Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

Commuters wait at a traffic signal beside a digital screen in Islamabad on Friday. Iran's foreign minister and U.S. envoys are expected to arrive in the city for possible peace talks. Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

The White House has confirmed that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are planning to travel to Pakistan Saturday for a new round of talks with Iran.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday arrived in Islamabad, where Pakistan hosted direct U.S.-Iran talks earlier this month. But his spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, denied that a direct meeting with the U.S. was planned.

"Iran's observations would be conveyed to Pakistan," he wrote on X.

The news of U.S. and Iranian officials traveling to Pakistan came the same day that Israel's military said it attacked southern Lebanon, targeting sites belonging to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and the militant group fired rockets into Israel.

That was despite President Trump's announcement that Israel and Lebanon agreed during White House talks Thursday to extend the ceasefire by three weeks. Hezbollah was not involved in the negotiations and has opposed them.

The shaky Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is linked to broader U.S. efforts to draw its war with Iran to a close. Tehran has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon remain paused as a precondition for further peace talks with the United States.

Trump unilaterally extended the ceasefire with Iran this week, hours before it was set to expire, without indicating a new expiration date.

Iran has dismissed that extension as "meaningless," saying the continued U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports is a violation of the deal and that the Iranian delegation will not return to the negotiating table until the blockade is lifted.

Here are the latest updates on Day 56 of the conflict in the Middle East:

Possible Iran talks | Mines in Hormuz | New sanctions | Journalist killed | Pope Leo | Drone attacks

A boy walks near a man with a fishing net as ships are anchored near the shoreline in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port city and the capital of Hormozgan province, along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. Getty Images hide caption

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking on Fox News on Friday, said President Trump was dispatching Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad "to go hear" what the Iranians have to say.

"We're hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal," she said, adding that the Iranians asked for the talks.

Vice President Vance, who led the U.S. delegation last time, is not planning to travel this weekend, she said.

"The vice president remains deeply involved in this entire process, and he'll be standing by here in the United States, along with the president and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the entire national security team for updates," Leavitt said.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Islamabad Friday. "Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments," he said announcing the trip on social media. He noted he would also visit Oman and Russia.

Araghchi did not say if he would participate in talks with the U.S. A statement from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Araghchi was meeting senior Pakistani officials.

On Thursday, President Trump said he was in no hurry to reach a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. "I don't want to rush. I want to take my time," Trump told reporters, adding that he was prepared to wait for "the best deal."

Trump said on social media Thursday he had ordered the U.S. Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" trying to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.