President Donald Trump said that the US military began a blockade of Iran’s ports on Monday. In response, Tehran threatened to attack the ports of its Gulf countries after talks to end the war in Pakistan over the weekend failed.
Reuters reported that a US source said that talks with Iran were still going on and that efforts to reach a deal were moving forward. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who led efforts to mediate over the weekend, also said that steps were being made to end the violence.
Since the US and Israel started the war on February 28, Iran has pretty much blocked the Strait of Hormuz to all ships except its own, saying that other ships could only pass through if they were controlled by Iran and paid a fee.
But oil prices went back up to $100 a barrel, and there was no sign that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen quickly to ease the biggest supply disruption ever. There were also worries about how long the two-week peace deal that was made last week would last.
9.30 am: A ship that the US doesn’t allow goes through Hormuz
Tuesday, a US-sanctioned tanker went through the Strait of Hormuz, as shown by cargo statistics on LSEG. This was done to test the US military blockade.
According to statistics quoted by Reuters, the ship Rich Starry is owned by Chinese people and has Chinese crew on board.
9.25 a.m.: Pakistan “offers to host second round” of talks between the US and Iran
According to the Associated Press, Pakistan wants to hold a second round of talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad in the next few days, before the ceasefire ends.
Two Pakistani officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity were named by the news agency.
9.15 am: Trump takes down AI picture of Jesus
Because of the reaction over his comments on Pope Leo XIV, Trump posted an AI-made picture of himself on Sunday as a figure resembling Jesus and then took it down Monday.
After Trump said bad things about the Pope, like calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” this was shared on Truth Social.
Later, the President of the US told reporters that he thought the picture showed him “as a doctor.”
Read also: With Hormuz closed, Lebanon on fire, and talks going on in Islamabad
At 9 a.m., Hezbollah said it wasn’t interested in the talks between Israel and Lebanon
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said it would not follow through on decisions made in talks between Israel and Lebanon, which will take place in the US on Tuesday. It is strongly against the talks.
An important leader of Hezbollah, Wafiq Safa, told the Associated Press, “We are not interested in or worried about the results of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy.”
Israel has kept bombing Lebanon, and on Monday, its troops began an attack that it said was meant to take a key town in south Lebanon from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah shot rockets into northern Israel on March 2, just days after the US and Israel attacked Iran. This led to fighting in Lebanon.
The government says that Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 2,055 people and hurt thousands more. There are now more than a million people who have to move.
8.50 a.m.: “Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium for five years”
A story in the New York Times said that top US and Iranian officials said Tehran wanted to stop uranium production for up to five years, but the US said no and insisted on a 20-year stop.
According to the New York Times, the countries had talked about different ways to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but they were still not sure what to do.
Read also: War Enters Second Month: US Troops Injured in Saudi Attack
8:30 a.m.: How would the blockage work?
For your safety, if any of these ships get close to our blockade, they will be killed right away using the same method we use to kill drug dealers on boats at sea. “It’s quick and rough,” Trump wrote on social media. It looks like he was talking about the US attacks on what they thought were drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. More than 160 people were killed in the strikes that started in September. The US military hasn’t shown proof that the ships were carrying drugs.
The US and Iran met directly for the first time in more than ten years, and these were the highest-level talks since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The talks finished on Sunday without a deal being reached.
Even so, Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the US team, told Fox News on Monday that the US “made a lot of progress” by letting Tehran know where the US stands. “could make some accommodations,” and places where it wouldn’t bend. He said Trump was adamant that any enriched nuclear material must be taken out of Iran and a way must be found to make sure Iran is not making nuclear bombs
Vance said that Tehran “moved in our direction,” which is why he thought that they had some good signs. However, he did not say what those signs were.
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