US-Iran ceasefire: Trump orders US military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz

The president of France says he’s willing to host a conference on supporting Lebanon’s army and helping rebuild the country’s battered south.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday that the conference would take place when Lebanon deems it appropriate.

The conference would also aim to release additional European funding. Macron said he and Christodoulides support the idea of a European Union partnership agreement with Lebanon.

India’s shipping ministry said Thursday it’s “worried about Indian seafarers” in the Strait of Hormuz after reports of vessels coming under fire in the region, though none have been injured.

Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary at the Indian Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said two foreign-flagged vessels that came under fire had 22 Indian sailors on board.

“None of the Indian seafarer have been injured in the firing,” he said.

The ministry said at least 2,680 Indian sailors have been evacuated since the conflict began.

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

Trump has repeatedly said over the course of the ceasefire that began April 8 that his team is dealing with Iranian officials who want to make a deal, while acknowledging his decision to kill several top leaders has come with some complications.

He announced earlier this week that he was extending the truce to give the battered Iranian leadership more time to come with a “unified proposal” on ending the war.

The head of the UN's peacekeeping operations says he expects the possible replacement for its force in southern Lebanon will “probably be smaller” than the current one that’s been in place for nearly a half-century.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the UNIFIL operation, which has inhabited a tense zone where militants from Hezbollah and Israeli forces have battled repeatedly, has recently faced pressure from funding cuts.

The force’s mandate ends at the end of the year. UN officials are facing a June 1 deadline to present a proposal for the force that could replace it.

The US president in a social media posting also said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be ... that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted. “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!”

The United Nations said Thursday it was "working on" maintaining a presence in Lebanon once the mandate for its UNIFIL peacekeeping force expires at the end of the year.

"In terms of the post-UNIFIL, we're currently in the process of working on these options," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, with the Lebanese government "very clear that they would want to keep a UN presence".

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has served as a peacekeeping force between Israel and Lebanon since 1978 but finds itself caught in the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The US military seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil. The US Defense Department said it seized the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Defense Department said.

The seizure comes after Iran attacked three cargo ships Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them.

The Defense Department released footage of the seizure of the vessel, showing US troops on the deck of the vessel.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The Majestic X is a Guyana-flagged oil tanker. It previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“Iran relies upon a sprawling network of tankers and ship management firms in multiple jurisdictions to transport its petroleum to overseas customers — using tactics such as false documentation, manipulation of vessel tracking systems, and constant changes to the names and flags of vessels,” the Treasury said at the time.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

An envoy to US President Donald Trump has asked world football's governing body FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the World Cup, according to the Financial Times.

US special envoy Paolo Zampolli told the FT on Wednesday it would be a "dream" to see four-time World Cup winners Italy at the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada despite the fact they lost in a qualification playoff last month.

The Iranian embassy to Rome responded saying that the suggestion showed US "moral bankruptcy" and that Italy did not need "political privileges" to demonstrate its football greatness.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid Thursday as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin. He waved to supporters in the aftermath and got into a car that drove away. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

Pahlavi has been in exile for nearly 50 years.

His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

As the United States edges closer to a critical May 1 deadline in its war with Iran, a decades-old law is quietly becoming one of the most consequential forces shaping the next phase of the conflict.

Nearly eight weeks after Washington joined Israeli strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump faces a legal and political inflection point: continue the war without congressional backing and risk a backlash, or seek approval and expose divisions within his own party.

At the heart of the moment is the 1973 War Powers Resolution — legislation designed to limit a president’s ability to wage prolonged military campaigns without lawmakers’ consent. While often ignored or contested, the law’s timelines are now converging with the realities of a war that has already reshaped regional dynamics, including the security of the Gulf and the stability of global energy flows.

According to reporting by The New York Times, the administration formally notified Congress of military action on March 2, triggering a 60-day countdown that ends on May 1.

Here's why May 1 matters.

Reza Pahlavi, Iran's exiled crown prince, criticized the ceasefire between the Unites States and Iran.

He argued Thursday that the agreement assumes the Iranian government's behavior will change and "you're going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists."

"I don't see that happening," he said during a news conference in Berlin. "I'm not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance."

Pahlavi has tried to position himself for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.

Pahlavi called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.

He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.

"Will the free world do something or watch the slaughter in silence," Pahlavi wondered.

A US naval blockade of Iranian ports is likely to squeeze Iran's oil output in the coming weeks but claims it will throw the Islamic republic into economic free fall remain premature, analysts say.

After weeks of bombing and counter-strikes, focus has shifted to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, which ordinarily carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

In response to Iran's blockade of the strait since the start of the Middle East war, the US imposed a counter-blockade of the Islamic republic's ports, a push to force its leaders into a compromise in peace talks.

That bid, however, looks set to fail, at least in the short term.

"If the blockade lasts for more than two or three months, it can cause more damage" to Iran, economic analyst and professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran Saeed Laylaz told AFP.

"If Iran suffers any damage, the damage to the countries in the southern Arabian Gulf will definitely be greater," he added.

There's a limit on how long Iran can bide its time, however.

Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management said Iran "was expected to run out of storage capacity within approximately one month, but it may already be forced to shut in part of its oil production within a couple of weeks".

Travellers in the UAE will once again have more flight options as Qatar Airways resumes daily services to Dubai and Sharjah from April 23, marking a key step in restoring regional connectivity.

The airline confirmed it has restarted daily flights between Doha and both Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Sharjah International Airport (SHJ), with services to Damascus set to follow from May 1.

A senior Iranian parliament official said on Thursday that Tehran has received the first revenue from tolls it imposed on the strategic Strait of Hormuz in its war with the United States and Israel.

"The first revenue received from the Strait of Hormuz tolls was deposited into the Central Bank account," said deputy speaker of parliament Hamidreza Hajibabaei, according to Tasnim news agency. 

Other Iranian media carried the same statement, without elaborating. 

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has significantly boosted traffic through the Panama Canal, with one LNG vessel paying $4 million to skip the queue and avoid a wait of up to five days.

Disruptions linked to Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have prompted Asian buyers to source energy from the US, routing shipments through the canal rather than relying on Gulf producers. This shift has driven last-minute auction slot prices from around $130,000 to as high as $385,000 in March and April, with several tankers exceeding $3 million.

Canal traffic has remained steady at between the mid-30s and over 40 vessels per day. Handling around 5 percent of global maritime trade, the canal remains a critical link between the US and Asian markets amid ongoing global trade disruptions.

US President Donald Trump has said he is "not in a rush" to end the conflict with Iran and wants a "good deal", Fox News reported, as cited by the BBC. Fox News presenter Martha MacCallum, who spoke to him by phone on Wednesday, said Trump told her there is "no time pressure" on his extension to the ceasefire with Iran.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fox News that negotiations "are ongoing", adding that Trump had "made his red lines very clear" to the Iranians — chief among them a demand that Tehran turn over its enriched uranium to the United States.

Leavitt, as cited by the BBC, said Washington was "waiting to hear back from the Iranian regime", which she said "cannot send a unified message yet" — a key reason, she noted, behind the president's decision to extend the ceasefire.

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement Thursday he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.

The meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of US-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.

Naqvi said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.

Naqvi praised US President Donald Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.

Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat (Awqaf UAE) has announced that this week’s Friday sermon across all mosques in the UAE will be delivered under the title: “Whoever betrays our nation is not one of us”.

In guidance issued to imams, the authority stressed that betrayal of one’s country is a grave moral and religious offence, rejected by sound human nature and condemned in Islamic teachings. The sermon highlights that treachery is among the most serious sins, warning against deceit, disloyalty and actions that undermine national unity.

A Pentagon assessment said it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines, which could keep oil prices high, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Iran has all but blocked the vital waterway since the start of a war with the United States and Israel, sharply driving up oil and gas prices and disrupting the global economy.

The strait - through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passes in peacetime - has remained largely closed during a shaky ceasefire, with the US imposing its own blockade.

Even if hostilities end and the blockade lifts, it could take months to clear the waterway of mines, according to a Pentagon assessment, the Washington Post reported citing officials close to the discussion.

The assessment added that it was unlikely such an operation would begin before the end of the war.

The six-month estimate was shared with members of the House Armed Services Committee during a classified briefing, the Post reported.

Lawmakers were told that Iran may have placed 20 or more mines in and around the strait, some floated remotely using GPS technology which makes them harder to detect, according to the report.

AFP has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the Washington Post that its information was "inaccurate."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned of a "danger zone" covering 1,400 square kilometres - 14 times the size of Paris - where mines may be present.

Lebanon has vowed to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against journalists ahead of a second round of talks in Washington. The vow follows the killing of Al Akhbar journalist Amal Khalil in the town of Al Tayri on Wednesday.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed his condolences over the death of Amal Khalil, who was killed in an Israeli attack on the town of Al Tayri, and extended his wishes for the swift recovery of her colleague Zeinab Faraj, who was seriously wounded in the same incident.

Aoun said in a post on X that Israel’s “deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” was aimed at “concealing the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon”.

Such acts constitute “crimes against humanity punishable under international laws and conventions”, the president said, adding that Khalil’s killing should serve as “an incentive for the international community to intervene and put an end to them”.

Iran hanged a man on Thursday after he was convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and alleged collaboration with Israel, the judiciary said.

"Sultan-Ali Shirzadi-Fakhr was hanged early this morning for membership in the terrorist group" of the People's Mujahedin Organisation (MEK) and "collaboration with the Israeli regime's spy service," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

He was also convicted of a capital offence that in Persian means waging war against God, accused of taking part in operations hostile to the Islamic Republic, Mizan said.

It was not clear when he was arrested.

Mizan said he had lived in Spain for a period, but it was not clear whether he held another passport.

The video shows masked men in a small boat approaching a large vessel and boarding it while holding weapons.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said Thursday its forces in the Mideast had “directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the U.S. blockade against Iran.”

The Central American nation's foreign ministry wrote in a statement that the boat, owned by the Italian company MSC Francesca, was "forcibly taken" into Iranian waters on Wednesday, and it accused Iran of violating international law. It wasn't immediately clear if the boat remained in Iranian custody.

The seizure "represents a serious attack on maritime security and constitutes an unnecessary escalation," it wrote.

Panama has one of the largest ship registries, with around 16% of the world's ships flying under the country's flag, according to 2024 data from Panamanian authorities.

The Pentagon told lawmakers this week it will likely take six months to clear the mines set in the strait, according to a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive information.

Officials from the Department of Defense delivered the information during a classified briefing at the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

The session left more questions than answers as lawmakers probed for information about the cost of the war against Iran, the strategy and objectives, the person said. The lawmakers also raised questions that have still gone unanswered about the strike on a school compound during the early days of the war.

Israel and Lebanon hold a new round of talks in Washington on Thursday, during which Beirut plans to request a one-month extension of a ceasefire due to expire within days.

Israel stated ahead of the talks that it has no "serious disagreements" with Lebanon, calling on it to "work together" against the pro-Iran Hezbollah, which is notably absent from and opposed to the negotiations.

The two countries, officially at war for decades, held a meeting in Washington on April 14, the first of its kind since 1993, in an attempt to put an end to the more than six-week war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The United States announced a 10-day truce shortly after the first meeting, and it is due to expire on Sunday.

Oil prices jumped four percent Thursday after Iran vowed not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so long as a US naval blockade remained in place despite a ceasefire extension.

At around 0025 GMT, the benchmark US oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed 4.06 percent to $96.73 per barrel. International oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude rose 3.62 percent to $105.63. Both eased back in the following minutes.

Oil prices have soared since Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28 and they have kept inching up on the uncertainty over whether war will resume.

As the clock ticked for a return to the war that has engulfed the region, US President Donald Trump had said Tuesday he would maintain the truce to allow more time for Pakistani-brokered peace talks.

Iran said it welcomed the efforts by Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump's announcement.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said reopening the Strait of Hormuz is “not possible” amid what Tehran calls “flagrant violations” of the current ceasefire by the US and Israel.

Ghalibaf posted on social media that a “complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade and the hostage-taking of the world economy,” asserting that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and Israeli “warmongering” undermine truce commitments.

The remarks come amid ongoing diplomatic efforts — including a ceasefire extension and proposed talks in Pakistan — to end hostilities between Iran and the US. Iran insists that without full compliance by all parties, including lifting maritime restrictions, the strategic waterway will stay closed to international shipping.

The Pentagon announced that the Navy’s top civilian official, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, is leaving his jobeffective immediately.”

President Trump says Iran peace talks could restart as soon as Friday, according to US media. New reports say Trump estimates they could begin within the next "36 to 72 hours." Trump said Iran's "fructured" leadership failed to come forward with a "unified proposal."

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s leadership is “seriously fractured” when he announced an indefinite ceasefire extension, while signaling that US pressure on Tehran will continue.

He said the truce would be kept in place to give negotiations "more time", while the US naval blockade on Hormuz and Iranian ports stays.

In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made an immediate pushback: he called out Trump's “hypocritical rhetoric” in the middle of a war-tinged diplomatic standoff, in a message meant to travel far beyond Tehran.

Brent crude returned to the psychologically important $100-per-barrel mark early Thursday, underscoring renewed strength across global oil benchmarks as energy markets reacted to supply uncertainty and geopolitical risk.

A market snapshot taken at 8:21 pm GMT (5.21 am Tokyo, on April 23, 2026) showed Brent crude at $101.5, up $2.97 or 3.02% on the session.

US President Donald Trump has not set a deadline by which Iran must submit a peace proposal, the White House said on Wednesday.

"The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I've seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists.

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

Day 49: Trump says Iran agrees to 'never' close Hormuz strait again

Day 48: Trump: Iran agreed to hand over its enriched uranium

Day 47: US optimistic about reaching peace deal with Iran

Day 46: 2 days to US-Iran talks in Pakistan? Trump thinks so

Day 45: US, Iran discuss 'another round' of direct talks

Day 44: US to begin 'blockade' of Iranian ports on Monday

Day 43: 3-way talks with the US and Iran begin in Pakistan

Day 42: Trump says Iran has 'no cards' as Vance heads for talks

Day 41: Kuwait condemns drone attacks, US warns vs Hormuz toll

Day 40: Trump agrees to suspend attack on Iran by two weeks