Irans

President Donald Trump on Monday alluded to the U.S. sending troops into Iran to retrieve its highly enriched uranium (HEU). His comments follow similar words on the same topic from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made to 60 Minutes on Sunday. Taken in aggregate, the statements suggest that there is coordinated messaging on the issue between Washington and Jerusalem and, after stalled talks with Iran, the possibility of such an operation may have been elevated.

As we stated shortly after the war kicked off, a mission into Iran to rid the country of its highly enriched nuclear material, once and for all, would be extremely risky and very complex. You can read more about these realities here. The main issue is that, by the Trump administration’s own stated objectives, the current conflict doesn’t really end until the enriched uranium, most of which is likely buried in the rubble of the underground Isfahan nuclear complex, is removed from the country. Estimates state that this stockpile, stored in scuba tank-like cylinders, is likely enough material to construct around a dozen nuclear warheads, that is if a program to fully weaponize it and construct and validate a device were to move forward.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said Iran initially offered to accompany the U.S. into its facilities storing HEU that were severely damaged during last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer attacks.

However, Tehran changed its stance, Trump claimed.

“They said ‘you’re going to have to take it,’” the American president said of Iran’s initial response to the issue of recovering the uranium.

“We were going to go with them, but they changed their mind because they didn’t put it in the paper,” the president added, referring to a peace plan delivered by Iran over the weekend. “So they agree with us, and then they take it back…But I have a great plan, but the plan is they cannot have a nuclear weapon. And they didn’t say that in their letter.”

Trump also played-off the issue this weekend saying U.S. forces are watching the site closely and will kill anyone or anything that gets close to it.

Speaking to 60 Minutes, Netanyahu seemed more direct about a potential ground incursion into Iran, yet evasive about the details. Asked how he envisions the highly enriched uranium will be removed from Iran, Netanyahu stated: “You go in, and you take it out.”

“With what? Special forces from Israel, special forces from the United States?” the Israeli leader was quizzed.

“Well, I’m not gonna talk about military means, but what President Trump has said to me, ‘I want to go in there.’ And I think it can be done physically. That’s not the problem. If you have an agreement, and you go in, and you take it out, why not? That’s the best way.”

Netanyahu was purposefully elusive when asked if it would require force to remove the uranium should no agreement be reached.

“Well, you’re gonna ask me these questions. I’m gonna dodge them. Because I’m not gonna talk about our military – possibilities, plans, or anything of the kind,” he proffered. “I’m not gonna give a timetable to it, but I’m gonna say that’s a terrifically important mission.”

Netanyahu says there’s still “work to be done” before Iran war ends | 60 Minutes

The Israeli government “wants Trump to order a special forces operation to secure Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile,” Axios reported on Monday. “Israeli officials say Trump is hesitant to order such an operation because it is highly risky.”

As we have previously reported, Trump is mulling over his options to retrieve the HEU through a special operations mission. Former U.S. Central Command commander, retired Gen. Joseph Votel, also told us at the time that such an endeavor is highly risky and may not achieve its goal. You can read more about his analysis in our interview with him here.

Meanwhile, ending the hostilities remains in question as the U.S. and Iran remain far apart in ceasefire negotiations. Trump on Monday called the aforementioned recent Iranian peace offer a “piece of garbage” that he didn’t finish reading and added that the ceasefire is on “massive life support.”

Trump is “leaning toward taking some form of military action against Iran to increase pressure on the regime and force concessions on its nuclear program,” Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.

“He will tune them up a bit,” one U.S. official told the outlet. “I think we all know where this is going,” a second U.S. official said.

Regardless, two U.S. officials told Axios they don’t think Trump would order military action against Iran before he returns from China.

President Donald Trump is likely to press President Xi Jinping over China’s approach to Iran when they meet later this week, senior US officials said Sunday. https://t.co/mxmwLrCs1w

— Bloomberg (@business) May 10, 2026

Trump is considering Project Freedom, the effort to guide commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz that he paused after about 36 hours last week, Axios added. He is also weighing whether to “resume the bombing campaign and strike the 25% of targets the U.S. military identified but hasn’t hit yet.”

הנשיא טראמפ נפגש היום (שני) עם צוות הביטחון הלאומי הבכיר שלו כדי לדון בצעדים הבאים מול איראן, כולל אפשרות לחידוש הלחימה, לאחר שהמשא ומתן בין הצדדים הגיע למבוי סתום ביום ראשון, כך אמרו שלושה בכירים אמריקנים https://t.co/Yolz48Dxqj

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 11, 2026

Trump told Fox News that he is thinking about reconstituting Project Freedom.

“President Trump just spoke to our John Roberts a moment ago,” the network noted. “He says he is now considering renewing Project Freedom, but he says this time around the US guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be just one small piece of a larger military operation.”

“He would not divulge at this time what the other pieces would be,” Roberts explained.

As we previously explained, Trump initially claimed he paused Project Freedom to give Iranian negotiators more time to respond to his peace deal. However, NBC News later reported that Trump ended the effort because Saudi officials, surprised by the operation, withdrew access to its bases and airspace.

President Trump told Fox News he is considering reviving Project Freedom, adding that U.S. naval escorts through the Strait of Hormuz would be only one component of a broader military operation. pic.twitter.com/RgLfVVRomi

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 11, 2026

Iran on Monday revealed what it claimed to be its terms, which made no mention of the uranium. They include the U.S. paying war damages to Iran, recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the end of U.S. sanctions and the release of Iran’s blocked assets by the U.S., according to a post on X by Iran’s official IRIB state broadcaster.

🚨EXCLUSIVE
Details of Iran’s response to the U.S plan, which Trump called unacceptable:

– The necessity for the U.S. to pay war damages to Iran.
– Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
– End of U.S. sanctions.
-Release of Iran’s blocked assets by the U.S.

— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) May 10, 2026

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei described his government’s offer as reasonable.

“Is it excessive to demand an end to maritime piracy against Iranian ships?” he asked rhetorically. “To demand the release of Iranian assets unjustly held in foreign banks for years under American pressure? Our proposal for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, is that excessive? Establishing security and peace across the entire region, including Lebanon, is that excessive?” “Unfortunately, the American side still insists on positions largely built and shaped by the Zionist regime, and continues to hold its one-sided stance and unreasonable demands,”  Baghaei added.

Iran’s FM Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei:

We did not demand any concessions from America; rather, we called for an end to the war and a halt to the piracy at sea against Iranian ships.

Our proposals to America were generous and responsible pic.twitter.com/n17pJzcbmB

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 11, 2026

In his comments, the Iranian official was referring to the U.S. firing on and seizing Iranian-linked ships. Baghaei was also reacting to a statement made by Trump on Sunday dismissing Tehran’s latest offer. Trump has repeatedly stated his main objectives are that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened. The future of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and support for proxies like the Houthis and Hezbollah are other sticking points.

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives,’” Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. “I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” -President DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/MIQDS9Ujjy

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 10, 2026

Given the wide diplomatic gap between the U.S. and Iran and statements by Trump and Netanyahu, how much longer the ceasefire can hold remains an open question.

UPDATE: 7:44 PM EDT –

Reacting to the aforementioned Wall Street Journal story about a clandestine Israeli military base set up in Iraq, that country’s military on Monday said there are currently no foreign military bases or forces operating in the country.

The Iraqi Security Media cell stated on X that “the matter pertains to an incident that occurred on 5/3/2026, during which an Iraqi security force from the Karbala Operations Command, as well as from Najaf, moved and clashed with unidentified, unlicensed detachments supported by aircraft at that time, resulting in the martyrdom of one fighter from the Iraqi security forces, the injury of two others with wounds, and the damaging of a vehicle.”

“We wish to clarify that some are attempting to exploit this incident politically, and there are escalatory statements being made without knowledge of the facts,” the post continued. “All these statements harm the reputation of Iraq and its security leadership, which affirms—and is certain—that there are no unauthorized forces or bases currently on Iraqi territory. There is significant effort being undertaken by our security units through inspection operations across all areas of responsibility. We also affirm that the necessary legal measures will be taken against anyone attempting to spread misleading information or malicious rumors that send negative messages about Iraq’s sovereignty, prestige, and the sacrifices of its security institutions.”

بيان
​••••
​نتابع باهتمام كبير ما يتم تداوله من تصريحات وأخبار بشأن وجود قواعد وقوات غير مصرح بها على الأراضي العراقية، وتحديداً في صحراء كربلاء شرق النخيب والنجف.
​وسبق أن أكدنا أن الأمر يتعلق بحادثة وقعت بتاريخ 5/3/2026، حيث تحركت قوة أمنية عراقية من قيادة عمليات كربلاء…

— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) May 11, 2026

UPDATE: 6:36 PM EDT –

Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system “has been nearly 99% effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah militants and ​has knocked out most missiles from Iran,” the chairman of ‌state-owned Iron Dome maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd said on Monday, according to Reuters.

Rafael’s Yuval Steinitz told a conference of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs that since the October ​2023 Hamas raid on Israel, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in ​Lebanon have between them fired some 40,000 rockets at Israel.

“Iron ⁠Dome intercepted most of them with success rates that (are) not 100% but close ​to 100%. It’s around 98%, even 99%, so it’s not perfect, but almost,” ​Steinitz said.

Iran, he added, has fired about 1,500 ballistic missiles at Israel in two rounds of fighting since 2024 and “only several dozens” were not intercepted.

He noted that there was ​no shortage of missile interceptors.

The Trump administration is keeping up its economic pressure on Iran, “sanctioning another network selling and shipping Iranian oil for the IRGC,” State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott stated X. “This action marks an additional round of sanctions under Economic Fury, part of the Administration’s maximum pressure campaign.”

The Trump Administration is sanctioning another network selling and shipping Iranian oil for the IRGC. This action marks an additional round of sanctions under Economic Fury, part of the Administration’s maximum pressure campaign.

— Tommy Pigott (@statedeptspox) May 11, 2026

Satellite imagery from @CopernicusEU shows no supertanker loadings on May 8, May 9 and May 11 (we don’t have data for May 10 from either Sentinel 1 or Sentinel-2 ),” Bloomberg energy and commodities columnist Javier Blas noted on X. “It looks like the longest stretch without loadings since the early days of the war.”

Kharg Island update: @CopernicusEU satellite imagery shows no supertanker loadings on May 8, May 9 and May 11 (we don’t have data for May 10 from either Sentinel 1 or Sentinel-2 🛰️). It looks like the longest stretch without loadings since the early days of the war. pic.twitter.com/yJoTzGO79j

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) May 11, 2026

UPDATE: 6:17 PM EDT –

As Pakistan positioned itself as a diplomatic conduit between Tehran and Washington, “it quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from American airstrikes,” CBS News reported, citing U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. 

Iran also sent civilian aircraft to park in neighboring Afghanistan, the network added, saying it was not clear if military aircraft were among those flights.

Among the military hardware was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft.

Scoop via @CBSNews: As Pakistan positioned itself as a diplomatic conduit between Tehran and Washington, it quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park in its country, potentially shielding them from US airstrikes, sources told @JimLaPorta and me. Days after Trump announced…

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 11, 2026

The United Arab Emirates has ​secretly carried out military ‌strikes on Iran, the Wall ​Street Journal reported ​on Monday, citing ⁠people familiar with ​the matter.

The strikes, ​which the UAE has not publicly acknowledged, ​included an ​attack on a refinery on ‌Iran’s ⁠Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, WSJ said, ​adding ​that ⁠the attack took place ​in early ​April, according to the publication.

The UAE has ​carried out military ‌strikes on #Iran, according to the Wall ​Street Journal.

The strikes, ​which the UAE has not publicly acknowledged, ​included an attack on a refinery on ‌Iran’s ⁠Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.https://t.co/0GJFrUdbsh

— Hamidreza Azizi (@HamidRezaAz) May 11, 2026

UPDATES

The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports remains ongoing, there was another report of ships attacked by drones in the Persian Gulf and the UAE said Iran is continuing to launch attacks against its territory.

U.S. Central Command on Monday claimed it has turned away 62 ships and disabled four attempting to run the blockade in total since the blockade began on April 13.

USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) monitors regional waters as it transits the Arabian Sea during enforcement of the U.S. blockade against Iran. CENTCOM forces have redirected 62 commercial ships and disabled 4 to ensure compliance. pic.twitter.com/Qw5QrTUn5R

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 11, 2026

The Ambrey maritime security firm said two ships were struck on Sunday in the Persian Gulf.

“A Panama-flagged deck cargo vessel was impacted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while anchored approximately 23.6 NM east-northeast of the port of Doha, Qatar,” according to an Ambrey alert. “The impact resulted in a small fire, which was subsequently extinguished by the vessel’s crew. The vessel reported damage to its conveyor system at approximately 07:15 UTC. One coast guard vessel was observed alongside, rendering assistance. No crew casualties were reported in connection with the incident. This incident occurred approximately 2.8 NM south of an additional vessel that was impacted by a projectile on the morning of 10 May. Ambrey will provide updates as new information becomes available.”

The Ambrey alert did not specify who launched the drones.

On Sunday, UAE said it was attacked by two drones launched by Iran, the latest in a string of strikes dating back to the beginning of the war on Feb. 28 and continuing even after the April 7 ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

UAE Air Defenses engaged 2 UAV’s.

The Ministry of Defense announced that on May 10, 2026, UAE air defense systems successfully engaged 2 UAV’s launched from Iran.

Since the onset of these blatant Iranian attacks, UAE air defenses have engaged a total of 551 ballistic missiles,… pic.twitter.com/yvruj6d3om

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) May 10, 2026

The issue of Iran will loom large over Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week. As we have previously reported, China relies heavily on Iranian oil and is also suspected of aiding its war efforts.

Trump is expected to call on Beijing to persuade Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, the topic is fraught with tensions over recent U.S. actions against China.

Last week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on several China-based companies, alleging that they provided “satellite imagery to enable Iran’s military strikes against US forces in the Middle East” and enabled “efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs,” according to the Guardian.

On Monday, China lashed out at those sanctions, describing them as illegal and unilateral, Reuters reported.

“We have always required Chinese enterprises to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.

Iraqi lawmakers are calling for investigation into a clandestine military outpost Israel reportedly set up in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against ​Iran. The Wall Street Journal on Saturday reported that Israel built the installation, ​which housed special forces and served as a ​logistical hub for the Israeli air force, with the ⁠knowledge of the U.S. just before the start of ​the war. It also included ​search-and-rescue teams positioned to assist any downed Israeli pilots, according to the Journal. Israeli forces fired on Iraqi troops after it was discovered, the newspaper added. 

Exclusive: Israel built a secret military post in Iraq to support its campaign against Iran and launched strikes on Iraqi troops who almost found it early in the war https://t.co/f9FISMgdNs

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 9, 2026

Ahmed Majid, a Kurdish politician, “is among several lawmakers who have harshly reacted to the report of the existence of an Israeli base in the Arab country,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. Majid warned “that Iraq’s sovereignty is being violated by both the United States and the Israeli regime.”

Member of Parliament Abu Turab al-Tamimi called the presence of the Israeli military base and American forces “a dangerous security scandal” and raised questions “about how enemy forces entered deep into Iraqi territory without the knowledge of border guards, the Interior Ministry, and the Joint Operations Command.”

al-Tamimi insisted that “an immediate investigation should be opened and committees should be formed to hold the perpetrators accountable,” IRNA noted.

Video emerged online purporting to show the Israeli outpost, in the Najaf desert, from a distance. The video was reportedly taken by an Iraqi soldier, though we cannot independently verify these claims.

Circulating footage claiming to show the Israeli military outpost in Iraq’s Najaf desert from a distance. The Iraqi soldier who is filming says the lights belong to two U.S. bases. The Iraqi forces appear to be keeping their distance, as reported by Al-Arabiya. https://t.co/p7tGGCyEDO pic.twitter.com/kgAfEtsGgI

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) May 10, 2026

However, the likelihood of an outpost like this is something we have suggested was all but assumed going back to last year’s 12 Day War.

Hezbollah released video footage on Sunday claiming to show its first-person view (FPV) drones attacking an Israeli Iron Dome air defense battery in northern Israel. The video shows what appears to be two attacks, one on a launcher and one on another launcher with several Israeli troops observed nearby. In each case, the video cuts out before any damage is seen. 

“There was no public comment from the IDF, but unofficially, IDF sources could not dispute the video’s authenticity, and the visuals spoke for themselves,” the Times of Israel noted.

As we were among the first to report, Hezbollah has been ramping up its FPV drone attacks on Israeli forces, creating havoc and leaving Israel scrambling for countermeasures. 

Hezbollah released footage showing one of its drones targeting an iron dome platform positioned in Israel northern border over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/aWBr7NiLkw

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) May 10, 2026

The British Royal Navy is deploying its Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to the Middle East to take part in a potential European post-ceasefire effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The vital body of water has been closed to nearly all shipping by Iran since the war broke out on Feb. 28.

The deployment comes as the U.K. and France will host the first meeting of the Strait of Hormuz coalition of defense ministers on Tuesday to map out a way forward amid the global economic impact of the Strait closure. It is also taking place as the latest round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran remains deadlocked while a shaky ceasefire holds.

“The Type 45 destroyer will forward deploy to ensure the UK can contribute to a future multinational mission to secure the critical waterway and safeguard freedom of navigation, following a sustainable ceasefire,” the Royal Navy said in a statement on Monday. “HMS Dragon can use her Sea Viper missile system to help safeguard UK assets and interests – assisted by Wildcats from 815 Naval Air Squadron equipped with Martlet missiles able to deal with the aerial drone threat.”

The Wildcats are helicopters with drone-busting capabilities that operate off Royal Navy destroyers and frigates.

The idea is that the Dragon would help set up an air defense bubble over the Strait in case a more comprehensive ceasefire breaks down. That would protect ships like the German minesweeper Fulda, which is also heading toward the region, as well as commercial vessels transiting the Strait.

As we previously reported, the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond used the Sea Viper system, along with guns, to take down more than a half-dozen drones launched by the Houthis in one engagement during the Iranian-backed rebel group’s campaign against Red Sea shipping in 2024. 

You can see an image from that engagement below.

The Portsmouth-based Dragon left the UK in March and has been “helping to safeguard the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean,” according to the Royal Navy. In our earlier reporting, we noted that the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle entered the Red Sea last week.

News about the deployment of French and U.K. vessels to the Middle East sparked a sharp warning from Iran.

“Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of ‘protecting shipping,’ is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of a vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated on X. “Accordingly, it is emphasized that the presence of French and British warships, or those of any other country potentially accompanying the illegal and internationally unlawful actions of the United States in the Strait of Hormuz, will be met with a decisive and immediate response from the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, they are strongly advised not to complicate the situation further.”

Gharibabadi did not elaborate on what that response might be.

فرانسه اعلام کرده است ناو هواپیمابر «شارل دوگل» را برای آماده سازی یک ماموریت آینده همکاری‌های مشترک میان پاریس و لندن با هدف تقویت آزادی کشتیرانی در منطقه تنگه هرمز، به سمت دریای سرخ و خلیج عدن فرستاده است. در همین حال، دولت انگلیس هم اعلام کرده که در همراهی با فرانسه، یکی از…

— Gharibabadi (@Gharibabadi) May 10, 2026

Tomorrow U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey MP will co-chair a meeting of over 40 nations, alongside his French counterpart, Minister Catherine Vautrin, for the multinational mission’s first Defense Ministers’ meeting.  

“The plan is strictly defensive and, once conditions allow, will focus on restoring confidence for commercial shipping along the critical trade route,” the Royal Navy noted. “HMS Dragon could play a key role in this mission. The ship’s forward presence will help strengthen confidence among commercial shipping firms, support mine-clearance efforts, and protect vessels once hostilities have ceased.”

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

Thousands of people cheered Team Melli as Iran’s World Cup kit was unveiled before the team’s training camp in Turkiye.

Iran hosted a departure rally for its FIFA World Cup squad, witnessed by thousands of fans in Tehran’s Enqelab Square, amid concerns about ⁠the team travelling to the United States to compete.

The players were cheered ⁠by the crowd as they made patriotic statements from a stage on Wednesday.

Iran’s World Cup 2026 kit was also unveiled at the event, following which the team will travel to Turkiye to continue their preparations at a training camp.

“This is the best sendoff in the ⁠last four World Cup campaigns,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), told state TV.

“The players are with the people, and the crowd stands with the country’s dignity, honour, and strength. Whatever the result, may Iran’s flag be raised there and defended.”

Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been in question since the US and ‌Israel attacked Iran, starting a regional war on February 28.

An FFIRI delegation, led by Taj, turned back at Toronto’s main airport, citing their treatment by Canadian immigration, and missed a pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver. They alleged “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials” despite holding valid visas.

In 2024, Canada listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, and statements from the Canadian government indicated that Taj was denied entry due to his alleged ties with the IRGC.

The incident triggered fears there may be issues for some of the Iranian delegation getting into the US.

As in Canada, the IRGC is classified as a “terrorist entity” in the US, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said no one with ties to ⁠the organisation would be admitted to the country.

Iran has placed responsibility for ⁠getting the players and team officials into the US, where Team Melli are scheduled to play all three World Cup group matches, firmly in the hands of FIFA.

“Nothing has arrived yet regarding the visas. We hope it will definitely ⁠be handled within this timeframe,” Hedayat Mombeini, FFIRI secretary-general, told state TV at the rally.

“FIFA has made promises, and hopefully those promises ⁠will lead to results, and the players will receive their ⁠visas on time.”

Iran ‌will play The Gambia in a World Cup warm-up in Antalya on May 29. Mombeini said the FFIRI was in the process of arranging another friendly for the training camp in Turkiye.

Huge crowds gathered in Tehran’s Revolution Square to celebrate and send off Iran’s national football team ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The new jersey of the Iranian national team, which will be worn in the World Cup competitions, was unveiled at the event.

Published on 11/05/2026 – 7:59 GMT+2•Updated
8:11

Oil prices surged in early trade as investors digested the latest developments in the Middle East, with both Brent and US crude climbing over 4%.

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It comes after Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s response to the latest US proposition on bringing the conflict in Iran, and subsequent impact on trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz, to an end.

In other trading, US futures edged lower, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 62,486.84 after briefly reaching another record high in intraday trading at above 63,300.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 4.1% to 7,804.71. It also hit an all-time intraday high, led by gains from tech-related stocks including Samsung Electronics and memory chip maker SK Hynix.

Technology-related stocks and growing artificial intelligence-related interest have supported markets in Japan and South Korea despite the Iran war, with the Nikkei 225 and Kospi rising more than 10% and 30%, respectively, over the past month.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump will head to China this week for talks with his counterpart, Xi Jinping. The two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, including trade concerns.

Satellite images have captured a suspected oil slick spanning dozens of square kilometres near Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export hub. Despite fears of a disaster, environmental observers say the slick is shrinking.

The US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the World Cup between 11 June and 19 July.

Iran are scheduled to play two games in Los Angeles, against New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June, and then Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said last week that no-one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country.

“We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is Fifa – not Mr Trump or America,” Taj said.

“If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.

“Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.

“So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind.”

The US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran in February.

Iran was the only Fifa federation among the 211 member countries that did not have representation at the Fifa congress in Vancouver.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said Iran will be going to the US and playing as scheduled – despite Iran’s request in March for its matches to be moved to Mexico.

Iran’s football chief says the country’s preparations for the World Cup remain on track, but its participation will depend on a guarantee of respect for the Iranian armed forces by tournament cohosts the United States.

The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) will seek reassurance from FIFA that the US will not insult the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the World Cup, FFIRI President Mehdi Taj said on Tuesday.

“[The] Americans, if they guarantee not to insult our military institutions and the IRGC, we’ll go,” Taj told state broadcaster IRIB.

“If they give such a guarantee that an incident like Canada doesn’t happen and they definitely assure it, we will go,” he added.

Taj was referring to an incident that took place last week, when an FFIRI delegation turned back at Toronto’s main airport, citing their treatment by Canadian immigration, and missed a pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver.

The delegation members, including Taj, turned back ⁠⁠⁠⁠upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport despite holding valid visas, citing what was described as the “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials”.

“They [delegation] returned to Turkiye on the first available flight due to the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces,” the FFIRI said in a statement following the incident.

In 2024, Canada listed Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, and statements from the Canadian government indicated that Taj was denied entry due to his alleged ties with the IRGC.

“IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country,” the Canadian government said.

The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.

At least 3,468 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. More than 26,500 people have been injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.

Iranian forces retaliated, launching attacks on Middle East countries where US troops are deployed, as well as Israel.

‘Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump’

Taj, who was speaking in Tehran, will meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich this month.

During the meeting, Taj said he will seek guarantees that the Iranian team and accompanying officials would not face entry restrictions or “disrespect”, particularly towards Iran’s state institutions.

“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system – especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said.

“This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what ⁠⁠happened in Canada will not happen again.”

The Iranian team is going full-speed ahead with its preparations for the World Cup, and football officials have outlined the team’s training and preparations for the tournament, which include camps at home and in neighbouring Turkiye before travelling to the US.

The squad will depart for Turkiye on Monday for their final leg of preparations before travelling to the US in June.

Team Melli will kick off their ‌‌‌‌campaign ‌‌‌‌against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21 and facing Egypt in their final group match in Seattle on June 26.

Taj insisted Iran had earned the right to play in the World Cup as one of the first teams to have qualified for the tournament.

“We are going to the World Cup because we qualified,” the Iranian official said. “Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America.”

Iran’s foreign minister meets his Chinese counterpart one week before President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is holding talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing amid tensions with the United States in the Strait of Hormuz.

Araghchi’s one-day trip on Wednesday comes a week before US President Donald Trump’s scheduled ⁠visit to Beijing for a summit with President Xi Jinping on May 14 and 15.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported the meeting between Araghchi and Wang had begun, without providing further details.

Araghchi’s visit to Beijing marks the first time he has travelled to China, a close ally of Tehran, since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. Araghchi had spoken with Wang by telephone at least three times following the start of the war.

Earlier in Washington, DC, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that Beijing would reiterate to Tehran the need to release its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran effectively closed the strait, through which major oil and gas supplies passed, after the war began, sending prices of fuel and fertiliser skyrocketing and rattling the global economy.

Following a ceasefire in April, the US imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports in a bid to compel Tehran to agree to Washington’s terms in peace talks.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said two things will be front and centre on the agenda of Araghchi and Wang’s meeting – maintaining the ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“We know that China has been very critical of the US’s naval blockade on Iranian ports, calling it dangerous. But increasingly, Beijing has also been critical of Iran’s decision to continually close that vital chokepoint,” Yu said.

Wang is expected to speak to Araghchi about what kind of support China can continue to offer Iran if it continues to close the strait.

“Iran will need Chinese backing, for example, at the United Nations, to continue to block any action that would put any additional sanctions on Iran because of its closure of the strait,” Yu said.

“Reportedly, the Iranian foreign minister is looking for clarity from Beijing as to what it will put on the table when Xi meets with Trump, and whether Beijing will be making any concessions to Washington that could make Tehran nervous.”

China, in return, “wants its own assurances that Iran won’t act in any escalatory way or any dramatic fashion in the lead up to that very important meeting”, she added.

Araghchi and Wang’s meeting came as Trump announced a pause on a US military operation to escort stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

The effort, which began on Monday, ratcheted up tensions, with the US military claiming it sank several Iranian boats that attempted to interfere in the operation. The United Arab Emirates also reported coming under missile and drone attacks from Iran, with one assault sparking a fire at an oil refinery. Tehran denies the launching the attacks.

Trump said on Truth Social the pause was based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries” and because “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran”.

Pakistan has been leading efforts for a peace deal between Iran and the US.

The two sides held direct talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, but the negotiations ended without an agreement. Key sticking points include US demands for Iran to halt all nuclear enrichment and Tehran’s wish to continue to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s judiciary has promised to continue taking “decisive” action against people it accuses of working for foreign interests as it reports more executions and asset seizures.

Judiciary and security authorities said they will “act decisively against the enemies’ mercenaries without leniency until the very last one”, according to a state television report aired late on Monday.

The report came hours after judicial authorities executed three men who were arrested in the northeastern city of Mashhad during nationwide protests in January, which top officials have called a “coup” attempt led by the United States and Israel.

State media aired what it presented as confessions by the men, who were labelled “agents” of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad and “leaders of riots” by the authorities. The report said the men acted against the government by using knives and swords against paramilitary Basij forces and damaging public property.

An increasing number of prisoners have been hanged over recent weeks, particularly since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28. The executions are connected to the antiestablishment protests, during which thousands of people were killed amid a state-imposed internet shutdown.

In Isfahan last week, 21-year-old Sasan Azadvar was executed for “cooperation with the enemy” for acts that included, according to the judiciary, “attacking a minibus carrying security forces with stones and a club and breaking windows of public buses and private vehicles”.

The authorities maintained that while the judicial process has been significantly speeded up for those arrested in connection with the protests, the proceedings remain legal and executions are carried out after being greenlit by Supreme Court judges.

Foreign-based human rights organisations and opponents of Iran’s government have said prisoners are not given fair trials and their families are pressured into remaining silent about arrests and executions, charges Iranian authorities reject.

A number of prisoners have also been executed after being convicted of espionage for Israel and other national security charges. Security offences can lead to a conviction of moharebeh, or “waging war against God”, and other sentences that carry the death penalty.

Earlier this week, two men were hanged for allegedly sending images of military facilities to the Mossad, trying to recruit others for sabotage activities and calling security authorities with fabricated leads to divert them.

Multiple members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a foreign-based group considered a “terrorist” outfit by Iranian authorities, have also been executed over recent weeks.

Foreign-based human rights organisations reported that Iranian authorities have in 2025 and 2026 carried out the largest number of hangings since 1989 when political dissidents and MEK members received death sentences in large numbers.

A report by Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty last month said at least 1,639 executions were recorded in 2025, which was 68 percent higher than the year before.

The United Nations confirmed at the end of April that since the start of this year’s war, at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges. Iranian authorities have not commented on the figures.

Economic measures

Iranian authorities have also confiscated the private assets of Iranians inside and outside the country in response to perceived antiestablishment activities.

The latest such move was announced on Tuesday morning when the judiciary announced that authorities in Semnan province, located east of Tehran, had seized the assets of 22 “traitors to the nation and people who are linked with the Zionist regime [Israel] and hostile countries”.

During the naval blockade imposed by the US, which has exacerbated the already dire economic conditions in Iran, authorities have also warned that they will act against any disruptive measures, such as hoarding goods, and have threatened prison time of up to 20 years, lashings and fines for anyone convicted.

Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei also warned that those hoarding, price gouging or selling expired goods will be met with “decisive” legal action.

Prices surged this week across the country, especially for food, medicine, cars and electronic devices. And there are potentially challenging times ahead with little sign of a lasting resolution to the conflict with the US and Israel despite an ongoing ceasefire.

“The current price levels are unacceptable. The price increases are due to the war tumult and sanctions,” Central Bank of Iran chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Tuesday. “But the people should not be worried because their resistance is working and, God willing, victory will be achieved soon.”

Videos from a tournament kit reveal photo shoot and images from training sessions highlighting Team Melli’s preparations.

Iran’s preparations for the FIFA World Cup appear to be on track, as social media posts from the team’s official account hint at an upcoming tournament kit reveal and show the squad training at an undisclosed location.

Videos posted by Team Melli’s Instagram account on Monday showed players taking part in a photo shoot for what appears to be Iran’s home kit for the World Cup.

Iran are in Group G of the World Cup and will play all their games in the United States, which is cohosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico.

Several members of Iran’s squad, including first-choice goalkeeper Alireza Safar Beiranvand and winger Milad Mohammadi, were shown wearing a new kit in a series of social media posts.

The Team Melli account also posted photos from training sessions, which have been held in Iran before the squad travels to Turkiye for three friendly matches before the World Cup.

The Asian giants’ participation in the tournament became uncertain after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28, with Iranian officials questioning the US’s role as host and President Donald Trump suggesting Team Melli’s players may not be safe if they travel to his country for the championship.

However, recent statements by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Iranian football officials have reaffirmed the country’s participation in the World Cup.

Infantino confirmed that Iran will play its games in the US in his opening remarks at the FIFA ⁠⁠Congress in Canada on Thursday.

“Let me start at the outset. Of course, Iran will be participating at the FIFA ⁠⁠World Cup 2026. And of course Iran will play in the United States of America,” Infantino said.

Trump later said he was “OK” with Iran playing in the country.

“If Gianni said it, I’m OK,” Trump told reporters ‌‌at the White House. “You know what? Let ‌‌them ‌‌play.”

Football officials in Iran have outlined the team’s training and preparations for the tournament, which include camps at home and in neighbouring Turkiye before travelling to the US.

“The first phase of the preparation period will end with an intra-team game on Wednesday,” assistant coach Saeed Alhoei told Iranian sport news outlet Varzesh3.

The game will be held at a stadium, and the players will wear official match kits, with an international referee and video assistant referee technology (VAR) to simulate tournament-like conditions.

Alhoei said the squad will depart for Turkiye on Monday for their final leg of preparations before travelling to the US in June.

Team Melli will kick off their ‌‌campaign ‌‌against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21.

“We will have three friendly matches, two of which will probably be against [local] club teams and behind closed doors, and the third against an African team,” Alhoei said. “It is a quality team that can be a good simulation for playing against African teams.”

Iran will face Egypt in their final group match in Seattle on June 26.

On Monday, Iran suffered a significant ⁠⁠blow after it was confirmed that winger Ali Gholizadeh had suffered a season-ending knee injury while playing for his club Lech Poznan in Poland.

Gholizadeh, who would have started on the right ⁠⁠wing at the World Cup, was stretchered off the pitch against Motor Lublin last Saturday, and tests later confirmed he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

“Gholizadeh will face surgery ⁠⁠in the coming days, followed by several months of rehabilitation,” the club said in a statement.

Iran has offered a new 14-point proposal to the United States in the latest diplomatic step to reach a permanent end to the war, which has exposed the limits of US military dominance and shaken the global economy.

Responding to the new proposal on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said he is studying it but is not sure he can make a deal with Iran, a day after he voiced frustration with a previous offer from Tehran through the mediator Pakistan.

Late on Thursday, Tehran sent the proposal to Pakistan, which got the two sides to agree on the ceasefire. According to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, the 14-point plan was formulated in response to a nine-point US plan.

But weeks since the ceasefire began on April 8, Washington and Tehran have been unable to negotiate a peace deal. Tehran wants a permanent end to the war, while Trump has insisted that Iran first end the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas exports pass. The US president has also made the issue of Iran’s nuclear capability a “red line”.

Iran’s de facto blockade of the strait came in response to the US and Israel launching attacks on the country on February 28. A naval blockade of Iranian ports by the Trump administration, despite the ceasefire deal, has heightened tensions.

The US and Iran have also been continuing to attack, capture, and intercept each other’s ships, pointing to an ongoing naval war still playing out in the Strait of Hormuz.

So what’s the new proposal, and will President Trump accept it?

Here’s what we know:

What is Iran’s 14-point proposal to end the war?

According to Iranian media reports, Tehran’s new proposal came in response to a Washington-backed nine-point peace proposal, which primarily sought a two-month ceasefire.

However, in its latest peace proposal, Iran said it wants to focus on ending the war instead of extending the truce and wants all issues resolved within 30 days.

The new proposal calls for guarantees against future attacks, a withdrawal of US forces from around Iran, the release of frozen Iranian assets worth billions of dollars and the lifting of sanctions, war reparations, ending all hostilities, including in Lebanon, and “a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz”.

Iran, which was also attacked by the US and Israel last June, wants a guarantee against future aggression. Israel has previously targeted Iranian nuclear scientists and run campaigns to sabotage its nuclear sites.

Tehran also wants its right to uranium enrichment guaranteed as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), but Trump has made the nuclear issue a “red line”. Iran wants decades of sanctions, which have devastated its economy, to be lifted as part of any deal. The navigation through the strait and demands for war reparations are other sticking points in the talks.

According to a report by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, after delivering the proposal, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, “Now the ball is in the United States’ court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach.”

Paul Musgrave, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, said Iran has “slightly softened” its proposal.

“The news reports on it indicate that there is a slight softening in the proposal, or rather a run-up to discussing the proposal, namely that the Iranian side may have given up its precondition that the US cease its distant blockade of Iranian traffic [in the Strait of Hormuz],” he told Al Jazeera.

“Beyond that, though, a lot of the things that are reportedly in the proposal include maintaining Iran’s sovereign ability to enrich uranium, its nuclear programme and, of course, what it delicately refers to as a ‘control mechanism’ over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Musgrave said on the two biggest issues – enrichment of uranium and transferring its highly enriched uranium – the US and Iran remain “far apart”.

“President Trump has been unyielding that Iran must surrender its nuclear capability,” he said.

Kenneth Katzman, a senior fellow at New York-based nonprofit Soufan Center, said Iran’s mistrust of Trump remains a bigger obstacle.

“The differences on the nuclear issues are actually … not that great a difference any more. It’s still substantial, but can be narrowed. The issue is that Iran really mistrusts Trump and the United States and does not want to move, really, into full discussion until this blockade is lifted,” he said.

“That’s a problem that could lead to US escalation. As Trump knows, he must break this Iranian control of the strait, so that’s where the issue is.”

Katzman said while both sides are “frustrated”, neither is likely to give up on the negotiations in the immediate future.

How did the US respond?

Trump has said he is reviewing Iran’s proposal, but warned that Washington could resume attacks if Tehran “misbehaves”.

Speaking to reporters in Florida before boarding Air Force One on Saturday, Trump confirmed that he had been briefed on the “concept of the deal”.

Despite the diplomatic opening, the president struck a characteristically blunt tone regarding the possibility of renewed hostilities, which have been paused since the ceasefire.

“If they do something bad, there is a possibility it could happen,” Trump said when asked if strikes would resume.

Trump added that the US was “doing very well” and claimed that Iran was desperate for a settlement because the country had been “decimated” by months of conflict and a naval blockade.

Trita Parsi from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft told Al Jazeera the economic cost of the blockade on Iranian ports has exceeded what the White House anticipated and argued that the broader strategic damage to the US was probably more significant.

“Iran has been under all kinds of economic pressure and sanctions for 47 years,” Parsi told Al Jazeera. “None of them has managed to break the Iranians or force them to capitulate,” he said.

In a post on Truth Social later on Saturday, Trump said it was difficult to imagine that the Iranian proposal would be acceptable as Tehran had “not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years”.

Trump seems to have rejected the new Iranian proposal “without reading it or being briefed on it”, according to Musgrave from Georgetown University.

What are the previous peace proposals to end the conflict?

Iran’s latest proposal comes amid a fragile three-week truce that came into effect on April 8 and has put a pause on the US-Israel war on Iran.

A day before the ceasefire, Iran had proposed a 10-point peace plan, which included an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction, state-run news agency IRNA reported.

Trump had said Iran’s 10-point plan was a “significant proposal” but “not good enough”.

The April 7 proposal from Iran came in response to a 15-point plan drafted by the US on March 25.

Washington’s plan included a one-month ceasefire while the two sides negotiated terms to end the war, via Pakistan.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, it also included the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, a permanent commitment from Iran to never develop nuclear weapons, the handover of Iran’s stockpile of already enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a commitment from Iran to allow the United Nations watchdog to monitor all elements of the country’s remaining nuclear infrastructure, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and end of all sanctions on Iran, alongside the ending of the UN mechanism that allows sanctions to be reimposed.

Iran, however, rejected this plan and said a temporary ceasefire would give the US and Israel time to regroup and launch further attacks and in turn proposed its 10-point plan.

What is the situation on the ground now?

Despite a ceasefire, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that it remains on “full standby” for a return to hostilities, citing the US’s lack of commitment to previous treaties.

In a post on X on Sunday, the IRGC’s intelligence unit said, “There is only one way to read this: Trump must choose between an impossible military operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The room for US decision-making has narrowed.”

The impasse is further complicated by technical obstacles to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including the presence of Iranian sea mines. Tehran has closed the strait since the war began on February 28, upending global oil and gas prices.

To pressure Iran to open the strait, the US imposed a blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13, stoking the oil and gas crisis. On Friday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was at $111.29 per barrel at 08:08 GMT, compared with about $65 before the war.

Tensions have been further stoked by Trump’s recent characterisation of the US naval blockade as a “very profitable business”.

“We took over the cargo. Took over the oil, a very profitable business. Who would have thought, we’re sort of like pirates, but we’re not playing games,” Trump said at an event in the US state of Florida on Saturday.

Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seized on the remarks, labelling them a “damning admission of piracy”.

Parsi from the Quincy Institute told Al Jazeera the US naval blockade of Iran has backfired on Trump and is making the situation worse.

“The negotiations were taking place and could have continued regardless of the blockade,” he said.

“The blockade has nothing to do with the Iranians being at the table. If anything, it is blocking diplomatic progress more than anything else,” Parsi noted.

He argued that Trump had actually secured his greatest advantage through diplomacy before the blockade was imposed.

“Once he managed to get the ceasefire, the primary pressure on him, the war itself and the way it was pushing up gas prices, was lifted. Had he stayed in that scenario and used time to his advantage, he would have been in a much stronger position vis-a-vis the Iranians, because the Iranians had not managed to get the key thing they wanted: sanctions relief.”

Instead, by imposing the blockade, Trump took more oil off the market.

“Oil prices are now higher during the ceasefire than they were during the war itself. All of these economic indicators show that the blockade is making the situation worse for Trump,” Parsi said.

However, Trump has been looking at options to resolve the oil crisis, including setting up a naval coalition called the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC) to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to US media reports, core functions of the naval coalition would be to share intelligence among member nations, coordinate diplomatic efforts, and enforce sanctions to manage shipping traffic through the strait.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s national currency has plunged to new lows as authorities mobilise to dampen the impact of the naval blockade enforced by the United States.

The Iranian rial shot above 1.81 million to the US dollar on the open market by early afternoon on Wednesday before partially recovering. The embattled currency changed hands for about 1.54 million earlier this week, and its rate was about 811,000 per US dollar a year ago.

The rial had remained relatively stable over the past two months after experiencing an earlier drop as US forces amassed in the lead-up to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began at the end of February.

The latest freefall follows on from unchecked inflation, which has been increasingly plaguing the Iranian economy as a result of mismanagement and sanctions, and continues to ravage households. Washington now has three aircraft carriers in the region and is bringing in more troops and equipment as Israel expresses readiness to restart fighting, three weeks after a ceasefire began.

Iran’s authorities this week projected a hardened stance on negotiations with Washington, and pledged to fight the naval blockade of Iran’s southern waters, which the US Central Command insisted on Tuesday had “cut off economic trade going into and coming out of” the country.

Amid threats by US President Donald Trump, the Iranian government has also tried to empower its own border provinces to import essential goods by reducing red tape. It has also allocated $1bn from the sovereign wealth fund to buy food, and made a partial policy U-turn to restart offering a preferential subsidised exchange rate with the goal of reducing prices, despite concerns about corruption.

Non-oil trade takes hit

According to customs data released by state media, Iran’s non-oil trade has been negatively affected after commercial ties were disrupted or cut off as a result of the war, and critical infrastructure was bombed.

Iran’s customs authority put the total value of non-oil trade in the Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20 at close to $110bn, with $58bn going to imports. The figure was about 16 percent lower than the year before.

The volume of non-oil trade was valued at approximately $9bn for the 11th month of the calendar year ending on February 19, and $6.46bn in the final month, indicating a drop of about 29 percent in connection with the war, which started on February 28. The final month was also about 50 percent lower than the more than $13bn estimated value for last year’s corresponding month.

Part of the drop is linked with the fact that shipping has been significantly disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz as Iran and the US spar over control of the strategic waterway. The US and Israel also directed some of their thousands of strikes against ports, naval facilities, airports, and railway networks across the country.

Iran’s top steel and petrochemical producers were also extensively bombed, as were oil and gas facilities, power stations, and major industrial zones. The US and Israel have threatened to take Iran “back to the Stone Age” through systematic bombing of civilian infrastructure like power plants.

To manage the impact and preserve domestic supply, Iranian authorities have imposed temporary restrictions on exports of steel, petrochemicals, polymers and other chemicals.

Oil exports in the crosshairs

The US is using its military capabilities and economic chokeholds to drive down Iran’s oil exports, a goal that it has also pursued over recent years through sanctions.

Since mid-April, the US military has been deploying its soldiers to take over or inspect ships transiting through waterways near Iran, in addition to targeting what is known as a shadow fleet of tankers used by Iran to circumvent sanctions and ship its oil.

Warships and thousands of troops could still launch a ground invasion or destructive aerial attacks against Iran’s Kharg and other critical islands, and the Trump administration expects increased pressure on Iran’s oil sector due to hampered access to export routes and supertankers keeping the oil stored on the water.

The US Treasury has been blacklisting refineries in China, the biggest buyers of Iranian crude oil, and going after the banking and cryptocurrency channels alleged to be facilitating Tehran’s oil trade, and having links to the IRGC – which Washington considers a “terrorist” organisation.

“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on social media.

Chinese refineries buy roughly 90 percent of Iran’s oil shipments, and imported a record 1.8 million barrels per day ⁠in March, according to Vortexa Analytics data cited by the Reuters news agency, which also said purchases were expected to slow due to worsening domestic refining and processing margins.

According to figures released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the volume of the country’s bilateral trade with Iran during the first quarter of 2026 stood at $1.55bn, down 50 percent year-on-year.

In March, the first month of the war, trade stood at $184m, which was nearly 80 percent lower than the year before and 64 percent lower than the month before. China’s imports from Iran and exports to the country were both considerably reduced as a result of the war.

The removal of the United Arab Emirates as a major trade partner and import market for Iran has also significantly affected the country’s economy, increasing its reliance on land neighbours like Turkiye and Iraq to the west and Pakistan to the east.

The UAE, a big part of the Trump-led Abraham Accords that saw multiple countries normalise relations with Israel, was heavily targeted by ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran.

The UAE has closed down numerous Iranian institutions on its soil over the past two months, including financial facilitators, instructed Iranian citizens to leave, and has said it will take years to restore bilateral relations to previous levels.

The US naval blockade of Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz, in place since April 13, has raised concerns that Iran could run out of crude oil storage capacity and be forced to curb production.

Bloomberg reported analysis on Tuesday from the data and analytics company Kpler suggesting Iran could run out of crude storage in 12 to 22 days if the blockade persists.

Last week, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that storage capacity at Kharg Island, where most of Iran’s oil is exported, would be full “in a matter of days”.

So how quickly could Iran run out of oil storage, and why does it matter?

What is happening in the Strait of Hormuz?

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow channel that connects the Gulf to the open ocean. It spans the territorial waters of Iran on its northern side and Oman on its southern side. It is not in international waters.

During peacetime, 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are shipped through the corridor.

Two days after the US and Israel launched their first air strikes in their war on Iran on February 28, Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced that the strait was “closed”. If any vessels tried to pass through, he said, the IRGC and the navy would “set those ships ablaze”.

As the war has dragged on and negotiations have failed to achieve a settlement, Iran has at times in the past two months allowed some “friendly” ships and those that pay tolls to pass. It is currently refusing to allow any foreign-flagged ships, including those previously deemed friendly, to pass until the US lifts its own naval blockade.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on April 19 that the “security of the Strait of Hormuz is not free”.

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” he wrote in a post on X.

“The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” he added. “Stability in global fuel prices depends on a guaranteed and lasting end to the economic and military pressure against Iran and its allies.”

Since the US naval blockade on the strait began, the US has opened fire on and taken control of an Iranian-flagged tanker near the Strait of Hormuz while also redirecting vessels on the high seas transporting cargo to or from Iran. Iran’s armed forces have denounced these actions as “an illegal act” that “amounts to piracy”.

The US naval blockade of the strait means that Iran might have to store the oil it produces.

Iran is the third largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia and Iraq and exports 90 percent of its crude oil via Kharg Island in the Gulf for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

What has the US claimed?

The US is eager to curb Iran’s oil revenues, which have risen since Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz to other shipping. This is the primary motive behind Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran exported 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in March and shipped 1.71 million bpd in April, compared with an average of 1.68 million bpd in 2025, according to Kpler.

However, the US naval blockade since mid-April now means that most of its exports are having to be stored instead.

Bessent wrote in an X post on April 22: “In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in.”

“Constraining Iran’s maritime trade directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines.”

How much oil can Iran store?

Iran’s domestic refineries have a production capacity of 2.6 million bpd, according to the energy consultancy Facts Global Energy.

Satellite data show the amount of oil Iran has in storage has risen sharply since the US blockade began, and in the days after the US tightened it, stocks were rising so fast that it appeared Iran had been barely able to export any oil at all.

From April 13 to April 21, data showed that stocks rose by more than 6 million barrels, according to the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP). From April 17 to April 21, the stock increased very rapidly, growing by 1.7 bpd.

As of April 20, the storage tanks at Kharg were about 74 percent full after the island alone had taken on about 3 million extra barrels of oil, the CGEP reported.

Generally, oil companies avoid filling their storage beyond 80 percent capacity to balance safety, emissions control and flexibility.

However, Iran and other oil producing countries have exceeded this limit before, for instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Kharg island’s stocks reached close to 90 percent capacity, an all-time high.

Iran also has some crude oil storage capacity in the form of “floating tanks”, or parked ships. About 127 million barrels can be stored in this way, Frederic Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera in an interview on April 14.

Will Iran need to cut oil production?

Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, told Al Jazeera that the blockade could eventually force Iran to cut production.

“However, given there is still available storage capacity onshore (roughly covering 20 days of Iran’s current production), we expect any production reduction to be gradual over the coming week with a higher likelihood of acceleration into May,” she said.

Analysis by CGEP nonresident fellow Antoine Halff echoed this. Halff wrote in an article published by CGEP on Tuesday that it may be some time before the US blockade causes Iran to shut off its production “in a big way”.

However, Halff added, Iran may still choose to halt production “fairly aggressively” but this “would be more by choice than by necessity”.

He explained: “Doing so would have the advantage of providing Iran with relatively ample spare storage capacity after the shutdown and would allow for a smoother restart of operations once conditions permit, and the constraint is relaxed, thus minimising adverse impacts from the blockade on longer-term supply.”

Why does this matter?

Halting oil production risks damaging underground reservoirs by reducing reservoir pressure, allowing water or gas to encroach into producing layers and changing patterns of oil flow. This can make some oil harder or more expensive to recover later, experts said.

Restarting the process of oil production can also be slow and costly, involving repairs of corroded equipment or unclogging pipelines.

Halting production would also cause Iran’s export revenues to drop. However, analysts said that for a few months, Iran can continue to earn revenue from oil that is already in transit at sea.

Kenneth Katzman, former Iran analyst at the Congressional Research Service in Washington, DC, said Iran is not exporting new oil during the US blockade of Iranian ports but Tehran has 160 million to 170 million barrels of oil on ships around the world currently.

The United States is considering a new proposal from Iran to end the ongoing war amid a fragile ceasefire between the longtime adversaries.

The offer focuses on reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz while postponing a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, arguably the most contentious issue between Tehran and Washington.

According to US media outlets, the proposal has drawn scrutiny in Washington, and officials there have expressed scepticism.

Early indications from the Trump administration suggest the plan is unlikely to be accepted in its current form, potentially further delaying any prospect of permanently ending the currently paused US-Israel war on Iran, which has killed thousands and sent global energy prices soaring.

Here is what we know so far:

What’s in Iran’s latest proposal?

Iran’s latest proposal aims for de-escalation in the Gulf without immediately placing restraints on its nuclear programme, as the US has demanded. Tehran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on the condition that the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports and agrees to end the war.

Iran has effectively closed the strait to shipping, creating global economic pressure by driving up energy prices and disrupting supply chains. In peacetime, one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are shipped through the narrow passage, which links Gulf oil producers to the open ocean.

Days after the ceasefire began on April 8, Trump announced a blockade on Iranian ports and ships, restricting Tehran’s ability to export oil and cutting off a crucial source of its revenue.

However, a central feature of Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait to all traffic is that discussions over Iran’s nuclear activities would be postponed until after the war ends.

The proposal was conveyed to Washington through Pakistan, which has been acting as a mediator.

“These messages concern some of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz,” Iranian state media Fars News Agency reported.

“Informed sources emphasise Mr Araghchi is acting entirely within the framework of the specified red lines and the diplomatic duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The news agency said the messages relayed were “unrelated to negotiations” and are “considered an initiative by Iran to clarify the regional situation”.

Iranian analyst Abas Aslani said Iran’s latest proposal is based on an “altered” approach.

Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Middle East Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera that Tehran believes its previous model – which was based on making compromises on its nuclear programme in exchange for economic sanctions relief – is no longer a “viable path towards a potential accord”.

“Iran believes this can also function as a trust-building measure to compensate for the trust-deficit issue,” he added.

On Monday, Tehran’s envoy to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said “lasting stability and security” in the Gulf and the wider region can only be achieved through a durable and permanent cessation of aggression against Iran.

How has the US responded so far?

US President Donald Trump met with top security advisers on Monday to discuss the Iranian proposal, the White House confirmed.

However, according to media reports, the US response has been largely dismissive. According to Reuters, an unnamed US official said President Trump was unhappy with the proposal because it did not include provisions for Iran’s nuclear programme. The official noted that “he doesn’t love the proposal”.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, US media outlet CNN reported that Trump was unlikely to accept the proposal. It said Washington lifting its blockade of Iranian ports without resolving questions over Tehran’s nuclear programme “could remove a key piece of American leverage in the talks”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News on Monday that the proposal was “better than what we thought they were going to submit”, but questioned Tehran’s intentions.

“They’re very good negotiators,” he said. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, said, “There’s been a complete lid over what was discussed” during the meeting between Trump and his national security team.

“It was so tight that we do not know exactly who in his national security team was present at that meeting,” Hanna added.

“Normally, there is some form of readout or some form of more information giving, fleshing out the details of a meeting like this.”

What has been the response from other countries?

While the “US and Iran feel that time is on their side, the longer this goes on, the more difficult it’s going to be,” Mohamed Elmasry, an analyst for the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, said.

“I really don’t think time is on anyone’s side. I really do think the Europeans are losing patience,” he told Al Jazeera.

On Monday, German Chancellor Merz stated that the “Iranians are negotiating very skilfully”, Elmasry noted. He said this shows that Trump is coming under increasing pressure from his allies, “who believe he [Trump] got them into this big mess and isn’t able to clean it up”.

“Trump isn’t going to be happy hearing that and the chancellor is hitting Trump where it hurts.”

Abbas Araghchi will speak with ‘senior officials’ in Moscow, Iran’s Foreign Ministry says.

Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, has left Islamabad for Moscow, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, as mediators hope to keep the prospect of more Tehran-Washington talks alive.

Araghchi sandwiched a trip to Muscat, Oman, in between visits to the Pakistani capital, leaving on Sunday to be in Moscow the following day. But there was no indication that direct talks between Iran and the United States would resume.

However, in a sign that indirect efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency reported that Iran had transmitted “written messages” to the Americans via mediator Pakistan, which were “about some of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz”.

But the messages were not part of any negotiations, Fars said.

US President Donald Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire that Washington and Tehran agreed to on April 7, which has largely halted the fighting that began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

But a permanent settlement remains elusive, and the economic shockwaves of the war continue to reverberate around the globe.

Iran has effectively blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz, cutting off vast quantities of oil, natural gas and fertiliser from the global market, and sending prices soaring. The US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in response.

There had been hopes for a new round of talks on Saturday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner due to visit Islamabad, but Trump later told Fox News he had scrapped the trip, saying there was no point “sitting around talking about nothing”.

On Sunday, Trump told the same channel: “I said, we’re not doing this any more. We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines”.

Asked earlier whether cancelling the trip meant a return to open hostilities, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that.”

Shuttle diplomacy

On Saturday, Araghchi met Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar, before flying on to Muscat. He returned to Islamabad on Sunday.

In Russia, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said he would speak with “senior officials”.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Araghchi would visit Moscow, but did not say if he would meet President Vladimir Putin.

Amid the flurry of meetings, Araghchi signalled scepticism over Washington’s intentions, saying he had “yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy”.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s authorities and state media project that they are less interested than before the war in negotiations with the United States if they go beyond their accepted terms, as mediated talks failed to materialise in Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Saturday and left for Oman, to be later bound for Russia. The top diplomat, who was not joined by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf like in a previous round of negotiations earlier this month, said he was “yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy”.

Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been expected in Pakistan after the White House said Iran asked for a second round of direct negotiations, but US President Donald Trump cancelled the trip and said, “we have all the cards, they have none” while reiterating his claim about “infighting and confusion” among Iran’s leadership.

“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” Trump wrote in an online post, continuing to put the onus on Iran’s leadership.

Amid a state-imposed near-total internet shutdown in Iran, nearing two months, officials and the supporters of the Islamic Republic emphasise that they are united in opposing any concessions to Trump.

The US president said earlier this week he was in “no rush” to reach an agreement with Iranian leadership, whom he claimed, without evidence, were “fighting like cats and dogs” among themselves.

Since Trump highlighted the perceived fractures, military, security, judiciary and government authorities in Iran have been releasing synchronised messages with near-identical wording to proclaim absolute unity.

The messages, circulated through state media and even using similar graphics and fonts but with different colours, claim that everyone in the country is “revolutionary” and exercises “complete obedience” to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The authorities also claim that more than 30 million people – a third of Iran’s total population – have registered in a state-run campaign to express readiness to “sacrifice” their lives if necessary, but they have not provided any documentation to prove this.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday afternoon that armed forces would retaliate against the US if it continues its “blockade, banditry and piracy” in Iran’s southern waters.

“We are prepared and determined to monitor the behaviour and movement of the enemies in the region and maintain management and control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and to inflict more severe damages on the American-Zionist enemies in case of another aggression,” read its statement.

The IRGC on Saturday took a state television presenter to broadcast near two vessels seized days earlier in the strait to report that Iran exercised “total control” over the waterway.

Iranian authorities continue to call on their supporters, including paramilitary forces, to take to the streets every night in order to maintain control.

In a rally in downtown Tehran on Friday night, Meysam Motiei, a prominent state-backed religious singer with links to the supreme leader’s office, told the crowds that anyone stuck in factional infighting during times of war “has not grown up yet”.

“If anyone from any group or faction, especially in the name of being a revolutionary, tries to disturb the unity of the people, they will get a slap in the face by the people,” he asserted.

But in ultraconservative Mashhad in northeast Iran, where a shrine considered holy for Shia Muslims is located along with powerful religious and economic foundations, some were still preaching aggressively against the possibility of former reformist and moderate leaders retaking power.

“They have instructed us to keep unity with incumbent officials, not these two people,” a speaker told a gathering crowd on Friday night in a clip shared by state-linked media, in reference to former President Hassan Rouhani and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“We are not afraid of B-2s and B-52s; we are afraid of dishonourables who have no concern for the homeland. Wherever Trump makes a mess, Zarif comes and blabbers away,” he said, about the diplomat who led nuclear talks that led to a now-expired landmark accord with world powers in 2015.

Iran’s judiciary continues to execute dissidents, and on Saturday announced the hanging of Erfan Kiani, who was arrested during the nationwide protests in January when thousands were killed.

The judiciary described him as “Mossad’s hired knife-wielder” and said he was accused of destroying property, arson and more in downtown Tehran.

No nuclear talks?

Iranian state media reports indicate that the US naval blockade of Iran’s ports is undermining the ceasefire extended by Trump and allowing the more hardline voices in Tehran to come out on top.

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies, affiliated with the IRGC, argued against allowing any nuclear negotiations to take place with the US, even though Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the war with the predominant goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. Tehran has consistently stressed that its nuclear programme is peaceful, although some Iranian leaders have called for the development of a bomb.

“The negotiations with the US are strictly to end the war, and Iran does not consider the nuclear issue to be part of the talks,” Tasnim said, claiming that time was not on Washington’s side due to the tumult in global markets resulting from the war.

Khamenei has not directly commented on more negotiations, but Ali Khezrian, another representative of Tehran in the hardline-dominated parliament, told state media on Thursday that Khamenei was “opposed to any extension of negotiations” under threats from the US and Israel.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier this week adopted Trump’s apocalyptic messaging, and said armed forces are awaiting a greenlight from the US to “return Iran to the age of darkness and stone by blowing up central energy and electricity facilities and crushing national economic infrastructure”.

There are currently three US aircraft carriers and their supporting vessels in the Middle East region, according to the US military, which marks the first time this has happened since the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

But Mahmoud Nabavian, a senior black-turban cleric and hardline member of parliament who was a part of the large Iranian delegation in the first round of talks, said it was a “strategic mistake” to even include the nuclear issue.

He told state media that this allowed the US to raise demands like a 20-year suspension of enrichment, and shipping Iran’s buried high-enriched uranium abroad.

“From now on, entering any negotiations with the US is pure damage and has no interest for the Iranian nation,” he said earlier this week, adding that oil sales were providing the government with a “full hand”.

Mohammad Saeedi, the Friday prayer imam of ultraconservative Qom, located south of Tehran, said in reference to the US that it would be “meaningless and unfair to sit down behind the negotiating table with a symbol of corruption”.

Civilian infrastructure in danger

The government of relatively moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian has signalled concern about the potential impacts of systematic targeting of more civilian infrastructure, especially power plants, in case the war continues.

“We have a simple request from the people: to reduce their consumption of power and energy. For now, we have no need for these dear people to sacrifice their lives, but we need to control consumption,” the president said on Saturday. “They have hit our infrastructure and blockaded us, so the people become dissatisfied.”

Mohammad Allahdad, the head of Tavanir, the government-owned mother company for development and operation of Iran’s power grid, told state television that it would pay a reward to citizens who would report any theft and illegal use of electricity.

First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said, “We will build Iran back more glorious” through unity after previous infrastructure attacks that hit oil and gas facilities, steel producers, petrochemical firms, aluminium factories, energy facilities, as well as airports, naval ports, bridges and railway networks.

The government reopened Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport for limited foreign-bound flights on Saturday, including those taking people to the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, despite the potential of war resuming.

Trump later suggests that next talks will be over phone, saying ‘If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!’

United States President Donald Trump has announced that his envoys would not be travelling to Pakistan for talks with Iranian officials after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left the country.

The US president told news outlet Fox News that he had ordered Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to ditch plans to visit the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for the possible talks, despite his earlier claims that Iran was “making an offer” aimed at resolving the two-month conflict.

“I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,” Trump said.

In any case, Araghchi had already departed Islamabad, the first destination of a three-leg tour including Oman and Russia. Iran’s state-run Press TV confirmed he left on Saturday after meeting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Posting on X, Araghchi said he had shared “Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran” with Pakistani officials. “Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy,” he added.

Later, Trump appeared to say on social media that any future talks would be taking place over the phone. “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he wrote, adding that nobody knew who was in charge in Iran and that there was “tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’”.

Reporting from Washington, Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said Trump’s comments suggested that the US did not see “any yielding on the Iranians part”.

She said that his talk of holding “all the cards” appeared to allude to “the US naval blockade, as well as the ongoing presence of more than 50,000 troops in the region, ready to resume combat operations”.

The pressure to strike a deal to permanently end the war has mounted amid an ongoing standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments transit.

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Saturday that they had no intention of ending their effective blocking of the waterway, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil, according to the news agency AFP.

Asked by US media outlet Axios whether the cancelled trip by his envoys meant a resumption of hostilities, Trump said: “No. It doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet.”

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Araghchi had arrived in Muscat on Saturday for meetings with Omani officials. He is also expected to travel on to Russia to discuss efforts to end the war, which the United States and Israel began against Iran on February 28.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Islamabad, but Tehran yet to commit to more talks with US delegation.

United States President Donald Trump is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan as Iran’s foreign minister arrived in the country, raising hopes of new talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran amid a fragile ceasefire and growing tensions over control of the Hormuz Strait.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday that US envoys would sit down with Abbas Araghchi, expressing hope that parties would “move the ball forward to a deal”, but it remained unclear whether the Iranian delegation had agreed to hold talks.

Writing on X on Friday, Iran’s top diplomat had said he was off on a “timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow”, to coordinate on “bilateral matters”, with no specific mention of any intention to meet with US negotiators.

Trump expressed optimism over a potential deal, telling the news agency Reuters that Iran was “making an offer” aimed at satisfying US demands, which include ending its nuclear programme.

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran had a chance to make a “good deal”. “Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely … at the negotiating table,” he said, adding that all they had to do was “abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways”.

But two Pakistani government sources told Reuters that the Iranian foreign minister’s visit would be brief, focusing on Iran’s proposals for talks with the US, which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said a “senior official” had “made it clear” to him that there would not be any US-Iran talks in Pakistan.

“These regional partners all have their own ideas on how to solve this deadlock, but for the moment, Iran has said it would not meet for a new round of talks,” he said.

Top negotiators from last round absent

Reports on Araghchi’s trip in Iranian state media made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who was the head of its delegation at talks with a US delegation earlier this month that ended with no breakthrough.

The Iranian parliament’s media office denied a report that Ghalibaf had resigned as head of Iran’s negotiating team, adding that there was no new round of talks scheduled yet, according to Reuters.

US Vice President JD Vance also participated in the first round of talks, but is not travelling to Pakistan on this occasion, though Leavitt said he remained “deeply involved” and was on “standby” to join if needed.

She said Trump decided to send Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan “to hear the Iranians out”. “We’ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” she maintained, without offering any further details.

Reporting from Washington, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said there appeared to be a “graded process” in place, describing it as “an initial exploratory phase” that could lead to “higher-level engagement if negotiations deepen”.

A new round of talks had been expected to start on Tuesday but did not materialise, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending.

Trump had unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators as the US continued its blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran says it will not stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial maritime trade chokepoint, until Trump lifts his blockade. On Friday, the US applied more pressure on Tehran by freezing $344m in cryptocurrency assets in a bid to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds”.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Navy to attack any Iranian boats mining the Strait of Hormuz. His decree, issued on Truth Social, also claims the U.S. is currently demining the strategic waterway. His announcement comes hours after the U.S. boarded another Iranian-linked vessel in the Indian Ocean and a day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) fired on at least three ships and seized two of them in the Strait.

All this activity is taking place as the prospect of peace talks remains unclear two days after Trump announced a ceasefire extension, which we will discuss later in this story.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump proclaimed on his social media site. “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!”

It should be noted that the IRGC has invested heavily in its fleet of small boats for decades as TWZ has explored in the past. In addition to being armed with short-range anti-ship missiles, as well as artillery rockets and other weapons, they can also be used to lay naval mines. While the president claimed that 159 Iranian ships have been destroyed, the IRGC still has a large number of these small vessels.

In a story yesterday, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon told Congress it could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military.

EXCLUSIVE: It could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, and any such operation is unlikely to be carried out until the U.S. war with Iran ends, the Pentagon has informed Congress — an assessment that means the conflict’s…

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) April 22, 2026

With three carrier strike groups, several destroyers and scores of land-based aircraft in the region, the U.S. is well-postured to take out Iranian boats if needed. Striking Iran’s Navy was a prime mission for Epic Fury, as Trump noted. However, it is not publicly known at the moment what assets are conducting the mine sweeping Trump claimed or what the current level is of that activity that he wants to triple. We’ve reached out to the White House and U.S. Central Command for more details.

While it is possible one or more of these vessels could be in the Strait, doing so would put them at a greater risk of attack from Iran’s remaining cache of land-based weapons like anti-ship missiles and drones, as well as what’s left of its flotilla of small boats and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs).

As we reported on April 13, a pair of Avenger class mine-hunters homeported in Japan were tracked sailing westward out of the Pacific Ocean, however, they are still a distance away from the Strait. USS Chief and USS Pioneer departed Colombo, Sri Lanka, yesterday following a two-day port call, public AIS data on MarineTraffic shows. They stopped transmitting AIS while steaming northwest at 10 knots toward the CENTCOM area of responsibility, although their final destination is unconfirmed.

USS Chief (MCM-14) and USS Pioneer (MCM-9) Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships leaving Singapore – April 10, 2026 SRC: INST- yplanesonly pic.twitter.com/49unSU9nuf

— WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) April 10, 2026

The U.S. also has a trio of littoral combat ships (LCS) forward-deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet and configured for mine countermeasures missions. However, as we previously reported, those ships were redeployed from Bahrain ahead of the conflict, and two emerged unexpectedly in Southeast Asia last month. It remains unclear why the decision was made to send them to the other side of the globe amid the threat of Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz, but both were recently spotted sailing northbound in the Malacca Strait after weeks in Singapore.

The Santa Barbara left Singapore on April 16 and the Tulsa left on April 2.

USS Canberra is the only confirmed mine sweeper currently in CENTCOM, according to a post on the Pentagon’s image sharing site that shows the Independence class LCS patrolling in the Arabian Sea.

The arrival of Pioneer and Chief would increase mine sweepers from one to three, tripling the coverage, which aligns with Trump’s order. The other two LCSs, USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara, could also be nearby or on station in the Middle East to support the MCM mission.

UPDATE: There are 4 minesweeping ships in the US Navy, 2 in Japan and 2 are en route to the CENTCOM/5th Fleet (may already be in the AOR).

There are 3 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with mine countermeasures modules (MCM) assigned to CENTCOM/5th Fleet with only 1, the USS Canberra… https://t.co/DOKqZdp3nt

— TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) April 23, 2026

The transit of the Chief is not without issues. A sailor assigned to the was medically evacuated to his home port after he was scratched by an Asian monkey while ashore in Thailand, Axios reported.

“The Navy reports the incident did not delay the USS Chief‘s mission and that the sailor is OK, but officials say the attack is a reminder that military missions face unexpected troubles and disruptions that are hard to war-game for,” the outlet added.

NEW: A U.S. Navy sailor assigned to a minesweeping ship that’s headed to the Strait of Hormuz was medically evacuated to his home port after he was scratched by an Asian monkey while ashore in Thailand https://t.co/NQ2xaoErBF

— Axios (@axios) April 23, 2026

UPDATES

UPDATE: 6:07 PM EDT –

“U.S. military officials are developing new plans to target Iran’s capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz in the event the current ceasefire with Iran falls apart,” CNN is reporting. 

An additional option, according to the cable network, is targeting individual Iranian military leaders and other “obstructionists” U.S. officials believe are actively undermining negotiations.

New: US military officials are developing new plans to target Iran’s capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz in the event the current ceasefire with Iran falls apart, multiple sources tell me.

Another option — target individual Iranian military leaders & other “obstructionists” US…

— Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) April 23, 2026

UPDATE: 5:50 PM EDT-

The U.S. has burned through so many munitions in Iran that some administration officials increasingly assess that America couldn’t fully execute contingency plans to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion if it occurred in the near term, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.

“The U.S. has fired more than 1,000 long-range Tomahawk missiles since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, as well as 1,500 to 2,000 critical air-defense missiles, including Thaad, Patriot and Standard Missile interceptors, according to U.S. officials,” the publication added.

NEW: The U.S. has burned through so many munitions in Iran that some administration officials increasingly assess that America couldn’t fully execute contingency plans to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion if it occurred in the near term, U.S. officials said.

— Alex Ward (@alexbward) April 23, 2026

UPDATE: 5:34 PM EDT –

Trump announced that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks.

“The President of the United States, DONALD J. TRUMP, Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, met today with High Ranking Representatives of Israel and Lebanon in the Oval Office,” Trump announced on Truth Social. “The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah. The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS. I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!”

.@POTUS: “We had a great meeting with very high officials of Lebanon and very high officials of Israel… They’ve agreed to an additional three weeks of ceasefire… It’ll be a wonderful thing to get this worked out simultaneously with what we’re doing in Iran.” https://t.co/Aok4VOGE6G pic.twitter.com/faS4Z6JAhv

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 23, 2026

UPDATE: 5:15 PM EDT –

Hezbollah reportedly launched about five rockets at northern Israel. The IDF says its forces intercepted all the rockets. There were no reported injuries.

UPDATE: 5:09 PM EDT –

During an afternoon press conference on healthcare, Trump offered additional insight into his ongoing dealings with Iran.

Iran “came to us, and they said ‘we will agree to open the Strait,’ and all my people are happy,” Trump exclaimed. “Everybody was happy—except me. I said, wait a minute. If we open this Strait, that means they’re going to make $500 million a day. I don’t want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing, so I’m the one that kept it closed. We have total control of it. And it’ll open when they make a deal or something else happens.”

BREAKING: President Trump says he could make a deal with Iran “right now,” but he wants it to be “everlasting,” not temporary.

“We have total control of the Strait… They would have opened it up three days ago. They came to us and they said, ‘we will agree to open the Strait.’… pic.twitter.com/W7ayTC6dn8

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 23, 2026

On the topic of who is in charge in Tehran, Trump said: “Iran wants to make a deal and we’ve been speaking to them, but they don’t even know who’s leading their country. They are in turmoil, so we thought we’d give them a little chance to get some of that resolved.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Iran wants to make a deal and we’ve been speaking to them, but they don’t even know who’s leading their country. They are in turmoil, so we thought we’d give them a little chance to get some of that resolved. pic.twitter.com/0gLeHRl8cl

— Department of State (@StateDept) April 23, 2026

As far as the military goals of Epic Fury, Trump said: “We’ve hit 78% of the targets that we’ve wanted to hit. If Iran doesn’t want to make a deal, then I’ll finish it up militarily with the other targets.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ve hit 78% of the targets that we’ve wanted to hit. If Iran doesn’t want to make a deal, then I’ll finish it up militarily with the other targets. pic.twitter.com/42h4QGnQXV

— Department of State (@StateDept) April 23, 2026

Asked about the timeline of Epic Fury, Trump snapped that: “I don’t want to rush it; I want to take my time. We have plenty of time, and I want to get a great deal. I want to get a deal where our nation and the world are safe from lunatics with nuclear weapons.”

Trump:

I don’t want to rush it; I want to take my time.

We have plenty of time, and I want to get a great deal.

I want to get a deal where our nation and the world are safe from lunatics with nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/qN0xKFRXw5

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 23, 2026

Queried about whether he would use a nuclear weapon against Iran, Trump retorted: “No. Why would a stupid question like that be asked? Why would l use a nuclear weapon when we’ve totally decimated Iran without it? A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.”

REPORTER: Would you use a nuclear weapon against Iran?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. Why would a stupid question like that be asked?

Why would l use a nuclear weapon when we’ve totally decimated Iran without it? A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody. pic.twitter.com/7hAlHLrNT4

— Department of State (@StateDept) April 23, 2026

Earlier this morning, the Pentagon announced an overnight “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.”

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Pentagon said, repeating a refrain it used earlier this week after the interdiction of the M/T Tifani in the Indian Ocean. “International waters cannot be used as a shield by sanctioned actors. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain.”

Video released by the Pentagon shows troops boarding MH-60S Seahawk helicopters then repelling onto the ship and searching it. As in the case of the boarding of the Tifani, a U.S. Navy Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) vessel, which you can see in the background, provided support for this operation.

Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.

We will continue global maritime enforcement to… pic.twitter.com/SWF6Jt9Ci4

— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) April 23, 2026

The Pentagon gave the ship’s name as Majestic X but the ship – IMO number 9198317- is also known as Phonix, according to SeaTrade Maritime News. The open-source maritime tracking site MarineTraffic shows that the Guyana-flagged crude oil tanker is located about 200 miles east of Sri Lanka and some 2,000 miles southeast of Iran.

While MarineTraffic data indicates the vessel is currently moving southwest about 8 knots, its current disposition is unclear. The Pentagon declined to offer further information and we have reached out to the White House for additional details.

The fate of the Tifani, boarded on April 21, is now in the hands of the Department of Justice, the Pentagon told us. We reached out to them for more details.

CENTCOM said it has turned away 31 ships so far during the blockade of Iranian ports.

The command also announced that, as anticipated, the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is now in the Indian Ocean part of its region. That brings the total carrier force to three for now, with the Abraham Lincoln and Gerald R. Ford already on station. However, the Ford, which has set a record for the longest deployment since the Vietnam War and has suffered issues ranging from a fire to leaky plumbing, is likely to depart the area soon.

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in the Indian Ocean in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 23. pic.twitter.com/oDcTM6YMLF

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 23, 2026

Two days into the ceasefire extension declared by Trump, efforts to negotiate a peace deal remain murky.

Iranian officials have yet to commit to a new round of talks, which the president blames on schisms in its government between hardliners in the IRGC and more moderate elements.

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is!,” Trump exclaimed on Truth Social. “They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!.”

Iranian officials have pushed back against the notion their government is fractured.

“In Iran, there are no radicals or moderates; we are all ‘Iranian’ and “revolutionary,” and with the iron unity of the nation and government, with complete obedience to the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, we will make the aggressor criminal regret his actions,” Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf stated on X. “One God, one leader, one nation, and one path; that path being the path to victory for Iran, dearer than life.”

در ایران ما تندرو و میانه‌رو وجود ندارد؛
همه ما «ایرانی» و «انقلابی» هستیم و با اتحاد آهنین ملت و دولت، با تبعیت کامل از رهبر معظم انقلاب متجاوز جنایتکار را پشیمان خواهیم کرد.

یک خدا، یک رهبر، یک ملت، و یک راه؛ آن هم راه پیروزی ایرانِ عزیزتر از جان.
#ایران_ما

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 23, 2026

However, at about the time Ghalibaf posted that, Israel’s N12 News outlet reported that Ghalibaf stepped down as a result of interference from the IRGC.

“The reason for the extreme step is his refusal to accept the growing intervention of IRGC generals – including prominent names such as Ahmed and Heidi and Abdullahian,” the outlet claimed in its unsourced story. “According to the information obtained by News 12, the generals penetrate into the decision-making processes and prevent Ghalibaf from providing the maneuver required to manage the negotiations.”

The War Zone cannot independently verify this.

In an extremely notable development, Israel’s N12 news outlet is reporting that the Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf has been forced to resign from the Iranian negotiating team by factions within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). pic.twitter.com/bOu01XX8AT

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 23, 2026

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his country “is prepared to resume the war against Iran,” but needs permission from Trump.

“We are awaiting a green light from the United States — first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei family and to push Iran back into a dark age,” Katz added. “This time, the strike will be different and far more lethal, delivering devastating blows at the most sensitive points — ones that will shake and undermine its very foundations”.

🚨🚨 Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz: “Israel is prepared to resume the war against Iran — We are awaiting a green light from the United States — first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei family and to push Iran back into a dark age. This time, the…

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) April 23, 2026

In his Truth Social post about Iranian leadership, Trump added that the U.S. has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz. No ship can enter or leave without the approval of the United States Navy. It is ‘Sealed up Tight, until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!”

The Iranians, however, have a different take.

“We have control over this Strait,” Hamidreza Hajibabaei, the deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Hajibabaei, speaking at a public gathering in the western city of Kuhdasht, added that the first revenues from Iran’s new tolls on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have been deposited in the Iranian state central bank account.

“If the United States continues on its current course, no vessels will pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Hajibabaei warned. “We are not engaged in negotiations — rather, we are making demands.”

“The amount collected from each ship depends on its cargo and level of risk they pose,” said Alireza Salimi, another member of the Iranian parliament, according to the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency.

“Iran determines how much and how these fees are collected, in other words, we determine the rules,” Salimi said. The War Zone cannot independently verify this claim.

Trump has previously threatened ships that pay tolls to Iran to use the Strait.

Iran Deposits Transit Fees from Hormuz Strait Ships into Treasury Account

Iran has begun depositing transit fees collected from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz into the national treasury. pic.twitter.com/jkMUH3thZ4

— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) April 23, 2026

Lloyds List reports that the Houthi rebels of Yemen, an Iranian proxy, could institute their own tolls around the Bab al-Mandab region.

“Mechanisms have been discussed at senior leadership levels indicating Houthi ambition to control, and not merely disrupt, maritime traffic,” the outlet reported. “Conversations have been supported by Iranian involvement. But the militia is looking to act on its own terms.”

You can read more about what a Houthi intervention into the conflict would mean in our report about it here.

Iran’s decision to levy payments on transiting vessels has created a model that Houthi militants may soon replicate at the Bab el Mandeb, further threatening global trade flowshttps://t.co/AGcgSytuBk

— Lloyd’s List (@LloydsList) April 23, 2026

The maritime security environment across the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Strait of Hormuz “remains CRITICAL, driven by recent attack patterns, continued navigation interference, and persistent operational disruption, including impacts to port activity,” according to the latest update from the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC). Despite the April 8 ceasefire, “commercial traffic remains limited, with constrained transits and continued routing uncertainty.”

With the Strait of Hormuz closed, the demand on transiting the Panama Canal has become so intense that one vessel carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) paid $4 million to skip the line and avoid a wait that can take up to five days, according to AFP, citing an official report.

🇵🇦 Strait of Hormuz blockade drives up traffic at Panama Canal

The war in the Middle East has boosted demand to move vital cargo through the Panama Canal to such an extent that one vessel carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) paid $4 million to skip the line and avoid a wait that… pic.twitter.com/ySnwGLSv46

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 23, 2026

Oil isn’t the only commodity supply affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the United Nations, one-third of global fertilizers are stalled in that body of water as well. 

“With planting seasons already underway, we have no time to lose,” the world organization noted. “This is not a matter of logistics or economics – it’s about saving lives. If we don’t act, a massive food crisis will hit the most vulnerable the hardest.”

One-third of global fertilizers are stalled in the Strait of Hormuz. With planting seasons already underway, we have no time to lose.

This is not a matter of logistics or economics – it’s about saving lives. If we don’t act, a massive food crisis will hit the most vulnerable…

— Jorge Moreira da Silva (@UNOPS_Chief) April 22, 2026

Indian crew aboard two of the ships fired upon yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz by IRGC are safe, according to Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal.

The firing happened on 2 foreign ships in Hormuz, Indian nationals on them are safe, says MEA Spox Randhir Jaiswal; In touch with Iran govt over safe passage of Indian vessels. pic.twitter.com/kalngqpjVw

— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 23, 2026

During the now-extended ceasefire with Iran, the U.S. continues to flow military assets to the Middle East.

Online flight trackers indicate that the first group of aerial refueling tankers supporting F/A-18C Hornets from the VMFA-312 “Checkerboards” are airborne from Lajes.

“The flight plans filed for the tankers indicate the jets are going straight into CENTCOM today,” according to open-source flight tracker DefenceGeek.

Coronet East 052 – Marines Move Forward to CENTCOM #FreeIran‌
— Operation EPIC FURY —

The first group of tankers supporting the onward movement of VMFA-312 “Checkerboards” F/A-18C “Hornet” fast-jets today are airborne from Lajes (LPLA). The flightplans filed for the tankers… pic.twitter.com/42ZauX778m

— DefenceGeek 🇬🇧 (@DefenceGeek) April 23, 2026

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are expected to convene again at the State Department on Thursday for a second round of meetings amid the latest conflagration in the Middle East, according to ABC News.

The first direct negotiations between the two states since 1993 “are intended as preparatory meetings to shape future talks on a deal to normalize ties between the countries,” the network noted. “Thursday’s meeting is expected to focus on extending a shaky ceasefire that has halted fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.”

Lebanon enters potential talks with Israel amid deep internal divisions, echoing the failed 1983 peace deal. While some argue negotiations are vital for stability, senior figures and Hezbollah oppose direct talks, risking renewed unrest.

Al Jazeera’s @ZeinakhodrAljaz reports. pic.twitter.com/IupaGElwlW

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 23, 2026

Trump will host the event.

“The ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon will now take place at the White House,” an official tols us. “President Trump will greet the representatives upon their arrival.”

🔴 BREAKING: US President Donald Trump may attend today’s meeting between Lebanese and Israeli officials, which has been moved from the State Department to the White House, according to sources familiar with the matter. pic.twitter.com/2HknXgzqBE

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) April 23, 2026

Despite the ongoing ceasefire, Israel is maintaining its positions in southern Lebanon and issued a new warning to residents there.

“We reiterate and warn that, out of concern for your safety and the safety of your family members, and until further notice, you are required not to move south of the line of the villages shown and their surroundings,” IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee stated on X. “Additionally, approaching the Litani River area, Wadi Salhani, and Salouqi is not permitted.”

#عاجل ‼️رسالة عاجلة إلى سكان جنوب لبنان

⭕️نجدد تأكيدنا انه خلال فترة اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار يواصل جيش الدفاع تمركزه في مواقعه بجنوب لبنان في مواجهة النشاطات الإرهابية المستمرة لمنظمة حزب الله.

⭕️نعود ونحذر انه وحرصًا على سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلاتكم وحتى إشعار آخر انتم مطالبون… pic.twitter.com/YBjksAhVja

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 23, 2026

Heading into a second round of rare direct talks with Israel, Lebanon is urging the Trump administration to pressure Israel to scale back its demands and end its military invasion of the country, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Salam said Lebanon could not sign any agreement that does not include a “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces.

“We cannot live with a so-called buffer zone,” he said, “an Israeli presence where Lebanese displaced people are not allowed to return, where destroyed villages and towns cannot be rebuilt.”

Hours before the second round of direct talks with Israel, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says any agreement must include a “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.

Speaking with the Washington Post, Salam says that Beirut is urging the U.S. to pressure…

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) April 23, 2026

Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, The New York Times reported.

“The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in,” the newspaper noted. “About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.”

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

South Korea’s special envoy to Iran has met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran and called for efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and the safety of Korean nationals, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Thursday.

Chung Byung-ha, special envoy for South Korea’s foreign minister, has been in Iran since March 11 as Seoul seeks to secure the safety of its vessels and seafarers stranded in the vital waterway blocked by both Iran and the United States amid the Middle East crisis.

“Special envoy Chung requested Iran’s continued support for the safety of 40 South Korean nationals remaining in Tehran, and 26 Korean vessels and crew on board,” ministry spokesperson Park Il said in a press briefing. The meeting took place late Wednesday (Iran time).

A total of 173 Korean crew members remain aboard the stranded ships.

South Korea has been in talks with Iran and neighboring countries to ensure their safety, sharing details of the vessels and crew with relevant parties, including Iran and the U.S.

Chung expressed hope in his meeting with Araghchi that peace talks between Iran and the United States will resume so as to restore regional peace and stability, the ministry said in a press release.

Chung also noted the importance of developing bilateral relations between Seoul and Tehran.

Echoing Chung’s remark on their ties, Araghchi expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate in that regard, adding that Tehran will continue to pay attention to Korean nationals staying in the country.

Seoul’s decision to dispatch a special envoy to Iran has sent a positive signal to Tehran in terms of bilateral relations and is seen as contributing to potential future talks with Tehran on the ships and nationals, according to sources familiar with the matter.

South Korea is among a handful of countries that still maintain their embassy operations in Iran. Seoul also recently provided humanitarian aid to the war-hit country through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Regarding Iran’s blockade of the strait, Araghchi defended the measure as an effort to safeguard its national security and interests, saying that “responsibility for any resulting consequences lies with the parties carrying out the aggression,” Iran’s foreign ministry said on a social media post.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

WASHINGTON — Iranian forces attacked three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, stoking an already tense standoff in the Persian Gulf as a U.S. naval blockade strains Tehran’s economy and pressures its divided leadership to return to peace talks.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it seized two ships and damaged a third after the vessels “ignored repeated warnings.” British maritime monitors confirmed the incidents, describing one cargo ship left disabled in the water and another that took heavy damage to its bridge.

“Disrupting order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is considered a red line for Iran,” the Iranian Navy Command said in a statement.

Hours before, President Trump confirmed he would maintain the naval blockade in the gulf, but agreed to give Iranian leaders additional time to agree on a new peace proposal, he wrote in a Truth Social post.

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump wrote Tuesday.

More than a dozen American warships have prevented exports from leaving Iranian ports since peace talks in Islamabad failed earlier this month. The tactic has greatly constrained Iranian oil exports — about 90% of which flow through the Strait of Hormuz — contributing to rising inflationary pressure.

The restrictions could wipe out roughly $435 million in daily economic activity, according to Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Oil exports, Tehran’s primary revenue source, have halted. At the same time, Iran has been unable to import food or industrial goods. As a result, the blockade is expected to empty Iran’s war coffers and sharply accelerate inflationary effects on its people.

Trump is betting that the strategy will force Iran’s fractured negotiating team — which appears to be split between parliamentary moderates and hard-liners within the Revolutionary Guard — to agree on a “unified” peace proposal.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Wednesday the president extended the ceasefire agreement to allow Iran to get their “act together,” and emphasized that Trump has not given Iran a “firm deadline” to respond yet.

“President Trump will ultimately dictate the timeline and he will do so when he feels it is in the best interest of the United States and the American people,” Leavitt told reporters.

Though she declined to specify who the administration is negotiating with in Iran, Leavitt said the president was “generously offering a bit of flexibility” to the regime so that they can come up with a unified response.

“This is a battle between the pragmatists and the hard-liners in Iran right now,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House.

That division was visible earlier this week when plans for a second round of talks in Islamabad collapsed after Iranian officials failed to confirm participation and instead introduced new preconditions under pressure from hard-line factions.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf initially signaled a willingness to attend talks, but was overshadowed by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who insisted that the United States lift its blockade before discussions could begin. A report by the Institute for the Study of War said Vahidi sought to derail negotiations rather than secure meaningful economic relief.

“One challenge with the ongoing negotiations is the divided nature of Iran’s negotiating team,” the report said, adding that “[Trump’s] reference to a ‘unified’ proposal appears to imply that previous proposals were not unified in some way.”

And while hard-liners continue attempts to derail diplomacy with continued demands and attacks in the strait, moderates in Iran continue to push for peace.

This week, prominent Sunni cleric Moulana Abdol Hamid called a “fair agreement” the only viable path forward and warned that those who seek to block negotiations would bear responsibility for the “homeland’s devastation.”

Benjamin Radd, a political scientist at UCLA who studies Iran, said the dispute is a sign of a larger power struggle for control of Tehran’s government.

“There are clear divisions within the leadership,” Radd said in an interview. “Right now, it’s the IRGC faction that has all the power. They have the guns, they have the weapons. What they don’t have is the diplomatic connections and experience dealing with the United States.”

Radd pointed to the economic toll of the U.S. blockade as a key driver of tension inside Iran.

“They’re facing a huge domestic crisis,” he said. “They’re not able to replenish their own needs. Nothing can get in or out of the country. They can’t make any money.”

The consequences of the U.S. strategy could push the more moderate Iranian leaders to strike a deal on nuclear enrichment or a reopening of the strait in exchange for the United States lifting the blockade, Radd said.

“That would start rebuilding some sort of trust,” Radd said. “And then we’re seeing the IRGC is basically steadfast, refusing to do any of this.”

With renewed Israeli attacks in Lebanon killing at least three people Wednesday, despite a 10-day ceasefire agreement, Iranian leaders are preparing for the possibility that talks with the United States will fail altogether.

“Iran has prepared for a new phase of fighting,” the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported this week, citing military redeployments and updated target lists.

Meanwhile, Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei warned that renewed U.S. or Israeli strikes were likely. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made a similar statement in a news briefing Wednesday. He announced the country’s armed forces were “on high alert” and ready to defend against any threat, while being open to Pakistan’s mediation efforts.

He did not confirm if the government was participating in a second round of negotiations.

“Diplomacy is a tool for ensuring national interests and security,” he said, “and we will take the necessary steps whenever we conclude that the necessary and logical grounds exist to use this tool to achieve national interests.”

Until then, it appears both Washington and Tehran will continue brinkmanship in the strait.

On Wednesday morning, the IRGC released a statement confirming it seized the two cargo ships and identified them as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas. It claimed the MSC Francesca was linked to Israel and accused both of “jeopardizing maritime security by operating without necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems.”

A third ship, the Euphoria, which sails under the Panamanian flag and is owned by a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was fired upon early Wednesday while heading east out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Vanguard, a maritime intelligence firm.

The Euphoria later resumed sailing toward the Gulf of Oman, according to Lloyd’s List.

In Lebanon, Amal Khalil became the fourth journalist killed by Israeli fire since hostilities with the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah intensified on March 2.

Khalil’s body was reported to have been found under the rubble of a house where she and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj were sheltering, according to their colleagues.

Khalil and Faran were in the southern Lebanese town of Al-Tayri, covering developments there when an Israeli attack targeted the vehicle in front of them, killing its occupants.

The two journalists then sheltered in a house but were hit by Israeli fire once more, according to a statement from the Lebanese Health Ministry.

When Red Cross crews scrambled to the area to rescue the trapped journalists, they were targeted with a sound bomb and machine-gun fire.

The Israeli military said it was not preventing rescue teams from reaching the area and that the incident was under review. It acknowledged targeting a vehicle it said had come out of a structure used by Hezbollah and was heading toward Israeli troops.

The Red Cross reached the house by the early evening local time, and rescued Faraj, who is reported to be in stable condition after undergoing surgery for a head wound, according to her colleagues.

Times staff writers Ana Ceballos in Washington and Nabih Bulos in Beirut contributed to this report.