Oil prices fluctuate as status of US-Iran peace talks remains unclear
US President Donald Trump said he will extend a ceasefire with Iran until peace talks have progressed.
Source link
Iran Peace Talks Hanging By A Thread After Tumultuous Weekend Near The Strait (Updated)
As the clock ticks down on a shaky ceasefire that could end Wednesday, Pakistan is attempting to host last-ditch negotiations to stave-off a new round of fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed after being shut down again by Iran this weekend as negotiations for a peace deal took a nose-dive. The closure occurred around the same time Iran reportedly fired on several ships in the Strait on Saturday. A U.S. attack on and seizure of a cargo ship that was supposedly running the blockade in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday has also resulted in Iran making new threats of retaliation. All this represents a dramatic deterioration in U.S.-Iran relations compared to just a few days ago.
Pakistan has cordoned off parts of Islamabad in anticipation of the pending talks. However, it remains unclear if Iran will send a delegation to meet the U.S. negotiating party of Vice President JD Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The meeting is tentatively set for Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday insisted the talks are still on despite Iranian suggestions otherwise.
“We’re supposed to have the talks,” Trump told The New York Post Monday morning in a brief interview, brushing aside doubts about whether negotiations would fall apart. “So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games.”
Trump’s comment to the New York Post came after Iranians claimed they would not take part in any new talks.
“So far, we have no plans to participate in the next round of negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters on Monday. “The behavior of the United States does not indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process.”
Baghaei added that no decision has been made on how or when negotiations would resume. The Foreign Ministry spokesman also pushed back on Trump’s claims that Iran agreed to give up its highly enriched uranium (HEU).
“It is strictly off the agenda,” Baghaei proclaimed “Iran’s definitive stance is to keep all of its nuclear achievements on its own soil.”
A senior Iranian source told Reuters the continuation of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports was undermining the prospect of peace talks, and that Tehran’s “defensive capabilities,” including its missile program, were not open to negotiation.
However, a Pakistani security source told the news outlet that Pakistan’s key mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, informed Trump that the blockade was an obstacle to talks, and that Trump had replied that he would consider the advice.
One big reason for confusion about Iran’s attendance at the Islamabad talks could be a growing schism between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and more moderate elements of Iran’s current leadership.
“There’s a power struggle underway in Iran—and even within the delegation that went to Islamabad for the first round of talks, which offered a sense of the country’s internal tensions,” according to The Economist.
“Their arguments were so ferocious that Pakistani mediators are reported to have spent as much time refereeing among the Iranians as engaging the Americans.”
One visible sign of this power struggle may have come Saturday, when several ships were reportedly struck by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC could have been acting independently, however we don’t know for sure. Thawed relations with the U.S. run counter to the IRGC’s core mission and beliefs, but also could spell degradation in their power within Iran. The idea that the IRGC could end up taking control over Iran, at least to a degree, is a possible outcome TWZ highlighted before the war broke out.
Iran claims its reluctance to negotiate stems in large measure from U.S. Central Command’s interdiction of the Iranian-owned cargo ship M/V Touska on Sunday for what it says was a violation of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. CENTCOM said the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the vessel on Sunday as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran.
“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room,” CENTCOM stated. “Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody.”
The ship had recently visited China, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Early Monday morning, CENTCOM released a video of Marines fast-roping aboard the Touska. The video shows an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter taking off from the Spruance. It cuts to a scene of Marines repelling from a Seahawk onto the deck of the ship.
CENTCOM on Monday had no update on how long the ship would be held, what cargo was discovered on board or the fate of the crew.
The command previously released video of the Spruance firing three rounds on the cargo ship from its Mk-45 gun. The projectiles have a range of up to 20 nautical miles and can be fired at a rate of between 16 and 20 rounds per minute.
While the Navy used the Mk-45 to take down Houthi drones in 2024, it’s unclear when a 5-inch gun was last used against another vessel. We have reached out to the Navy for more details.
Trump broke the news of the interdiction on his Truth Social site, saying the Spruance stopped the cargo ship, which was under Treasury Department sanctions, “by blowing a hole in the engineroom.”
Calling the incident “piracy,” Iran threatened to strike back.
“Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that the country’s armed forces will soon give a retaliatory response to the terrorist US forces’ latest act of piracy in the Sea of Oman,” according to Iran’s official Press TV media outlet.
As of 2 p.m. EDT Monday, that response had yet to be delivered, though Iranian media on Sunday claimed it launched drone strikes at U.S. Navy warships.
Hours before the Touska incident, Trump renewed his threats against critical Iranian infrastructure.
“If the deal isn’t done, the deal that we made, then I’m going to take out their bridges and their power plants,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday morning. “If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up.”
“We’re preparing to hit them harder than any country has ever been hit before because you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.
UPDATES
UPDATE: 5:35 PM EDT –
In a post on X, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said “Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table— in his own imagination— into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.”
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he added.
CENTCOM released news images of its forces patroling the Arabian Sea near the seized Iranian cargo ship Touska.
UPDATE 5:15 PM EDT –
A source close to the IRGC told Israel’s Channel 14 that“IRGC Commander Vahidi is taking a positive stance toward not continuing the negotiations. From his perspective, there is no need to rush into a deal. He believes Trump will eventually back down and does not believe his threats.”
Iran has reopened the Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports in the capital, Tehran, according to Al Jazeera. The airports were shut after weeks of war with the US and Israel had brought air traffic to a halt.
“According to the ISNA news agency, the Civil Aviation Organization will also give the greenlight to reopen the airports of Urmia, Kermanshah, Abadan, Shiraz, Kerman, Rasht, Yazd, Zahedan, Gorgan and Birjand from Saturday,” the outlet reported.
Iran targeted the UAE with more than 2,800 missiles and drones, 90% of which were aimed at civilian infrastructure, according to the UAE’s embassy in the U.S.
UPDATE: 2:40 PM EDT –
In another Truth Social post, Trump proclaimed the situation in the Middle East is going well and that the blockade is costing Iran a half-billion dollars a day.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won’t give in to U.S. demands.
“Adherence to commitments is the logic that justifies any kind of dialogue. In addition to the deep historical distrust in Iran toward the background of the U.S. government’s behavior and performance, the non-constructive and contradictory approach of U.S. officials in recent days carries a bitter message: they seek Iran’s surrender,” he stated on X. “The people of Iran will not bow to coercion.”
Meanwhile, “Hormuz transit drops to just three vessels, the lowest level since the blockade began,” according to the Windward maritime intelligence firm. “870 vessels remain in the Gulf, with continued caution and reduced movement. 7 VLCCs detected near Chabahar, indicating potential export shift east of Hormuz.”
“Iranian flows continue via deception, including dark activity and ship-to-ship transfers,” Windward added. Dark activity remains stable at 140 events despite reduced overall traffic.”
Vessel attacks from April 18 “continue to suppress transit confidence and movement,” the company posited.
The State Department will host a new round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon, Reuters reported.
Trump on Monday pushed back against assertions that he was goaded into war with Iran by Israel.
“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” Trump stated on Truth Social. ”Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing – And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!”
Since the U.S. imposed the blockade on April 13, it has turned away 27 ships trying to enter or exit Iranian ports, CENTCOM stated on X Monday morning.
In the wake of the Touska incident, Hapag-Lloyd tells us they re-evaluating sailing through the area.
“We assess the new situation and the related risks very carefully,” a spokesperson told us. “We will only make the passage when we are convinced it’s safe enough to do so. Our top priority is the safety and security for our seafarers, the vessels and the cargo of our customers.”
The spokesperson added that “we have now 5 ships in the Persian Gulf, because the contract of one of our charter vessels expired.”
The company offered an optimistic view last week after Iran temporarily reopened the Strait, which it then closed again, blaming the blockade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for normal passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz to be maintained, Reuters reported. His comments came during a phone call on Monday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held as Beijing steps up efforts to help end the Iran war.
China is the main customer for Iranian crude oil and derives much of its energy imports from the Middle East. The Iranian closure of the Strait and subsequent U.S. blockade on Iranian ports is having a negative impact in China.
UAE’s State Security Service exposed an Iranian-linked terror network and apprehended 27 suspects planning to “undermine national unity and destabilize the country by planning terrorist and sabotage attacks,” the Emirati State News Agency (WAM) reports.
When Trump learned that an F-15E was shot down over Iran, “he screamed at aides for hours,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Trump demanded that the military go get them immediately. But the U.S. hadn’t been on the ground in Iran since the government overthrow that led to the hostage crisis, and they needed to figure out how to get into treacherous Iranian terrain and avoid Tehran’s own military.”
“Aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments,” the newspaper added, citing a senior administration official.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the United States is making an effort to extend a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Reuters reported on X, citing the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat media outlet.
Berri spoke to the newspaper after a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to strike Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
“Overnight, the IDF struck a loaded and ready-to-fire launcher in the area of Qalaouiye in southern Lebanon, north of the Forward Defense Line, in order to prevent a direct threat to the communities of northern Israel,” the IDF stated on Telegram.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
European Markets Fall as US–Iran Tensions Reignite and Peace Hopes Fade
European stock markets slipped on Monday as investor sentiment weakened amid renewed tensions between the United States and Iran. The downturn followed the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship by US forces and Tehran’s vow of retaliation, raising fears that a fragile ceasefire nearing its expiry may collapse.
The situation has been further complicated by Iran’s rejection of fresh peace talks and ongoing uncertainty over maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route.
Market Reaction
The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined by 0.8%, reflecting broad-based caution across financial markets. Major indices also moved lower, with Germany’s DAX down 1% and France’s CAC 40 falling 0.9%.
Losses were concentrated in sectors sensitive to geopolitical risk. Travel and leisure stocks led declines, followed by banking and automobile shares, which also came under pressure. In contrast, energy stocks rose as oil prices surged, reflecting concerns about supply disruptions.
Oil and Energy Impact
Crude oil prices jumped sharply, with Brent crude rising more than 5% to around $95 a barrel. The increase reflects heightened fears of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of global energy trade passes.
Energy-dependent European economies remain particularly sensitive to price volatility, adding to investor caution across broader markets.
Geopolitical Tensions
Market sentiment shifted sharply from the previous week’s optimism, when easing signals from the Strait of Hormuz had briefly boosted equities. That optimism faded quickly after renewed maritime incidents and political escalation.
The United States and Iran continue to exchange accusations over ceasefire violations, while diplomatic efforts appear increasingly uncertain. The rejection of fresh negotiations by Iran and continued US pressure have added to concerns that the conflict could intensify further.
Outlook
Financial markets remain closely tied to developments in the Middle East. With the ceasefire approaching its expiration and no clear diplomatic breakthrough in sight, volatility is expected to persist.
Investors are likely to remain cautious until there is greater clarity on both maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and the future of US–Iran relations.
With information from Reuters.
Iran claims drone strikes on U.S. Navy, peace talks hang in balance
The 965-foot-long Iranian container ship Touska, seen here in 2017 after it ran aground off Hong Kong’s main island, remained in the custody of the U.S. Navy on Monday after it was boarded and seized by U.S. Marines. File photo by Jerome Favre/EPA
April 20 (UPI) — Iran said that it carried out drone strikes on Monday against U.S. military vessels blockading its ports after the U.S. Navy attacked an Iranian-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Oman.
The state-run Tasnim News Agency said the Iranian military “launched drone strikes toward several U.S. military vessels in the area” in retaliation for the boarding and seizure of the Touska on Sunday night while it was en route to Iran from China.
“We caution that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate for this act of piracy and armed aggression by the US military,” Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, the Iranian military’s central command, said in a statement
Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters said the Iranian Armed Forces had held off from delivering “a decisive response” to “blatant aggression by U.S. terrorist commandos” due to concerns for the safety of family members of the ship’s crew who were on board the Touska.
“Iran’s operational action was delayed in order to protect their lives and security, which were in constant danger,” the statement added.
The U.S. military did not immediately comment on Iran’s claim it conducted drone strikes.
However, U.S. Central Command posted video of the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance warning the Touska to “vacate your engine room” because it was about to open fire and, some time later, night-vision footage of helicopter-borne U.S. Marines from USS Tripoli conducting an amphibious assault operation to take over the vessel.
CENTCOM said the Spruance intercepted Touska as it was steaming toward the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, issuing multiple warnings over a six hour period that it was in violation of the U.S. blockade. When it refused to stop, the Spruance fired several rounds from its 5-inch gun hitting the engine room and disabling the vessel.
U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the vessel and took control of the vessel, which remains in U.S. custody.
CENTCOM said U.S. forces had ordered 25 commercial vessels to turn back, or return to an Iranian port, in the week since the United States implemented its blockade of Iranian ports on April 13.
However, Sunday was the first time that the U.S. military is known to have opened fire on merchant shipping since the war started Feb. 28.
The escalation came after a rollercoaster weekend that began with Tehran declaring that the Strait of Hormuz was fully open to all commercial shipping for the remainder of the 14-day cease-fire currently in place, which is due to expire on Wednesday.
The move was welcomed by the United States, but the administration of U.S. President Trump made it clear its blockade would remain in place. That prompted Tehran to accuse the United States of violating the cease-fire and by Saturday it declared the strait closed again and at least one tanker was fired on by two Iranian gunboats as it attempted to enter the sea lane.
The developments have cast doubt over peace talks, which are due to resume in Islamabad, Pakistan, later Monday or first thing Tuesday.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that U.S. negotiators would arrive in the Pakistani capital on Monday night, with the White House later confirming that Vice President JD Vance would again head up the U.S. delegation, picking up from where he left off from in an initial round of talks on April 11 that failed to produce a breakthrough.
Tehran said Monday it had not yet decided whether it would attend.
“As of now, while I am speaking to you, we do not have a plan for the next round of negotiations, and no decision has been taken in this regard,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said at a press conference in Tehran.
Referencing the ongoing U.S. blockade and seizure of the container ship, Baqaei accused the United States of actions that “are in no way indicative of seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process.”
However, the comments do not mean Iran will not show in Islamabad.
The Iranian side only confirmed participation in the first round of negotiations at the last minute.
Global oil prices, which fell sharply on Friday after Iran said the Hormuz Strait was open, rose again over the weekend but were holding steady in late morning trade in London where Brent crude for June delivery contract was changing hands at $95.24 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate for May delivery was changing hands at $88.89 a barrel.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Oil prices surge amid mixed signals on US-Iran peace talks | US-Israel war on Iran News
Brent crude rises more than 7 percent as Washington and Tehran offer conflicting accounts on ceasefire negotiations.
Published On 20 Apr 2026
Oil prices have risen sharply following attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and conflicting messages about the prospect of renewed negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Brent crude futures, the primary benchmark for global prices, jumped more than 7 percent in Asia on Monday as the outlook for peace between Washington and Tehran darkened.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Prices eased somewhat later in the morning, with the benchmark at $94.69 a barrel as of 02:05 GMT, up from just under $90.40 on Friday.
The latest price surge came after US President Donald Trump said US forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that had attempted to evade the US blockade of Iran’s ports.
Trump’s announcement followed reports by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre over the weekend that two vessels came under attack while transiting the strait.
Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker, while an “unknown projectile” struck a container ship, according to the UKMTO.
After declaring the strait “completely open” on Friday, Tehran reversed course less than 24 hours later, citing the ongoing US blockade.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump said that a US delegation would travel to Pakistan on Monday to hold a second round of ceasefire talks with Iranian officials.
Iranian state news outlet IRNA later reported that Tehran would not participate in the talks, citing the US blockade and Washington’s “excessive demands” and “unrealistic expectations”.
A two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran is set to expire on Wednesday if the sides cannot agree on an extension.
An initial round of talks held in Islamabad earlier this month broke down without any agreement between the sides.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait, which usually carries about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies, has driven a surge in fuel prices worldwide, forcing governments to tap emergency supplies and roll out energy-saving measures.
Nineteen vessels crossed the strait on Saturday, up from 10 the previous day, but far below the historical average of 138 daily transits, according to the UKMTO.
Asia’s main stock markets opened higher on Monday despite the dimming prospects of de-escalation.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose more than 1 percent in morning trading, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained about 1.3 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose about 0.5 percent, while the SSE Composite Index in Shanghai gained more than 0.4 percent.
Iran war live: Tehran says Trump made ‘false’ claims, amid peace talks
Tens of thousands of people forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks on Lebanon use first day of ceasefire to return home.
Source link
Most undervalued U.S. oil and gas stocks as crude prices retreat on peace hopes
Most undervalued U.S. oil and gas stocks as crude prices retreat on peace hopes
Source link
Iran war live: Pakistan in push for new round of US-Iran peace negotiations
At least 2,167 people have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2.
Source link
Oil prices fall as renewed hopes for peace talks feed a stock market rally
European stocks were mostly steady on Wednesday as investors weighed signals from Washington that a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran war could be imminent.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The pan-European Stoxx 600 had ticked down 0.1%, Germany’s Dax edged 0.11% higher and the FTSE 100 climbed 0.11%. The CAC 40 in France fell by a slightly greater margin, at 0.65%.
US President Donald Trump said fresh talks between Washington and Tehran “could be happening over the next two days” in Islamabad, signalling a possible diplomatic breakthrough, and added that the war was “very close to over” — despite continued uncertainty over key sticking points in negotiations.
Asian markets were broadly higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5%, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.0% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.7%.
The Shanghai Composite added 0.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, up less than 0.1%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 1.2% to its gains from the previous day, and the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is now just 0.2% below its record set in January.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2%.
On Wednesday, benchmark US crude inched up by 1 cent to $91.29 a barrel.
Brent crude added 48 cents to $95.27, or less than 1%, after falling 4.6% the previous day. While that is still above its roughly $70 level from before the war began in late February, it remains well below the peak of $119.
Lower oil prices help reduce costs for businesses across the economy. However, some analysts noted that the war is still ongoing, warning that the optimism may prove unfounded.
“The counterintuitive decline in crude appears driven by growing hopes that a second round of peace talks between Washington and Tehran could soon materialise, after the first attempt fizzled out,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
“Traders are clearly choosing to price in the possibility of de-escalation rather than the immediate reality of restricted flows,” he added.
Asian nations depend on access to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that is the main route for crude oil produced in the Persian Gulf to reach customers worldwide. Disruptions there have kept oil off the global market, driving up prices.
Global inflation this year is expected to accelerate to 4.4% from 4.1% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which had previously forecast a slowdown to 3.8%.
The IMF also downgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 3.1% this year, from 3.3% projected in January.
Overall, the S&P 500 rose 81.14 points to 6,967.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 317.74 points to 48,535.99, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 455.35 points to 23,639.08.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased as falling oil prices reduced inflationary pressure. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.30% late Monday.
In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 159.03 Japanese yen from 158.79 yen. The euro stood at $1.1780, down from $1.1797.
US stocks climbed to the brink of a record high on Tuesday, while oil prices eased as hopes grew that Washington and Tehran may resume talks to end their war.
The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, leaving it just 0.2% below its January peak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2%, tracking broader global market gains.
Investors are betting that renewed diplomacy could prevent a prolonged surge in oil prices and inflation, allowing focus to return to corporate earnings.
Brent crude for June delivery fell 4.6% to $94.79, down from recent highs, though still above pre-war levels.
However, volatility remains high, with markets sensitive to developments around the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil supply.
Over 2,000 join peace marathon honoring Korean religious leader
Pope Francis (3-R, 1936-2025) talks with Han
Yang-Won (2-L, 1924-2016), chairman of the Association of Korean Native
Religion, as he meets with South Korea’s religious leaders at Myeongdong
Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea. File. Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / EPA
April 14 (Asia Today) — More than 2,000 people took part in a marathon in southwestern South Korea to honor the legacy of Han Yang-won, a spiritual figure known for promoting coexistence and peace.
The third Haepyeong Marathon was held Saturday in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, the hometown of Han, who died in 2016. The event was organized by the Association for Coexistence and Peace and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The marathon commemorates Han’s lifelong efforts to promote interfaith harmony and shared national values. The event name comes from his pen name “Haepyeong,” reflecting his core philosophy of coexistence and peace.
Organizers said this year’s event also aimed to express solidarity with people affected by ongoing conflicts around the world and to call for an end to war.
Participants ran 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer courses, with ages ranging from 5 to 78, highlighting a cross-generational turnout.
“The message of coexistence and peace is more urgent than ever in a world marked by conflict,” said Kim Dong-gyu, secretary-general of the organizing group. “We hope this event can help inspire a future where people live together in peace.”
Han was a leader of a Korean indigenous religious tradition that incorporates elements of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. He also founded a national council of Korean religions in 1985 and led it for more than three decades.
He was posthumously awarded one of South Korea’s highest civilian honors in 2017 in recognition of his contributions to religious harmony.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260414010004375
Trump slams Pope Leo as ‘weak,’ but the U.S.-born pontiff stands firm on peace
WASHINGTON — President Trump was propelled into office in large part by support from evangelicals and Catholics, at times framing his political rise in divine terms.
But that relationship is now fraying, and, in some corners of the Catholic Church, breaking, after Trump spent the weekend maligning Pope Leo XIV — “Leo is WEAK on Crime” — and circulating a widely condemned social media post depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
Leo, meanwhile, on Monday repeated his calls for an end of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. “I have no fear of neither the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” Leo told reporters. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Trump had lashed out at the pontiff in a Truth Social post on Sunday night and repeated those criticisms Monday. “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo,” he said. “He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He’s a man that doesn’t think we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world.”
The tirade drew swift backlash from Catholic leaders and rank-and-file believers alike, who have increasingly withdrawn support from the president since he and Israel launched attacks on Iran, according to recent polls.
Also fueling backlash was the artificial-intelligence-generated image of Trump, in a white robe and a red stole, placing his hand on the forehead of a man in a hospital bed. Trump confirmed he had posted the image but insisted he thought it portrayed him as a doctor, not Jesus healing the sick.
That’s not how many people viewed it.
“In the Christian faith, this is considered blasphemy: depicting yourself as Christ, elevating yourself to the level of Christ,” conservative commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said on “The View.” “Our faith is bigger than our politics. That is one thing that will always trump politics for people who are practicing in their faith. He clearly doesn’t understand that.”
The Rev. Thomas Reese, who also works as an analyst at Religious News Service, called Trump’s AI-generated image “an absolute disaster and blasphemous,” adding that it appeared to unsettle even some of the president’s religious supporters. The post was later removed from Truth Social.
More broadly, Reese said the war itself, and the way it has been framed, is colliding with core church teaching.
“To invoke God for a war of choice is just wrong,” he said, noting that Catholic leaders have increasingly emphasized diplomacy and reconciliation over military action.
“The Catholics who voted for him feel betrayed,” Reese said. “I think they’re beginning to say, ‘This is not what we voted for,’ especially when you tie the war to higher gasoline prices, higher food prices.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump also took some credit for Leo’s election as pontiff last year after the death of Pope Francis, writing that Leo was chosen “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Tensions had been simmering between the two leaders for months, but boiled over after Trump issued a threat to use the U.S. military to wipe out all of Iranian civilization.
At a peace vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, Leo said that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the war that has left thousands dead. Though he did not name Trump, the pope has repeatedly cautioned against invoking religion to justify violence.
Many Trump supporters have claimed he had a divine mandate, and Trump himself has repeatedly asserted that God saved him in the July 2024 assassination attempt so that he could lead the United States.
His administration has undertaken extraordinary efforts to infuse Christianity into government functions — establishing a White House Faith Office and holding prayer services at the Pentagon and the Labor Department.
After Iran shot down a U.S. fighter jet on April 3, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared the rescue of one of the aviators to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection: “Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing.”
A military watchdog group last month said it had received more than 200 complaints from U.S. service members reporting that military commanders were telling troops that the Iran war was part of a divine plan by God to trigger Armageddon. A group of Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into whether military operations were being guided by “end-times prophecy.”
Catholics rallied for Trump in 2024, when 55% of voting Catholics cast their ballots for Trump, clocking in at 12 points higher than his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
But he’s steadily lost their support since the onset of the war, according to new bipartisan polling. Some 52% of Catholics say they disapprove of the president’s job performance, according to one survey by Republican pollster Shaw & Co. Research and Democratic pollster Beacon Research. Another 23% say they strongly approve of the job he is doing and another 25% somewhat approve.
Consisting of about a quarter of the U.S. population, the Catholic voting bloc has long been regarded as the bellwether demographic, having historically chosen the winner of the popular vote in nearly every presidential election for the last 50 years.
Since ascending to the throne of St. Peter, Leo has frequently clashed with the administration on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy, emphasizing humanitarian concerns and diplomacy over force.
That attitude appears to be resonating in the pews. Reese, the commentator and priest, pointed to growing frustration among Catholic voters, including some who backed Trump in 2024 expecting an end to prolonged Middle East conflicts.
Reflecting on church history, he said: “The papacy survived Attila the Hun. They survived Napoleon, they survived Mussolini and they survived Hitler. They will survive Trump.”
In AD 452, when Attila the Hun sacked city after city in his conquest of the known world, it was the Catholic Church, not the Roman military, that met him in a show of diplomacy. The pontiff of the time, who persuaded Attila to turn his army back and spare Rome, was called Pope Leo I.
Trump says Iran wants ‘peace deal’ but insists on ‘no nukes’ | US-Israel war on Iran
US President Donald Trump says Iran wants to make a peace deal “very badly” after talks in Islamabad ended without agreement, insisting any framework hinges on Tehran agreeing never to develop a nuclear weapon.
Published On 13 Apr 2026
EU: No peace possible while “Lebanon is in flames” | Israel attacks Lebanon
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon threaten regional stability after a meeting in Brussels on the fallout from the Iran conflict. Al Jazeera’s Abdullah Elshamy reports on the bloc’s response.
Published On 13 Apr 2026
Oil jumps above $100 after failed peace talks, forint surges after the Hungarian election results
Markets face a sobering Monday after weekend optimism over a peace talks breakthrough faded. Investors are bracing for a high-impact week shaped by geopolitics, inflation data and the start of earnings season.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Oil prices resumed their climb, with international benchmark Brent crude and the US benchmark WTI trading above $100 a barrel. On Monday morning in Europe, Brent front-month futures were up 7%, trading at nearly $102 a barrel, while WTI gained nearly 8% and surged to $104.
This comes as the US military prepares to blockade ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, where much of the shipping has been disrupted by Iran since the start of the war.
US President Donald Trump announced the planned blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without agreement. The military said the blockade covering all Iranian ports would begin Monday at 10 am CET (5:30 pm local time in Iran).
Oil prices have been climbing as shipping through the Strait has essentially stalled since late February. Brent crude has risen from roughly $70 a barrel before the war to more than $119 at times.
“Markets have seen a clear risk-off move this morning,” a Deutsche Bank Research analysts said in a note, adding that “the mood has shifted negatively once again.
“Oil prices have revived fears of a stagflationary shock, with equities and bonds losing ground globally.
Hungarian election and the forint
The Hungarian forint took the spotlight in currency trading after Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party won a landslide election, ending the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party.
The euro was trading at 366.18 forints before European markets opened on Monday, a sharp drop from 377.56 late Sunday. The Hungarian stock index rose 2.85% on Monday morning, bucking the negative sentiment weighing on markets across the bloc.
Investors see Magyar’s Tisza Party pushing Hungary in a more pro-EU direction, with a higher likelihood of restoring rule-of-law alignment and closer cooperation with Brussels.
Elsewhere in currency markets, the euro weakened against the dollar to $1.1692 in European morning trading. The British pound also fell against the dollar, down 0.3% at $1.3416.
Stock markets face a turbulent session
Stock markets in Europe opened in negative territory, with London’s FTSE 100 opening down 0.4%, the DAX in Frankfurt falling 1%, and Paris’s CAC 40 down nearly 0.9%.
Stock markets were also down in Asia on Monday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.0% in morning trading to 56,357.40. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5% to 8,913.50. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 1.1% to 5,795.15. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped nearly 1.5% to 25,513.42, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,976.57.
Analysts said global trading was expected to remain turbulent for some time.
“The outcome of the talks was not really what people were hoping for, that’s for certain,” Neil Newman, Managing Director and Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said in Hong Kong.
“As we stand here at the moment, it doesn’t look very nice. Certainly, the oil prices are a big concern.”
Wall Street ended last week with a second weekly gain in a row. The S&P 500 inched 0.1% lower on Friday after a day of choppy trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%. But those gains came amid optimism over weekend peace talks in Pakistan that was later shattered by subsequent developments.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.32% last Friday from 4.29% late Thursday.
In currency trading, the US dollar gained to 159.74 Japanese yen from 159.25 yen. The euro cost $1.1687, down from $1.1729.
What markets are watching this week
Markets are entering a busy week, with all eyes still on developments around the Strait of Hormuz and the broader implications of the Iran conflict.
In the US, investors are watching the first major wave of corporate earnings reports, including those of big banks and tech companies, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, ASML and TSMC reporting this week.
This is set against a backdrop of key US inflation and producer price data, as well as jobless claims. These figures are critical for gauging whether the Federal Reserve is moving closer to rate cuts.
Meanwhile, the IMF–World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington begin this week.
The latest World Economic Outlook from the IMF, out on Tuesday, will also be of interest, and could offer further insight into how these institutions are assessing the global economy’s resilience amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
In Europe, investors are focused on PMI and industrial activity data, which will provide insight into whether the eurozone economy is stabilising or still struggling with weak demand.
‘Terrible for foreign policy’: Trump attacks Pope Leo after peace appeal | Donald Trump News
Leo, who last year became the first US-born pope, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Published On 13 Apr 2026
United States President Donald Trump has unleashed a storm of criticism at Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy”.
Trump delivered the unusual criticism of the head of the Catholic Church in a Sunday night post on social media, saying he does not “want a Pope who criticises the President of the United States”.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Trump’s outburst appeared to be triggered by recent remarks from Pope Leo critical of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Last week, Leo issued a rare direct rebuke of Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation, calling it “truly unacceptable“. And then, on Sunday, the 70-year-old pontiff implored leaders to end ongoing bloodshed, condemning what he described as a “delusion of omnipotence” fuelling war – comments that appeared directed at Trump.
The pope has also previously questioned the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies, saying, “I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” said the US president.
Trump also claimed credit for Leo’s leadership in the Catholic Church, suggesting the Vatican picked the first US-born pontiff – elected last year – to curry favour with the White House. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said.
Asked about the comments later on Sunday, Trump reiterated that he is “not a big fan” of Leo, who he said “is not doing a very good job”.
“He likes crime, I guess,” said Trump. “He’s a very liberal person.”
Trump also had a rocky relationship with Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, who criticised Trump’s immigration policy proposals when he first ran for president and suggested Trump was “not a Christian“. Trump had called Francis “disgraceful” in early 2016.
Leo is set to begin an 11-day trip to Africa on Monday, starting with a historic visit to Muslim-majority Algeria.
Trump says U.S. Navy will block Strait of Hormuz after peace talks fail
President Donald Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. Navy would block the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iranian ships from transiting it unless Iran opens the Strait and agrees to a peace deal with the United States. File Photo by Ali Haider/EPA-EFE
April 12 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy will block the Strait of Hormuz to cut off Iran’s shipping lanes after peace talks in Pakistan failed to produce a deal.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who Trump sent to negotiate a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, said Saturday that the talks were not successful because the two sides cannot agree on what to do about the Iranian nuclear stockpile and who will control the Strait, CNN and The Washington Post reported.
Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the United States was going to block the Strait — it will “take a little while, but it’ll be effective pretty soon,” he said — and that nations in the Gulf region have agreed to help in the effort.
The blockade, he said, will prevent “any and all ships” from entering or leaving the the waterway, including vessels belonging to Iran, which have been shipping its oil to other countries and reportedly been bringing weapons parts from China to the Middle Eastern nation.
Vance told reporters early Sunday morning that while Iran had not yet accepted the United States’ “final and best offer,” he expressed optimism that a deal can be reached.
“We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” Vance said. “I think that we were quite flexible.”
In a post on X, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is Iran’s leading negotiator in the talks, said that he and his colleagues had “raised forward looking initiatives, but the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
“Before the negotiations, I emphasized that we have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side,” he said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Yesterday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with the U.S. suspending bombing in Iran for two weeks if the country reopens the Straight of Hormuz. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
U.S.-Iran peace talks break down with no deal
U.S.-Iran peace talks break down with no deal
Source link
Pope Leo urges world leaders to reject war and negotiate peace | Religion News
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday called on world leaders to reject war as a means of settling their differences, urging a global commitment to peace.
Published On 11 Apr 2026
Vance, Iran delegation begin peace talks in Pakistan
1 of 2 | Vice President JD Vance shakes hands with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday. Delegations from the United States and Iran are meeting in Pakistan Saturday to discuss ending the war in Iran. Photo by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry/EPA
April 11 (UPI) — Talks between the United States and Iran began Saturday morning between the two delegations in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Vice President JD Vance arrived at 10:30 a.m. PKT. At Nur Khan air base, Vance walked down a red carpet and met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif said Friday that the United States is at a “make or break” moment in a national address Friday.
It’s not clear if the talks are direct or indirect, but CNN reported the talks are a mixture of both.
Though there was heavy security, with road closures and checkpoints, the mood in Pakistan was jubilant, The Washington Post reported.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the fragile cease-fire that began last week. The United States has said Iran is violating the agreement because the Strait of Hormuz is not open. Only two ships passed through it on Friday, The New York Times reported. Iran is angry that Israel continues to attack Lebanon, though Israel and the United States say they never agreed to stop fighting in Lebanon.
Israel has hit more than 200 targets in Lebanon affiliated with Hezbollah in the past 24 hours, The Times reported the Israeli military said.
Iran can’t find all the mines it set in the strait, The Times reported that U.S. officials said Friday, causing a snarl in Iran’s ability to comply with American demands.
Saturday morning, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States is “clearing out” the strait.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves. Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil.”
He didn’t clarify what “clearing out” of the strait means.
On Friday, he said that Iranians must negotiate.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The U.S. delegation includes envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Iranian side has more than a dozen senior officials, including Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with senior security officials and Iran’s central bank governor, The Post reported.
Both sides seem motivated to see the war come to an end, but they remain at odds on several issues. Control of the Strait of Hormuz, war reparations, Iran’s enriched uranium and withdrawal of the U.S. military in the region are some of the sticking points.
Iran’s Chokehold On Hormuz Remains On The Eve Of Peace Talks In Pakistan (Updated)
Donald Trump said he is “very optimistic” that a peace agreement with Iran is close, as a diplomatic team led by Vice President JD Vance heads to Pakistan for high-stakes talks this weekend aimed at ending the war. Meanwhile, however, there is no indication that Iran is easing its near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered what is reportedly the most severe disruption to global energy supplies on record.
Vance is leading the American delegation, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom participated in three rounds of indirect nuclear talks with Iranian negotiators in Oman before the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.
Boarding Air Force Two on his way to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the vice president said, “We’re looking forward to the negotiation. I think it’s gonna be positive. We’ll of course see.”
Vance also cited Trump, adding: “If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand.”
But he said: “If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Friday that two previously agreed conditions — a ceasefire in Lebanon and the unfreezing of Iranian assets — must be fulfilled before any negotiations can begin.
Posting on X, he stated that these steps were part of mutual commitments between the parties and cautioned that talks should not proceed until they are implemented, as disagreements over ceasefire terms and ongoing fighting in Lebanon continue to escalate.
President Trump said that Iran has “no cards,” in a post on social media today.
Writing on Truth Social, he said: “The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!”
The New York Post reports that Trump is preparing military options in case talks with Iran fail. “We’re going to find out in about 24 hours. We’re going to know soon… We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we use to do a complete decimation.”
In regard to the upcoming discussions, the U.S. president had previously said that Iran’s leaders “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable,” echoing his administration’s view that Tehran’s private messaging differs from its public statements.
Meanwhile, U.S. military transport aircraft are already arriving in Pakistan ahead of the talks, including this Air Force C-17.
At the same time as U.S. negotiators were heading to Pakistan, multiple reports indicated that at least some of their Iranian counterparts were still to depart for the talks.
The delegation was expected to be led by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Ghalibaf had previously taken to social media to reiterate that Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets had been “mutually agreed upon between the parties” but are yet to be implemented. In a post on X, he said: “These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.”
UPDATES:
UPDATE: 4:35 PM EDT –
Imagery released by Al Jazeera shows the wreckage of an Iranian Air Force Su-24MK Fencer strike aircraft that was shot down by the Qatar Emiri Air Force over the Persian Gulf while nearing Qatari airspace.
UPDATE: 4:25 PM EDT –
Within the last hour, Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News senior White House reporter, posted this photo to X, showing the aircraft carrying Vice President Vance about to touch down in Paris, en route to Pakistan.
Further to our previous reporting, France has released footage of its Tigre attack helicopters and Rafale fighters intercepting Iranian drones over the Middle East during the Iran war.
UPDATE: 4:20 PM EDT –
The Iranian delegation has reportedly now arrived in Islamabad. Iranian media reports that the Iranian negotiating delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
UPDATE: 3:30 PM EDT –
According to SPG Energy Oil data shared with NBC News, just two ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz today, the lowest daily total since Trump announced the Iran ceasefire on Tuesday. Prior to the conflict, 130 to 160 ships typically transited the waterway each day.
UPDATE: 3:20 PM EDT –
In a televised address, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described upcoming U.S.-Iran talks as “a make-or-break moment.”
“I ask all of you to pray that these talks are successful and countless lives are saved and the world shall see peace,” he said.
UPDATE: 3:10 PM EDT –
President Trump is preparing a $98-billion supplemental spending request for U.S. military operations in Iran, a significantly lower figure than earlier Pentagon proposals, according to two people familiar with the administration’s plans, NOTUS reports.
Defense officials initially proposed packages nearing $250 billion to fund troop, ship, aircraft, and weapons deployments to the region and to speed munitions production — a top Pentagon priority. Estimates put the cost of Operation Epic Fury to date at $25 billion to $35 billion.
Joseph Haboush, Washington correspondent for Al Arabiya, writes that a first phone call between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States will take place imminently. This is expected to pave the way to direct negotiations next week.
Further strain on the current temporary ceasefire comes from continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which both Iran and Pakistan say breach the truce. Trump says that he believes Israel is now “scaling back” its operations in Lebanon.
Israel has carried out a new wave of strikes targeting what it described as “Hezbollah launch sites” in Lebanon, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier urged residents to evacuate Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs. Later, Hezbollah said it launched a barrage of rockets toward settlements in northern Israel.
According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah fired around 30 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel on Friday, causing some damage.
The IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said Israeli forces are continuing combat operations in southern Lebanon and are “not in a ceasefire” with Hezbollah. Zamir added: “The IDF is in a state of war; we are not in a ceasefire, we continue to fight here in this sector, this is our main fighting sector. In Iran, we are in a ceasefire, and we can return to fighting there at any moment, and in a very powerful manner.”
The IDF said in a statement that it has destroyed more than 200 rocket launchers, including approximately 1,300 launch tubes, belonging to the Iran-backed militant group since March 2.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had directed his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon focused on disarming Hezbollah, while maintaining that “there is no ceasefire” in Lebanon and that Israel will “continue to strike Hezbollah with force.”
Lebanon is now insisting on a ceasefire before direct negotiations with Israel can begin, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun calling it “the only solution.” Beirut is also demanding that the United States serve as mediator and guarantor of any agreement. Those talks are scheduled for next week and will be hosted by the U.S. State Department in Washington.
In a social media post late Thursday, Trump said that Iran was doing a “very poor job” of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. “That is not the agreement we have!” The U.S. leader also slammed Iran for reportedly charging tolls for the tankers that receive permission to transit the strait.
Iran is moving to further tighten its control over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to increase pressure on the United States, according to the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
ISW says the strategy is designed to keep oil prices elevated, giving Tehran greater leverage in upcoming negotiations with Washington and improving its ability to secure concessions.
According to the institute, Iranian officials have indicated that no more than 15 vessels per day will be allowed to transit the strait, down sharply from as many as 140 daily before the war. According to the ISW:
“The Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization published a graphic on April 8 instructing ships to follow designated entry and exit routes in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy to transit the strait. These routes move international maritime traffic into Iranian-controlled waters. The graphic warns that ships risk hitting mines outside of these routes.”
On Thursday, four tankers and three bulk carriers transited the strait, taking the total number of vessels passing through since the ceasefire to at least 12, according to data firm Kpler.
The Strait could be open, and the supply of oil can return to usual in the next two months, according to National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
“There are boats going through, but at about 10 percent of the normal pace,” Hassett told Fox Business.
IDF officials told a closed Knesset briefing that Iran’s new leadership is “more extreme than its predecessor,” amid ongoing regional tensions and uncertainty over the durability of the ceasefire. The remarks, first reported by i24NEWS Knesset correspondent Amiel Yarchi, come as Israeli officials assess both the outcome of recent operations and the risk of renewed conflict.
Kuwait has accused Iran and its proxies of carrying out drone attacks against its territory on Thursday, despite the ongoing two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict.
The Kuwaiti foreign ministry said that drones “targeted some vital Kuwaiti facilities” on Thursday evening.
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has denied launching any new strikes on Gulf states.
In a statement carried on Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the IRGC said: “If these reports published by the media are true, without a doubt it is the work of the Zionist enemy or America.”
Just before the ceasefire, the number of ballistic missile interceptors left in Israel’s arsenal had reportedly dwindled to “double digits,” according to a Trump administration source with knowledge of the situation.
The critical shortage had led Israeli military officials to be significantly more selective when confronting ballistic missile attacks from Iran as well as from Yemen. “They’re having to pick and choose what they shoot down,” the official told Drop Site.
Hezbollah claims it targeted Israel’s Ashdod naval base with missiles.
“In response to the enemy’s violation of the ceasefire and its repeated attacks on Beirut, and after the Resistance adhered to the ceasefire while the enemy did not, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted… the naval base in the port of Ashdod with missiles,” the group said in a statement.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian teams sent to the Middle East to strengthen regional air defenses have successfully shot down Iranian Shahed drones.
“We demonstrated to some countries how to work with interceptors,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X.
“Did we destroy Iranian ‘Shaheds?’ Yes, we did. Did we do it in just one country? No, in several. And in my view, this is a success.”
Zelensky said Ukrainian forces participated in active operations using domestically produced, combat-tested interceptor drones.
“This was not about a training mission or exercises, but about support in building a modern air defense system that can actually work,” he added.
The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances for military purposes.
In a post on X, Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the IDF, claimed that the militant group has been making “extensive military use” of ambulances, without providing evidence.
The United Arab Emirates says it will reassess which regional partners it can “rely on” and review its national priorities after bearing the brunt of Iranian attacks during the conflict.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said Abu Dhabi will “scrutinize” its “regional and international relationships” while strengthening an economic and financial system that boosts resilience.
The U.K. defense minister, Luke Pollard, has raised the possibility of Britain bringing allies and partners together to work out solutions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Pollard said that the United Kingdom can play a “unique convening role.”
He also hit back at Trump’s claims that the Royal Navy is “too old” and that its aircraft carriers “don’t work” and are “toys.” “We’ve got a strong Royal Navy,” he told the BBC. “We’ve got a globally deployed navy at the moment.”
Photos have been published online that claim to show the hulk of Iran’s sea base-like ship Shahid Mahdavi, a converted container ship that missiles and drones could be launched from. It was the target of U.S. airstrikes earlier in the conflict.
Reports out of France, citing French military officials, state that French Army Tigre helicopter gunships deployed in the United Arab Emirates have shot down their first Iranian drones, although when this happened is unclear. The helicopters used their 30mm cannons to bring down the Shahed-type drones, rather than Mistral air-to-air missiles. Meanwhile, the integration of laser-guided rockets for the counter-drone role is said to be making progress.
An intriguing photo of the aftermath of the attack on a U.S. command post in Kuwait that killed six American servicemen reveals a single Soviet-era free-fall aircraft bomb. This led to much speculation that it may have been dropped on the base by Iran, most likely using a Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, two examples of which were shot down by Qatar.
Trevor Ball, a conflict researcher at Bellingcat, has got to the bottom of the story, namely that the bomb was an inert example that was placed outside the base as an ornament. The same weapon can also be seen in official photos of the base taken long before the conflict.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Pope Leo’s brave stance against Trump
A war for the soul of the world is happening right now that’s straight out of the Bible — and I’m not just talking about the Middle East.
In one corner are President Trump and his minions, who insist that everything they do is divinely mandated. They have consistently invoked a violent version of God as they deport undocumented immigrants, try to make the United States whiter, rip up long-standing treaties with allies, rain down bombs like a biblical plague on supposed narco boats and choke nations they deem a threat or whose resources they covet.
They’re the ones who lecture religious leaders on what Jesus stood for, demanding blessings for Trump’s actions — or else.
Just check out the recent allegations in The Free Press that senior defense officials dressed down the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S. in January over Pope Leo XIV’s lack of enthusiasm for Trump’s imperialist ambitions. Or Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, he of the tattoos hailing the blood thirst of the Crusades (another Middle Eastern forever war that the “civilized” side lost), who compared the rescue of a downed American aviator in Iran over Easter weekend to the resurrection of Jesus.
It’s a playbook straight out of the Book of Revelations, which describes a Beast in the End Times with “a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies” in its quest to hold dominion over the earth.
In the other corner of this existential fight is an actual man of God: Pope Leo XIV.
Rather than cower before a despot who makes the Pharaoh in the Old Testament seem as stable and kind as St. Francis, the first American pope has resisted Trump like a protester at a “No Kings” rally. He has yet to denounce by name anyone in the president’s sordid orbit — but Pope Leo has returned to their actions again and again in his first year as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
He began his papacy by greeting a cheering crowd with “Peace be with you all” — what Jesus told his disciples after his Resurrection and a brilliant, biblical way to telegraph where he stands in our bellicose times.
On Palm Sunday a few weeks ago, the pontiff proclaimed during Mass in St. Peter’s Square that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war” — a not-so-subtle rebuke to Hegseth, who prayed shortly after the U.S. launched the Iran war for “every round [to] find its mark” and for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
For his first Easter message, Pope Leo wrote, “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue!”
Meanwhile, President Trump told a reporter that God supports the destruction he’s inflicting on Iran because “God is good. God wants to see people taken care of.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters at the Pentagon, July 16, 2025, in Washington.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
According to the Free Press article, the Vatican declined an invitation from Vice President JD Vance for Pope Leo to visit the U.S., for fear that Trump would use him as a political pawn. Instead, the man born in Chicago as Robert Prevost plans to spend July 4 — America’s 250th birthday — on a Mediterranean island that has long served as a gateway for migrants trying to make it to Europe.
Critics will accuse Pope Leo of Trump Derangement Syndrome and call him particularly short-sighted, since he stands athwart the desires of many American Catholics.
Though he isn’t Catholic, Trump has favored Catholicism far above any other mainline Christian denomination, from acknowledging feast days to packing his administration and the Supreme Court with adherents in a way that even Joe Biden — a lifelong Catholic — never did.
About 55% of Catholics voted for Trump in 2024, per the Pew Research Center. A survey last year by The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America found “a clear generational shift away from liberal self-identification” among younger priests. Dioceses across the country are reporting the highest amount of converts in decades, many of them drawn in by orthodox Catholic influencers.
But Trump’s embrace of Catholicism, like everything else in his life, has been conditional on fealty to him. His administration pulled tens of millions of federal funds from Catholic charities because they assisted migrants regardless of legal status — something the American Catholic church has done for over a century. Vance, himself a Catholic convert, accused bishops of being “worried about their bottom line” for daring to criticize the move and his boss’ deportation Leviathan.
The Free Press also reported that Trump’s lackeys invoked the Avignon Papacy — when 14th century French kings exiled a succession of popes from the Vatican and made them their puppets — during their browbeating of the Vatican ambassador.
Re-litigating history is an obsession of the Trump regime, so bringing up a medieval episode amounted to a threat to Leo to shape up — or else.
That’s what makes Pope Leo’s stance against a modern-day Babylon even braver. A pope’s main role is to bear witness to the words of Christ, who said far more about taking care of the meek and turning the other cheek than he did about waging war.
The best popes, from John XXIII to John Paul II, know that their words stand as a challenge for all people, believers and not, to create a better world that paves the way for the world to come. Trump wages war for himself; Pope Leo urges us to stand for something other than ourselves.
At this point in his reign, Trump is a dead ringer for the Antichrist, described in the Second Book of Thessalonians as a “man of sin … the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all.”
Pope Leo would never characterize his opposition to Trump in such apocalyptic terms, of course. But his stance against the president’s tyranny is a call to action in the same vein as John Paul II’s exhortation to the free world to oppose the Soviet empire.
“Let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power,” Pope Leo stated on Easter, “and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil.”
Amen, amen, amen.
Unification minister calls resuming tourist railway to border with N. Korea starting point for peace
A train enters Dorasan Station near the border with North Korea on Friday. South Korea resumed tourist rail service to the border station for the first time in over six years. Pool Photo by Yonhap
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Friday the resumption of tourist rail service to the border with North Korea is a “small” starting point for establishing peace with Pyongyang, as Seoul reopened a long-closed border rail station.
Earlier in the day, South Korea resumed tourist rail service to and from its northernmost Dorasan Station in the border city of Paju, which is a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation that once connected the two Koreas.
“The resumption of train service is a small starting point toward establishing everyday peace, allowing people to experience it in their daily lives,” Chung said in a ceremony marking the event.
“When tourists can visit, see and experience the site of peace at Dorasan Station, peace will finally become an everyday language that breathes in our lives, rather than grand discourse,” he said.
The station, the northern endpoint of South Korea’s rail network just south of the inter-Korean border, was established after the then South and North Korean leaders agreed to connect their railways at a 2000 summit held amid a period of reconciliation between the two Koreas.
Freight trains once ran through Dorasan Station between the two Koreas, carrying materials and finished goods to and from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a jointly operated factory park in North Korea that was shut down amid inter-Korean tensions in 2016.
Since then, the station had served tourist trains carrying passengers in South Korea to border areas, before closing completely in late 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resumption of the border station comes as Seoul continues efforts to resume dialogue and engagement with North Korea to reduce military tensions and establish peace, despite Pyongyang’s repeated rebuffs.
“Only peace and coexistence, as well as reconciliation and cooperation, are the path to mutual prosperity for the South and the North, not worthless animosity and confrontation,” Chung also noted.
He said he believes the two Koreas can surely establish new relations that accommodate the changing international situation and their respective national interests, expressing hope that their railways could be reconnected in the future.
The resumption of rail service to the station will allow tourists to travel by train beyond the Civilian Control Line, which restricts public access near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
The train, named “DMZ Peace Link,” departs from Seoul Station and stops at Unjeong and Imjingang before reaching Dorasan Station, where tourists can visit a nearby observation post and a tourist village.
It runs once on the second and fourth Fridays each month till May, before expanding to every Friday from June.
Going forward, the government, municipalities and the rail agency plan to add more tourist destinations near the border station to provide various programs aimed at promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula.