By Tom Polansek, Brad Brooks, Maria Tsvetkova, Rich McKay and Daniel Trotta

By Daniel Flynn

KYIV, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine can play a useful role in international efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, Britain's armed services minister said, praising its drone technology as amongthe best in the world.

Britain has organized discussions this month among more than 30 nations nL1N40L0A8 on how to reopen the strait, amid an Iranian blockade that has choked oil supplies to the global economy following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/.

Some three-quarters of the airstrikes during the Middle East war targeted sites in Iran or Lebanon, according to an AFP analysis of data from ACLED, a non‑profit that tracks political violence worldwide.

At least 7,700 strikes or series of strikes by missiles, drones, rockets or bombs, were recorded by the US-based conflict research group between the start of the war on February 28 up to April 8, when a fragile ceasefire concluded between Tehran and Washington came into effect.

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI, April 11 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian source said on Saturday the U.S. had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets that were held in Qatar and other foreign banks, welcoming the move as a sign of "seriousness" in reaching a deal with Washington in talks in Islamabad.

The United States has not made any public comments on the issue of unfreezing assets.

April 11 (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Iranian officials gathered in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday to hold talks that seek to end their war https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/ in the Middle East that has killed thousands L1N3ZZ07R, roiled energy supplies and hurt the global economy.

Here are the key issues the two sides are expected to discuss, with Tehran insisting that formal talks L1N40U01A can begin only after Washington gives commitments on a ceasefire in Lebanon and lifting sanctions on Iran.

JAKARTA, April 11 (Reuters) - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will depart to Russia in the coming days and is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin during the visit, Indonesia's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Minister Sugiono said the visit would discuss the potential for Indonesia to buy Russian oil as an alternative source amid global supply crunch due to Iran war.

Asked previously about a possible visit, the Kremlin said contacts between the two leaders were being prepared. nL8N40S0KZ

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by William Mallard)

Iran and the United States failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad, adding that he was leaving after giving Tehran the "final and best offer".

Vance said Washington was seeking a "fundamental commitment" from Iran that it would not develop a nuclear weapon, but that "we haven't seen that" after holding the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, April 11 (Reuters) - Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning of the war, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters.

Khamenei's face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader's compound in central Tehran and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, all three sources said.

ISLAMABAD, April 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. government plane carrying top U.S. officials landed in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday for peace talks with Iran, two Pakistani sources told Reuters.

Washington and Tehran are due to begin negotiations seeking to end the six-week-old Iran war that has killed thousands of people across the Middle East, disrupted energy supplies, fed inflation and slowed the global economy.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid, writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by YP Rajesh)

By Ariba Shahid and Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD, April 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Iran were to hold negotiations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday seeking to end their six-week-old war, although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions.

The U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, was on its way to Islamabad after a refuelling stop in Paris.