U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. Navy will “immediately” begin a blockade to stop ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S.-Iran peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.
Iran has demanded the right to collect tolls from vessels traveling through the strait, but Trump said no one who pays them will “have safe passage on the high seas.”
Earlier in the day, the United States and Iran ended 21 hours of face-to-face talks in Islamabad without reaching a deal, leaving the fate of the fragile, two-week ceasefire still unclear.
“The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters.
The war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets has entered its seventh week.
The U.S. delegation led by Vance and the Iranian delegation led by parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf had discussed how to advance a ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Here is the latest:
Trump says he is ‘fine’ with his earlier threat to destroy Iran’s civilization and issues new warnings
Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
He told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that his threat brought Iran to the negotiating table. He also said the Islamic Republic has made worse statements, such as “Death to America. Death to Israel. America is a Satan.”
Trump issued new warnings to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure if its leaders don’t agree to give up its nuclear program.
“In one half of a day they wouldn’t have one bridge standing, they wouldn’t have one electric generating plant standing and they’re back in the stone ages,” Trump said.
US senator questions the logic of Trump’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz
“I don’t understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it. I don’t get the connection there,” Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Warner, the vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said he didn’t see “how blockading the strait gets it open suddenly, I don’t get that logic.”
Normalcy returns to Islamabad after US-Iran talks
Authorities on Sunday removed the barricades, shipping containers and roadside checkpoints that had been in place since before the rare face-to-face talks.
The normally bustling city had taken on a near-curfew-like atmosphere after the government announced two holidays for security reasons. Roads in the capital were largely deserted for days and even ambulances were forced to take longer routes.
British military agency says armed men in a skiff approached a vessel near Yemen
The incident happened 54 nautical miles (62 miles) southwest of the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said. UKMTO is part of the Royal Navy.
It said the skiff was turned away after the vessel’s master deployed a flare. The UKMTO report did not specify the nature or country of origin of the vessel that was approached.
Hodeida is controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Trump says US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will be ‘all or none’ until Iran relents
Defending his planned blockade, the U.S. president said Sunday that Iran cannot control which ships go through the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that either every ship should have safe passage or none would.
“We’re not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“It’s going to be all or none and that’s the way it is,” the president said.
The blockade will be similar to what the U.S. did with Venezuela, though on a larger scale, Trump said, suggesting that more tankers would come to the U.S. to buy oil as a result of the blockade.
Pakistani officials say Iran-US talks reopened diplomatic channels despite continuing mistrust
The 21 hours of talks in Islamabad were a positive first step, even though they ended without a formal agreement, according to two officials familiar with the process. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
They cautioned against viewing the outcome as a failure, describing diplomacy as a gradual process.
The dialogue “reopened the diplomatic channel,” they said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Asim Malik and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir facilitated the talks to keep them on track, the officials said.
Munir held multiple meetings with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the Iranian delegation aimed at easing more than six weeks of regional tensions.
“Pakistan fulfilled its role by facilitating contact,” one official said, adding that responsibility for any final agreement rests with Washington and Tehran.
— By Munir Ahmed.
The European Union urges more diplomatic efforts despite the failure of this weekend’s peace talks
″The EU remains convinced that diplomacy is key to resolve all outstanding issues,″ the 27-nation bloc’s foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said in a statement to AP on Sunday.
″The European Union will contribute to all diplomatic efforts, taking into consideration its full range of interests and concerns, in coordination with partners.″
He commended Pakistan for its mediation efforts.
European countries were not consulted on the U.S.-Israeli plans to attack Iran, and are struggling with surging energy prices and other consequences of the war. Britain and France are leading talks toward a coalition that would secure the Strait of Hormuz, after active fighting is over.
Iranian delegation leaves Islamabad after US talks
The Pakistan government statement Sunday came hours after U.S. Vice President JD Vance left to return to Washington.
The Iranian delegation included Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi saw off the delegation at the airport amid tight security, the statement said.
Oman’s foreign minister calls for the US and Iran to make ‘painful concessions’
Badr Al-Busaidi said the two nations must continue negotiations after their latest round in Islamabad failed to produce a deal.
“I urge that the ceasefire be extended and talks continue,” the foreign minister wrote in a social media post.
He called for both parties to “make painful concessions,” saying that “this is nothing as compared to the pain of failure and war.”
Trump says the US Navy will ‘immediately’ begin a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. president posted Sunday on social media that the blockade would stop vessels from entering or leaving the strait.
After U.S. officials ended peace talks with Iran in Pakistan, Trump sought to exert more strategic control over the waterway responsible for the transportation of 20% of global oil supplies — hoping to take away Iran’s key source of economic leverage in the war.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted.
The president added that he has “also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”
Trump stressed that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are at the core of the failure to end the war and that the U.S. is prepared to finish the war.
“(A)t an appropriate moment, we are fully ‘LOCKED AND LOADED,’ and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!” Trump posted.
UAE oil giant rejects Iran’s right to close the Strait of Hormuz
The head of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company reinforced a broad consensus in Gulf Arab states on Sunday, saying Iran has no right to close the Strait of Hormuz after negotiations in Pakistan failed to secure an agreement to reopen it.
Sultan Al Jaber posted on X that “any attempt to do so is not a regional issue; it is the disruption of a global economic lifeline and a direct threat to the energy, food and health security of every nation.”
He called it a dangerous precedent.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, known as ADNOC, is among the oil exporters that has been hit hard by the war. It declared force majeure in March, telling buyers the company couldn’t fulfill its obligations. Oil and gas make up 15% of the United Arab Emirates’ gross domestic product.
Russia and Iran’s leaders discussed collapsed US talks with Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed the latest developments in the Middle East in a phone call Sunday, the Kremlin said.
Pezeshkian briefed Putin on the U.S.-Iran talks held in Pakistan and thanked Moscow for its position “aimed at de-escalating the situation,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
It also said Putin had “emphasized his readiness” to help bring about a diplomatic settlement to the hostilities and “establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Iranian diplomatic official denies that peace talks failed over Iran’s nuclear ambitions
In response to comments from U.S. officials that the Islamabad talks collapsed over Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning a path to a nuclear weapon, the official said: ″It is false. Iran’s position is clear. Iran is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but it has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This right is undeniable and must be recognized.″
However, Iran is ready to limit its nuclear activities as part of confidence-building measures, the official said, including enrichment levels.
He did not elaborate on why the talks failed and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door discussions.
Iran expert says ‘three-track scramble’ likely to follow failed Islamabad talks
In response to comments from U.S. officials that the talks in Islamabad collapsed over Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning a path to a nuclear weapon, the official said: ″It is false. Iran’s position is clear. Iran is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but it has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This right is undeniable and must be recognized.’’
However, Iran is ready to limit its nuclear activities as part of confidence-building measures, the official said, including enrichment levels.
He did not elaborate on why exactly the talks failed and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door discussions.
Beirut’s Orthodox Christians mark somber Easter after last week’s Israeli airstrikes
Across the central Beirut neighborhoods attacked last week in Israel’s deadly bombardment of the city, Orthodox Christians in Lebanon found themselves grasping for solace in their faith and beloved Easter rituals.
Many worshippers said they were still reeling from Wednesday’s Israeli airstrikes, which hit areas of Beirut previously considered safe and killed more than 350 people while wounding over 1,100 others.
“What happened was a crime,” said Ghada Chabo Markossian from Easter services at her Syriac Orthodox church in Msaitbeh, one of several residential neighborhoods devastated in the attack.
“God willing, during this feast, the Lord will set right … these evil things that are happening.”
The priest attributed the low attendance to a chilling fear that has grown more pervasive in the last few days of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“Many members of the parish are afraid to come, due to the terror they experienced two or three days ago,” the Rev. Daniel Gawriya said.
Pope Leo XIV demands ceasefire in Lebanon and respect of international law
Leo said Sunday he was “closer than ever” to the people of Lebanon at the end of his noontime prayers, and called on all sides to stop fighting and seek peace.
“The principle of humanity, inscribed in the conscience of every person and recognized in international law, entails the moral obligation to protect the civilian population from the atrocious effects of war,” Leo said.
Though Israel’s strikes over Beirut have calmed in recent days, its attacks on southern Lebanon have intensified alongside a ground invasion it renewed after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel in the opening days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Leo wished Christians celebrating Orthodox Easter, and said he hoped especially that the international community doesn’t turn its back on the “beloved people of Ukraine.”
He noted that Wednesday marks the third anniversary of the “fratricidal war” in Sudan, and appealed for talks to end what he called an “inhuman tragedy.”