37 entries, newest first, by day in U.S. Mountain Time.
In early trading, U.S. crude rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent rose 7% to $102.29 after the U.S. said it would blockade Iranian ports, AP reported; Brent had closed Friday at $95.20. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said all traffic through Hormuz stopped after Trump’s announcement.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry handed Iraq’s ambassador, Safia Taleb al-Suhail, a formal protest note over what it called continued drone attacks and threats against the kingdom and other Gulf states from Iraqi territory, demanding Baghdad take responsibility. Iran-backed Iraqi militias had claimed dozens of attacks during the war and announced a two-week pause with the ceasefire.
Hours after the Islamabad talks failed, Trump posted that the Navy would “immediately” begin blockading ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, interdict any vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran and destroy Iranian mines. U.S. Central Command later narrowed the order to all traffic entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas from 10 a.m. ET on April 13, saying ships sailing to and from non-Iranian ports could still transit.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said full pumping capacity of about 7 million barrels per day had been restored on the East-West pipeline, which carries crude to the Red Sea and bypasses Hormuz, and that about 300,000 bpd of production had resumed at the Manifa field, with work continuing at Khurais.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters the talks had ended without a deal because Iran would not give an “affirmative commitment” not to seek a nuclear weapon or the tools to build one quickly, and said the U.S. left a “final and best offer.” Iranian state broadcaster IRIB blamed “unreasonable demands” by the U.S.; Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said the sides had been “inches away” from an “Islamabad MoU.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 2,020 people, including 248 women, 165 children and 85 health workers, and wounded 6,436 since March 2, with nearly 100 killed in the previous 24 hours.
U.S. Central Command said the destroyers USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Gulf as it began setting conditions to clear mines it said the IRGC had laid, with underwater drones to follow. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters “strongly” denied the transit, and the IRGC Navy warned it would deal “severely” with any military vessel.
Talks between Iran and the U.S. began in Islamabad, and the White House said Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met face to face with an Iranian team led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Pakistani officials present. Al Jazeera’s sources said planned proximity talks had shifted to direct negotiations.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said Pakistani forces, including fighter and support aircraft, arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base under the two countries’ September defence pact, which treats an attack on either as an attack on both. The base was repeatedly hit by drones and missiles during the Iran war.
Ghalibaf, accompanied by Foreign Minister Araghchi and security, political, military, economic and legal teams, arrived late Friday and was received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan said. Iranian state TV said negotiations would begin only if the other side accepts Iran's preconditions, and Tasnim said talks were set for Saturday afternoon on that basis.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote that two "mutually agreed" measures, a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets, had not been implemented and "must be fulfilled before negotiations begin." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately urged Washington to adhere to its commitments on halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Leaving Washington on Friday, Vance said Trump had given the team "pretty clear guidelines," that he expected the talks to be positive, and that if Iran tried "to play us" the negotiators would not be receptive. Trump told the New York Post U.S. warships were being loaded with "the best ammunition" for use if there was no deal.
Trump wrote that Iran "better not" be charging tankers fees and later that it was doing "a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through," adding "That is not the agreement we have!" MarineTraffic data showed six ships crossed Thursday and five on Wednesday.
Kuwait's air defences engaged drones targeting "vital facilities" on Thursday night and KUNA said a National Guard site suffered material damage; the Foreign Ministry blamed Iran and its proxies, and the army later said it dealt with seven drones from Iran in 24 hours that targeted National Guard-linked facilities, injuring personnel. The IRGC denied attacking Gulf states on Thursday and said any such strike was "the work of the Zionist enemy or America."
In its first damage disclosure of the war, Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said a strike on an East-West Pipeline pumping station cut throughput by about 700,000 barrels a day and hits on Manifa and Khurais each cut output by about 300,000 barrels a day; refineries including SATORP, Ras Tanura and SAMREF were also hit, and fires at Ju'aymah disrupted LPG exports. One Saudi security guard was killed and seven people were wounded.
Netanyahu said he had instructed the cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible," focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations, while insisting there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. A U.S. official said the State Department would host the talks next week, with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa leading and Israel's envoy Yechiel Leiter taking part; CBS said Lebanon would send Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
Trump wrote that all U.S. ships, aircraft and personnel, with additional ammunition and weaponry, would "remain in place in, and around, Iran" until a real agreement is fully complied with, warning that otherwise "the 'Shootin' Starts,' bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before." He repeated that the terms meant "NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS" and a Strait of Hormuz "OPEN & SAFE."
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance would lead the U.S. delegation, with envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, at talks in Islamabad whose first round would be Saturday morning local time. Leavitt also said the ceasefire was conditioned on a free reopening of Hormuz with no tolls.
Fars said tanker transits were "suspended" after Israeli attacks on Lebanon, having let two tankers through earlier that day, and Iranian state media later said Iran had closed the strait; Tasnim said Tehran was weighing an exit from the ceasefire. The White House called a closure "completely unacceptable" and said it had been told privately the reports were false, while Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said three clauses of Iran's 10-point framework had been violated, making a ceasefire or talks "unreasonable."
Hours after the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was announced, Israeli strikes hit several neighbourhoods in central Beirut without warning during the afternoon rush hour, as well as the southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa; the military said 50 jets dropped 160 munitions on more than 100 Hezbollah targets in 10 minutes, its largest coordinated strike of the war. Lebanon's civil defence counted 254 dead and 1,165 wounded that evening, and the Health Ministry said on April 9 that more than 300 had been killed.
Trump wrote that "there will be no enrichment of Uranium" and that the U.S. would work with Iran to "dig up and remove" its deeply buried enriched material, adding that tariff and sanctions relief were being discussed and "many of the 15 points" had been agreed. In another post he said any country supplying military weapons to Iran would face an immediate 50% tariff on all goods sold to the U.S., with "no exclusions or exemptions."
Kuwait's Defence Ministry said it intercepted 28 Iranian drones from 05:00 GMT in "an intense wave," with some causing significant damage to oil facilities, three power stations and desalination plants; Iran's refining company said its Lavan Island refinery was hit at 06:30 GMT, starting a fire without casualties, without naming the attacker. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also reported attacks after the ceasefire announcement.
Netanyahu's office said Israel supports suspending strikes on Iran for two weeks, provided Iran immediately opens the strait and halts attacks, but that "the two-weeks ceasefire does not include Lebanon," contradicting Pakistan's prime minister, who said it applied everywhere including Lebanon. Trump and the White House later said Lebanon was not part of the deal, and Vance called it a "legitimate misunderstanding."
A U.S. official said the military had halted all offensive operations against Iran while keeping defensive measures in place; Israel's military said it had also ceased fire against Iran but was pressing on in Lebanon, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it would suspend attacks for two weeks. At a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth said Iran "begged" for the ceasefire and forces had been "locked and loaded" to hit bridges, power plants and Kharg, while Gen. Dan Caine said the joint force stood ready to resume combat.
U.S. crude fell more than 9% within half an hour of Trump's ceasefire announcement and kept sliding: by early Wednesday WTI had lost almost 20% and Brent as much as 16%, both trading around $95, CBS/AFP reported, while AP put U.S. crude down 18% at about $92.60. Asian stocks surged, with Seoul up 6.9%, and Dubai jumped 8.5%.
About 90 minutes before his 8 p.m. EDT deadline, Trump said that after talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir he would suspend bombing Iran for two weeks in a "double sided CEASEFIRE," provided Iran agreed to the "COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING" of the Strait of Hormuz, and called Iran's 10-point proposal "a workable basis on which to negotiate." Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it accepted the two-week ceasefire, that talks with the U.S. would begin in Islamabad on Friday and that the truce did not mean the end of the war.
The Iran-backed militia, which abducted Kittleson from a Baghdad street on March 31, said it would release her on condition she leave Iraq immediately, and Iraqi government sources confirmed she was freed; two militia officials told AP that Iraqi authorities would free several detained members in exchange. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed her release and thanked Iraqi authorities.
The Bahrain-drafted text failed 11-2 with two abstentions after revisions dropped authorization of "all necessary means"; the vetoed version only "strongly encourages" states to coordinate defensive efforts to secure navigation and demanded Iran stop attacking merchant ships and civilian infrastructure. Iran's UN envoy called it one-sided, and Bahrain's foreign minister said the council failed its responsibility.
Hours before his 8 p.m. EDT deadline, Trump posted that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," adding "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will" and that with "Complete and Total Regime Change" something "revolutionarily wonderful" might happen. Pope Leo called the threat "truly unacceptable."
A U.S. official said American forces struck, and in some cases restruck, military targets on Kharg Island, the hub for most of Iran's crude exports, in overnight attacks that again avoided oil infrastructure, after Iran's Mehr agency reported explosions. Vance said the strikes did not signal a change in strategy and the U.S. would not hit energy targets until Iran either made an acceptable proposal or failed to.
The IDF's Persian-language account told Iranians to stay off trains and away from railway lines until 9 p.m. Tehran time; a strike then hit the Yahya Abad railway bridge in Kashan, killing two, Iran's Mehr agency said, and the IDF said it destroyed sections of eight bridges in Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan and Qom that it said were used to move weapons. Netanyahu said Israel attacked railway lines and bridges "used by the Revolutionary Guards."
Iran fired seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, whose debris fell near energy facilities, and an attack caused a fire at SABIC plants in Jubail, an AFP source said; the IRGC said it hit U.S.-linked petrochemical sites in Jubail and Ju'aymah in retaliation for Israeli strikes on a Shiraz petrochemical plant. Saudi Arabia briefly closed the King Fahd Causeway, its only road link to Bahrain, as a precaution.
An Iranian drone strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait overnight injured 15 Americans, two U.S. officials told CBS News, with most returning to duty.
At a White House news conference on the airmen's rescue, Trump said the U.S. had a plan under which "every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night" and power plants would be "burning, exploding," said he was "not at all" concerned about war crimes, and said "free traffic of oil" must be part of any deal. He said the second rescue mission used 155 aircraft; earlier Monday he called the deadline final.
IRNA said Iran gave Pakistani mediators its reply to the U.S. 15-point plan, rejecting a temporary ceasefire "based on past experiences" and demanding a permanent end to the war, an end to regional conflicts, a Hormuz safe-passage protocol, reconstruction and sanctions relief. Pakistan had circulated a two-stage framework, an immediate truce to reopen Hormuz followed by 15-20 days to settle terms, and Trump called Iran's reply "significant" but "not good enough."
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military struck "with full force" Iran's largest petrochemical facility at Asaluyeh, which he said produces about half the country's petrochemicals, calling it a blow worth "tens of billions of dollars." Tasnim said the Jam and Damavand plants and firms supplying power, water and oxygen to the complex were hit; Iran's National Petrochemical Co. said a fire was brought under control and no injuries were reported.
The IRGC said the head of its Intelligence Organization, Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, was killed in an early-morning attack, and the IDF said he died in an intelligence-based airstrike in Tehran, calling him a key figure in the war effort. The IRGC promised a "major retaliatory strike" under "Operation Crushing Revenge," and supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a rare condolence statement.