Negotiators from Iran and the US prepared for high-level talks with their ceasefire still shaky Friday, as Israel and Hezbollah traded fire and Tehran maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

China has called for all parties concerned to resolve disputes in the Middle East through political and diplomatic channels, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

"The ceasefire arrangements should be conducive to putting an end to the war in the region and restoring peace and stability. We call on relevant parties to resolve disputes through political and diplomatic channels, remaining calm and restraint and working to de-escalate the situation," said Mao.

Starmer in Qatar says he's 'fed up' with Trump and Putin

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a UK interviewer he was "fed up with Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin causing people's energy bills to skyrocket". His remarks to ITV came after a phone call with US President Donald Trump where the pair discussed the Strait of Hormuz. Starmer has been in the Gulf since Wednesday. 

The UK Prime Minister has repeatedly used the war in the Middle East to advocate for greater energy independence, saying it boosts the case for renewable energy, such as solar power and wind turbines.

Israel and Lebanon will have direct negotiations

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed that talks set for Saturday wouldn't happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon. Israel has insisted that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hezbollah. The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. It was the deadliest day in the country since the war began Feb. 28.

Trump said Thursday that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dial back the strikes.

Early Friday, Israel's military said it hit approximately 10 launchers in Lebanon that had fired rockets toward northern Israel a day earlier.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said that he authorized the negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible" aimed at disarming Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbors, which have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948.

The Lebanese government had not responded as of Friday morning.

Strait of Hormuz crisis

Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing and driven stocks down. Tehran's control over the waterway has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war.

The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $97 Friday, up more than 30% since the war started.

Before the conflict, over 100 ships passed through the strait each day - many carrying oil to Asia. With the ceasefire in place, only 12 have been recorded passing through.

Underscoring the precarious situation, a Botswana-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker attempted to travel out of the Persian Gulf via a route ordered by the Revolutionary Guard, but suddenly turned around early Friday, ship-tracking data showed.

The head of the United Arab Emirates' major oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, said some 230 ships loaded with oil were waiting to get through the strait and must be allowed "to navigate this corridor without condition."

President Trump complained about that situation, writing on his social media platform: "Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz."

"That is not the agreement we have!" Trump wrote of the trickle of ships Iran has allowed to pass.

Ceasefire deal still fragile

Questions also remain over the fate of Iran's missile and nuclear programs - which the US and Israel sought to eliminate in going to war.

The US insists Iran must never be able to build nuclear weapons and wants to remove Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to make them. Iran insists its program is peaceful.

The chief of Iran's nuclear agency, Mohammad Eslami, said Thursday that protecting Tehran's right to enrich uranium is "necessary" for any ceasefire talks.