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Iran rowed back on its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a tanker attempting to pass the waterway on Saturday. It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.Confusion over the critical chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence a new deal was within reach.Iran’s joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state...

President Donald Trump said Iran has “agreed to everything” in negotiations with the United States, including a plan to remove its enriched uranium stockpile, but left key questions unanswered about how such an operation would be carried out. In a phone interview with CBS News, Trump insisted the arrangement would not require U.S. ground troops, even as he described an American role in physically retrieving the material. “No. No troops,” Trump said. “We’ll go down and get it with them, and then we’ll take it.” Pressed on who exactly would handle the operation, the president offered only a vague answer:...

President Trump sprinted ahead Friday to take a victory lap celebrating what he said was Iran’s agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. But conflicting statements from Iranian officials and Israeli pushback on the terms of the ceasefire with Lebanon are raising doubt about the president’s actual successes. “I’m concerned that, in this round, Iran came out with the upper hand,” Danny Citrinowicz, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, posted on the social platform X. Trump began Friday morning with a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in...

The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with Democrats. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime...

Mediators moved closer Wednesday to extending the ceasefire between the United States and Iran and restarting negotiations to salvage the fragile truce before it expires next week. A senior Iranian military official threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade, underscoring tensions that are overshadowing the diplomacy. The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats have imperiled the week-old agreement, but regional officials said Wednesday they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the United States and Iran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow...

President Trump said that China has agreed not to send weapons to Iran amid reports it plans to give Tehran new air defense systems — and predicted Chinese leader Xi Jinping “will give me a big, fat, hug” when they meet next month. Trump further claimed Wednesday that Xi is “very happy” about his efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, a day after officials in China slammed his blockade as “dangerous and irresponsible.” “China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also — And the World,” Trump crowed...

“U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East,” said Adm. Brad Cooper; Trump: the Iran war is “very close to over.” A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer is seen during a blockade mission targeting traffic to and from Iranian ports, in an undated image released by U.S. Central Command on April 15, 2026.Source: @CENTCOM/X.( Apr. 15, 2026 / JNS ) The U.S. military has fully implemented a blockade of Iranian ports, halting maritime trade in and out of the country within 36 hours, the commander of U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. Adm. Brad Cooper said U.S. forces “maintain maritime...

Retired Pakistani Lt. Gen. Muhammad Saeed tells the New York Post that Iran lacks the "compatible military means" to sustain a conflict against the U.S. and Israel. As Operation Epic Fury chokes the Iranian economy, Saeed predicts Tehran will be forced to accept a "take it or leave it" deal. A retired Pakistani lieutenant general with deep regional insight has told the New York Post that Iran simply “does not have the military means” to keep up its confrontation with the United States and Israel. Lt. Gen. (ret.) Muhammad Saeed, who spoke exclusively to the Post in Islamabad on Monday,...

US Vice President JD Vance expresses optimism about US-Iran talks, revealing President Trump’s “grand bargain" to make Iran economically prosperous in exchange for abandoning nuclear weapons.

President Donald Trump flipped on his once close ally, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on Tuesday in a phone interview with an Italian daily newspaper. Trump responded to Meloni’s recent criticism of his attack on Pope Leo XIV by accusing Meloni of being a changed person. On Monday, Meloni called Trump’s multiple attacks on the Pope “unacceptable.” “I find President Trump’s words toward the Holy Father unacceptable,” Meloni said in a statement. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns every form of war.” Meloni was...

America’s leverage in the Strait exposes Iran’s weakness—turning its greatest asset into a liability and reshaping the balance of power without a ground war. The prognosis of the Iran War is now so couched in politics and so warped by the American Left that the public has grown tired and wants it all to go away. But in truth, the situation is so fluid that any accurate prediction is impossible. Yet there is good reason to believe in an eventual outcome quite favorable to the U.S. and one far better than the status quo ante bellum. The Strait of HormuzPrior...

Donald Trump claims that the "right people" in Iran have reached out to cut a deal for real after imposing a naval blockade and cutting off Iran's income stream. Who are we talking with in Tehran? Mahdi al-Hall? That's what Trump claimed in an ad-hoc press conference on the veranda of the Oval Office this afternoon. Trump didn't specify the identities of the "right people," but hinted that the blockade may have changed some minds over the last few hours: Trump: The right people called from Iran, they want to make a deal. pic.twitter.com/nbcXnyn19P— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) April 13,...

President Donald Trump has announced that the Iranian regime contacted his administration to resume negotiations, even as the United States maintains its strict naval blockade. In a significant diplomatic development, President Donald Trump revealed from the White House that his administration has received a formal outreach from the "proper authorities" in Tehran. According to the President, the Iranian leadership has expressed a clear desire to return to the negotiating table following the collapse of high level talks in Islamabad earlier this month. While the President appeared open to the prospect of renewed dialogue, he maintained a rigid stance on the...

Reporter: Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ? Trump: It wasn't a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one.

Donald Trump has deleted a viral post comparing himself to Jesus Christ after it drew accusations of blasphemy from some of his most vocal right-wing supporters. The President's Truth Social account removed an AI generated image showing him draped in white with a red shawl, placing his hands, glowing with a divine light, on a sick patient in a hospital bed as a soldier, a nurse and others look on in adoration. The post was shared Sunday evening and, by the following morning, had sparked outrage among many of Trump's own supporters, who objected to his use of Christ's image...

US President Donald Trump on Sunday, April 12 harshly criticized Pope Leo XIV over the US-born pontiff’s remarks on Washington’s war in Iran before posting an AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus performing a miracle reminiscent of biblical imagery.

Iran’s ambassador to India said Tehran is open to talks with the United States if Washington refrains from making “unlawful demands.” Mohammad Fathali was referring to talks held in Islamabad and said the main sticking points were Iran’s nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief. Asked about the prospects for future negotiations, Fathali told reporters in New Delhi, “If they (the U.S.) accept our conditions, it is possible.”

The exact terms have not been agreed but Iran wants to charge tolls of up to $1 million on ships that pass through the Strait during the two-week period, an unnamed Middle East official told the Associated Press. Trump welcomed the idea on Wednesday, telling ABC: 'We're thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It's a way of securing it - also securing it from lots of other people. 'It's a beautiful thing.' The Strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil flows, has now become known as the 'Tehran Tollbooth', according to Bloomberg. Ship owners go through...

The White House warned Iran Wednesday to keep the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf open amid reports that it is closing the strait over Israeli military action in Lebanon.The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday night but Iran claimed Wednesday that the U.S. must rein in Israel and end the fighting in Lebanon if it wants to maintain the ceasefire.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the alleged closure of the strait, based on reports from Iranian state media, is "completely unacceptable."