US-Iran ceasefire: Iran's supreme leader says, 'US suffered disgraceful defeat'

The United States is launching an international coalition to restart shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, an official confirmed Thursday, as the vital waterway remains largely cut off amid stalled talks with Iran.

The "Maritime Freedom Construct" (MFC) will "take steps to ensure safe passage, including providing real-time information, safety guidance, and coordination to ensure vessels can transit these waters securely", a State Department official told AFP.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was responding to questions about a reported diplomatic cable calling on US embassies to press foreign governments to join such an effort.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the MFC will be a joint effort between the State Department and US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military forces in the Middle East, according to the cable.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf vowed on Thursday that his country's control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz would ensure a future without US presence in the area.

"Today, by managing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will provide itself and its neighbours with the precious blessing of a future free from American presence and interference," said Ghalibaf in a post on X.

Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed dramatically as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to escalate, with new images highlighting a sharp decline in vessel movement across one of the world’s most critical oil routes.

Recent reports indicate that only a handful of ships are currently passing through the strategic waterway, compared to the usual 125 to 140 vessels per day before the conflict intensified. The disruption comes amid a deepening standoff, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning that a naval blockade targeting Iran could remain in place for “months,” raising fears of prolonged instability in global energy markets.

Air France-KLM cut its 2026 outlook, saying higher fuel prices caused by the Middle East war would expand its fuel bill by more than a third.

The airline group, which also includes budget airline Transavia said it now expects to expand capacity by two to four per cent this year, down from its earlier forecast of three to five per cent.

Air France-KLM announced a net loss of 252 million euros ($294 million) in the first quarter, an increase of one percent from the same period last year.

"While fuel price increases are not yet reflected in the results we present today, they are expected to weigh on the coming quarters," said chief executive Benjamin Smith.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message on Thursday that the United States had been defeated in its war on Iran.

"Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world's bullies in the region, and the United States' disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the [Arabian]Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," said Khamenei in the message read on state television.

Israeli strikes on three south Lebanon villages killed nine people, among them two children and five women, Lebanon's health ministry said Thursday, nearly two weeks into a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"Israeli enemy strikes on south Lebanon led, in an initial toll, to nine martyrs, among them two children and five women, and 23 wounded, among them eight children and seven women," the ministry said in a statement issued shortly after Lebanon's president slammed "continuing Israeli violations" of the ceasefire.

The European Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates steady again on Thursday as policymakers weigh concerns about higher inflation triggered by the Middle East war against worries about weakening growth.

Energy costs have spiked since the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas usually passes, following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Eurozone inflation is already picking up - it jumped to three per cent in April, above the ECB's two-per cent target - but the central bank appears reluctant to quickly hike rates, fearing higher borrowing costs could weigh on the region's already lacklustre growth.

The ECB will thus keep its key deposit rate at two percent, where it has been since June last year, as it waits to see how the war plays out, analysts believe.

The Bank of England on Thursday cut its forecasts for UK growth this year and next, as it left its benchmark interest rate at 3.75 per cent due to the Middle East war.

The central bank now estimates gross domestic product growth to hit 0.7 or 0.8 per cent this year and 0.8 or 1.0 per cent in 2027.

It had previously forecast GDP output of 0.9 per cent this year and 1.5 per cent in 2027.

Iran's Supreme Leader on Thursday said the only place Americans belong in the Arabian Gulf is "at the bottom of its waters", as the Strait of Hormuz remains in Tehran's chokehold.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei spoke in a written statement read aloud on Iranian state television, as he has since he took over after the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his 86-year-old father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"By God's help and power, the bright future of the [Arabian] Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people," Khamenei said in the statement.

"We and our neighbors across the waters of the [Arabian] Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it - except at the bottom of its waters."

Iran's supreme leader said Thursday that the Islamic Republic will protect its "nuclear and missile capabilities" as a national asset, even as U.S. President Donald Trump tries to get a deal on those issues.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei spoke in a written statement read aloud on Iranian state television, as he has since he took over after the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his 86-year-old father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran's identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities - from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities - as national assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country's waters, land and airspace," Khamenei said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday stressed the importance of a "reliable transatlantic partnership", amid a row with US President Donald Trump over the Iran war.

"In these particularly turbulent times, we are following a clear compass," Merz said during a visit to an army training ground. "This compass remains oriented toward a united NATO and a reliable transatlantic partnership."

The EU said Thursday that the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington's interest, after President Donald Trump threatened to reduce force numbers in Germany.

"The deployment of US troops in Europe is also in the US interest in support of its global role," European Union spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday decried what he described as Israel's continued violations of the ceasefire, calling for international pressure on Israel to stop strikes on civilians and paramedics.

Aoun slammed the "continuing Israeli violations" in south Lebanon, saying they were occurring "despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises day after day".

"Pressure must be exerted on Israel to ensure it respects international laws and conventions and ceases targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defence, and humanitarian health and relief organisations," he added in a statement, as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah nears the two-week mark.

Fossil fuel advocates have unwillingly given a boost to renewable energy as the war in the Middle East has triggered an oil price shock, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said Thursday.

"The fossil fuel cost crisis now has its foot on the throat of the global economy," Stiell said at a meeting on the energy transition hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris.

"From this tragedy, an immense irony is unfolding. Those who've fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom," he said, without naming countries or companies.

The world is facing a "major energy and economic challenge" as oil prices have soared in the wake of the war in the Middle East, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said Thursday.

"The world is facing the biggest energy crisis in history," Birol said at a high-level meeting on the energy transition at IEA headquarters in Paris, adding that oil prices were "putting a lot of pressure in many countries".

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said a US naval blockade on Iranian ports would deepen disruptions in the Gulf and would fail to achieve its targets.

"Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law... and is doomed to fail," Pezeshkian said in a statement.

He added that such measures would "not only fail to enhance regional security, but are in fact a source of tension and a disruption to lasting stability in the Arabian Gulf".

The United States is pushing for a new international coalition to restart commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as talks with Tehran stall, according to US news outlets.

The State Department sent an internal cable to US embassies calling on diplomats to convince governments around the world to join the "Maritime Freedom Construct," a US-led bloc to share information, coordinate diplomatically, and enforce sanctions, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The coalition will see the State Department serving as a "diplomatic operations hub" and the US Central Command providing "real-time maritime domain awareness," the Journal reported, citing the cable sent on Tuesday.

"Your participation will strengthen our collective ability to restore freedom of navigation and protect the global economy," the cable reportedly said.

"Collective action is essential to demonstrate unified resolve and impose meaningful costs on Iranian obstruction of transit through the Strait."

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to the Journal that the idea was one of the many diplomatic and policy resources at the president's disposal.

Israel's foreign ministry said Thursday that Israeli forces had arrested about 175 activists aboard 20 ships from an aid-laden flotilla bound for Gaza.

"Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats... are now making their way peacefully to Israel," the ministry said in a statement, including a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.

Hezbollah has launched a new weapon against northern Israel in the latest round of fighting: small drones controlled with fiber-optic cables the width of dental floss that avoid electronic detection.

These drones - used widely in the war in Ukraine - are small, hard to track and potentially lethal.

Many drones are susceptible to electronic jamming by air defenses. Jamming can cause a drone to crash or return to its point of origin.

But fiber-optic drones are not controlled remotely. They have a thin cable that connects an operator directly to the drone, making it impossible to electronically jam.

A revised peace proposal by Iran could come by Friday, according to US media reports. The White House has earlier rejected a written proposal by Iran for a peace deal that took the issue of Tehran's nuclear stockpile and uranium enrichment off the table, only focussing on Hormuz. The Trump administration, meanwhile, sees the maritime blockade extension as the "best option" to force the Iranian regime back to the negotiating table.

Brent crude oil prices surged above $125 per barrel on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will continue until Iran agrees to a deal with the United States.

Forward contracts for the sea-borne oil benchmark spiked 6.84% to $125, or $7.12 higher in Asian trade, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 3.30% to $110.30, as of 4.53 am GMT April 30, 2026.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Wednesday on X that it had reached a "significant milestone after successfully redirecting the 42nd commercial vessel attempting to violate the blockade".

It said there are "41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can't sell," estimating the value to more than $6 billion.

Brent crude surged above $120 per barrel on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will continue until Iran agrees to a deal with the United States. "The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking ... it is going to be worse for them. They can't have a nuclear weapon," Trump told Axios.

President Donald Trump said that a US naval blockade against Iran could last months, leading oil prices Wednesday to spike to their highest in more than four years.

With diplomacy between Iran and the United States at a standstill after false starts, Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned him of "damaging consequences" if the United States and Israel resume their war on Iran.

Meeting oil executives, Trump contended that the blockade of Iranian ports - which Tehran has demanded must end before any deal - was more effective than bombing.

Trump, at the meeting that took place Tuesday, discussed his efforts "to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimize impact on American consumers," a White House official said on condition of anonymity.

Global crude prices soared following reports of a possible extended blockade, with Brent jumping above $119 a barrel to its highest level since 2022 and US benchmark WTI above $105.

Iran has sought to extract a price for being attacked by exerting control over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which one-fifth of global oil typically transits.

Football's power brokers meet in Vancouver on Thursday as FIFA convenes its 76th Congress, a high?stakes gathering less than two months before the biggest World Cup ever opens across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The Iran war, World Cup logistical headaches and the unresolved question of Russia's international ban are set to feature in discussions among roughly 1,600 delegates from more than 200 member associations.

Iran's absence is already threatening to overshadow the meeting.

Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto earlier this week, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver.

Iranian media said FFIRI president Mehdi Taj - a former member of Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - and two colleagues flew home after being "insulted" by Canadian immigration officers.

Canada, which designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2024, said Wednesday that individuals linked to the force were "inadmissible."

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States is considering reducing the number of its troops in Germany, amid a row with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

"The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has mocked the US naval blockade. In his taunt, Ghalibaf mocked the Trump administration's oil strategy, noting that after three days, no Iranian oil wells had "exploded" from the predicted pressure buildup caused by blocked exports. 

At least 41 crude oil tankers laden with 69 million barrels of crude oil from Iran — estimated at $6 billion in market value — had been redirected by the US military after the ships attempted to breach the naval blockade near the Hormuz Strait, according to the US Central Command.

US President Donald Trump says ongoing talks with Iran have “come a long way,” but warned that no agreement will be reached unless Tehran formally renounces the development of nuclear weapons. Trump’s remarks underscore a high-stakes diplomatic and strategic standoff that has persisted even amid intermittent ceasefires and military pressure.

The war against Iran has cost the United States $25 billion since it was launched in late February, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

"We're spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury. Most of that is in munitions," acting Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers, using the official name for US operation.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later told the same congressional hearing that the estimated figure was less than $25 billion at this point.

The Pentagon chief pushed back against questions about the war's cost, saying: "The question I would ask this committee is, what is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?"

Iran's national rial currency hit a record hit Wednesday of 1.8 million to $1 as a shaky ceasefire with the US and Israel still holds.

The rial had remained stable for weeks during the war, which began Feb. 28, in part because there was little trading or imports coming into the country.

The rial began to slide two days ago, hitting the record low Wednesday.

Experts warn the fall of the rial is likely to further fuel inflation in a country where many imported goods, from food and medicine to electronics and raw materials, are affected by the dollar rate.

The war is now in a ceasefire, but a U.S. blockade has continued to increase pressure on Iran's already-battered economy, cutting into a key source of government revenue and hard currency by stopping or intercepting oil shipments.

Day 61: Iran's Ghalibaf mocks Trump's blockade

Day 60: Blockade: US Marines board ship near Hormuz

Day 59: Iran blames US for failure of talks

Day 58: Trump says shooting won't 'deter' him from Iran war

Day 57: Iran sends revised peace plan, Trump calls it insufficient

Day 56: European Union calls for reopening of Strait of Hormuz

Day 55: Trump: US could make a deal with Iran 'right now'

Day 54: Trump extends US-Iran ceasefire

Day 53: Pakistan urges the US and Iran to extend their ceasefire

Day 52: Fighting to resume as ceasefire ends Wednesday: Trump

Day 51: Iran refuses new round of talks, say reports

Day 50: Indian ships reverse course in Strait of Hormuz