President Trump says US Navy will begin blockade of Strait of Hormuz

As Vice President JD Vance heads to Islamabad, Pakistan, for peace talks with Iran, President Donald Trump is standing firmly by his side.

In a phone interview with the NY Post on Friday, Trump said that his vice president is doing a “very good job” and that he has “nothing to prove.”

“He doesn’t have to prove anything because he’s doing a very good job,” Trump reportedly said, after the NY Post asked if Vance’s negotiating abilities are being tested.

ABC News previously reported that Vance internally expressed reservations about the strikes. Trump has also said that he and Vance are "philosophically a little bit different" when it comes to U.S. war with Iran.

The president continued to cast doubt over the Iranian’s credibility, despite his insistence that regime change has occurred and that the new leaders are more “reasonable.”

“You’re dealing against people that we don’t know whether or not they tell the truth. To our face, they’re getting rid of all nuclear weapons, everything’s gone. And then they go out to the press and say, ‘No, we’d like to enrich,’” Trump said to the NY Post.

“So we’ll find out. But no, he’s done a great job. He has nothing to prove,” Trump added.

-ABC News' Emily Chang

Kuwait's armed forces reported seven hostile drones were "handled" over the last 24 hours, the Army General Staff Headquarters said in a post Friday.

Kuwait is blaming Iran and militias backed by Iran for the Thursday evening drone attack that resulted in injuries. The post said several National Guard facilities were targeted.

"The Iranian aggression resulted in targeting several vital facilities affiliated with the National Guard, leading to injuries among some of its members, who are currently receiving treatment with stable conditions, in addition to significant material damage," the post said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on Friday that Iran’s armed forces have not carried out any airstrikes against other countries since the ceasefire began.

The speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that "the release of Iran’s blocked assets" has been one of the "measures mutually agreed upon between the parties," but is yet to be implemented prior to the commencement of negotiations, in a post on X on Friday.

He said a ceasefire in Lebanon is another measure that must be implemented before the talks.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Israel will receive a “crushing and painful response” if it continues its attacks on Lebanon, the Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of Iran’s armed forces warned in a statement on Friday.

Iran will take the management of the Strait of Hormuz “to a new stage” and “maintain the initiative to dominate the strait," the Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters added.

"We will not give up our legitimate rights in any way," the statement said.