Watch as the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska was intercepted by the US Navy in the north Arabian Sea
Islamabad talks may be back on track
The US and Iran could meet for renewed talks in Pakistan this week as the two countries edge closer towards securing a deal.
JD Vance, the vice president, is preparing for potential talks in Islamabad on Wednesday, as the initial two-week ceasefire expires.
President Trump initially suggested that the deal could be signed on Monday night, but officials later said the high-level talks would be set for Wednesday.
Trump said on Monday that he is “highly unlikely” to extend the ceasefire with Iran when the truce expires. The US president said that the ceasefire ends on “Wednesday evening Washington time.”
Throughout the conflict Trump has set deadlines and ultimatums he has not stuck to.
Iran, which had initially refused to send a delegation, said it was reviewing its decision after receiving the latest American proposal.
Iranian sanctions suspect extradited to the US
An Iranian citizen who was charged with violating American trade sanctions by shipping military sonar equipment from the US to Iran has been extradited more than ten years after he was indicted.
Reza Dindar, 44, was indicted in 2014 on charges that include conspiracy, smuggling and money laundering. He was arrested last July in Panama at the request of US authorities and flown to Seattle last Thursday, according to the Department of Justice. It is unclear where Dindar had been in the intervening years or why he had not been arrested sooner.
Dindar allegedly ran a business called New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China. In 2011 and 2012, he and others “used deception to purchase parts for three military sonar systems” from a business in Washington by concealing that the items were ultimately destined for Iran and by claiming that no licence was needed to export them, according to the indictment.
Miliband: UK will double down on renewables
The UK will boost the growth of renewable power in an effort to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels amid the war in Iran, Ed Miliband will say on Tuesday.
“As we face the second fossil fuel shock in less than five years, the lesson for our country is clear: The era of fossil fuel security is over, and the era of clean energy security must come of age,” the energy secretary is expected to say.
Energy prices are expected to soar from July — as the regulator’s price cap enters a new pricing quarter from July to September — due to surging wholesale gas costs, which are currently 30 per cent higher than before the Iran conflict began.
The government will announce plans to boost renewable power generation such as solar panels and wind turbines on public land which it said could unlock up to 10 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power about 5 million homes.
Talks conducted ‘under shadow of threats’
Iran’s top negotiator has accused Donald Trump of trying to turn talks between Tehran and Washington “into a table of surrender”.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, wrote on X: “Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table — in his own imagination — into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.”
He added: “We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”
US to host Israel-Lebanon talks
The United States will host new talks on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon aimed at encouraging an agreement, a US official said on Monday.
They will take place at the State Department in Washington, the AFP news agency was told after the start of a shaky US-brokered ceasefire.
“We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments,” the State Department official said.
The ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, met on April 14 at the State Department.
Three days later, President Trump announced a 10-day truce, pausing the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which has fired rockets in response to the Israeli-US attack on its patron Iran.
Budget airlines seek help from Congress
The chief executives of low-cost airlines will meet Sean Duffy, America’s transport secretary, for help with the cost of jet fuel.
They will urge Congress to provide temporary tax relief to offset the soaring prices, sparked by the war with Iran.
A group representing Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Allegiant Air, Sun Country and Avelo last week wrote to leaders in Congress asking lawmakers to pass legislation to suspend the 7.5 per cent federal excise tax on airline tickets.
US has made 27 ships turn back
A total of 27 ships trying to enter or leave Iranian ports have been turned back by the US Navy since the American blockade came into force, US Central Command said in a post on X.
Canadian inflation surge linked to war
Inflation rose sharply in Canada last month, lifted by soaring energy prices linked to the Middle East war.
The country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4 per cent from the same month last year, compared with 1.8 per cent in February.
Month on month, consumer prices rose by 0.9 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
It said petrol prices had increased by 5.9 per cent from a year ago and surged 21.2 per cent month on month, the largest monthly increase ever recorded.
Ceasefire breaches ‘have jeopardised talks’
Iran’s foreign minister has accused the US of violating the ceasefire, putting further talks at risk.
America’s “continued violations of the ceasefire” were a major obstacle to the continuation of the diplomatic process, Abbas Araghchi told his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar.
A statement from the Iranian foreign ministry said Araghchi had told Dar by phone that Tehran, while taking all aspects of the matter into account, would decide how to proceed.
Trump attacks ‘fake news’
In his third post in the past half-hour, Trump attacked the “fake news” US media for their reporting of the conflict and and claimed he was winning the war “BY A LOT”.
“The enemy is confused, because they get these same Media ‘reports,’ and yet they realize their Navy has been completely wiped out, their Air Force has gone onto darker runways, they have no Anti Missile or Anti Airplane Equipment, their former leaders are mostly gone (This has been, in addition to everything else, Regime Change!), and perhaps, most important of all, THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a “DEAL,” is absolutely destroying Iran,” he wrote.
Trump claimed that Iran was “losing $500 Million Dollars a day”. In a fourth post, the US president repeated his claim that the blockade was good for America’s oil producers.
“The Iranian leadership has forced hundreds of Ships toward the United States, mostly Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to get their Oil — Thank you very much!” he wrote.
Pakistan upbeat on prospect of talks
Pakistan is confident it can get Iran to attend talks with the United States, a senior Pakistani government official has told Reuters.
“We have received a positive signal from Iran. Things are fluid but we are trying that they should be here when we start the talks tomorrow or a day after,” the source said.
The official added that Pakistan was actively engaged with Tehran and Washington as President Trump’s ceasefire deadline looms.
Israeli attacks ‘have killed thousands in Lebanon’
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,387 people since the war with Hezbollah erupted six weeks ago, a Lebanese government body said in a new toll.
The country’s disaster risk management unit added that 7,602 people had been wounded over the same period.
Trump: War is perfectly executed
In a second post, President Trump accused the Democrat party of being “TRAITORS ALL”.
He accused it of “doing everything possible to hurt the very strong position we are in with respect to Iran”, adding: “They like to say that I promised 6 weeks to defeat Iran, and actually, from the Military standpoint, it was far faster than that, but I’m not going to let them rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been.”
Trump then said that the war in Iran was “being perfectly executed, on the scale of Venezuela, just a bigger, more complex operation”.
The US president has given various timelines for the length of the war. When it started, on February 28, he said the conflict would last “as long as necessary” and in the meantime it would last “four weeks, “four to five weeks”, “four to six weeks, “no time limit”.
Obama’s nuclear deal an ‘embarrassment’
Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social again, this time criticising the former president Barack Obama and the Democrats over Iran.
Trump said that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, negotiated by the Obama administration and Tehran, and designed to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting sanctions, was “one of the Worst Deals ever made having to do with the Security of our Country”, adding it was a “complete embarrassment”.
“It was a guaranteed Road to a Nuclear Weapon, which will not, and cannot, happen with the Deal we’re working on,” he wrote.
Trump scrapped the deal in his first term. “If I did not terminate that ‘Deal,’ Nuclear Weapons would have been used on Israel, and all over the Middle East,” he said on social media.
“If a Deal happens under ‘TRUMP,’ it will guarantee Peace, Security, and Safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else.”
Trump pokes the Pope
Donald Trump said he only had two questions for Pope Leo, whose opinion on the war with Iran differs markedly from his own.
“Why does the Pope think it is fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and to kill 42,000 unarmed protesters?” he told The New York Post in an interview published on Monday.
“This is one of the most important wars. I said to the Pope you can’t allow them to have a nuclear weapon because they will use it and millions of people will be dead, including Italians and Catholics around the world.”
The American-born pontiff has continuously voiced his opposition to the war, calling for an end to the conflict in the Middle East, while Trump has previously called him “weak”.
Blockade is almost total
Only four ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in either direction since Sunday, according to the marine tracking firm Kpler.
One of those, the Iranian-flagged Nova Crest, which is under US sanction, headed out of the Gulf at about 04:00 GMT on Monday, and made its way through the Gulf of Oman, according to MarineTraffic.
Iran allowed the sanctioned gas tanker Axon I to enter the Gulf on Monday. It was destined for the UAE and therefore not subject to the US blockade.
A gas tanker, G Summer, crossed in the opposite direction on Sunday, having entered the Gulf earlier in the week, but did not appear to dock at an Iranian port. It was last detected close to the open sea near the Omani capital of Muscat.
The fourth vessel to cross was the Panama-flagged Starway, owned by China-based firm Hechuang International Group, according to Bloomberg.
The tanker passed westwards through the Iran-approved route at about 0800 GMT on Monday, but made a U-turn at about 12:00 GMT. It was last detected heading back towards the strait.
Iran executes men it said had spied for Israel
Iran has executed two men who had been convicted of spying for Israel, with the judiciary chief warning of “no leniency”.
Mohammad Masoom Shahi, 38, known as Nima, and Hamed Validi, 45, were members of the People’s Mujahedin (MEK), which is banned in Iran.
They were hanged at dawn in Karaj prison, near Tehran, the MEK’s political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement.
Since February 28, when Israel and the US declared war on Iran, the Islamic Republic has executed eight MEK members and seven men convicted over protests held in January.
“With today’s executions, at least 15 political prisoners have been executed since 19 March,” said Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.
He warned of “further executions of political prisoners and protesters in the coming days and weeks”.
Russia repeats ceasefire call
Russia has called for the US-Iran ceasefire to be maintained and for diplomatic efforts to continue, after its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, spoke with his Iranian counterpart.
“The Russian side again emphasised the need to preserve the truce, which must be observed within the parameters initially agreed upon and announced by the Pakistani mediators,” the foreign ministry said after the call between Lavrov and Abbas Araghchi.
Russia, one of Iran’s few allies, has repeatedly condemned the United States for launching the bombing campaign at the end of February that started the war.
The Kremlin has profited from high oil prices triggered by the conflict but called for Washington to back down and for a long-term diplomatic solution.
“The importance was noted of continuing diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the situation from spinning out of control and averting a relapse into armed confrontation,” the ministry added.
Russia criticised what it called Washington’s “unlawful naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and seizure of an Iranian container ship”.
Israeli drone strikes southern Lebanon
An Israeli drone has struck a town in southern Lebanon, Lebanese official media has said, despite a ten-day ceasefire in force between Israel and Hezbollah.
The state-run National News Agency said on Monday that “an enemy drone targeted the vicinity of the Litani River in the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr”. It made no immediate mention of casualties.
Under the ceasefire, Israel reserves the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks” by Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran.
Netanyahu ‘not immune to international law’
Hungary’s incoming prime minister, Peter Magyar, has said the country would execute International Criminal Court warrants against anyone, after he invited Binyamin Netanyahu — wanted under just such a warrant — to Budapest.
In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes — including starvation as a method of warfare — in Gaza.
Hungary’s outgoing nationalist leader, Viktor Orban, announced last year that his country was withdrawing from the ICC, after meeting Netanyahu in Budapest. The withdrawal, which Magyar aims to reverse, had been due to take effect by June 2 this year.
Last week Magyar invited Netanyahu to return to the city in October, according to an Israeli transcript of a call between the pair.
Magyar said he had made hs intentions clear, “even to the Israeli prime minister”.
“If someone is a member of the International Criminal Court and a person who is wanted enters our country, then they must be taken into custody,” he added.
Macron: Blockade is a mistake on both sides
President Macron of France has called the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz “a mistake on both sides”.
“It is likely that, following the American decision to maintain a targeted blockade on Hormuz … the Iranian authorities changed their initial position … this is a mistake on both sides,” he told journalists in Gdansk, Poland.
He also called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“Our position remains the same. We need to settle things through diplomacy. Everyone must calm down,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk.
Iran ‘will not submit to force’
Iran’s president has said his country will not “submit to force”.
In a post on X, Masoud Pezeshkian also criticised the “contradictory signals” coming from the US, ahead of potential further peace talks.
“Honouring commitments is the basis of meaningful dialogue,” he wrote.
“Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward US gov conduct remains, while unconstructive and contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran’s surrender. Iranians do not submit to force.”
Israel-Lebanon talks to resume
The US will host a second round of talks between Lebanon and Israel this Thursday, a state department official has said.
“The United States welcomes the productive engagement that began on April 14. We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments,” they told the news website Axios.
Iran ‘has made fair proposals’
“Time should not place Iran under pressure,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister has said as the timeline for any negotiations between Iranian and American officials appeared to shift from Tuesday to Wednesday.
In comments shared by state media, Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed that Iran had made “fair and practical proposals” for an end to the war, while “many US statements are aimed at domestic audiences and at influencing the markets”.
“Iran will not accept anything beyond international law,” he added on Monday.
Trump: War with Iran was my idea
President Trump has said Israel “never talked him into the war with Iran”, and that it was instead the October 7 massacre and its aftermath that strengthened his “lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON”.
On Truth Social, the president’s social media platform, he posted that if Iran’s new leaders were “smart”, their country could have “a great and prosperous future!”
Trump wrote that 90 per cent of what he considered “fake news” was “lies and made up stories”, adding that polls and the 2020 presidential election had been “rigged”.
White House contradicts Trump’s delegation claim
JD Vance, the US vice-president, has yet to leave Washington for Pakistan to take part in the latest talks with Iran, CNN has reported. He is expected to depart on Tuesday instead.
The White House told CNN there had been no formal word on timing, adding: “We expect the delegation to be on the road soon but unclear when.”
President Trump earlier told The New York Post that the delegation was “heading over now” and would reach Islamabad “tonight” in a phone interview on Monday.
A second round of talks between the US and Iranian delegations is planned for Wednesday in the Pakistani capital, although the situation remains fluid due to continued heated public rhetoric by both the US and Iranians.
Terror arrests in UAE
Dozens of men have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of plotting terror attacks in the Gulf state.
They were said to support a movement with links to Iran and to have been planning to recruit young Emiratis, the Wam news agency said on Monday.
“The State Security Service announced the dismantling of a terrorist organisation and the arrest of its members,” it said, adding they had been “planning systematic terrorist and sabotage operations” in the UAE.
“Investigations revealed the organisation’s ties to the Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) in Iran.”
Pakistan remains ready to host stalled talks
Opinion: President’s cognitive decline is bad for Republicans
To say someone has lost his mind can carry a range of meanings. Accusations of mental instability may be merely a kind of insult, bandied around cheaply in politics, and not a serious diagnosis (Matthew Parris writes).
But when I say the president of the United States is insane I must make clear that this is not meant as playground abuse. I mean Donald Trump is mentally ill; that he is of unsound mind; that he is suffering from substantial cognitive decline. I mean that were he in any lesser office than the American presidency, urgent discussions would be taking place among colleagues about his mental fitness for the post.
Imagine he worked in a bank. Or as a British Airways pilot. Or as your local solicitor or GP. In none of these roles would he be allowed to keep working.
Cautious Britons ‘miss out on bargain breaks’
Although Britons are “playing it safe” and increasingly booking breaks in the UK, “great” overseas holiday deals are still available, a travel writer has said.
Lisa Minot, The Sun’s travel editor, told BBC Radio 4 that there were “fantastic holiday deals going to the likes of Turkey and Cyprus, and not impacted at all by the Middle East crisis”.
“But unfortunately, because they are from that side of the Med, they’ve seen a significant drop in bookings.”
She warned, though, that it was “inevitable” that the rising cost of jet fuel would lead to more widespread flight surcharges.
“Virgin Atlantic this week said it will introduce a surcharge on its flights of £50 for economy up to £360 for upper class … but I think it is going to have an impact on the financial side rather than there not being any flights at all,” Minot added.
Nukes ‘remain a red line’
President Trump reiterated the one non-negotiable demand he has for the negotiations: Iran must abandon any pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“Get rid of their nuclear weapons. That’s all very simple,” he said. “There will be no nuclear weapon.”
He added that Iran could be a “wonderful country” if it reached a deal with the US, but declined to spell out what consequences Tehran could face if it refused to comply.
“Well, I don’t want to get into that with you,” he said when asked whether the US would escalate measures, such as seizing additional ships tied to Iran. “You can imagine. It wouldn’t be pretty.”
Asked who is leading Iran, Trump added: “We have pretty good ideas, and we think we’re dealing with the right people.”
Trump hopeful as talks hang in the balance
President Trump on Monday played down Iran’s refusal to commit to talks with his vice-president and other US officials.
“We’re supposed to have the talks,” Trump said in a brief interview with the New York Post. “So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games.”
He added that JD Vance was en route to Pakistan and would land there within hours.
“They’re heading over now,” he said. “They’ll be there tonight, [Islamabad] time.”
“I have no problem meeting them,” he said. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people — but I have no problem meeting them.”
Tehran ‘positively reviewing second peace talks’
A senior Iranian official said on Monday that Tehran is positively reviewing its participation in potential peace talks with Washington but that no final decision has been made.
The Iranian official claimed that efforts are under way by Pakistan to end the US Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports and to ensure Iran’s participation in the peace talks.
An American delegation led by the vice-president JD Vance is expected to arrive in Islamabad later, before the two-week ceasefire ends on Tuesday at 8 pm EST (1am on Wednesday in the UK).
Talks between Israel and Lebanon will not involve Hezbollah
Israel and Lebanon are reportedly due to hold their second round of negotiations in Washington on Thursday, according to Arabic news channels.
However the talks between the two countries’ ambassadors will not involve Hezbollah.
Israel has made disarming the militant group a condition of extending the ten-day ceasefire agreed last week.
But Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah politician, said on Monday no one in the country or abroad can disarm the Iran-backed group, and vowed that his group would break the “Yellow Line” which the Israeli military has defined as its area of control.
In an interview with AFP, Fadlallah said: “The attempt by the Israeli army to establish a buffer zone, under the title of a defensive line, a yellow line, a green line, and a red line … all these lines will be broken, and we will not accept any of them.”
Fadlallah vowed that “no one in Lebanon or abroad will be able to disarm the resistance”.
Israeli soldiers admit to war crimes, says Polish foreign minister
Poland’s foreign minister has been accused of slander by his Israeli counterpart after he suggested IDF soldiers “admit to war crimes” after a reservist shared a photo vandalising a statue of Jesus in Lebanon.
“That soldier should be punished, but lessons should also be drawn regarding the way they are being trained,” Radek Sikorski wrote on X. “IDF soldiers themselves admit to war crimes. They killed not only civilian Palestinians but even their own hostages.”
Gideon Sa’ar had apologised for the statue incident but rejected Sikorski’s “grave, baseless, and slanderous statements against the IDF”.
“What you wrote reveals profound ignorance and a deep lack of understanding,” he wrote on X, adding that the IDF was “a professional and ethical army” which Western armies seek to learn from.
Sikorski responded with a report from Haaretz, the Israeli news site, featuring testimony of IDF soldiers saying they witnessed shooting of innocent people, abuse of Palestinian detainees and looting in Gaza.
The Polish deputy prime minister added: “If this doesn’t move you to make changes to your soldiers’ training, I cannot help you.”
Pakistan did not tell US to change blockade, says Trump
President Trump said Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir did not recommend any changes to the US blockade on Iranian ports, disputing a report from Reuters earlier, which quoted a Pakistani security source.
“Munir didn’t recommend anything on the blockade,” Trump told The Hill.
Trump defended his navy’s actions, saying it was having a major economic impact on Iran.
“The blockade is very powerful, very strong. They lose $500 million a day with the blockade up,” he said. “We control it. They don’t control it.”
Two Palestinians killed by Israeli strike on Gaza
Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said.
Medics said one man was killed in the Bureij camp in the central area of the enclave, while another strike killed one person and wounded others in Gaza City.
The two deaths were the latest violence to overshadow the US-brokered ceasefire deal signed in October after two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
More than 750 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire deal took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militants have killed four of its soldiers.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for ceasefire violations. Progress on moving forward with parts of the deal, which include the disarmament of Hamas and Israeli army pullouts, has stalled.
The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on either incident.
‘People in Lebanon are afraid’
People in Lebanon remain “afraid” despite the ten-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah, said the Doctors Without Borders’ medical programme manager.
Tania Hachem told Sky News there was “a lot of uncertainty for the population” since President Trump announced the temporary ceasefire last week, with people moving “back and forth” between shelters and homes to check whether they remain intact.
When asked about a possible lasting ceasefire, she said that everyone was “hoping for the best”, with the organisation “focusing on people’s needs” rather than “trying to solve the world’s problems”.
“But what we are witnessing … is that even with the ceasefire, there is still demolition of the houses, people are still afraid, drones are still in the skies. Everyone is waiting for the outcome of the next couple of days in terms of negotiations, and political agreements for a proper ceasefire so that people can be safe again.”
Strait of Hormuz must be opened, European Council tells Jordan
António Costa, the president of the European Council, told King Abdullah of Jordan that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened.
Costa wrote on X that he had held a call with King Abdullah on Monday. “In our call today, I reiterated that the EU stands by its partners in these challenging times and supports all ongoing diplomatic efforts,” said Costa on X.
“The full and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remains a priority. We remain gravely concerned by the situation in Lebanon.”
Netanyahu: Shock at soldier’s damage to Jesus statue
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said in a post on X that he was “stunned and saddened” that an Israeli soldier in Lebanon had hit a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer.
“Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all,” he added. “We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.”
Woman arrested on suspicion of transporting Iranian weapons to Sudan
A 44-year-old woman from California was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday on suspicion of trafficking Iranian weapons to the Sudanese government amid the African country’s civil war.
An Iranian national and permanent US resident since 2016, Shamim Mafi was charged with brokering the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition”, said Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California.
In one alleged deal, Mafi is accused of facilitating a €60 million sale of drones by the Iranian government to Sudan’s ministry of defence, which earned her commission of €6 million.
The Sudanese civil war has drawn in foreign actors from the Gulf, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, which has supported the government, while the United Arab Emirates is accused of aiding its rival, the Rapid Support Forces.
‘Iran’s strait control demand is unacceptable’
Iran’s demand to control one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels was unacceptable, warned Duncan Potts, a retired Royal Navy vice-admiral.
Potts told Times Radio today that as the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, under “UN conventions … trading nations around the world are allowed to use it freely and unconstrained … it’s enshrined in law”.
It would be “sensible” for an international force to ensure the corridor maintains its status as “open to all … given this is an international problem that is affecting everyone in the world”.
Potts also said he was not surprised that President Trump had maintained a blockade of Iranian ports after the US navy seized an Iranian cargo ship.
“From what I can see, the vessel wasn’t complying. And therefore, the next step is to seize the vessel,” he said, adding, “the word blockade has a lot of connotations, it’s an instrument of warfare.”
Rise in oil price eases slightly, stock markets lower
Rapid gains in the oil price have eased this morning as the Strait of Hormuz remained shut, despite President Trump’s declaration that it would “never be closed again”.
Brent crude was trading at $94.68 a barrel, down from above $95 a barrel earlier as data from the data analytics specialist SynMax and ship tracker from Kpler showed just three crossings of the key waterway in 12 hours.
European markets fell with the FTSE 100 slipping 0.7 per cent to 10,596. A rise in heavyweight oil companies BP and Shell and defensive stocks partly offset a fall in stocks such as housebuilders and miners, which are sensitive to high inflation, high interest rates and slowing growth.
Germany’s DAX fell 1.4 per cent and France’s CAC slid 1.1 per cent. Wall Street indices are expected to open lower.
Xi: There should be normal traffic through Strait of Hormuz
President Xi of China told Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Monday that “normal traffic” through the Strait of Hormuz “should be maintained” according to state media.
Xi also stressed that China “advocates for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” between the US and Iran, the broadcaster CCTV said.
Shipping traffic through the strait remained at a virtual standstill on Monday with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.
The oil products tanker Nero, which is under British sanctions for Russian oil activities, left the Gulf and was sailing through the strait, according to satellite analysis from the data analytics specialist SynMax and tracking data from the Kpler platform.
Two other ships — a chemical tanker and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker — sailed into the Gulf through the critical waterway separately on Monday, the data showed. The LPG tanker, Axon I, was under separate US sanctions for Iran trading activities.
Bank of England ‘unlikely to change base rate’
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is unlikely to change its base rate when it meets next Thursday, according to Stuart Haire, group chief executive of Skipton Group, which owns Skipton Building Society and Connells.
Haire said that while the housing market has proved resilient since the Iran war broke out, he did not envy the committee having to decide amid continued “volatility”.
BBC Radio 4 asked him about the meeting on April 30, and whether the ongoing conflict in the Middle East might push up mortgage rates.
He replied: “This is really difficult to call … we’ve seen huge volatility in what the market expects for base rates, and genuinely I don’t envy the … dilemmas that are faced by the BoE’s policy setters just now.
“I think for this time round they will sit on their hands. I don’t think there is going to be a change in April.”
Lebanon-Israel negotiations to be led by former ambassador
The president of Lebanon has said that negotiations with Israel would be handled by a Lebanese delegation led by Beirut’s former ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam.
The objective of the negotiations is “to halt hostile actions, end the Israeli occupation of southern areas, and deploy the army up to the internationally recognized southern borders,” Joseph Aoun said in an X post.
The statement followed the announcement last Thursday of a ten-day ceasefire in Lebanon where Israel has been waging war against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group.
It added that President Trump “expressed full understanding and responsiveness to Lebanon’s demand” during a call with Aoun and “intervened with Israel to stop the ceasefire and prepare for the launch of a negotiating track that ends the abnormal situation” of Israel’s military occupation in south Lebanon.
“Lebanon faces two options: either the continuation of the war with all its humanitarian, social, economic, and sovereignty repercussions, or negotiation to put an end to this war and achieve sustainable stability, and I have chosen negotiation, and I am full of hope that we will be able to save Lebanon,” the president added.
Protests in the Philippines against joint US military training: in pictures
Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
Russia hopes negotiations continue
The Kremlin said on Monday that it hoped negotiations involving Iran would continue in order to avoid negative consequences for the region and the global economy.
“We can see that the situation in the Gulf remains fragile and unpredictable. We hope that the negotiation process will continue and that we will be able to avoid a further escalation towards a military scenario,” the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said Russia was not acting as a mediator in talks on Iran but stood ready to help if requested.
“Russia is not currently a mediator in the negotiation process, but we are ready to provide any assistance to facilitate a peaceful resolution and help reach an agreement,” Peskov said.
US blockade is main hurdle to negotiations, says Pakistan army head
The head of Pakistan’s army has reportedly told President Trump that the US Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports is the main obstacle to further negotiations.
A Pakistani security official told Reuters that Field Marshal Asim Munir, a key mediator in negotiations, had spoken to Trump.
The army chief was said to have told the American president that the blockade, which culminated on Sunday with the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship by US marines, was a “hurdle” to talks.
Trump told Munir that he would consider his advice, according to the source.
Munir was one of two Pakistani mediators in the room during face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad on April 11. He visited Tehran last week as part of continuing diplomatic efforts to bring the two sides together for a second round of negotiations.
Pakistan ‘expects Iran to arrive on Tuesday’
An Iranian delegation will arrive in Islamabad for negotiations with the US on Tuesday, according to a report, despite Tehran’s statements that it had no intention of sending its negotiators while the US Navy is continuing a blockade of its ports.
A Pakistani official, on condition of anonymity, told the news outlet Nikkei Asia that Pakistan was expecting the Iranian delegation to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday, a day later than the American officials who will arrive today.
Analysis: Trump’s social media threats appear to stoke Iranian hardliners
President Trump has voiced confusion about the behaviour of the Iranian regime as he spoke to a journalist before another round of talks (Samer Al-Atrush writes).
“It’s almost like they don’t learn,” he said.
It was not the first time Trump expressed surprise and frustration at how the regime has reacted. But, more than a month after starting a war with Iran and now imposing a naval blockade, perhaps Trump is also not learning lessons.
Iran said it would boycott talks this week in Islamabad, after Trump appeared to humiliate the regime in a series of posts on Truth Social, announcing that Tehran had agreed to US demands and would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while the US would maintain its blockade.
The posts appear to have badly backfired, and put pressure on the Iranian negotiators from hardliners in Tehran, who believe they are fighting for the regime’s survival and they do not currently need to make significant concessions. The regime reckons it has exhausted Trump’s willingness for conflict, and is instead looking for the US to give ground in negotiations.
Trump’s threats, or “the tweets of some idiot,” as a purported Iranian navy dispatcher called them in a transmission warning ships to avoid strait, do not carry the weight they did before the war.
‘Real power is with supreme leader, not chief negotiator’
Soon after stepping off his flight from negotiations in Islamabad, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s X account posted one of his increasingly frequent English-language messages sassily addressing the American people.
“Enjoy the current pump figures,” the chief negotiator for Iran wrote over a map showing prices at petrol stations closest to the White House. “With the so-called ‘blockade’, soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”
President Trump sent his team to Islamabad to negotiate with Ghalibaf, the high-ranking Iranian official to whom Pakistan had reached out in the hopes of brokering peace.
Although there were no direct American-Iranian contacts before then, Trump claimed to be “dealing with the man who is most respected” in Iran, an apparent reference to Ghalibaf, whom he also called “very reasonable, very solid”.
Iran: Defensive capabilities not open to negotiation
A senior Iranian source has said that Tehran’s “defensive capabilities”, including its missile programme, were not open to negotiation with the US.
“Continuation of the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz undermines the peace talks,” the source told Reuters.
The degradation of Iran’s missile stockpile and production facilities was a stated aim of the war, and the US and Israel claim to have destroyed or damaged up to two thirds of Tehran’s missile and drone launchers during a 38-day military campaign.
However the IRGC has used a recent pause in attacks to replenish and upgrade its launchers, the guards’ Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi said on Sunday in a social media post published by Iranian state media channels.
The post included a video showing Mousavi inspecting what appeared to be underground missile facilities, including storage areas and launch systems.
He claimed that Iran’s opponents had “lost this stage of the war”, as well as influence over strategic areas, including the Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon and the wider region.
Tehran could retaliate as a ‘game’
Tehran was likely to retaliate against the US Navy’s forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as part of a “game”, a research fellow at the University of Tehran has warned.
Mohammad Eslami, co-author of The Second Europe, a study of Iranian-European nuclear negotiations, told BBC Radio 4: “Donald Trump is trying to put pressure on the Iranian negotiating team, while mediators are trying to solve the problems and bridge the gaps between the two states. I think the Iranian army will retaliate.”
When the BBC pointed out that Iran was also applying pressure, he agreed, saying “exactly, that is the game, it’s a battlefield”.
Asked whether he believed the war would end soon, Eslami replied, “to be honest, I’m not that optimistic”.
Iran ‘has no plan for second round of talks’
Iran currently has no plan for a second round of talks with the US, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said on Monday.
Esmail Baghaei, the ministry spokesman, said at a press briefing that “no decision” had been made on whether to attend further negotiations, even though an American delegation led by the vice-president JD Vance was due to arrive in Pakistan.
Baghaei said the US was engaging in behaviour that suggested it was not serious about the diplomatic process, citing the continuing American naval blockade around the Strait of Hormuz and alleged ceasefire breaches in Lebanon.
Iran would make “an appropriate decision regarding the continuation of the negotiation process”, Baghaei said. He added there was “no plan for the next round of negotiations”, according to the government-linked Mehr News Agency.
FTSE 100 slides over ceasefire concerns
The FTSE 100 has opened down this morning as concerns that the ceasefire between the US and Iran might not hold overshadowed optimism about a resolution.
London’s leading share index fell 0.6 per cent to 10,607 with airline, mining, banking and housing stocks falling. Among the few risers were the major oil stocks BP and Shell.
The index enjoyed a bounce on Friday after Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz lifting the index 0.6 per cent on the week and its fourth consecutive weekly gain.
The more domestically-focused FTSE 250, which also finished on a high note for a rise of 3.8 per cent last week, fell 1.1 per cent to 22,943.
Earlier, Asian stock markets rose as traders bet that both sides wanted to resolve the conflict.
China expresses concern over US boat seizure
China expressed concern on Monday over the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel that tried to evade a naval blockade, and urged all parties to resume peace talks.
“We express concern over the US side’s forcible interception of the relevant vessel,” Guo Jiakun, the foreign ministry spokesman, told a news conference when asked about the seizure, calling on countries involved to return to negotiations.
Iranian speaker is ‘fighter in negotiations and on battlefield’
The speaker of Iran’s parliament was lauded as “a fighter both in negotiations and on the battlefield” on the front page of an Iranian newspaper this morning.
The hardline daily paper Javan, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, portrayed Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wearing both an IRGC uniform and a suit, as well as a headband bearing the national flag.
Qalibaf, who headed the Iranian delegation during previous talks in Islamabad described negotiations with the US as a form of battle in a broadcast interview on Saturday.
He told state TV that while Iran demonstrated its military power in the war, it did not mean that Iran was “militarily more powerful than America”, and dismissed what he called exaggerated claims, even on state media, that Iran had “destroyed all its military power” and should therefore refuse negotiations.
However, neither Qalibaf or other Iranian officials have confirmed whether they will take part in a new round of negotiations with US officials in Pakistan on Monday.
IDF soldier damaging statue of Jesus ‘grave and disgraceful’
The Israeli foreign minister has called an IDF soldier damaging a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon “grave and disgraceful” as he apologised for the incident.
Gideon Sa’ar posted on X that he commended the military for condemning the soldier’s actions and for opening an investigation into the matter.
“I’m confident that the necessary strict measures will be taken against whoever carried out this ugly act. This shameful action is completely contrary to our values,” he added.
“Israel is a country that respects the different religions and their sacred symbols, and upholds tolerance and respect among faiths.
“We apologise for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt.”
Marines seize Iranian-flagged ship Touska
The US military has released videos of the seizure of the Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
Marines from the assault ship USS Tripoli rappelled from a helicopter to board the Iranian vessel, which was trying to break the US Navy’s blockade.
President Trump posted on Truth Social that another American warship, the guided missile destroyer USS Spruance “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room” after the Touska ignored warnings to stop.
“Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel and are seeing what’s on board!” Trump added.
A separate video, apparently filmed from the Spruance, showed the warship firing rounds at a vessel in the distance.
US Central Command said that the Iranian commercial ship “failed to comply with repeated warnings from US forces over a six-hour period”.
Cooper: Strait of Hormuz must be toll-free
Yvette Cooper has said that any talks between the US and Iran must result in a toll-free passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
The foreign secretary said proposals had been circulating from Tehran to introduce tolls on the crucial waterway once the conflict concludes.
Speaking en route to Japan, she said: “This is a critical diplomatic moment with the end of the ceasefire looming. Further talks on a lasting settlement are welcome; they must lead to a toll-free Strait of Hormuz.”
She added: “This argument is not just about the Strait of Hormuz, it is about the precedent this will set for freedom of navigation all over the world.
“If the wrong precedent is set, it would be deeply damaging not just for the global economy, but for global security, and that is why it is an argument we must win.”
Oil rises on jitters but stock markets optimistic
The oil price jumped but remained below $100 a barrel as rising tension in the Middle East kept shipping in and out of the Gulf to a minimum
Brent crude rose 5 per cent to $95.31 a barrel after an American destroyer fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman and Iran, putting the ceasefire in doubt. The oil price fell to $86.33 a barrel on Friday when Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz was open.
Hopes that both sides want a resolution lifted stock markets in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi 0.7 per cent and China’s SSE Composite 0.7 per cent. The FTSE 100 is forecast to open lower after bouncing on Friday.
Paul Chew, head of research at Singapore’s Phillip Securities, said: “Our base case (AKA guess) is still resolution to the war. Trump is still focused on November midterm elections.”
‘Hallmarks of insider trading’ during Trump’s presidency
The BBC has cited examples of spikes in trades throughout President Trump’s second term in office that some analysts say bear the hallmarks of illegal insider trading.
The BBC examined trade volume data on financial markets, matching them to major announcements made by Trump.
The broadcaster found “a consistent pattern of spikes just hours, or sometimes minutes, before a social media post or media interview was made public.” It pointed to market data showing a huge swell of bets were placed on the price of oil falling 47 minutes before an interview was published in which Trump said the conflict was “very complete, pretty much”.
Highly specific trades betting on an announcement about a ceasefire in the US and Israel’s war on Iran on April 7 on the online predictions market Polymarket have also raised questions about insider trading.
The White House has not responded to the BBC.
Analysis: Iran talks are latest twist in Trump’s rollercoaster diplomacy
It was a triumph. The crisis in the Gulf was all but over. Friday was, President Trump said, “a great and brilliant day for the world”.
On Saturday morning, the crisis returned. The Strait of Hormuz, open “never to be closed again”, if Trump was to be believed, was once more shut on the orders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Everything Trump had said about the imminent deal was a lie, said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator.
Now the rollercoaster is heading back up the tracks. Trump’s negotiating team is on its way to Pakistan for talks that it hopes will set a new framework for relations between Iran and the United States.
Iran executes two men accused of spying for Israel
Iran executed two men convicted of co-operating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and planning attacks inside the country, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reported on Sunday.
Identified as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi, they were accused of belonging to a spy network linked to Mossad and had received training abroad, including in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
They had been convicted on charges including enmity against God and co-operation with hostile groups, and their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court before being carried out, Mizan reported.
IDF says image of soldier striking Jesus statue in Lebanon is authentic
The Israeli army has determined an image circulating on social media that shows a soldier in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic and depicts one of its troops.
The image appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen from a cross.
“Following the completion of an initial examination regarding a photograph published earlier today of an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol, it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon,” Israel’s army said on its official X account on Monday.
The Israeli army said it viewed the incident with “great severity”, adding that the “soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops”.
More than 20 vessels crossed the Strait on Saturday
Over 20 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, the highest number of ships to cross the waterway since March 1, according to data from the shipping analytics firm Kpler.
Among the vessels that made it through on Saturday, five of them last loaded cargoes from Iran, ranging from oil products to metals. Three of them are liquefied petroleum gas carriers, with one each heading to China and India.
The other vessels included those carrying products from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Death toll from war rises to over 5,000
The Iran war has killed more than 5,000 people across several countries.
At least 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, according to the Associated Press.
Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have also been killed.
UAE asks US about ‘financial lifeline’
The United Arab Emirates asked Washington about the possibility of securing a financial backstop in case the war in Iran spirals into a deeper crisis for the oil-rich nation, according to reports.
The governor of the UAE’s central bank, Khaled Mohamed Balama, raised the idea of a currency-swap line with Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, and other treasury officials in a meeting in Washington last week, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It is believed the Emiratis stressed that they had so far avoided the worst economic effects of the conflict but might still need a financial lifeline.
If accurate, the report underlines the UAE’s concern that the war could inflict major damage on its economy and its position as a global financial hub.
Iran will ‘never’ give up control of Strait
A senior Iranian politician has said the country would “never” give up control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s our inalienable right,” Ebrahim Azizi, a former commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the BBC. “Iran will decide the right of passage, including permissions for vessels to pass through the Strait.”
Azizi added: “We are introducing a bill in parliament, based on article 110 of the constitution, which includes the environment, maritime safety and national security — and the armed forces will implement the law.”
Oil prices rise after US hits Iranian cargo ship
The benchmark US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), surged 7.5 per cent on Monday.
WTI crude was trading up 7.5 per cent at $90.17 per barrel, while international oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude gained 6.5 per cent to $96.27 per barrel.
Tehran vowed to respond after it accused the US of violating a ceasefire, following an American destroyer firing on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
Macron to meet Lebanese PM
President Macron will meet the prime minister of Lebanon on Tuesday as a fragile ten-day truce holds between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The visit to Paris by Nawaf Salam, confirmed by the Élysée, highlights Macron’s commitment to seeing “full and complete respect for the ceasefire in Lebanon” as well as France’s support for Lebanon’s “territorial integrity”, the president’s office said on Sunday.
The announcement came a day after France blamed Iran-backed Hezbollah for the death of a French United Nations peacekeeper in Lebanon.
US negotiators due in Pakistan on Monday, Trump says
President Trump said his “Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan”.
Posting on Truth Social on Sunday, he added: “They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations”.
In the same post, the president said that a British “freighter” was fired at in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?” he said.
Trump: ‘No more Mr Nice Guy’
President Trump has again threatened to take out all Iranian power plants and bridges, saying there would be “no more Mr Nice Guy” if a deal is not agreed.
In an early morning post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they [Iran] take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran, he wrote.
“NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”
Iran ‘declines taking part in peace talks’
Iran has cast doubt on the prospect of President Trump’s peace talks succeeding, as state media reported that the regime was yet to decide whether it would attend.
Hours after Trump announced US negotiators, led by JD Vance, the vice president, would arrive in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, tomorrow, the IRNA state news agency said there was “no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations”.
Another state broadcaster IRIB said that “there are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks”.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, quoting anonymous sources, said Tehran had yet to decide whether it would participate and that “the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive”, with Fars citing one source as saying the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports was a precondition for talks.
IRNA pointed to Washington’s “maximalism and unreasonable and unrealistic demands, frequent changes of positions, constant contradictions and the continuation of the so-called naval blockade”.
US takes control of Iranian ship, says Trump
The US navy intercepted an Iranian-flagged ship as it tried to get past a US blockade.
President Trump said on Truth Social that the USS Spruance intercepted the cargo ship and gave them a “fair warning to stop”.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” he posted.
“The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire
Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, accused the US of violating a ceasefire by firing at one of Iran’s commercial ships outside the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to retaliate.
The vessel was en route from China to Iran, reported state media, quoting a Khatam al-Anbiya spokesperson.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” the spokesperson said.
President Trump had earlier accused Tehran of violating the truce by launching attacks on Saturday at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
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