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China offers $200,000 emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran after school attack.
Iran says death toll of US-Israeli strikes reaches 1,230.
Iran's IRGC official says will burn any ship trying to pass through Strait of Horm.
TEHRAN -- Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Tehran is pursuing diplomatic efforts while remaining prepared for military confrontation, stressing that Iran does not trust its adversaries and stands ready to respond to further escalation.
In a televised address on Saturday, Qalibaf said the latest conflict began during negotiations, which he accused the United States of undermining through "deception," according to Tasnim News Agency.
Qalibaf said Iran does not claim to possess greater overall military power than the United States, acknowledging Washington's superior resources, but maintained that Tehran considers itself to have prevailed based on its performance and outcomes.
Qalibaf described Iran as having achieved success both "on the ground and in diplomacy," while warning that tensions could escalate at any moment. He said negotiations are continuing alongside what he described as full preparedness for any necessary action.
He also reiterated Iran's distrust of its opponents and said Tehran remains committed to pursuing a lasting peace, while seeking guarantees that would prevent a return to cycles of war, ceasefire and renewed conflict.
WASHINGTON - The US Central Command said on Saturday that dock landing ship USS Rushmore is conducting blockade operations in the Arabian Sea.
Earlier Saturday, it said on social media that a guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney is patrolling regional waters in support of the blockade operations. Meanwhile, an amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans is monitoring shipping.
The move came as the Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked since Saturday evening and will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on the waterway.
On Friday, both Washington and Tehran confirmed that the strait had been completely open for all commercial vessels. However, US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the US naval blockade would "remain in full force." In response, Iran warned of closing the strategic waterway again if the US blockade continues.
The Iranian military announced on Saturday that it was reimposing "strict controls" on the Strait of Hormuz, citing the United States' continued blockade of Iranian ports, less than 24 hours after the key global shipping lane was reopened.
Iran said the strait would remain under strict military control until the US lifted its blockade on Iranian ports, describing the blockade as "piracy and maritime plunder". US President Donald Trump said he does not accept Iran's "blackmail" and that negotiations are "progressing smoothly".
Iranian forces opened fire on a tanker attempting to cross the strait Saturday morning, the Washington Post reported. A container ship was struck by unknown munitions in the strait, with some containers damaged but no casualties reported, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre. Two Indian-flagged supertankers were also fired upon by the Revolutionary Guard and turned away.
Trump convened a high-level meeting in the White House Situation Room with senior officials including Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to discuss the renewed crisis.
Trump said he would know by the end of Saturday whether a deal would be reached. However, as of 8 pm Eastern Time, no progress on the negotiations had been reported. Iranian state media said the Supreme National Security Council is reviewing new proposals put forward by the US. Trump told reporters that Iran “got a little cute” by reimposing controls on the strait, but insisted the US is having “very good conversations” with Tehran.
Shipping data showed several vessels making U-turns in the region on Saturday afternoon, while oil prices edged higher amid uncertainty.
The Strait of Hormuz carries about 20 percent of the global oil trade. It has remained a flashpoint since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb 28. Iran has confirmed that more than 3,300 of its citizens have been killed in the conflict, with satellite images showing fires still burning at damaged refineries and crude oil leaking into the Persian Gulf.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said war reparations would be a “top issue” in any negotiations with the US. Iran also announced that six airports, including Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, have reopened, though no flights have been authorized yet.
The latest incidents further complicate talks aimed at securing a peace deal. A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect on Friday, but renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz risk undermining that fragile progress.
TEHRAN -- Iran has made progress in negotiations with the United States, but the two sides are still far from reaching an agreement, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Saturday.
TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said on Saturday the country is determined to exercise control and supervision over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the war is definitively ended and a lasting peace is achieved in the region.
The statement, reported by Iranian media, came after Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, announced earlier in the day the resumption of strict control over the Strait of Hormuz, citing the continuation of US naval blockade against Iran.
The SNSC said it will control the strait by demanding vessel information, issuing passage permits, charging fees for security and environmental services, and directing traffic according to its regulations and wartime protocols.
"By the time the enemy seeks to cause disruption to the vessels' transit through the strait and resort to methods such as imposing a naval blockade, which will be considered as violations of the (current two-week) ceasefire, the country will prevent the conditional and restricted reopening of the Strait of Hormuz," it said.
The SNSC noted that a major part of the equipment for US bases in West Asia is supplied via the Strait of Hormuz, which it said poses a threat to Iranian and regional security.
It also said Iran has received new US proposals, delivered through Pakistan during a recent visit by its Army Chief Asim Munir, and is reviewing them.
Iran's negotiating delegation will not make any compromise and will defend the country's interests with full force, it added.
Iran tightened its grip on the strait beginning Feb. 28, when Israel and the United States launched their joint strikes on Iranian territory. The United States recently imposed a blockade targeting ships going to and from Iran, after peace negotiations in Islamabad collapsed.
On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz would be "completely open" to commercial shipping for the duration of the two-week truce between Iran and the United States, which took effect on April 8, in line with the announcement of the truce in Lebanon.
However, Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, announced on Saturday the resumption of strict control over the Strait of Hormuz due to the continued US naval blockade.
TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday the country's "brave" navy is ready to inflict "new bitter defeats" on the United States and Israel, according to the official news agency IRNA.
He made the remarks in a message on the occasion of Iran's Army Day, which falls on April 18, while praising the Iranian army for its fight against the "enemies," especially through launching drones against the US and Israeli targets.
LONDON - The UK Maritime Trade Operations Center said on Saturday that a tanker came under fire from two gunboats of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps about 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
According to the report, the tanker was approached without any VHF communication before the gunboats opened fire. The vessel and its crew are reported safe.
TEHRAN - Iran has not agreed to hold a new round of peace talks with the United States, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
TEHRAN - Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, announced on Saturday the resumption of strict control over the Strait of Hormuz due to the continued US blockade of the waterway, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters' spokesman, said Iran had agreed to the passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in a managed manner with goodwill, in line with earlier peace negotiation agreements reached in Pakistan.
"However, the United States, with its track record of frequent breaking of its promises, is still continuing its banditry and piracy under the so-called title of (naval) blockade," Zolfaghari said.
The strait's control has therefore "returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control by the (Iranian) armed forces," he added.
He stressed that Iran will maintain strict control of the strait until the United States ends its naval blockade aimed at preventing ships traveling to and from Iranian ports from transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran tightened its grip on the strait beginning Feb 28, barring passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following joint strikes on Iranian territory. The United States subsequently imposed its own blockade on the waterway after peace negotiations in Islamabad collapsed.
On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz would remain "completely open" to commercial shipping for the duration of the current two-week truce between Iran and the United States, which took effect on April 8, in line with the announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
TEHRAN - Iran partially reopened its airspace and some airports on Saturday, said its Civil Aviation Authority.
Air routes in Iran's eastern airspace have been opened to international flights, the authority said in a statement, adding that some airports have also reopened at 7 am local time (0330 GMT).
Flight operations at Iranian airports will gradually return to normal once technical and operational preparations are completed by the country's military and civilian authorities, it said.
Iran had closed its airspace following the joint attacks by the United States and Israel on Feb 28.
TEHRAN -- If the United States continues its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will consider it a violation of the ceasefire between the two countries and will close the waterway, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Friday, citing an informed source close to the Supreme National Security Council.
The warning came after Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said earlier in the day that the strait will be "completely open" for the passage of all commercial vessels for the remaining period of the US-Iran ceasefire, aligning with the newly-enforced truce in Lebanon.
The source said that Iran had initially agreed to allow some vessels' passage through the strait under the Pakistan-mediated ceasefire plan, but suspended it because the ceasefire was not enforced in Lebanon and did not apply to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
According to the source, Iran has specified three conditions for the vessels' passage: the vessels must be commercial and not military, unaffiliated with hostile countries, and follow Iran-determined routes with prior coordination with Iranian authorities.
Iran tightened control over the strait after the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on the country on Feb 28. The United States also imposed a naval blockade on the strait following its failed negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The peace talks were held Saturday and early Sunday, following a two-week ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel that took effect on April 8. A second round of talks is likely to take place on Sunday in Islamabad, media reports said.
Earlier on Friday, both Washington and Tehran confirmed that the Strait of Hormuz has been completely open for all commercial vessels. However, US President Donald Trump said the US naval blockade against Iran will "remain in full force."
The United States and Iran said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce in Lebanon appeared to hold, but the US' military blockade of Iran remains in effect.
"The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100 percent complete," US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social in all caps.
Minutes earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the strait "is declared completely open" in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon. He said it would stay open for the remaining period of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, celebratory gunfire echoed across Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold, while displaced residents began heading south to return to their homes.
"There's destruction and it's unlivable. We're taking our things and leaving again," Fadel Badreddine, who came with his young son and wife, was quoted by Reuters as saying. "May God grant us relief and end this whole thing permanently."
Yet the truce remained highly fragile. Israel's military stated it had struck more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and remained on high alert to resume operations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out troop withdrawals, emphasizing Hezbollah's disarmament as a precondition for any "historic peace agreement" with Lebanon.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim al-Moussawi said the group would "respect" the truce if Israel halts its attacks. He thanked Iran for pressuring on Lebanon's behalf, adding that "the ceasefire would not have been possible without Iran, which views this truce as equivalent to closing the Strait of Hormuz".
Iran has welcomed the ceasefire, describing it as part of an understanding reached with the US under Pakistani mediation that would pave the way for a broader pact to de-escalate the regional conflict, Iranian media reported, citing a Foreign Ministry statement.
Several regional states, including Saudi Arabia and Oman, have welcomed the truce. Riyadh reiterated its support for Lebanon's statehood and sovereignty, while Muscat called on all parties to refrain from any truce violations.
But Israel still lacks a political road map for lasting peace with Lebanon, as it has failed to disarm Hezbollah, said political commentator Abed Abou Shhadeh based in Jaffa, Israel.
"History over the past 40 years has proven this is not something Israel can achieve," he said.
"The military recently acknowledged that fully disarming Hezbollah would require occupying all of Lebanon — a mission it lacks the troop strength to carry out."
The Lebanon conflict, which erupted on March 2, has killed more than 2,000 people to date.
Trump said he had held "excellent conversations" with Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and planned to invite them both to the White House for "meaningful talks". He later added that if a US-Iran deal is signed in Islamabad, he might travel there for the signing.
Abas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, told Al Jazeera that Trump is seeking an exit ramp from the Iran war before it brings greater repercussions for the US and the global energy market.
"But it wouldn't secure any strategic outcome for the US," Aslani said. "There are some gaps that need to be bridged, but those differences remain."
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Iran war will end soon.
Experts said there is little credible evidence to back Trump's claim. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Thursday that if Iran rejects a deal, the US military will target Iran's "infrastructure, power grid and energy sector".
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, said the US administration cannot negotiate a comprehensive settlement. "Trump has a political incentive to claim peace on his terms is imminent. That does not make it a reality," he told Xinhua.
cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn
TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday in a post on social media platform X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon.
UNITED NATIONS -- A Chinese envoy said Thursday that China's veto of a Security Council draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz helped prevent the escalation of Iran's conflict with the United States and Israel.
In exercising its veto on April 7 on the draft resolution submitted by Bahrain on behalf of Gulf states, China upheld international fairness and justice, defended the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and prevented the conflict from expanding further. The veto also created favorable conditions for achieving a temporary ceasefire and launching dialogue and negotiations, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.
"China's vote represents a choice responsible for peace and for the people of the region. It stands on the right side of history and will stand the test of history," he told a UN General Assembly meeting on the use of veto in the Security Council.
China attached great importance to the draft resolution and fully understood the Gulf states' major concerns. At the same time, Security Council actions should be aimed at de-escalation. They must not provide a veneer of legitimacy for unauthorized military operations or authorize the use of force, let alone further exacerbate tensions and add fuel to the fire, thereby leading to an escalation of the conflict, said Fu.
"China does not go along with Iran's attacks on Gulf states. China believes that the passage and safety of a strait used for international navigation should be safeguarded. We call on Iran to take proactive measures to restore normal navigation in the Strait of Hormuz at an early date," said Fu.
"Meanwhile, the ramped-up military deployment and targeted blockade by the United States constitute a dangerous and irresponsible move. The issue of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a spillover effect of the conflict in Iran. Only a complete ceasefire can fundamentally create conditions for easing the situation," he said.
China welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire agreement by the relevant parties and supports all efforts conducive to ending the conflict. The U.S.-Iran negotiations in Pakistan mark a step in the right direction toward de-escalation, Fu said.
"The relevant parties should adhere to the ceasefire agreement, stick to the direction of dialogue and peace talks, stay committed to resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means, and take concrete actions to de-escalate regional tensions," he said.
The international community, he said, should continue to intensify efforts to promote peace talks and unequivocally oppose any actions that undermine the ceasefire or escalate confrontation.
All parties should also earnestly respect Lebanon's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and prevent the escalation of the situation in Lebanon from undermining the ceasefire arrangement, Fu said.
As a sincere friend and strategic partner of countries in the Middle East, China is closely following the regional situation, maintaining an objective and impartial position, and has been engaged in intensive mediation with all parties to actively promote peace talks, he said.
China stands ready to continue facilitating de-escalation, promoting the improvement of relations between regional countries, and playing a constructive role in ultimately achieving enduring peace and stability in the Middle East, he said.
WASHINGTON — The United States has announced that Israel-Lebanon talks will take place on Thursday, but there was no confirmation from Lebanon.
"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday on social media.
"It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow," Trump said. The post did not give any further details.
Gila Gamliel, a member of Israel's security cabinet, told Israel's Army Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would "speak for the first time with the president of Lebanon after so many years of no contact between the two countries".
"This move will hopefully ultimately lead to prosperity and flourishing for Lebanon as a state," she added.
The statement was the first confirmation from an official Israeli source that talks would take place.
However, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon had no information about a call between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu.
In addition, an official Lebanese source told Agence France-Presse that "we are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels".
Israel and Lebanon agreed during a meeting between their ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday to begin direct negotiations.
Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday of two central objectives in the talks, "First, the dismantling of Hezbollah; second, a sustainable peace ... achieved through strength."
Lebanon's ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, said she had called for a ceasefire in Lebanon during the meeting, which Israel has so far rejected.
Lebanon also urged concrete measures to ease the severe humanitarian crisis resulting from the US-Israeli war with Iran, according to a US State Department statement.
The meeting marked the first major high-level engagement between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, it said.
Hezbollah condemned the talks as "capitulation".
On the ground, the Israeli army on Thursday urged civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers north of the border.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several drone attacks targeting military positions in northern Israel and on Lebanese territory.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town 5 kilometers from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling the Israeli army.
Agencies - Xinhua
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Thursday at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, that the war in Iran was going "swimmingly" and could end "pretty soon."
Diplomatic optimism gained ground on Thursday as mediators stepped up shuttle diplomacy to defuse Middle East tensions and arrange new negotiations between the United States and Iran after nearly seven weeks of war. Yet deep mistrust persisted, with Tehran issuing a stark warning to shut down Red Sea trade if Washington fails to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran and the US and were weighing a return to Pakistan for further talks as early as next weekend, media reported, after last week's negotiations ended without a breakthrough. A high-level Pakistani delegation led by army chief Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to deliver a US message to Iranian leaders, Iran's Press TV reported.
With the ceasefire set to expire next Tuesday, a senior Iranian source told Reuters that Munir — who mediated the last round of talks — aimed to "narrow gaps" between the two sides. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received Munir and reaffirmed Tehran's commitment to "promote peace and stability in the region".
But no dates have been finalized for the next round, and consultations continue to agree on a mutually acceptable schedule, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three core sticking points that derailed last weekend's direct talks — Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and wartime compensation claims, according to multiple diplomatic sources.
Separately on Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Saudi Arabia as part of a regional tour that also includes Qatar and Turkiye, under a "double-pronged strategy", Al Jazeera reported.
"Pakistan wants to hold everyone together without upsetting any party," said retired Pakistani military official Tughral Yamin.
"It wants to play a role in the evolving security architecture by assuring that their overtures are not against anyone's threat perceptions."
The diplomatic push was given a lift by optimistic remarks by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said on Wednesday that Tehran supports "constructive dialogue" with the US, but will not be "forced into submission".
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also struck a positive tone, saying future talks were likely to again be held in Islamabad. However, she added that "at this moment" there had been no extension of the current ceasefire with Iran.
The fragile ceasefire hung in the balance as Washington pressed ahead with the port blockade to ramp up pressure on Tehran. The US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran's oil industry on Wednesday, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowing to target "regime elites" and escalate economic pressure.
In a sharp retaliatory warning, Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran's joint military command, threatened to halt regional trade if the US does not lift the blockade.
"Unless Washington relents, Iran's armed forces will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and Red Sea," he said.
Regional stock markets have rallied sharply in recent days amid hopes of a quick end to the fighting, with Wall Street indexes hitting record highs on Wednesday as crude oil prices stabilized.
"While there are hopes for de-escalation, many investors remain skeptical, given that US-Iran talks have repeatedly broken down even after appearing to make progress," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
The conflict, launched by the US and Israel on Feb 28, has killed more than 3,000 people in Iran and triggered retaliatory strikes on US targets in Gulf states. It has also reignited Israel-Hezbollah clashes in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have killed over 2,000 people since March 2.
War damage to Iran's economy has reached $270 billion in 40 days, equivalent to roughly $3,000 per person, according to official figures, with losses expected to grow as trade disruptions deepen under the US blockade of Iranian ports, Press TV reported on Wednesday. Iran's central bank has warned that rebuilding the economy could take more than a decade.
In another, tentative, positive sign, the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Education announced regular in-person classes will resume across all nurseries, kindergartens, public and private schools from Monday.
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday stressed China's firm opposition to illegal unilateral sanctions in response to the United States' threats to impose sanctions on countries purchasing Iranian oil.
On Wednesday, Washington said it believes China would not stop purchasing Iranian oil and it would sanction buyers of Iranian oil.
"China has consistently opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and have not been authorized by the United Nations Security Council," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a daily news conference in Beijing.
zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
The United States is reportedly sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in the coming days to pressure Iran into a deal, despite US President Donald Trump claiming the war with Tehran is "close to over".
"I think it's close to over … I view it as very close to being over," Trump told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday and said he thinks Iran wants to "make a deal very badly". He hinted at a possible second round of talks between the two countries in Pakistan in the coming days.
The Washington Post reported the new military deployment, but it did not say how many troops would be sent and it is yet to be confirmed publicly by the US government.
While Iran has not confirmed further talks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan released a statement on Wednesday saying that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would be visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye from April 15 to 18.
The statement said the visits "will be in the bilateral context" to discuss ongoing bilateral cooperation, regional peace, and security.
Sharif's visit to Turkiye includes his participation in the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, where he is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other key leaders.
At a UN briefing Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the indication they have was that it was highly probable the US-Iran talks would restart, following his phone call with the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Guterres expressed his "enormous admiration" for Pakistan and the initiative it has assumed to bring peace to the Middle East.
Currently, the US has imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the US Central Command said the US Navy's guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports, and that the blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving the coastal areas in Iran.
In a statement, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said a blockade of Iranian ports has been "fully implemented as US forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East".
But on Tuesday, at least two vessels transited through the strait en route to Iranian ports after altering their Automatic Identification System, or AIS, destination data, following a US blockade on ships entering and leaving Iran, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency, citing the maritime intelligence provider Lloyd's List.
The two Iran-flagged container ships that previously indicated sailing to the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas changed their AIS messages to the more general designation of "PG Ports", meaning "Persian Gulf Ports". They were able to continue their journey toward Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.
'Reckless misstep'
Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, called the US naval blockade "a reckless misstep meant possibly for a dignified exit and face-saving".
"It's meant to gain credibility by creating this mentality that things are imposed by force and thereby justifying deployment of ammunition, rhetoric, loss of lives, and costs on US taxpayers," said Moghadam.
Meanwhile, as parties hammer out the potential date and venue for the next US-Iran talks, several countries issued a joint statement on Lebanon.
Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland said they remained "deeply concerned" over the humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in the country.
Israel and Lebanon are currently holding direct talks at the ambassadorial level at the US State Department in Washington.
French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer will cohost a video-conference with international leaders on Friday, aiming to chart a plan to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The office of the French president said it would lead talks on a "multilateral and purely defensive mission" to restore freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow.
The statement said "nonbelligerent" countries willing to contribute to the mission would take part, though names of other participating countries were not specified.
A spokesperson for the UK prime minister's office said: "The summit will advance work toward a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping once the conflict ends."
In a social media post, Starmer said Britain had convened "more than 40 nations who share our aim to restore freedom of navigation".
"The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz is deeply damaging. Getting global shipping moving is vital to easing cost-of-living pressures," Starmer said.
Earlier in the week, Macron said on X that the initiative would aim to establish a "peaceful multinational mission" to secure maritime routes through the strategic waterway, stressing it will be "strictly defensive" and separate from the parties to the conflict. He said the mission would be deployed "as soon as circumstances permit".
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Radio France Internationale on Tuesday that "several dozen countries" had already taken part in "preparatory work led in particular by the chiefs of staff to define the framework for such a mission". "It is a matter of coordinating with the coastal states," he added.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said a blockade on Iranian ports would take effect on Monday.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran have set off a region-wide war that has choked traffic through the strait, a vital artery for global oil and gas.
The US announcement of a naval blockade came after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan, aiming to end the war that began on Feb 28, collapsed.
The United Nations maritime agency's chief said on Monday that no nation has the legal right to close the Strait of Hormuz.
"In accordance with international law, no country has the right to prohibit the right of innocent passage or the freedom of navigation through international straits that are used for international transit," Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, head of the International Maritime Organization, told a news conference.
"De-escalation is what is going to start helping us address the crisis and bring shipping back to the way that we used to operate," he added.
