Live updates: Iran threatens shipping in Gulf and Red Sea

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Tehran today, according to Iranian state TV.

The two are scheduled to meet again tomorrow, state TV said in a report.

"On Thursday, Iran and the Pakistani mediator will hold detailed discussions in Tehran regarding the messages exchanged between Iran and the United States since Sunday," the report said.

Pakistani leaders acted as mediators in talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, last weekend.

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, which turned away nine ships in the first 48 hours, has stopped maritime trade in and out of Iran, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.

"After implementing the blockade on ships entering and departing Iranian ports, American forces halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea," CENTCOM said in the post. "U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen remain positioned and ready to act against any vessels seeking to violate the blockade."

The White House has not yet formally requested an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing today. The current ceasefire is set to expire next week, on April 22.

Leavitt said that conversations with Iran are "productive and ongoing" and "we feel good about the prospects of a deal.”

She said that discussions about further in-person talks "are being had, but nothing is official until you hear it from us here at the White House."

Leavitt said any in-person talks would likely take place in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, where U.S. and Iranian negotiators met last weekend.

"The Pakistanis have been incredible mediators throughout this process, and we really appreciate their friendship and their efforts to bring this deal to a close, so they are the only mediator in this negotiation," she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the military continues to strike at Hezbollah and was about to “overwhelm” Bint Jbeil, as pressure mounts for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

In a video statement, Netanyahu said he has instructed the military to continue reinforcing the security zone in southern Lebanon.

On Iran, Netanyahu said the U.S. keeps Israel updated and the two countries are aligned. Should the ceasefire with Iran fail, “we are prepared for any scenario,” he said.

Iran and United Arab Emirates officials held a phone call today about reducing tensions in the region, Iran’s state media reported. 

UAE Vice President Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, during which the two sides discussed regional developments and ways to reduce tensions in the region, semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported earlier today. 

The UAE was one of the Gulf states that was hit by Tehran’s retaliatory strikes in the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran.

AFP - Getty Images

AFP - Getty Images

A billboard in Tehran today shows Iran controlling shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Four paramedics were killed today during a relief mission in the Lebanese town of Mayfadoun, according to the state-run National News Agency, which attributed their deaths to an Israeli airstrike.

"While in the area, they were targeted by an enemy drone, resulting in the deaths of the four paramedics," the news agency reported.

Ninety-one Lebanese health care personnel have died since March 2, according to the country's health ministry, which said another 241 people have been injured.

Pakistan's military chief arrived in Tehran today as mediators sought to set up a second round of U.S.-Iran talks, the military said.

American and Iranian negotiators on Sunday left talks in Pakistan, which has sought to mediate between the two sides, without having agreed to a deal to end the war. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian officials both said significant differences remained in the quest for a deal that could bring a more permanent end to the war.

In an interview with Sky News, Trump said it was "possible" Washington would reach a peace deal with Tehran before King Charles visits the U.S.

"It’s possible. Very possible. They’re beaten up pretty bad," Trump said in the excerpt released today, referring to the Iranian regime. "It’s very possible."

Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, are scheduled to be in the U.S. April 27 to 30.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was not going to yield to pressure from Trump for the U.K. to get dragged into the Iran war.

“My position on Iran has been clear from the start: We’re not going to get dragged into this war,” Starmer said earlier today during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament. “I’m not going to change my mind, I’m not going to yield. It is not in our national interest to join this war and we will not do so. I know where I stand.”

Starmer has refused to support the U.S. operation in Iran and has been harshly criticized by the president. Asked by British broadcaster Sky News whether this would cast a shadow over the king’s visit, Trump said: “Not at all. I’ve known the King for a long time, and he’s not involved in that process.”

Trump also appeared to threaten the trade deal with the U.K.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the release of Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, an American-Kuwaiti journalist who has contributed to outlets including Al Jazeera English, HuffPost, and VICE.

CPJ said Shihab-Eldin had not been seen in public since March 2nd. The most recent posts on his Substack are from March 2nd and include video and stills of the aftermath of a U.S. fighter jet that crashed in Kuwait.

CPJ's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement that "journalism is not a crime, and Shihab-Eldin’s case reflects a broader pattern of using national security laws to stifle scrutiny and control the narrative."

Last month, Kuwait enacted a law allowing authorities to impose strict prison sentences for anyone who spreads false information with the intent of undermining confidence in the military.

NBC News has reached out to Kuwait's foreign ministry for confirmation of Shihab-Eldin's status and further comment.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran will likely be hosting a delegation from Pakistan today, the country’s state news agency IRNA reported.

Asked about reports of Islamabad’s efforts to arrange another round of consultations between Iran and the U.S. and the possible visit of a high-level Pakistani delegation to Tehran, Baghaei said “the exchange of messages is ongoing.”

From the moment the Iranian delegation returned to Tehran on Sunday and until today, multiple messages have been exchanged through the Pakistani intermediary, Baghaei said.

Iran’s positions have been conveyed and heard, Baghei added. During this visit, there will likely be detailed discussions on the views of both sides, he said.

Iran does not seek war or instability and has always emphasized dialogue and constructive engagement with various countries, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a visit to the capital’s emergency services earlier today.

In comments carried by semi-official ISNA news agency, Pezeshkian said any attempt to impose will or force the country into surrender is doomed to fail, and the Iranian nation will never accept such an approach.

U.S. officials will have to head to Pakistan soon if a second round of in-person talks with Iran is to be held as early as this week, as NBC News and others have reported.

Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance led U.S. talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, leaving Washington on Friday morning and arriving back Sunday night after 21 hours of negotiations.

Trump said yesterday that “something could be happening over the next two days.”

It took Vance almost 17 hours to travel from Washington to Islamabad for the first round of talks, including a refueling stop.

The Israeli army issued a new evacuation order earlier this morning to residents in southern Lebanon, urging them to evacuate their homes and move north of the Zahrani River.

“Airstrikes are ongoing as the IDF is operating with considerable force in the area,” Avichay Adraee, the IDF Arabic-language spokesman, said in a post on X earlier today, adding that anyone near the Iran-backed Hezbollah's militants, facilities or weapons is putting their life at risk.

The United Nations estimates that the hostilities in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people so far, as it said yesterday the humanitarian situation on the ground was “grave.”

First responders and security forces work at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle today in Jiyeh, south of Beirut. Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP - Getty Images

Trump says China is "very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz," in a social media post following the airing of his comments on China this morning.

"I am doing it for them, also — And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks," Trump said in the post. He's due to visit Beijing next month.

"We are working together smartly, and very well! Doesn’t that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to — far better than anyone else!!!"

Traffic through the strait, a key global trade route, remains effectively at a standstill and the U.S. is now blockading Iranian ports.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday that reports it was preparing to deliver air defense systems to Iran were “entirely fabricated."

Trump said in the interview with Fox Business this morning that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged letters regarding the war in Iran.

"He responded to a letter that I wrote because I had heard that China is giving weapons to, I mean, you're seeing it all over the place, to Iran, that China is giving weapons," Trump said. "And I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying that essentially he's not doing that."

U.S. intelligence reporting suggests China is planning to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in the coming weeks, a person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. CNN first reported on the U.S. intelligence, a prospect that led Trump to threaten an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday that reports it was preparing to deliver air defense systems to Iran were “entirely fabricated.”.

Trump is expected to travel to China next month.

Asked on Fox Business if he was happy with the reaction to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said, "it's been pretty amazing, actually, I thought that was going to happen."

"They reacted to this even — I think, you know, we’ve obliterated them, and this almost seems to be more of a reaction than we had before," Trump said.

Trump said that he thinks the U.S. is "doing very well."

"But it only matters what the end result is, and maybe it'll happen fairly soon, who knows," he said.

Iran’s army has warned it could block marine traffic in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea if the U.S. blockade of its ports continues.

The semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, a commander with Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, saying that Iran could blockade the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea if the American blockade goes on and "creates insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers."

"If the aggressive and terrorist America continues its unlawful actions of maritime blockade in the region and creates insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers, this action will be considered a prelude to violating the ceasefire, and the powerful Armed Forces of Iran will not allow any kind of export and import to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea," it quoted him as saying.

"Iran will act with full force to defend its national sovereignty and interests."

Two Iranian tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite the blockade imposed by the U.S., Iran’s semi-official Fars ⁠News Agency has claimed.

Fars reported earlier this morning that an Iranian supertanker entered Iranian waters by passing through the open sea and the Strait of Hormuz with its transponder on.

Later this morning, Fars reported that a second Iranian ship passed through the strait and was heading toward the Imam Khomeini port in the east of the country. It described the ship as a “carrier carrying food supplies.”

NBC News has not verified the claims, and it was not immediately clear what vessels Fars was referring to.

U.S. Central Command said overnight that the blockade on Iranian ports has been “fully implemented.”

Trump has backtracked on recent comments predicting that oil prices could increase or stay the same ahead of midterm elections.

Asked in an interview with Fox Business whether he expected a hit to the economy to grow or a spike in inflation, Trump said, "there's going to be a hit, but it's going to recover."

"Somehow they misquoted me," he said, although he said over the weekend that oil prices could be the same or higher ahead of midterm elections. "I think oil will be down to the levels it was. You know, they said, 'I expect oil to be high at the midterms.' I don't expect that. I think that we will be somewhere around where we were, maybe even lower."

Asked over the weekend by Fox host Maria Bartiromo whether the price of oil would come down before midterms, Trump said, "I hope so."

"It could be, it could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher,” Trump said at the time. “But it should be around the same. I think this won’t be that much longer.”

News agency pictures of the Shahid Boroujerdi residential complex in southern Tehran, which was destroyed in a U.S.-Israeli operation early last month, were released yesterday amid a fragile ceasefire with Iran.

Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Trump says he is looking forward to welcoming King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House later this month despite tensions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the Iran war.

President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, in Sept. 2025. Leon Neal / AP file

In a phone interview with British broadcaster Sky News published earlier today, Trump called King Charles “a great gentleman” and “a friend of mine.”

The king’s visit is scheduled for April 27-30, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday, with the royals planning to visit Washington D.C., New York and Virginia in a visit that’s “an opportunity to recognize the shared history of our two nations.”

Starmer has refused to support the U.S. operation in Iran and has been harshly criticized by the president. Asked if this would cast a shadow over the king’s visit, Trump said: “No. Because… not at all. I’ve known the King for a long time, and he’s not involved in that process.”

Tehran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes is inalienable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters following his official visit to China.

“Whether the Islamic Republic chooses to exercise this right during negotiations —whether it pauses or insists on preserving it — the Russian side will accept any approach based on this principle, the principle of the universality of the right to enrichment,” Lavrov said earlier today.

The issue of Iran's uranium enrichment has emerged as one of the key stumbling blocks in peace talks.

Three people were lightly injured in Tehran overnight by detonation of improvised explosive devices, state media reported.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that two “homemade explosive packages” containing liquefied gas exploded on Imam Khomeini Street in the western part of the capital. It said the blast shattered the windows of three houses and caused minor damage to two vehicles.

No one was killed, Fars said. 

It’s not clear who or what may have been behind the blasts.

Russia is prepared to increase energy supplies to China and other countries affected by trade disruptions stemming from the Iran war, its foreign minister said this morning.

“Russia can certainly make up for the resources shortfall that has arisen in both the People’s Republic of China and other countries that are interested in working with us on an equal and mutually beneficial basis,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Lavrov also said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit China in the first half of this year — meaning he is likely to go in the weeks around Trump’s trip to China on May 14 and 15.

During their meeting, Xi assured Lavrov of China’s friendship even as he works to strengthen relations with other countries, saying they should deepen cooperation and protect each other’s interests. “In the face of a complex and turbulent international situation, the stability and predictability of China–Russia relations are particularly valuable,” Xi said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said strict international checks on Iran’s nuclear program will have to form the basis of any future agreement between Tehran and Washington.

“Iran has a very ambitious, wide nuclear program,” Grossi said, speaking at a news conference in Seoul earlier today. “So all of that will require the presence of IAEA inspectors. Otherwise, you will not have an agreement. You will have an illusion of an agreement. So I am certain that we will be required and asked when the parties come to an agreement hopefully to provide the indispensable safeguard verification component of the agreement.”

It comes after disagreements between Tehran and Washington over the duration of Iran’s suspension of uranium enrichment.

The U.S. asked Iran for a 20-year suspension of uranium enrichment during the marathon talks in Islamabad last weekend, a person familiar with the ongoing negotiations told NBC News. Iran agreed to three to five years, which Trump has said is not acceptable, the person said.

Vice President JD Vance said it would take time to resolve the mistrust between the U.S. and Iran but that he felt “very good about where we are” on peace talks.

Vance, who led talks in Pakistan over the weekend that failed to reach an agreement, noted that they were the highest-level negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials in almost 50 years and that there was a lot of lingering mistrust.

“You’re not going to solve that problem overnight,” Vance said yesterday at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia. “But yeah, I think the people we were sitting across from wanted to make a deal.”

“I feel very good about where we are,” he added.

Canada, the U.K., Australia, Japan and six other nations issued a joint statement yesterday condemning the killing of U.N. peacekeepers — including three Indonesian personnel who died last month — and calling for an “urgent end to hostilities” in Lebanon.

“Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and the United Kingdom remain deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon,” the statement said. 

Scenes of destruction across Lebanon yesterday.  AP; Getty Images

While the countries welcomed a ceasefire agreement involving the United States, Israel and Iran, they said attacks in Lebanon must stop.

“We welcome the ceasefire agreed between the United States, Israel and Iran,” the statement said. “We call for an urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey this week to discuss ongoing bilateral cooperation and regional security, the country’s foreign ministry said earlier today.

It comes days after Islamabad hosted peace talks between Tehran and Washington to end the Iran war, which did not lead to a resolution. However, a new round of in-person talk could be held as early as this week, two people familiar with the ongoing negotiations told NBC News.

Pakistan has emerged as an important mediator in the negotiations, and could continue playing a vital role in helping resolve the conflict. 

Rich Starry, the Chinese-owned tanker sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, made a U-turn back towards the Strait of Hormuz yesterday after becoming the first ship to leave the waterway amid the U.S. Navy's blockade.

MarineTraffic data today showed the vessel stationary in the water off Iran's Larak Island. It had earlier crossed the Strait and made its way into the Gulf of Oman, before turning back. It is unclear why the vessel, which had departed the U.A.E. and was en route to China, turned around.

Mapped data of the Rich Starry tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday,  Marine Traffic / via Reuters

Central Command has said the blockade will only apply to Iranian ports.

A U.S. official yesterday said Rich Starry was not in violation of the blockade terms and the U.S. military did not ask it to turn around.

Trump reiterated his criticism of Pope Leo XIV in a late night post on Truth Social, insisting Tehran can’t have a nuclear weapon.

Pope Leo during a Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba, Algeria yesterday. Simone Risoluti / Vatican Media via Getty Images

“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,” he wrote, referring to the deadly crackdown on mass protests that shook Iran earlier this year.

It was unclear where that number of deaths in Iran came from.

The U.S.-based human rights group HRANA says it has verified the deaths of more than 7,000 protesters, though other estimates are higher. The Iranian government has acknowledged more than 3,100 deaths.

The pope hit back after Trump sharply criticized him as “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy” earlier this week. Leo, who has been unusually direct in his criticism of the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, told NBC News that he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and vowed to keep up his appeals for peace that he said were rooted in the gospel.

Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher today as hopes for a resumption of U.S.-Iran peace talks capped oil prices at under $100 a barrel, while the dollar steadied after seven days of losses.

But European markets were bracing for a more muted open, with pan-region futures down 0.2%, and FTSE futures little changed. Wall Street futures were flat after a strong rally yesterday.

Brent crude futures bounced 1% to $95.77 a barrel, having slumped almost 5% overnight to trade below $100. Stock investors cheered, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gaining 1.5% to hit the highest level in six weeks. Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.9%, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi rallied 3%.

Chinese blue-chips rose 0.2%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.7%.

Trump fired back after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called his comments about Pope Leo XIV “unacceptable.”

Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Vatican City in Jan. Vatican Pool / Getty Images file

“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told Italian publication Corriere della Sera in a six-minute phone call. He said she’s not the same person and he hasn’t spoken to her in a long time. 

The back-and-forth is notable, given the two leaders’ prior close relationship. 

Asked about Meloni calling his comments “unacceptable,” Trump said: “She’s unacceptable. She’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.”

Trump said in an interview with Fox Business that he views the Iran war as “very close to over,” although no agreement has been reached.

“I think it’s close to over. Yeah, I mean, I view it as very close to over,” Trump said in a clip released last night before the interview airs today.

He added: “You know what? If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. But we’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.”

The blockade on Iranian ports has been “fully implemented," U.S. Central Command said in a post overnight, adding that U.S. forces had achieved “maritime superiority” in the Middle East. 

“U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, 36 hours after the blockade began.