By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan about the Iran conflict as recently as Tuesday, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters, a sign of his expanding role in efforts to broker an end to the conflict.

At President Donald Trump's direction, Vance signaled privately that Trump was open to a ceasefire as long as certain U.S. demands were met, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the source told Reuters on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that the United States was nearing victory in Iran as he laid out his case more than a month into a war that has sent his approval rating tumbling.

In an evening speech from the White House, Trump broke little new ground on how the war would end and vowed two to three weeks further of "extremely hard" strikes against Iran.

"We are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close," he said in remarks that largely rehashed his daily streams of social-media postings and rapid media interviews.

April 1 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said U.S. President Donald Trump's statement on Iran requesting a ceasefire was false and baseless, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah)

By John Irish

PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - France hit back on Wednesday at threats by President Donald Trump to pull the U.S. out of NATO, saying the military alliance was designed to ensure security in the Euro-Atlantic area and not to launch offensive operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

By Mushtaq Ali and Sayed Hassib

PESHAWAR, Pakistan/Kabul, April 1 (Reuters) - Afghanistan and Pakistan have opened a new round of talks in China to end the deadliest fighting between two Muslim nations since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, sources said on Wednesday.

Beijing has been trying to mediate a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which has claimed heavy losses on both sides, although many more on the Afghanistan side, since Pakistan launched air strikes in late February.

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The United States will be "out of Iran pretty quickly" and could return for "spot hits" if needed, President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to make a primetime address to the nation.

Trump also said he would express his disgust with NATO for what he considers the alliance's lack of support for U.S. objectives in Iran. He said he is "absolutely" considering an attempt to withdraw the United States from NATO.

Whenever war rocks northern Israel, residents of Kiryat Shmona live their lives to the rhythm of rocket sirens. Young people have left the city, and those who remain feel neglected by the government.

Some mere three kilometres (nearly two miles) from Lebanon, this northern town is living through its second war in less than three years, not counting Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, or the war with Hamas in Gaza.

By John Irish and Sam Tabahriti

PARIS/LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Tensions between the United States and NATO allies flared up as President Donald Trump said he was considering pulling the U.S. out of the military alliance due to its European members' refusing to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

NATO, which includes European countries, the United States and Canada, was formed in 1949 with the aim of countering the risk of Soviet attack and has been the cornerstone of the West's security ever since.

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - Iran's new leader has just asked the United States for a ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

"We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion," he said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, writing by David Ljunggren, Editing by Louise Heavens)

Palestinian shops and public institutions were closed across the occupied West Bank Wednesday in protest of an Israeli law passed earlier this week permitting the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks.

In the Palestinian territory's main cities of Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus, most stores were closed with their shutters down at midday, AFP journalists reported.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party had called for a general strike the previous day.