US‑Iran‑Israel War Highlights: Pakistan's Asim Munir lands in Tehran with message from US

The US military said on Wednesday that it successfully stopped nine vessels from sailing out of Iranian ports during the first 48 hours of a naval blockade against the Islamic republic.

“Nine vessels have complied with direction from US forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or coastal area,” US Central Command (Centcom), which is responsible for American troops in the Middle East, said in a post on X.

“No vessels have made it past US forces,” Centcom said. However, maritime tracking data appeared to contradict the US assertion.

Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has emerged as a key intermediary between the US and Iran, has arrived in Tehran as head of a high-level delegation, Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim reports.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said today that he will not “yield” or change his stance on the US and Israel’s war with Iran following US President Donald Trump’s recent criticism.

Lebanon has urged its permanent representative to the UN to submit an “urgent complaint” about Israeli strikes conducted on April 8 that killed more than 300 people across the country, the Lebanese foreign ministry said in a statement today.

Two vessels that passed through the Strait of Hormuz stopped at the same point in the Gulf of Oman, according to Kpler, a data intelligence and analytics platform, with one vessel having made a U-turn back through the waterway.

Israel’s military said a short while ago that it has struck more than 200 “Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon” in the past 24 hours.

The US has not formally agreed to extend the ceasefire with Iran, a senior US official told CNN, amid reports that Washington and Tehran had agreed in principle to an extension to allow for more time for negotiations.

According to a statement by the Iranian state media, the Iranian army has called the US blockade of the Iranian port a violation of the ceasefire and has threatened to block the Gulf and the Sea of Oman. The head of the military's central command centre said that “powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea”.

A flotilla of some 40 boats sets sail from Barcelona for Gaza in a fresh bid to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to the devastated territory. The Global Sumud Flotilla had initially been set to depart from the Mediterranean port 12 April but the mission was postponed due adverse weather conditions.

China, on April 15, Wednesday, hosted the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of its series of high-level diplomacy talks in recent days. Lavrov said, China and Russia should take advantage of the "geographic proximity and complementarity, deepen all-round cooperation and raise the resilience of each other's development." Lavrov said Russia will stabilise the energy prices of China, which has seen a sharp spike over the span of one and a half months since the beginning of the war in West Asia.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Ankara is working to extend the Iran ceasefire, ease tension and continue talks between the two sides. "Statements by the sides show ​that, while the negotiation table has not been toppled, they have reached a road bump on the nuclear issue," said Erdogan, speaking to the lawmakers in the Parliament. He also added that Israel's continued attack on Lebanon is harming any hope of peace. 

Over 200 Iranian crew members from two warships who were rescued by Sri Lanka ​have been sent back to their homeland, ‌a top official said on Wednesday. "The crew ​of both ships were flown out about 11 ​p.m. on a special flight on Tuesday night," Deputy Defence Minister ‌Aruna ⁠Jayasekera told Reuters. Sri Lanka rescued 32 Iranian crew from the warship IRIS Dena on March 4 after ​it was hit by a torpedo from a ​U.S. submarine. The ship was returning from a naval exercise organised by India when it was struck by the US Navy in international waters, resulting in the death of 84 soldiers. Sri Lanka also rescued 208 crew from a ​second vessel, IRIS Booshehr, on March 5. 

According to the website "Iran War Cost Tracker", the US operation in Iran has cost more than $51.6 billion in 46 days. The estimated daily cost is $1 billion, $41.6 million per hour and $11,574 per second. The report indicates that the first week of military action alone cost $11.3 billion.

Iranian semi-official news agency Fars reported, citing shipping data, that a US supertanker carrying food has entered the Iranian border and is en route to Imam Khomeini port. Fars reported, citing the Iranian interior minister, in response to the recent report of the blockade, that Iran has 8,000km of land and sea border, and any blockade will be futile 

US Vice President JD Vance was heckled twice during a Turning Point USA college event in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 14. Voices from the crowd criticised the US's war of aggression in Iran and Israel's mindless expansionism in Gaza and Lebanon. "Jesus Christ does not support genocide!" "You're killing children! You're bombing children!"

 According to a report by the Washington Post, around 6000 additional troops aboard the USS George HW Bush and 4,200 members of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the Marine Corps task force will enter the war theatre by the end of April. These are in addition to the 1,500 and 3,000 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division. 

Chinese suppliers and buyers from the Middle East spoke of higher raw material costs, sharp falls in demand, and interruptions to shipments as they attended one of the world's biggest trade fairs, as the fallout from the Iran war hit the sales of goods, machinery and other equipment.

The twice-yearly Canton Fair, held in the southern city of Guangzhou, was created in 1957 and attracts buyers from all over the world. "It (West Asia war) has a heavy impact on our business, our commercial distributors, because we have a lot of headache with shipments, and the shipment (costs) now have increased by like 50 to 70 percent," Saudi Arabian business owner, Abdallah Mebarkia, tells AFP at the fair.

Sri Lanka has repatriated 238 Iranian sailors stranded in the South Asian country after their warship was torpedoed by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean on March 4, a minister told AFP.

Norway's crude oil exports hit a record high in March as the war in Iran and closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane drove up oil prices, Statistics Norway said Wednesday.

The Scandinavian country is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in Europe excluding Russia. Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the Strait of Hormuz in peacetime.

"The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused a significant supply shock on the oil market, which contributed to the high oil prices in March and thus (Norway's) highest export value ever," analyst Jan Olav Rorhus said in a statement.

Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif departs Nur Khan Airbase as he sets off on a four-day diplomatic blitz to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Hezbollah fired about 30 rockets into northern Israel early Wednesday (Apr 15), the Israeli military said, just hours after the start of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.

Hezbollah said Tuesday that it had targeted 13 northern Israeli towns with rockets shortly after the talks began.

Iran to use alternative ports to those in southern Iran to bypass the US blockade of Strait of Hormuz

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov said, "We will accept any decision that suits the Iranian side based on its legitimate rights. International law says that every country has the right to enrich uranium exclusively for peaceful purposes. Iran has never attempted to expand those peaceful objectives into ambiguous interpretations or to use its technologies for military purposes."

“I very much hope that those directly involved in the talks,  the U.S. side in this case, will take a realistic approach, take into account the interests of the entire region, and will not continue the unprovoked aggression,” he added.

JD Vance said on Tuesday that deep mistrust continues between Washington and Iran and cannot be resolved quickly, but noted that Iranian negotiators appear willing to reach an agreement, expressing optimism about the current situation.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump indicated that talks aimed at ending the conflict could resume in Pakistan within the next two days, following the breakdown of weekend negotiations that led the US to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran remains in place, with about a week remaining. Vance had participated in the previous round of talks held in Pakistan. “There is a lot of, of ⁠course, mistrust between Iran and the United States of America. You are not ‌going to solve that problem overnight,” Vance said during a Turning Point USA event. Iranian negotiators wanted to make a deal, he said. “I feel very good about where we are,” Vance added.

A US Navy destroyer intercepted two oil tankers attempting to depart from Iran on April 14, 2026, shortly after a blockade ordered by Donald Trump came into force. According to a US official, the vessels, which had sailed from Chabahar Port on the Gulf of Oman, were contacted via radio and directed to turn back. It remains unclear whether additional warnings were issued.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, stated that recovered weapon fragments used in attacks on Iran indicate they originated from the arsenals of certain Persian Gulf states.

“The evidence presented clearly demonstrates that those States have not only aided and abetted the aggressors but have themselves engaged in the commission of acts of aggression, as defined under customary international law,” he added, according to a report in the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran purchased a Chinese satellite that allegedly helped it target US military bases across the Middle East during the recent conflict, according to a Financial Times report on Wednesday. The report was based on leaked Iranian military documents.

Last week, CNN, citing US intelligence sources, reported that Iran could acquire shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile systems, known as MANPADS, from China to target low-flying US fighter jets. China, however, has denied supplying weapons “to any party in the conflict.”

More than 200 Iranian naval personnel have returned home on a special flight, over a month after two warships ran into trouble in the Indian Ocean. The crew were aboard IRIS Dena and IRIS Booshehr, which were assisted by Sri Lanka in early March. While IRIS Dena was reportedly attacked by a US submarine during its return from India, Booshehr suffered engine failure and sought Sri Lankan support.
 

An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a vehicle in Saadiyat, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Beirut, hours after Lebanon and Israel agreed to hold direct negotiations.

"Enemy aircraft targeted a car in Saadiyat," Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said.

Israel is continuing its strikes on southern Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah, but has not targeted the Lebanese capital since a series of attacks across the country on April 8 that killed more than 350 people.

South Korea has secured supplies of more than 270 million barrels of crude oil via routes unaffected by the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"I hereby report to the nation that visits to four countries have secured the import of 273 million barrels of crude oil by the end of this year," Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Staff to the President, said.

The amount is sufficient for more than three months of South Korea's oil needs, Kang said after he returned from a trip to Kazakhstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is to embark on a four-day diplomatic blitz to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey on Wednesday, Islamabad's foreign ministry said, as the country engages in feverish diplomacy ahead of a possible second round of US-Iran peace talks.

"Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will undertake official visits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkiye from 15–18 April 2026," the ministry said in a statement, using Turkey's official name.

The visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be conducted "in the bilateral context", while in Turkey Sharif will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, and will hold bilateral meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other leaders on the sidelines, the statement said.

The US military said it stopped six ships from sailing out of Iranian ports during the first 24 hours of a naval blockade against the Islamic republic.

Earlier, maritime tracking data indicated that at least two ships sailing from Iranian ports passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite the blockade.

They were among at least four Iran-linked vessels that used the route after Washington's blockade came into effect at 1400 GMT on Monday, according to maritime data provider Kpler.

Hezbollah said it targeted 13 northern Israeli towns with rockets shortly after the start of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.

The US Treasury Department said Tuesday it does not plan to renew a temporary easing of sanctions on Iranian oil that aimed to cushion war-related supply shocks.

"The short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed," the Treasury Department said in a statement.

It added that it is "maintaining maximum pressure" on Tehran.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that US peace negotiators "have no time for Ukraine" because of the war in Iran, and bemoaned disruptions in deliveries of US arms.

Zelensky told German public broadcaster ZDF that Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have helped broker talks with Moscow on ending Russia's war on Ukraine, were "constantly in talks with Iran" at the moment.

"If the United States does not put pressure on Putin... and only engages in a gentle dialogue with the Russians, then they will no longer be afraid," he said.

US Vice President JD Vance said Trump told Iran that the United States would "make Iran thrive" if it committed to "not having a nuclear weapon".

"That's the kind of Trumpian grand bargain that the president has put on the table. Man, we're going to keep on negotiating and try to make it happen," Vance told an event in the US state of Georgia hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that US-Iran peace talks could resume this week, while Israel and Lebanon agreed to launch direct negotiations, signaling movement on two key fronts in efforts to ease the Middle East conflict.

Trump told The New York Post a new round of talks with Tehran could take place in Pakistan "over the next two days," after saying the day before that unnamed Iranian officials had called him seeking a deal.

Stocks rose and oil fell again Wednesday after Donald Trump said a second round of US-Iran talks could take place "over the next two days", fuelling hopes for a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow crude to flow again.

Traders were also cheered by news that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to launch direct negotiations, fuelling optimism for an end to a conflict that has been a key sticking point in the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

Sri Lanka has repatriated 238 Iranian sailors stranded in the South Asian country after one of their warships was torpedoed by a US submarine, a minister told AFP on Wednesday.

Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena -- a frigate attacked on March 4 just off Sri Lanka -- and another 206 from the IRIS Bushehr left on Tuesday.

"A few sailors from the IRIS Bushehr are staying back to operate the vessel, but 206 joined those rescued from the IRIS Dena and returned home last night in a chartered aircraft," Jayasekara said.

Official sources said 15 Iranian sailors will remain in Sri Lanka to operate the IRIS Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the northeast of the island.

The US president has issued another statement on his Truth Social “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” Trump wrote.

A Financial Times report revealed that Iranian military forces utilized AI-enhanced satellite imagery from Chinese technology firm MizarVision to target US military bases in West Asia

IAEA's Rafael Grossi says, "Iran's nuclear program cannot be stopped by military means. No evidence of systematic weaponization effort. Never been weeks or months from a bomb."

A joint statement by 10 countries, including Canada, the UK, and Australia call for an urgent end to Israeli attacks and the protection of aid workers in southern Lebanon

Russia's foreign minister said that his country could make up for China's energy shortages as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is choked by the US-Israeli war with Iran, Russian state media reported 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will suspend a federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel until September 7 due to disruptions in supply 

CNN reported that satellite images showed Iran is digging for trapped missile launchers

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said that the US will block Chinese tankers carrying Iranian oil in the Strait of Hormuz. “They’re not going to be able to get their oil. They can get oil. Not Iranian oil,” Bessent told reporters in Washington, DC.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US naval forces have forced eight vessels departing and entering Iranian ports to stop and turn back. Citing officials, the Journal reported that in every instance, US forces contacted the crews via radio and instructed them to reverse course.

The US Central Command said in a post on X that the blockade on Iranian ports “is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran”. It said US Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing the blockade against Iranian ports. “A typical destroyer has a crew of more than 300 Sailors that are highly trained in conducting offensive and defensive maritime operations,” the statement added.

CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper says “a blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented." “An estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is fuelled by international trade by sea,” he said on X. “In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold further negotiations “at a mutually agreed time and venue,” the US State Department said. Israel refused to commit to a ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

US president Donald Trump has told the Fox News broadcaster that the war on Iran could end soon. “I think it’s close to over, yeah,” he said in a clip of the interview aired by the US broadcaster. “I mean I view it as very close to over,” he added.

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