Updated April 13, 2026 at 4:16 PM CDT
President Trump says the U.S. military began a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday, drawing threats of retaliation from Iran, after talks between the two countries failed to reach an agreement over the weekend.
"Right now we have a blockade," Trump said Monday. "They're doing no business."
In a social media post earlier, he reiterated his threat to Iranian ships that tried to interfere. "Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED," he wrote.
It was the latest tactic to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — by blockading the strait outright.
Trump says Iran has charged tolls for some ships to pass and laid mines in the strait, amounting to "world extortion." He said Sunday he had instructed the Navy "to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran."
As the 10 a.m. EDT start time of the blockade approached, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations issued a notice saying "maritime access restrictions are being enforced affecting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including locations along the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz."
Israel and Hezbollah also continued to trade strikes on Monday, as efforts were underway for Israeli and Lebanese officials to meet in Washington for ceasefire talks.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced preparations for a "peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation" in the Strait of Hormuz. He said he would be convening a conference on these plans "in the coming days" together with Britain.
Here are more updates from the region:
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France-U.K. diplomacy | Iran on Strait of Hormuz| U.S.-Iran talks | Lebanon | U.S. warships | Iran executions
The U.K. won't join Trump's Hormuz blockade, joins France to form "peaceful multinational mission" instead
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday the United Kingdom will not join President Trump's blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. Starmer said his focus was to keep the waterway open.
Speaking to BBC Radio, Starmer said he would not go into operational matters, but that the United Kingdom's efforts would be aimed at reopening the strait. He said that could include "marshaling" diplomatically and politically as well as minesweeping in the strait.
He said that was the only way to get energy bills down for people in the U.K. who, according to him, were paying the price of the war in Iran.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France and Britain would co-organize a conference of "countries prepared to contribute alongside us to a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation" in the Strait of Hormuz.
"This strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict, is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit," Macron posted on X.
Starmer called it "a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping when the conflict ends."
Iran warns warships will be met with a strong response
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that moving U.S. military ships close to the Strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire Iran and the U.S. reached last week, and will be dealt with firmly.
It said the U.S. moves are "unlawful and amount to piracy," according to Iranian state media.
Nearly 20% of the global supply of oil and gas normally moves through the Strait of Hormuz. It's also a key passageway for other goods such as fertilizer, aluminum and helium.
But Iran has effectively closed the waterway since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than six weeks ago, aside from letting a small number of ships through from countries Tehran considers friendly or neutral in the conflict.
Some vessels got through after paying hefty tolls. A lawmaker on the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told state media recently Iran was charging up to $2 million in transit fees of some vessels.
President Trump has called that "illegal."
Speaking to NPR's Morning Edition on Monday, retired U.S. Adm. James Foggo agreed that's unlawful, and also considered the U.S. blockade an act of war.
"Technically speaking, a blockade of a country or a country's ability to export goods and services is an act of war," he said. "But it's also illegal to charge $2 million a ship for transit through the straits, which is what Iran has been doing. And if you extrapolate that to a hundred ships a day and 365 days a year, that's a profit of $73 billion. That's more than the U.S. Navy got for its shipbuilding budget. So they'd be able to reconstitute those things that have been taken away from."
U.S. and Iran talks fail, sides signal they are far apart on nuclear enrichment
The U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement in highly anticipated face-to-face peace talks that took place over the weekend in Islamabad. On Sunday, after 21 hours of talks, Vice President Vance said Iran chose "not to accept our terms."
Asked what the major sticking point had been that led to the breakdown in negotiations, Vance said: "The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon."
For its part, Iran said the two sides had "reached an understanding on a number of issues, but ultimately the talks did not lead to an agreement."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a member of the Iranian negotiating team, said Sunday his country "engaged with U.S. in good faith to end the war," adding that when the two sides were close to reaching an understanding, "we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade."
The status of the two-week ceasefire, which extends until April 22, is now uncertain. But Vance left open the possibility that an agreement could still be reached, saying: "We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer." He added: "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."
The talks in Islamabad were the first face-to-face engagement between the U.S. and Iran since 2015, when the Obama administration negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran that was later scrapped by Trump. They were also the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a Fox News interview on Sunday, Trump doubled down in his stance that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, and said he believes Iran will "come to the table" and give up its nuclear weapons efforts. Asked if he will continue to "destruct" Iran if they don't give up their nuclear weapons program, Trump said: "If they don't give that plan up, yeah."
On Saturday, Trump said "We win, regardless" of the outcome of negotiations, adding, "we've totally defeated that country."
Trump wrote on social media on Sunday that the talks failed because "IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS!"
Tehran has repeatedly said that its nuclear program is a civilian one, and that it has a right to continue to enrich uranium for that purpose.
U.S. warships pass through the Strait of Hormuz
As the talks between the U.S. and Iran were underway, two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a U.S. official told NPR, marking the first transit of American warships since the start of the Iran war six weeks ago.
CENTCOM said it had begun setting conditions to clear Iranian sea mines planted throughout the waterway to "encourage the free flow of commerce."
Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade strikes
Attacks continued in Lebanon on Monday as Israeli airstrikes hit border villages that Israel says is it seizing from Lebanon, in order to create a buffer zone to prevent militant group Hezbollah from firing cross-border rockets.
Lebanese authorities said more than 100 people were killed over the weekend from Israeli attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who crossed into Lebanon on Sunday, said those displaced from southern Lebanon will not be allowed to return to their homes. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the goal of Israel's campaign is to destroy houses in the area to prevent Hezbollah from using them.
Their statements came as preparations were under way for Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to meet on Tuesday in Washington for ceasefire talks, the first direct official talks between the two countries since 1983. The talks are not supported by Hezbollah, which held a rally in Beirut over the weekend, filling several blocks of the capital.
The Lebanese government said Israel has destroyed around 40,000 houses in the past 35 days.
The Lebanese Red Cross said that one of its ambulance teams was directly targeted by an Israeli drone over the weekend, killing one paramedic and wounding another. The death brought the number of the medics killed to at least 57 in the past six weeks, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel denies it is targeting medics and accused Hezbollah of transporting weapons in ambulances.
Human rights groups say Iran increased executions
At least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025, according to a joint report by the Norwegian organization Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty.
According to the two watchdogs, the figure represents an increase of 68% over the previous year.
A wave of arrests and executions followed the country-wide protests that started in December of 2025 and trailed into January.
Mass arrests have also been regularly reported in Iran's state media since the start of the war, with authorities accusing those it rounds up of having ties to Israel or aiding terrorist groups.
Betsy Joles in Islamabad, Lauren Frayer in Beirut, D Parvaz in Van, Turkey, Fatima Al-Kassab in London, Tina Kraja, Greg Myre and Alex Leff in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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