Trump Says US-Iran Talks Could Resume ‘Over The Next 2 Days,’

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19:31

US Military Says ‘No Ships Made It Past’ Naval Blockade Targeting Iran

Data from ship tracking services listed at least four ships that had passed or were passing through the 30-kilometer-wide Strait of Hormuz in the hours after the US blockade of Iranian ports came into force. (file photo)

The US military said that no ships slipped through anaval blockadetargeting vessels headed to or from Iran in the first 24 hours of the restrictive measure, while tracking-service data indicated that a few Iran-linked ships exited the Strait of Hormuz during that time period.

“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,” the US Central Command, which is responsible for operations in the region,said in a poston X.

“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said. “U.S. forces are supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”

Data from ship tracking services listed at least four ships, two of which had recently called at Iranian ports, that had passed or were passing through the 30-kilometer-wide Strait of Hormuz in the hours after the blockade came into force at 3 p.m. UTC on April 13.

Video: Watch the full video here

A Liberian-flagged ship that had delivered corn to the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini passed Iran’s Larak Island in the strait a few hours after that, and a Comoros-flagged tanker that was carrying methanol and had left the Iranian port of Bushehr on March 31 exited the strait around the same time, the AFP news agency reported, citing data from Kpler.

Also citing tracking services, Reuters separately reported that three Iran-linked vessels that transited the strait were not headed for Iranian ports and were not affected by the blockade. Two of the three vessels are under US sanctions and one of those two is Chinese-owned, Reuters reported.

US President Donald Trump ordered the blockade afterUS-Iranian peace talksin Islamabad on April 11-12 failed to produce an agreement to end the war, which began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28. Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week cease-fire on April 7.

Trump suggested on April 14 that negotiations could resume in Islamabad in the next couple of days.

“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there [than to another location],” an Islamabad-datelined story in the New York Post quoted Trump as saying.

Read morehere.

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19:07

Trump Slams Italian PM Over Iran War Stance

Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. (file photo

US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for refusing to join the war against Iran, straining ties with one of his closest European allies.

I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong, he said in an interview with Corriere Della Serra, published on April 14.

Trump added that she doesn’t help us with NATO and doesn’t want to help get rid of a nuclear-weaponed Iran, calling her stance very sad and saying she was much different than I thought.

The remarks come after Meloni said Trumps criticism of Pope Leo after the pontiff’s calls for an to the war was “unacceptable.”

The Italian far-right leader has been one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe and has often sought to act as a mediator between diverging US and European views.

Trump also criticized Europes broader stance on security, including reluctance to defend the Strait of Hormuz.

Italian officials, including Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, defended Meloni, stressing national interests and calling for unity “built on mutual loyalty, respect, and honesty.”

With reporting by AFP

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18:18

CENTCOM: Says 6 Ships Returned To Iranian Port

The US Central Command said on April 14 that no ships have made it past the US blockade of Iranian ports and that six merchant vessels “complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.”

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18:11

Israel, Lebanon Hold Rare Talks in Washington, Rubio Calls it ‘Historic Opportunity’

(Left to right) US State Department Counselor Michael Needham, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel pose for a photo ahead of a meeting in Washington on April 14.

WASHINGTON — Diplomats from Israel and Lebanon began rare talks in Washington on April 14, marking the first such meeting between the two countries in more than three decades, with the United States mediating.

The discussions, held at the State Department and facilitated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, bring together senior officials from both sides amid longstanding tensions and regional instability.

Senior US, Lebanese, and Israeli officials — including ambassadors from both Middle Eastern countries and senior State Department representatives — attended the opening session before delegations moved into closed-door talks.

Rubio described the meeting as a historic opportunity but cautioned that deep-rooted challenges would not be resolved quickly.

We understand were working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment, Rubio said in brief remarks. All of the complexities of this matter are not going to be resolved in the next six hours, but we can begin to move forward and create the framework where something very positive and very permanent can happen.

He said the discussions were aimed not only at immediate issues but at addressing longer-term instability, including the regional influence of Hezbollah — a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing.

This is a process, not an event, Rubio said. It will take time, but we believe it is worth this endeavor.

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18:01

Trump Says US-Iran Talks Could Resume ‘Over The Next 2 Days,’ NY Post Reports

US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has said that US-Iran talks could resume in Pakistan “over the next two days,” the New York Post reported on April 14.

“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there [than to another location],” the Post quoted Trump as telling a reporter who was apparently in Islamabad.

“It’s more likely, you know why? Because the field marshal is doing a great job,” Trump said in a reference Pakistani army chief Asim Munir.

Pakistan hosted and mediated talks between high-level US and Iranian officials on April 11-12, with the US team led by Vice President JD Vance.

The talks — the first of their kind in nearly half a century — did not produce an agreement and the US delegation leaders left Pakistan after they broke up early on April 12.

The United States and Iran agreed on a two-week cease-fire on April 7, five weeks after the war began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28.

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16:46

Red Cross Sends First Cross-Border Aid Into Iran

The International Red Cross movement said its first cross-border aid shipments have reached Iran since the start of the conflict, as humanitarian supply lines remain severely disrupted.

A convoy organized by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) that left Turkey on April 11 has since reached Iran to deliver “one of the first cross-border shipments of medical supplies” by any organization since the conflict began on February 28, IFRC spokesman Tommaso Della Longa told reporters in Geneva.

Della Longa said the IFRC had sent trauma kits, “designed to provide immediate, life-saving care.”

“The operation is critical as humanitarian supply chains into Iran have been severely disrupted in recent weeks due to the conflict, making it increasingly difficult and more costly for essential medical and relief items to reach those in need,” he said.

Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent 171 tons of relief items from Jordan, including essential household goods for over 25,000 people, along with generators and pumps to support rescue operations.

Officials warned that needs remain high, while Della Longa also paid tribute to Iranian Red Crescent workers, four of whom have been killed during relief efforts.

With reporting by AFP

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15:43

Iran Claims Initial War Damages Are ‘$270 Billion’

Based on preliminary estimates, the damage caused by US and Israeli attacks on Iran is currently estimated at around $270 billion, an Iranian government spokesperson said.

One of the issues that our negotiating team is pursuing, and which was also pursued in the Islamabad talks, is the issue of war reparations, Fatemeh Mohajerani told Russias RIA Novosti, according to Irans Tasnim news agency, which is close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

“Preliminary and very crude figures put the damage at $270 billion so far,” she said.

Without providing details, she suggested that the figure is not final and that damages usually have to be examined in several layers.”

During the nearly six-week US-Israel war with Iran, many of the countrys military and security centers were attacked. According to the US and Israeli militaries, this included more than 16,000 targets.

Parts of Irans infrastructure– including steel factories, petrochemical complexes in Mahshahr and Asaluyeh, as well as bridges — were also targeted, leading to their complete shutdown.

Irans permanent mission to the United Nations also reportedly announced in a letter to the organization that it wasseeking compensationfrom five Middle Eastern countries– Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan– for their participation in the US-Israeli war with Iran.

This request comes while Iran also targeted various military and economic sites in those countries during the war and also blocked the Strait of Hormuz, preventing the transfer of oil, gas, and other products from the Persian Gulf to global markets.

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14:37

Defying US Blockade, Iran-Linked Ships Reportedly Transit Hormuz

Ships linked to Iran are reported to have transited the Strait of Hormuz on April 14, the first full day of aUS naval blockadetargeting vessels “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”

Data from ship tracking services listed at least four ships, two of which had recently called at Iranian ports, that had passed or were passing through the 30-kilometer-wide waterway in the hours after the blockade came into force the previous day.

There were no reports of Washington taking direct action against the ships to enforce the blockade.

The voyages are the first test of the blockade, launched after failedUS-Iranian peace talksin Islamabad on April 11-12. Media reports on April 14 said Pakistan was seeking to facilitate a new round of talks later this week.

To read the full report, clickhere.

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14:29

Macron Calls For US-Iran Talks To Resume

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron says he spoke separately with his Iranian counterpart, Masud Pezeshkian, and US President Donald Trump on April 14 and called for the resumption of talks between Washington and Tehran and for a halt to any escalation of tensions.

In a post on X, Macron pointed out that the cease-fire between the parties must be fully respected by all parties and that it should include Lebanon.

“It is also very important that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened as soon as possible, without any restrictions or complications, unconditionally,” he added. “In such circumstances, negotiations should be able to resume quickly and with the support of the main actors.”

He continued: “France and Britain will hold a conference in Paris this Friday that will bring together, via videoconference, countries not involved in the war that are ready to contribute to a multilateral and purely defensive mission with the aim of restoring freedom of navigation in the strait.”

Since the beginning of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has effectively restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with only a small number of tankers and ships belonging to “friendly countries” of Iran being able to pass through.

Disruptions in the supply chain of energy and other products such as helium, chemical fertilizers, and petrochemical products have caused a sharp increase in oil and gas prices, as well as a shortage of strategic goods in the world.

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13:54

Russia’s Lavrov Visits Beijing As China Steps Up Iran War Diplomacy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Beijing as China steps up diplomatic efforts around the war in Iran amid a US blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports that the Chinese Foreign Ministry has called “dangerous and irresponsible.”

Lavrov is expected to hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his April 14-15 visit, which will cover the wars in Iran and Ukraine, as well as Beijing and Moscow’s deepening ties, according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

“A thorough exchange of views is expected on a number of ‘hot topics’ and regional issues, including the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in the Middle East,” the statement said, adding that Chinese-Russian cooperation at multilateral bodies like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, BRICS, the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the United Nations will also be discussed during the visit.