers team has analysed satellite imagery shedding light on the environmental impact of the conflict.
South Lebanese mayors, residents protest against Israeli demolitions
Dozens of residents and local officials from southern Lebanon gathered in Beirut to protest Israel's destruction of their villages, which has been ongoing despite a fragile ceasefire.
Before and after the truce agreed on April 17 in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has been carrying out demolitions in the south and preventing the return of residents to more than 50 villages.
"We can't go back. It's been bulldozed – basically there's nothing to go back to," said Ibrahim Hamza, the mayor of the coastal town of Naqura. "The situation is dire and the Israeli enemy is present inside the village."
Standing in Beirut's central square, protesters carried Lebanese flags and photos of their devastated villages, some had signs asking "where is the ceasefire?".
Two days after the ceasefire began, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country's military would "remove the houses in the contact villages near the border that served in every respect as Hezbollah terror outposts".
A child waves a Lebanese flag at a protest in Beirut over Israel’s demolitions in southern Lebanon. (Photo: Anwar Amro, AFP)
Residents and local officials from southern Lebanon hold a protest against Israel's destruction of their villages in southern Lebanon. (Photo: Anwar Amro, AFP)
Hegseth faces Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are questioning Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the Iran war.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, kicked off the hearing by noting that the US is in the most dangerous security environment since World War II. He also praised President Donald Trump's use of the military.
Through the war against Iran, Trump “has worked to remove the regime’s conventional military capabilities and force it back to the table for a permanent solution", Wicker said.
He also praised Trump's budget proposal for 2027.
“This $1.5 trillion request is chock full of important programs and initiatives that are absolutely necessary to secure American interest in the 21st century,” he said.
On Wednesday, Hegseth battled with Democrats during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war's costs in dollars, lives and diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.
Spain blasts Israel's interception of Gaza-bound flotilla
Spain has said it "energetically condemns" the seizure by Israeli forces of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla carrying Spanish nationals in international waters off Greece.
Madrid has summoned Israel's charge d'affaires in Spain to convey its protest over the detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels, the foreign ministry added in a statement.
Spanish diplomatic staff in Israel are in contact with the organisers of the flotilla and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has spoken with his counterparts who also have nationals on board, the statement said.
The latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.
Ties between Israel and Spain have nosedived since the Gaza war sparked by the October 2023 Hamas attacks, with Israel angered by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's unrelenting criticism of its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.
Spain's Socialist leader has also opposed the US-Israeli war with Iran, drawing a sharp Israeli reaction.
Germany 'prepared' for any US troop reduction, foreign minister says
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said the country was "prepared" for any reduction of US troop numbers in Germany, after President Donald Trump threatened such a move in a row with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"We are prepared for that," Wadephul said during a visit to Morocco. "We are discussing it closely and in a spirit of trust in all NATO bodies, and we are expecting decisions from the Americans about this."
Merz says Germany has enough oil and gas supplies but warns about global shortages
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Germany has enough oil and gas supplies, but global shortages meant his government was doing everything possible diplomatically to open the Strait of Hormuz.
"We still have (...) enough oil and gas supplies. Relatively little of the supply for Europe passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The majority comes from other sources," he told a town hall event in the northern town of Salzwedel.
"Nevertheless, the shortages on the global markets are, of course, also an important signal for price developments here. Therefore, everything is aimed, including my own efforts, at making every possible contribution to reopening the Strait of Hormuz."
His comments came as US President Donald Trump has been sparring with Merz over the war in Iran in recent days. On Tuesday, Trump said the German leader didn't know what he was talking about after Merz said the Iranians were humiliating the US in talks to end the two-month-old war.
Israel detains 15 French nationals in Gaza flotilla raid
Fifteen French nationals were detained by Israeli authorities during the interception in international waters of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, said the French foreign ministry.
"Our first priority is the safety of our nationals and citizens," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said at a press conference, urging "all parties" to respect international law.
The flotilla was intercepted late Wednesday in international waters off Greece's Peloponnese peninsula, which is hundreds of miles from Gaza, the flotilla's organisers said.
Pakistan commissions submarine in China, eyes key regional role
Pakistani President Asif Zardari was the chief guest Thursday at a submarine commissioning ceremony in the Chinese port city of Sanya. The ceremony marked Pakistan’s commissioning of the first of eight Chinese Hangor-class submarines.
The close ties between Islamabad and Beijing have come under scrutiny since Pakistan emerged as a key mediator since the US and Israel launched a war in Iran, with which Pakistan shares a 900-kilometer border.
Can nuclear armed Pakistan play a security role in the Gulf region? FRANCE 24’s “The Debate” show examines the benefits and risks for Pakistan as a mediator between the US and Iran.
Iran warns US of return to lengthy conflict if attacked, media reports
Any US attack on Iran, even if limited, will usher in "long and painful strikes" on US regional positions, a senior Revolutionary Guards official was quoted by state media as saying on Thursday.
"We've seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships," Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi added, according to the Student News Network.
He was responding to an Axios report saying that the US military has prepared a plan for a "short and powerful" wave of strikes on Iran.
Yesterday's key developments:
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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