Live Updates: Iran says it's mulling latest U.S. peace proposal, Trump says he'll wait "a couple of days"

Twenty Iranian sailors whose ship was seized by U.S. forces near Singapore have returned to Iran, according to Iranian state media.

Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said Thursday that the release of the 20 Iranian sailors was thanks to the "benevolent action of the esteemed government of Pakistan."

In a post on X, he described the sailors' situation as "precarious due to the seizure of their ship." 

Iran's IRNA news agency reported that their vessel was seized by U.S. forces, but neither Iran nor Pakistan have named the ship.

In a social media post last week, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar referred to 20 Iranian sailors and 11 Pakistanis returning home via Singapore, "who were aboard vessels seized in the high seas by the United States."

The U.S. has, since early April, enforced a military blockade of Iranian ports and associated vessels, and it has seized several ships as part of that mission. 

Iran, meanwhile, has enforced its own de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding any ship wishing to transit the vital waterway do so in coordination with its military – often for a hefty fee. 

In recent days, several oil tankers have passed through the contested waterway in coordination with the Iranian navy, according to Iran. South Korea confirmed that one of its tankers did transit the strait this week, in coordination with Iranian authorities.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Beijing from Saturday to Tuesday for talks, the Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday, without specifying whether the war in Iran would be discussed.

"The leaders of China and Pakistan will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern," ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press conference on Thursday, adding that "China supports Pakistan in playing a fair and balanced mediating role in promoting peace and ending the war."

The two countries have both sought to mediate in the Middle East conflict, which was sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes. 

One of Pakistan's top mediators in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, Army Chief Asim Munir, is due to arrive in Tehran Thursday in an effort to broker a peace deal, according to Iranian news outlets.

A top UAE official denounced Iran's claim of control over Emirati waters in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz as a "pipe dream" Thursday, following an announcement by an Iranian body overseeing the strait.

"The regime is trying to establish a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or infringe on the UAE's maritime sovereignty are nothing but pipe dreams," said the United Arab Emirates' presidential advisor Anwar Gargash in a post on X.

Israel has released hundreds of activists who attempted to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and are in the process of deporting them, according to a legal organization working with the flotilla.

The Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said Thursday that most of the international activists were in transit to a civilian airport near the southern Israeli city of Eilat for deportation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported "as soon as possible," after sharply rebuking Israel's national security minister for a provocative video showing the minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop "provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters," the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was "not in line with Israel's values and norms."

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the approximately 430 detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.

The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, departed for Gaza last week from Turkey, near Cyprus. Organizers said they want to draw renewed attention to the living conditions of the nearly 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Iran's government is reviewing the latest proposal for a peace deal from the United States, with Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, expected in Tehran Thursday to continue efforts to mediate between the two countries.

"We have received the views of the American side and are currently reviewing them," Nour News, which is close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei as saying Thursday.

Baqaei added that the current Pakistan-mediated exchanges between the U.S. and Iran were based on Iran's initial 14-point framework proposal, which called for "a definitive end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon," the release of frozen Iranian financial assets and an end to what he described as "piracy" against Iranian commercial vessels.

Iranian lawmaker Fada Hossein Maleki said in remarks aired on state TV that the Pakistani Army chief would arrive in Tehran carrying a new message from the U.S. 

Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir will travel to Tehran on Thursday to continue his nation's efforts to broker a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Iran's ISNA news agency said.

"The visit comes amid continued regional diplomatic activity aimed at easing tensions and advancing negotiations," ISNA said.

Pakistan has been the leading mediator between the U.S. and Iran, conveying messages as the sides continue their indirect talks.

Pakistan's Interior Minister, Senator Syed Mohsin Reza Naqvi, arrived in Tehran Wednesday  for meetings with senior Iranian officials, but Islamabad has not confirmed a new pending visit by Munir, who has been among the key figures brokering talks between Washington and the Iranian regime.

President Trump said he's willing to wait for Iran's latest response in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran, but not for long.

"If I can save war by waiting a couple of days, if I can save people being killed by waiting a couple of days, I think it's a great thing to do," the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday afternoon.

On Monday, Mr. Trump called off what he said was a scheduled attack on the country that was supposed to happen Tuesday.

"If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly," the president said Wednesday. "We're all ready to go. We have to get the right answers. It would have to be a complete 100% good answers, and if we do, we save a lot of time, energy and lives, most importantly."

Mr. Trump said U.S. officials were impressed by the Iranians who were negotiating with his administration.

"We're dealing with people that are, I think, far more reasonable than the people that are really no longer with us," the president said. "We're dealing with some people with talent, with good brain power, and we're pretty impressed by it, so hopefully those people will make a deal that's going to be great for everybody."

President Trump said Wednesday — before boarding Air Force One to deliver a commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut — that, "We're in final stages of Iran."

"We'll see what happens," he said. "We'll either have a deal or we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won't happen."