The Latest: US blockade of Iranian ports 'fully implemented' as Trump says war is near end
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulate that Beijing has considered transferring arms. China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly denied in recent days that the country is providing any form of military support to Iran.
In an interview that aired Wednesday, Trump said the war in Iran was “very close to over.” He has declared a U.S. victory repeatedly since mere days after the war started — even as the reality on the ground has been far more complicated.
U.S. Central Command said it has achieved “maritime superiority” and that the blockade on Iranian ports had been “fully implemented” within 36 hours of its launch, according to a statement on social media late Monday.
Mediators’ efforts to extend a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have made progress as the warring sides are expected to return to the negotiations table, regional officials said. Mediators aim to extend the ceasefire, which is due to expire on April 22, for at least another two weeks to allow diplomacy another chance.
Here is the latest:
The head of the U.N. General Assembly’s nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that “very detailed” measures to verify Iran’s nuclear activities must be included in a potential U.S.-Iran agreement to end their war in the Middle East.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi stressed the need for a thorough verification regime for Iran’s nuclear program, as U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a second round of talks could happen over the next two days.
The Trump administration has said that preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon is a key war aim. Iran has previously said it isn’t developing such weapons but rejected limits on its nuclear program.
Lebanese were divided on Wednesday over their government’s decision to pursue rare, direct negotiations with Israel in hopes of ending the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Some forced to flee their homes and communities in southern Lebanon say they believe Israel’s ground invasion can only be stopped through military force, not diplomacy.
“We stand with the young men, the fighters, and those stationed on the border, and with whatever decision they make,” said Mustafa Alaa Al-Din, now living in Beirut after being displaced from a southern border village. “These negotiations do not represent us … it’s as if they never existed.”
Others said they support any initiative that promises to hasten the end of the war.
“The negotiations are more in our interest than in Israel’s interest, because we are the ones whose country is being destroyed, we are the ones suffering losses,” said Mohamed Saad, a resident of Beirut, the Lebanese capital. “We are the ones out in the streets.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended sending King Charles III to the U.S. for a state visit later this month despite Trump’s threat to tear up a trade agreement with the U.K.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey asked Starmer in Parliament how he could allow Charles to travel to the U.S. after Trump threatened to punish the U.K. “for us not joining his idiotic war in Iran.”
“This must be the last straw,” Davey said Wednesday. “Surely the prime minister can’t send our king to meet a man who treats our country like a Mafia boss running a protection racket.”
Starmer says the visit is to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. and the bond between the two countries that is more important “than anyone who occupies any particular office at any particular time.”
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry has filed an official complaint with the U.N. Security Council over Israel’s intense barrage on the country last week that it says killed over 300 people and wounded 1,150 others.
In less than 10 minutes last Wednesday, Israel struck 100 targets across Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon without warning during rush hour, marking one of the deadliest single bombing campaigns in the country’s history. The ministry said in its letter on Wednesday that the majority of casualties were unarmed civilians.
Israel says it targeted Hezbollah militants and infrastructure, but has offered few details on what was hit.
The foreign ministry also condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese medical facilities as violations of international law. It said Israel has launched 17 attacks on hospitals and 101 attacks on emergency response teams in its latest war against Hezbollah.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country “based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment,” Iran’s state media reported.
A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that the United States has not formally agreed to extend the ceasefire and that “engagement” with Iran continues.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive negotiations.
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Associated Press reporter Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not alter his stance to stay out of the war in Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to tear up a trade deal with the U.K.
Trump told Sky News on Tuesday night that the U.K. had not been there when the U.S. needed their help. Trump said the so-called special relationship between the allies had been better.
“It’s been better, but it’s sad,” Trump said. “And we gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed.”
Starmer said a lot of pressure had been put on him to change course, including Trump’s latest remarks.
“I’m not going to change my mind,” Starmer said. “I’m not going to yield. It is not in our national interest to join this war, and we will not do so.”
Trump on Wednesday claimed that China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran, as reports circulate that Beijing has considered transferring arms.
Trump wrote in a social media post that China is “very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz.” He said, “They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran.” He seemed to suggest the two are linked.
The president had told an interviewer on Tuesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had denied sending weapons to Iran.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokespersons have repeatedly denied in recent days that the country is providing any form of military support to Iran.
China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the US government.
Iranian state media reported that the commander of Iran’s joint military command warned that Iran would completely block exports and imports across the Persian Gulf region, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea if the United States does not lift its blockade on Iranian ports.
“Iran will act with strength to defend its national sovereignty and its interests,” said Ali Abdollahi.
He added that the U.S. blockade is “a prelude to violating the ceasefire.”
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz when Israel and the United States launched strikes against it more than a month ago. The United States on Monday began blockading ships trying to enter or leave Iranian ports and said it would not impede the freedom of navigation of other vessels in the Persian Gulf.
Trump said in the Fox News interview that Xi Jinping issued the denial in a written response letter to Trump, after the U.S. president wrote him following reports that surfaced about China supplying Iran with weapons for the war.
“I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that. And he wrote me a letter saying that, essentially, he’s not doing that,” Trump said.
Trump is scheduled to meet Xi in Beijing in early May.
In an interview Sunday with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News, Trump had said fuel prices could be the same or “maybe a little bit higher” by the November congressional elections.
But in a separate interview with Bartiromo, which was taped on Tuesday at the White House and broadcast on Wednesday, Trump claimed he’d been misquoted and tried to overcome the blowback from his previous comments.
He said he’s happy with oil costing about $92 per barrel. “It’s going to come dropping down very big as soon as this is over,” he said, referring to the war. “And I think it can be over very soon.”
Later in the interview, he predicted that gas prices, now averaging slightly above $4 a gallon, will be “much lower” by the elections.
Speaking again about the war, Trump said, “When that’s settled, gas prices are going to go down tremendously.”
Israel’s military said on Wednesday that it had struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as it presses ahead with its aerial and ground war there despite the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported airstrikes and artillery shelling in multiple southern Lebanese locations on Wednesday, including near Bint Jbeil, where Israeli forces have encircled Hezbollah fighters.
The fighting in the south has continued after Israeli and Lebanese officials concluded their first direct talks in decades. Lebanese officials want a ceasefire to halt fighting that has displaced more than 1 million people in their country, while Israel wants the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah has harshly criticized the Lebanese government’s rare direct talks in Washington with Israel as “disgraceful” and urged Lebanon to hold a public referendum to determine the future of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
Fadlallah said that if the Lebanese government “truly wants to prove it reflects the aspirations of the Lebanese people, then it should accept a popular referendum” rather than negotiating with Israel on Hezbollah’s disarmament. He accused Lebanon of giving Israel a political platform with the talks “at a time when it is killing Lebanese people and committing massacres.”
“The enemy is the one benefiting,” he said.
He said he would expect a popular referendum on Hezbollah to show that “a majority of the Lebanese people” support the militant group’s campaign against Israel.
In the streets of northern Israel, in the border town of Kiryat Shmona near Lebanon, some Israelis feel wary that the ongoing talks with Lebanon may not bring about a decisive victory against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
“Hezbollah is much stronger than the Lebanese army, nothing will come out of it,” said Eli Mizrahi, as residents believe that Israel should not retreat until a decisive victory is realized in Lebanon.
Resident of Kiryat Shmona Bruria Danino said she will only “feel calm” when Hezbollah is eliminated, while the majority voiced their inconvenience from the constant sounds of sirens, warning them of incoming fire from Lebanon.
Fighting renewed between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2, when the militant group fired rockets into northern Israel. At least 2,124 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the country’s Health Ministry said.
The Turkish leader acknowledged that talks between the United States and Iran have hit obstacles, especially on the nuclear issue, but insisted that the dialogue must continue.
“Negotiations cannot be conducted with clenched fists. Weapons must not be allowed to speak again instead of words,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday in an address to his ruling party’s legislators.
Erdogan renewed his warning that Israel should not be allowed to undermine the ceasefire.
“The Israeli government, which is known to be displeased with the ceasefire, must not be allowed to sabotage the process,” Erdogan said.
His comments came as Turkish and Israeli officials traded accusations this week in a new verbal spat that further strained the two countries’ already tense relations.
Russia’s top diplomat on Wednesday reiterated that Moscow was ready “to play a role in solving the problem of enriched uranium” in Iran.
“This role can take on many forms, including reprocessing highly enriched uranium into fuel-grade uranium, transferring a certain amount to Russia for storage. Anything that is acceptable to Iran without, I repeat, violating its inalienable right, like the right of any other state, to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes,” Lavrov told reporters in Beijing, where he was on a two-day visit.
Russia was part of the 2015 deal between Iran and six nuclear powers offering sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic program and opening it to broader international scrutiny. As part of the deal, Moscow removed large amounts of enriched uranium from Iran.
The Kremlin offered political support to Iran when the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Trump’s first term.
Responding to reports that there may be a second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, China said it “welcomes all efforts conducive to a ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities,” at a regular press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on Wednesday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun also praised Pakistan for its “role in facilitating a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran and playing a fair and balanced mediating role.”
Beijing has been working behind the scenes to bring Iran to the negotiation table. Trump also said that he believed China helped to encourage Iran to agree to the ceasefire.
Mediators’ efforts to extend a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have made progress as the warring sides are expected to return soon to the table for another round of negotiations, regional officials said.
The officials said mediators aim to extend the ceasefire, which is due to expire on April 22, for at least another two weeks to allow diplomacy another chance. They said that both sides gave an “in principle agreement” to extend the ceasefire.
One of the officials, who is involved in the mediation efforts, said mediators were working on a compromise to the three main disputed points, including the nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and war compensation.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, after holding a video conference with leaders from Southeast Asia, told reporters that the assistance, dubbed “Power Asia,” is aimed at providing loans needed to secure crude oil, petroleum products and to maintain the supply chain in an emergency response to help hard-hit nations.
The fund also aims to expand an oil reserve system within Asia, diversify energy, and to promote energy conservation and industrial advancement, Takaichi said.
Japan, which imports petroleum-related products such as medical supplies from Southeast Asia, is increasingly worried that the region’s oil supply shortages would affect the Japanese economy.
The fund is one year’s worth of oil imports for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries, or about 1.2 billion barrels, Takaichi said. The assistance is not meant to just provide oil, but for Asian nations to support each other.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that “the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes is an inalienable right of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Whether Iran, in its negotiations with the United States, decides to “pause” or “insists on preserving this right,” Russia will accept “any approach based on this principle, the principle of the universality of the right to enrichment,” Lavrov told reporters in Beijing, where he was on a two-day visit this week.
Lavrov emphasized that Russia and China “firmly support” the talks to end the Mideast war, “so that the parties can advance realistic and fair goals, fully respecting the legitimate rights of each party, in accordance with international law.”
Iran is a signatory to the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which gives countries the right to peaceful nuclear energy programs with safeguards, but does not explicitly mention enrichment.
The official Mizan news agency reported that Taj said, “We really do not know and cannot predict what will happen with the war over the next one to two months. Our serious plan was to hold the league until May 10.”
He added, “For this, we wrote to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and also informed Amir Ghalenoei, the head coach of Iran’s national team. But we then saw that no one can tell us what the future plan will be.”
“We will wait and see what happens, but in any case, we will make a decision this week. We are also looking to see what political officials and the Foreign Ministry say.”
He warned, “It would be very bad if we start the league for a few days and then, God forbid, a military attack occurs, which would make things much more difficult to manage.”
The oil- and gas-rich Nordic country is reporting record-high revenues from crude oil exports as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the Iran war drove up prices.
Government agency Statistics Norway says export revenues in March soared to nearly 200 billion kroner ($21 billion) last month, up more than 28% from the same month last year.
Exports of natural gas shot up 19% in March from the level a year earlier to over 69 billion kroner, marking the highest level since February 2023.
“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused a significant supply shock in the oil market, which contributed to the high oil prices in March, and thus the highest export value ever,” said Jan Olav Rørhus, a senior adviser for the agency.
The “geopolitical unrest in the Middle East … effectively led to a halt in deliveries of liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz” in March, which affected prices, he said.
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