politics

Ships report attacks as Iran shuts Hormuz

Trump convenes White House Situation Room meeting

Donald Trump convened a White House Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the renewed crisis around the strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Iran, according to reporting from Axios.

A senior US official told Axios that unless there is a breakthrough in peace talks, it appears that the war could reopen within days. There is still no firm date for negotiations to resume this weekend, despite Trump’s hopes to end the conflict before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.

The official told Axios that JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and Scott Bessent, among other senior government officials, were present at today’s meeting.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says they will blockade strait of Hormuz again as of today

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will blockade the strait of Hormuz again as of today, the IRGC warned in a statement published by semi-official news agency Tasnim News.

“Approaching the strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any offending vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC statement read. The statement cited the US blockade as a ceasefire violation.

Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with US officials, a senior Iranian official said Saturday, citing Washington’s refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands on key issues.

In an interview with the Associated Press on the margins of a diplomacy forum in Turkey, Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh also said his country will not hand over its enriched uranium to the US, rejecting claims made by Donald Trump.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to the United States,” Khatibzadeh said. “This is a non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are non-starters.”

Khatibzadeh said there have been many exchanges of messages between the sides but accused the US of holding firm on demands Iran deems to be excessive.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned, their maximalist position,” Khatibzadeh said. Iran was seeking the finalization of a “framework agreement” before moving to an in-person meeting, he added.

Pope Leo says ‘not in my interest at all’ to debate Trump on Iran war

Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that it is “not in my interest at all” to debate Donald Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.

Leo spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola as part of his 11-day tour of Africa.

He addressed the spiraling back-and-forth saga of Trump’s critiques of his peace message, which have dominated news headlines this week. But the American pope also sought to set the record straight, insisting that his preaching isn’t directed at Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.

“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” he said. “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

Unicef pauses operations in north Gaza Strip after contractors killed

The Israeli military killed two Unicef-contracted truck drivers at a water point in the northern Gaza strip, forcing the UN agency to suspend its operations in the area, Unicef said.

Two other people were also injured in the attack that occurred at the Mansoura water-filling point in Gaza City, Unicef said in a statement.

Unicef said the point is being used multiple times a day to provide hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City with clean water from the Mekorot water supply line.

The agency said it suspended onsite activities until security conditions in the area are restored.

India said it had called in the Iranian envoy to New Delhi and flagged its “deep concern” over the attack on two Indian-flagged ships attempting to cross the strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

One of the vessels attacked was identified as the Sanmar Herald, an Indian government source told Reuters. The crew on board and the vessel were safe, the source said.

India’s top foreign ministry official asked the Iranian ambassador to convey India’s view to Iranian authorities and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the strait, a statement from the ministry said. The ambassador said he would convey these views to Iranian authorities, the statement said.

The US military is preparing in the coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing US officials.

The Iranian military has continued to tighten its grip on the strait of Hormuz, attacking several commercial vessels on Saturday as it declared the waterway was being “strictly controlled” by Iran. Shipping companies are left scrambling a day after Iran’s foreign minister said the strait was fully open to commercial traffic, an announcement that was welcomed by Trump.

Two Indian-flagged vessels carrying crude oil were attacked on Saturday while attempting to cross the strait of Hormuz, India’s ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

Tehran’s ambassador to New Delhi, Mohammad Fathali, was called in for a meeting with India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, during which Misri conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident involving two Indian-flagged ships. Misri urged the ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the strait.

On the night of 27 February, the day before the US and Israel would carry out strikes on Iran, an unusual influx of about 150 accounts on the online betting market Polymarket placed bets that the US would strike Iran the next day. Analysis found the bets totalled $855,000, with 16 accounts pocketing more than $100,000 each.

Guardian reporter Lauren Aratani looked at the suspiciously well-timed financial bets on the Iran war and the serious ethical and legal concerns they raise.

Aratani explores how prediction markets may be enabling people to profit from inside knowledge of geopolitical events, potentially even before they happen.

Hezbollah denies involvement in deadly attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

Hezbollah has denied it was involved in the deadly attack against UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which killed a French soldier.

A UN peacekeeper was killed and three others were injured after a patrol came under attack from “non-state actors”, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, identified the slain peacekeeper as Florian Montorio, a French national, and suggested in a statement that Hezbollah was responsible.

The Hezbollah-owned al-Manar TV reported: “Hezbollah denied any involvement in the incident with Unifil forces in the south and called for caution in assigning blame and judgment.”

Al-Manar reported a further statement from the Iran-backed group, in which it said it was “surprised by the positions that have been quick to level baseless accusations, while these parties remain silent and make no sound when the Israeli enemy attacks Unifil forces”.

Trump: ‘Iran cannot blackmail US with strait of Hormuz’

Donald Trump has warned Iran not to “blackmail” the US with its flip-flopping on the status of the strait of Hormuz, after Tehran reversed its decision to reopen the waterway to shipping.

But the US president again struck a positive tone that a deal with Iran could be possible.

“They [Iran] got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“We’re talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again – you know, as they’ve been doing for years – and they can’t blackmail us.”

He added: “It’s going actually along very well, and we’ll see, but we’ll have some information by the end of the day.”

Iran ‘considering new proposals put forward by US’

Iran’s supreme national security council, the country’s highest decision-making body under the supreme leader, said it is reviewing “new proposals” put forward by the US, according to Iranian media.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iran security council said the Pakistani army chief, Asim Munir, who has just concluded a three-day trip to Iran, relayed new proposals put forward by the US, which Tehran “is considering and has not yet responded to”.

It added that it will resume control over the strait of Hormuz “until the end of the war is definitively concluded”, warning that as long as the US naval blockade of Iranian ports continues, Tehran will “regard it as a breach of the ceasefire and will prevent the conditional and limited reopening of the strait of Hormuz”.

UKMTO reports further attack and suspicious activity near strait of Hormuz

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has issued two further alerts relating to attacks and suspicious activity near the strait of Hormuz.

UKMTO said it received a report of a container ship “being hit by an unknown projectile” about 25 nautical miles north-east of Oman. It said some of the containers were damaged but no fire or environmental impact were reported.

In a separate alert, UKMTO said it received a report of suspicious activity about three nautical miles east of Oman, after a captain of a cruise ship spotted “a splash in close proximity of the vessel”.

Earlier today, UKMTO said it received a report that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ships had fired at a tanker near the strait.The ship’s captain reported that the crew was safe, UKMTO added.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is asking if anybody has “looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing”.

While Spain has been especially critical of the US – with Trump responding in kind – over its decision to go to war with Iran, it is not clear what has brought on the US president’s latest verbal attack against the country.

The Spanish government is hosting a “Global Progressive Mobilisation” summit of left-wing leaders from across Europe and Latin America in Barcelona this weekend. While Trump was not specifically mentioned in public remarks, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said: “We all see the attacks against the multilateral system, the repeated attempts to undermine international law and the dangerous normalisation of the use of force.” This is being widely interpreted as a swipe at Trump, particularly when Sánchez has not held back in previous comments about the US president.

In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump said:

Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!”

The Guardian

politics

Lebanon-Israel 10-day ceasefire begins

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has taken effect, with US President Donald Trump saying a White House meeting could follow within two weeks and a deal to end the Iran war is “very close”. He suggested talks could resume in Islamabad this weekend. The Lebanese army has accused Israel of violating the truce with shelling in the south, while Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will stay in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah warns it may respond to attacks. Follow our live coverage for the latest updates:

08:02 AM, 17 April 2026

Trump hails Israel-Lebanon ceasefire as ‘historic day’

In two social media posts Thursday night, US President Donald Trump said that Thursday could have been “a historic day for Lebanon.”

In a separate Truth Social message after the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect, Trump added that he hoped the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group “acts nicely and well.” “It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do,” Trump added.

07:20 AM, 17 April 2026

US deploys 12 ships, 100 aircraft to enforce blockade on Iranian ports

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday (local time) said that US forces are actively enforcing a large-scale maritime blockade targeting Iran’s ports and coastline, involving more than 10,000 personnel, over a dozen naval vessels, and upwards of 100 aircraft.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said, “USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits the Arabian Sea as the United States blockades Iran’s ports and coastline. US forces are not blockading the Strait of Hormuz. More than 10,000 American service members, 12+ ships, and 100+ aircraft have enforced the blockade in regional waters, ensuring that no vessels violate the President’s proclamation.”

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits the Arabian Sea as the United States blockades Iran’s ports and coastline. U.S. forces are NOT blockading the Strait of Hormuz. More than 10,000 American service members, 12+ ships, and 100+ aircraft have enforced the blockade in regional… pic.twitter.com/yQP4J1uSha

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 16, 2026

The deployment includes the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) operating in the Arabian Sea, highlighting the scale of the US naval presence in the Iranian waters amid escalating tensions.

In another update, CENTCOM added, “Sailors aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D Black (DDG 119) stand watch as US forces remain vigilant and enforce the blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports and coastal areas.”

The USS Delbert D Black (DDG 119) is among the warships tasked with monitoring an interceptingvessels in the vicinity of Iranian waters.

Sailors aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) stand watch as U.S. forces remain vigilant and enforce the blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports and coastal areas. pic.twitter.com/oHSq4RhiVd

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 17, 2026

06:30 AM, 17 April 2026

Australia says no request from US on Hormuz after Trump criticism

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the US has made “no new requests” to help in Iran after Trump said he was “not happy with Australia”.

US security ally Australia has said it is not involved in the Iran conflict but has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz reopening to fuel shipments.

Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not helping in the Iran war. “I’m not happy with Australia because they were not there when we asked them to be there,” he told reporters in Washington Thursday. “They were not there, having to do with Hormuz,” he said.

Albanese told reporters Trump had made it clear he has “got this” when it came to Iran.

“There’s been no new requests at all,” he said.

Australia is also in talks with France, Britain and the US over the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Friday.

Canberra was asked by Washington last month to assist with the defence of Gulf states, and responded by sending an E7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and missiles to protect the United Arab Emirates, Australian officials said.

06:12 AM, 17 April 2026

Trump characterises Iran war as a ‘little diversion’

President Donald Trump said Thursday the US war with Iran was a “little diversion” during his second term in power, as recent polling shows the conflict’s unpopularity with the American public.

At an event in Las Vegas, Nevada touting his “no tax on tips” measure from the major tax reform bill passed last year, the 79-year-old president boasted about his economic record since returning to office in 2025.

“We had the best economy in the history of our country in my first term. And we’re blowing it out now…And despite our little diversion to the lovely country of Iran, lovely place,” Trump told the crowd of supporters.

“But we had to do that, because otherwise, bad things could happen, the really bad thing,” he continued, referencing Iran’s apparent nuclear potential.

An Ipsos poll conducted last weekend found 51 percent of the more than 1,000 respondents thought the Iran war was not worth the costs associated with it.

Less than a quarter of respondents, 24 percent, said the opposite.

Another recent poll published Wednesday by Quinnipiac University found 65 percent of US voters blame Trump for the recent rise in gas prices prompted by the Strait of Hormuz closing since the start of the Iran war.

The same poll reported only 36 percent of voters approved how Trump was handling the situation with Iran, while 58 percent disapproved.

06:12 AM, 17 April 2026

Trump says Iran war ‘going along swimmingly’

The president said in a Las Vegas speech he was feeling pretty positive about the Iran war, despite the energy price spikes, the death and destruction and the anxiety about the future of NATO and the Middle East.

“I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” Trump said. “It should be ending pretty soon.”

Trump added that the war was “was perfect” as he praised the power of the US military.

05:01 AM, 17 April 2026

Trump continues attacks on Pope Leo

US President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Pope Leo XIV, repeating a claim that the pontiff supports Iran having a nuclear weapon. The assertion is not supported by the pope’s public statements.

Asked by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins why he was “fighting with the pope,” Trump said he had “nothing against the pope” but added, “I have to do what’s right.” He then said: “The pope made a statement. He says, Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Pope Leo XIV has not said Iran should possess nuclear weapons and has repeatedly denounced nuclear arms and called on nations to abandon them. Pope Francis also taught that both the use and the possession of nuclear weapons are “immoral” due to their indiscriminate destructive power and the false sense of security they create.

The disagreement over the Iran war has escalated into a rare and public spat between the White House and the Vatican. US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have repeatedly assailed the Pope Leo, accusing him of being “weak on crime” and overstepping into politics. The pontiff has refused to back down, insisting he will continue to speak out for peace.

04:30 AM, 17 April 2026

UN chief welcomes Israel and Lebanon ceasefire

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes the ceasefire will pave the way for negotiations toward a long-term solution to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres commends the United States for facilitating the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, he said.

The secretary-general reaffirms UN support for all efforts to end hostilities and the suffering of people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, Dujarric said.

04:25 AM, 17 April 2026

Lebanon army reports Israeli ‘acts of aggression’

Lebanon’s army reported “acts of aggression” by Israel that it said violated a ceasefire which took effect at midnight Friday local time.

Lebanon’s army in an X post early on Friday called on residents in the south to exercise caution “in light of a number of violations” of the ceasefire agreement by “several Israeli acts of aggression.”

03:27 AM, 17 April 2026

Strait of Hormuz must reopen, but “not at any price”: France minister

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen “but not at any price,” adding that G7 leaders stand ready to mitigate the war’s economic fallout.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven advanced economies added in a statement that “it is urgent to limit” the global economic cost of an enduring conflict in the Middle East.

02:55 AM, 17 April 2026

Gunfire erupts in Beirut as ceasefire with Israel kicks in

Gunfire erupted in Beirut’s southern suburbs as a ceasefire with Israel came into effect at midnight on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday), according to AFP journalists.

01:00 AM, 17 April 2026

10-day ceasefire in Lebanon begins

A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, pausing more than six weeks of intense fighting between Israeli forces and the Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah, US officials said.

The truce started at 5 pm Eastern Thursday (1am, Friday, April 17), Donald Trump announced. He spoke separately with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and welcomed the pause as a step toward broader peace. Analysts caution the truce is fragile, especially because Hezbollah itself was not a direct party to the agreement and has issued mixed signals about complying with the pause.

The ceasefire could ease hostilities and create breathing room for further diplomatic engagement, bridging local conflict and the broader US–Iran negotiations.

12:02 AM, 17 April 2026

UAE welcomes Lebanon-Israel ceasefire

The UAE has welcomed the announcement by US President Donald Trump of a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, commending the diplomatic efforts that led to the breakthrough.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope that the development would represent a positive step towards fostering a supportive environment for regional stability. The ministry underscored the importance of continued international coordination to prevent further escalation and to mitigate the humanitarian and security repercussions across the region.

politics

Trump says Iran deal ‘very close

Washington, United States: President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran were “very close” to a peace deal and that he would consider going to Pakistan to sign an agreement.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump added that Tehran had agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium, as the two countries mull further talks in Islamabad.

“We’re very close to making a deal with Iran,” Trump said as he left to board his helicopter for a trip to Las Vegas.

.@POTUS: “I could make a little deal, but I don’t want to do that. I want to get it done… We had to do something. We had to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.” pic.twitter.com/pnR1gZdn1z

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 16, 2026

“We had to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon… They’ve totally agreed to that. They’ve agreed to almost everything, so maybe if they can get to the table, there’s a difference.”

Asked if he might travel to Pakistan to sign an agreement, Trump added: I might go, yeah. If the deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go.”

The US leader praised Pakistan’s “really great” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and powerful army chief Asim Munir for their role in brokering the talks with Iran.

Vice President JD Vance led a US delegation to Islamabad last weekend for talks with Iranian officials but came away empty handed. The White House says it is in discussions about a second round of talks that would likely be in Pakistan again.

Trump added that Iran had agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium — a key sticking point for any deal — although he gave no details about any such agreement.

“They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” Trump said, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons.

politics

U.S.–Iran may meet in Pakistan for talks next week

The U.S. and Iran will likely return to Pakistan next week for a second round of peace negotiations, two senior Pakistani officials told MS NOW on Wednesday.

The latest sign of the countries’ continuing efforts to reach a diplomatic end to the war came from officials who are involved in finalizing decisions with the U.S. and Iranian teams, but did not want to be named because of sensitivities around negotiations, MS NOW reported.

The step toward resuming the stalled peace talks came as tensions in the Persian Gulf continued to rise, further imperiling a shaky two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a trickle as Iran continues to pose threats to passing vessels and the U.S. enforces a retaliatory blockade of Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump, who said last week that the ceasefire agreement was subject to the strait being fully reopened, had complained about the lack of activity in the vital shipping route prior to announcing the blockade.

On Wednesday, Iranian state news outlet Fars reported that Tehran was suspending all petrochemical exports until further notice.

Still, the White House said Wednesday it is optimistic about a possible peace agreement coming into view.

“Discussions are being had,” and “we feel good about the prospects of a deal,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a White House briefing, while cautioning that the next round of in-person talks hasn’t yet been made official.

Leavitt also said those talks would “very likely” be held in Islamabad, “the same place as they were last time.” Pakistan has facilitated communications between the warring powers.

The first round of negotiations last weekend — a marathon 21-hour session led on the the U.S. side by Vice President JD Vance and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — ended in no deal.

Pakistan is “the only mediator in this negotiation,” Leavitt said as she praised the regional power for its help so far.

Leavitt also said it is “not true” that the U.S. has requested an extension of the ceasefire, which is set to expire next Tuesday.

A senior U.S. official told CNBC on Wednesday morning, “The United States has not formally agreed to an extension of the ceasefire. There is continued engagement between the U.S. and Iran to reach a deal.”

CNBC