Iran, Israel cease fire as deal looms

Israel and Iran have agreed to largely hold off strikes against each other for now, as US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks over a peace deal to end the war were in their final stages.

"We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal," Trump told reporters in New York, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would open up "right away".

When asked whether a deal would be a matter of days or weeks, he said it would take "two or three days".

He insisted that there were no sticking points that would prevent a deal from being reached, though issues such as management of the strait, frozen Iranian assets and Israel's assault against Lebanon have so far proved contentious in the peace negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a major strike on Iran on Monday after Trump told him not to escalate the fight, Israeli and US media reported.

In a video posted on X, Netanyahu said Israeli forces were holding their fire "at the moment" because Iran "ceased attacking us", warning that if Iran resumes the attacks on Israel,"we will respond with overwhelming force".

Tehran has insisted that a halt to the conflict must include a truce in Lebanon, but Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said US-Iran talks have "nothing to do with Lebanon".

Israel struck the port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, the Lebanese health ministry said, after an Israeli evacuation order for the entire city was issued for the first time.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that "our priority is national security and the peace of our people".

"We will defend the rights of the nation with authority and will not retreat in the face of any threat. Diplomacy and defense are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table," he said.

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told Russia's Sputnik news agency that the Strait of Hormuz concerns only Iran and Oman and that no third party has the right to intervene in its management.

"We will not allow America or European countries to take over the management of this strategic route," he said.

Around 30 ships transit the strait daily, he said, noting that Iran is ready to accommodate even greater maritime traffic capacity.

The US has been blocking the movement of some vessels that were scheduled to travel on predetermined sea routes, he added.

The United Nations has said the Strait of Hormuz does not belong to any country and cannot be legally closed or restricted by any individual state.

Meeting in Pakistan

In other developments, the heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces have agreed to boost cooperation after they met in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Al Jazeera reported.

Pakistan has been mediating between the US and Iran to end the war, with Tehran insisting Lebanon must be included in the peace deal.

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal and his Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir discussed "matters of mutual interest, the evolving regional security environment, defense cooperation and prospects for enhancing bilateral military relations", the report said.

Munir underscored the Pakistani army's commitment to expanding defense collaboration with Lebanese armed forces during the talks, according to the report.