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Iran vowed not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so long as a US naval blockade remained in place despite a ceasefire extension, as it announced the seizure of two ships trying to cross the strategic waterway. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic welcomes dialogue and agreement and continues to do so. He added that breach of commitments, blockades, and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations, and accused the world of seeing "endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions."
Vortexa, an analytics firm focusing on global energy and freight markets, said it has recorded 34 movements of sanctioned and Iranian-linked tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf in the week after the US imposed its blockade on April 13.
The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz— where 20% of the world's traded oil passes in peacetime — with no end in sight. Iranian media said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was bringing the two ships to Iran, marking a further escalation, though the White House said the seizures didn't violate ceasefire terms.
At least five people, including three children, were killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to Shifa hospital, where the bodies were taken.
Local health authorities said the group of people was targeted by a drone while they were in a street in Beit Lahiya, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Central American nation's foreign ministry wrote in a statement that the boat, owned by the Italian company MSC Francesca, was “forcibly taken” into Iranian waters on Wednesday, and it accused Iran of violating international law. It wasn't immediately clear if the boat remained in Iranian custody. The seizure “represents a serious attack on maritime security and constitutes an unnecessary escalation,” it wrote.
(Source:AP)
The US military's Central Command said Thursday its forces in the Mideast had “directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the US blockade against Iran.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said the Iran has consistently supported dialogue and agreements, and accused the US of undermining negotiations through what he described as bad faith, threats and coercive policies.
Karan Dutta, Geopolitics & Capital Market Research told NDTV Profit:
The German company that owns Lufthansa Airlines and other European carriers said that it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on jet fuel.
The Lufthansa Group said the cancellation of less profitable routes, focused largely on its hub airports in the German cities of Frankfurt and Munich, would save the equivalent of approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel.
Analytics firm Vortexa recorded 34 movements of sanctioned and Iranian-linked tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf in the week after the US imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports, April 13 to Monday. Six outbound vessels were confirmed laden with about 10.7 million barrels of Iranian crude. It’s unclear if all barrels reached overseas markets.
Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, a reporter for Al-Akhbar newspaper, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in al-Tiri, southern Lebanon. She had taken cover there with colleague Zeinab Faraj after an earlier strike hit near their car while covering the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Rescue workers retrieved her body from the rubble hours later. The health ministry said the first strike killed two people.
Lebanese officials and Reporters Without Borders said a journalist was missing following an Israeli strike near the southern village of al-Tiri on Wednesday, while another journalist was wounded. The Israeli military said it struck a vehicle and a structure in the area after identifying what it described as militants posing an immediate threat near the border.
The military said it was aware of reports that journalists were injured but did not confirm them and denied preventing rescue teams from reaching the area. The details of the incident are under review, it added.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker who met with US Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan earlier this month said, "A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime/naval blockade and taking the world's economy hostage, and if the Zionist warmongering across all fronts is halted. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such flagrant breach of the ceasefire. The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation."
US President Donald Trump is willing to grant a three-to-five-day extension to the ceasefire with Iran to give it more time to present a unified proposal to end the seven-week war, local media reported. The New York Post reported that Trump told its reporter that peace talks with Iran could start again as soon as Friday, calling it "possible."
Trump issued the statement in a text message to the outlet, saying the talks could begin within the next "36 to 72 hours."
The Pentagon told lawmakers in a classified House Armed Services Committee briefing that clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz will likely take six months, per an AP source. The session raised further questions on war costs, strategy, objectives, and an unanswered strike on a school compound early in the Iran war.
Statement from US Embassy in Beirut
The US Embassy in Beirut is closely monitoring the security situation in Lebanon. The security environment remains complex and can change quickly. We urge US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial flight options remain available. We recommend that US citizens in Lebanon who choose not to leave prepare contingency plans for emergency situations and to monitor the news for breaking developments.
Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, in a post on X wrote, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so. Breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations. World sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions."
The Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so. Breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations. World sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.
— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) April 22, 2026
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