Paris (France) (AFP) - The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Lebanon unaware of Israel talks -

Lebanon is unaware of any planned contact with Israel, an official source told AFP, after US President Donald Trump said the leaders of the two countries would speak on Thursday.

“We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels,” the source said.

- Australia diesel boost -

Australia has secured an additional supply of some 100 million litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea, as the country looked to boost precarious reserves, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday.

- Chipmaker confident -

Taiwan’s chipmaking behemoth TSMC said it did not expect the Middle East war to affect its supply of vital materials such as helium and hydrogen in the near term.

- Iran detains spying suspects -

Iran arrested four suspected spies, state media agency IRNA reported citing a Revolutionary Guards statement claiming they were linked to Israeli spy agency Mossad.

- Pakistan pushes for talks -

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he met Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, before a possible second round of US-Iran peace talks.

Iran has targeted US allies in the Gulf – including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which Sharif is also visiting – in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on Tehran that triggered the war.

“I reiterated Pakistan’s firm commitment to advancing its efforts to encourage both the U.S. and Iran towards an agreement aimed at lasting peace and stability in the region,” Sharif posted on X.

- Iran in hostage warning -

A top military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Iran would take US troops hostage if they invaded and sink American ships enforcing a military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping waterway for oil, gas and other Gulf exports.

Hardliner Mohsen Rezaei said it would be “great” if Washington launched a ground invasion as “we would take thousands of hostages, and then for each hostage we would get a billion dollars”.

- Fresh oil sanctions -

US officials issued new sanctions against Iran, targeting more than two dozen people involved in oil transport, along with companies and tankers that operate within the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

“Treasury is moving aggressively with ‘Economic Fury’ by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, both of whom were killed February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.

- Growing hunger fears -

The conflict in the Middle East could push millions more toward hunger as its economic fallout reverberates around the globe, the World Bank’s chief economist told AFP.

“You have about 300 million people who suffer from acute food insecurity already,” Indermit Gill said. “That’ll go up by about 20 percent very, very quickly” as knock-on effects grow.

- Stock markets soar -

Japanese stocks hit a record high as Asian on heightened optimism the United States and Iran will extend their ceasefire for further talks to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Major Wall Street stock indices finished at record highs Wednesday.

- ‘Identical’ goals -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel and the US are fully aligned in their objectives to contain Iran.

“We want to see enriched material removed from Iran; we want to see the elimination of enrichment capability within Iran; and, of course, we want to see the (Hormuz) strait reopened,” he said in a televised speech.

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