Iran-US war latest: Both sides far from agreeing peace deal, Tehran says after Trump’s warning over Hormuz closure – UK Times

President Trump reportedly adopted a strategy of intentionally acting unstable and insultingly towards Iran, in the hopes it would push the U.S. adversary to negotiate an end to the war.

The unorthodox tactics were reportedly behind a string of controversial posts the president made this month about the vital Strait of Hormuz, administration officials told The Wall Street Journal.

In one post, on April 5, the president ordered Iran to “open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell,” and ended the post with “Praise be to Allah.”

Iran doubled down on its pledge to restrict ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as long as the US blockade of its ports remains in place.

Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised interview that Tehran would continue to threaten commercial vessels transiting the critical waterway, after it fired on ships attempting to pass on Saturday.

“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” Mr Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, said.

Iran’s navy has warned ships against transiting the strait, a key shipping route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes.

After a brief uptick in transit attempts on Saturday, vessels in the Persian Gulf held their positions, wary after two India-flagged ships were fired on mid-transit and forced to turn back.

Their retreat returned the strait to its pre-ceasefire status quo, threatening to deepen the global energy crisis and push the parties toward renewed conflict as the war entered its eighth week.

Concern remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked on Saturday while trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

India summoned the Iranian ⁠ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

US Central Command said American forces were enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran but did not comment on the latest Iranian actions.

Tehran’s reversal raised the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted just as Trump weighs whether to extend the ceasefire.

When American and Iranian negotiators met last weekend in Islamabad, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.

Donald Trump had ‌said on Friday there could be talks this weekend and that the two sides were “very close to making a deal.”

There were signs ​that security was being ramped up in the Pakistani capital on Sunday, though preparations were not at last weekend’s levels.

Israel’s military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under twelve hours.

It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.

The military said another soldier was badly wounded in the same incident, along with four moderately wounded and four lightly injured.

At least 2,300 people in Lebanon have died in Israeli attack.

Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.

The escalating standoff 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 that a new deal was within reach.

The strait is closed until the US blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said on Saturday night.

Hours earlier, two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.

It reported the tanker and crew as safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.

Iran’s earlier announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water came as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.

Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

Pope Leo sought ​to downplay his feud with US president Donald Trump on Saturday, saying reporting about comments he has made so far during his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects”.

Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight ⁠to Angola for the third leg of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour, the first US pope said comments he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying that the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not aimed at Mr Trump.

That speech, said Leo, “was prepared two weeks ago, ⁠well before the president ever commented on myself ​and ⁠on the message of peace that I am promoting”.

Vice president JD Vance, who had criticised the pope’s remarks last week, welcomed his latest comments.

“I am ⁠grateful to Pope Leo for saying this,” Mr Vance posted on social media platform ​X.

“While the ⁠media narrative constantly gins up conflict – ‌and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen – the reality is often much more complicated.”

On Sunday, as Leo prepared to embark on his tour, Mr Trump called him “WEAK on ‌Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a ‌post on Truth Social.

Mr Trump also posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, drawing widespread criticism even from some religious conservatives who typically support him. The post was removed on Monday morning. Mr Trump appeared to ⁠be responding to Leo’s growing criticism in recent weeks of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Pope Leo told Reuters on Monday that he would keep speaking out about the war, and Trump reiterated his criticism on Tuesday. On Thursday, Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”, though he did not mention Mr Trump directly again.

“As it happens, it was looked at as ‌if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in ​my interest at all,” the pontiff said on Saturday.

Leo, originally from Chicago, ‌kept a relatively low profile for a ⁠pope in his first 10 months but has debuted a new forceful speaking ⁠style in Africa, sharply denouncing war, inequality and global leaders.

When American and Iranian negotiators met last weekend in Islamabad, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, adding that a framework of understanding must ‌be agreed first.

US president Donald Trump had said on Friday there could be talks this weekend and that the two sides were “very close ​to making a deal”.

There were no signs on Saturday of preparations for new talks in the Pakistani capital, where the ‌highest-level US-Iran negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended without agreement last ⁠weekend.

Senior national security aides gathered at the White House on Saturday morning. Mr Trump later went to the Trump National Golf Club with ⁠top envoy Steve Witkoff, one of his Iran negotiators.

Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted as Trump’s fellow Republicans defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November ‌midterm elections with US gasoline prices high, inflation ​rising and his own approval ratings down.

Oil prices fell about 10 per cent and ‌global stocks jumped on Friday on the prospect of marine traffic ​resuming through the strait. But hundreds of vessels and about 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Gulf awaiting passage through the waterway, shipping sources said.

Concern in the Strait of Hormuz remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked yesterday while trying to transit the waterway.

India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and ⁠expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

US Central Command said American forces were enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran but did not comment on the latest Iranian actions.

Tehran’s reversal raised the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted just as Trump weighs whether to extend the ceasefire.

The Israeli ⁠military said this morning that ​one ⁠soldier ⁠was ​killed ⁠during ‌combat in southern ‌Lebanon, adding ‌that ⁠nine soldiers were wounded, including one ‌who ​was severely ‌injured.

Iran reversed course on Saturday to reassert control over the strait, again closing the energy choke point and adding fresh uncertainty to the war, which ⁠the US and Israel launched on 28 February.

Iran said it was responding to a continued US blockade of Iranian ports, calling it ​a violation of ⁠the ceasefire, while supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said ‌Iran’s navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.

US president Donald Trump called the move “blackmail” even as he praised “very good conversations” with Tehran.

On Friday, Iran had announced the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire agreement on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon.

Mr Trump defended the ‌US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal ‌before the ceasefire expires on Wednesday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.