Hegseth says Iran is digging out missile launchers

But Iran also obtained a satellite from China in late 2024 that it has used to monitor U.S. military sites across the Middle East this year, according to a person with knowledge of the satellite. Some of the monitored sites were later struck by Tehran.

The satellite captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia over several days in mid-March, the person said. President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post on March 14 that five planes at the Saudi base had been hit by Iran but had suffered little damage. There were no casualties. The Financial Times first reported on the satellite.

It also captured images near an U.S. air base in Jordan and in Bahrain, the person said. According to Iranian state media, those bases were struck by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missiles and drones in March.

The Chinese foreign ministry denied the report, according to the statement sent to Reuters.

“Recently, some forces have been keen on fabricating rumors and maliciously associating them to China,” according to the statement. “China firmly opposes this kind of practice driven by ulterior motives.”

Iran downed an F-15E fighter jet shortly before President Donald Trump announced a two-week pause in attacks. A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met with Iranian officials in Islamabad, but failed to reach a permanent peace deal.

Talks could resume in Islamabad as early as this week, officials said. But Iran’s powerful parliament speaker said Thursday that an end to Israeli strikes on Lebanon was “as important as a ceasefire in Iran.”

Fighting has raged between Israel and Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

“In the Islamabad negotiations and afterwards, we have been seriously pursuing efforts to compel the adversaries to establish a permanent ceasefire in all areas of conflict,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, according to Iranian state news agency IRIB.

Trump announced Thursday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. “These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.” Trump said in a Truth Social post. He also said he invited leaders from Israel and Lebanon to the White House for talks.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire in a post on X. There was no immediate confirmation of the deal from Israel. Hezbollah, which is also a powerful political party in Lebanon, has not been part of the talks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has forced 13 ships to turn around in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which some 20% of the world’s oil passed prior to the conflict. Iran had effectively blocked traffic through the strait, sending oil and gas prices rising. Continued control over the strait is a major sticking point in the U.S.-Iran talks, as is Iran’s nuclear capability.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the blockade applied to “all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports.”

But he also said joint forces would actively pursue in other waters “any Iranian flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” including any ships that were part of Iran’s so-called dark fleet, which use deceptive shipping practices to mask contraband including Iranian oil, and skirt international regulations or insurance requirements.

Caine said the military would board ships it believed to be transporting contraband.