Negotiators prepare for US-Iran ceasefire talks

NEGOTIATORS from Iran and the US were preparing for high-level talks with the ceasefire still shaky yesterday, as Israel and Hezbollah traded fire and Tehran maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

- MICHELLE L PRICE AND AAMER MADHANI

> Orthodox Christians commemorated Good Friday in Jerusalem yesterday after Israel lifted restrictions at holy sites in the city amid the fragile ceasefire with Iran. Easter rituals include a walk along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

There remain many issues that could derail the truce, as well as hinder negotiations for a broader deal to permanently end the war.

Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks set for today would not happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon.

And US President Donald Trump complained that Iran was “doing a very poor job” by not allowing the free flow of ships through the strait, through which 20% of the world’s traded oil once passed.