Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026 (Reuters)

EA on TVP World: Iran Tightens Its Control of Strait of Hormuz

EA on International Outlets: After the US-Iran Talks in Islamabad

UPDATES: US-Israel War on Iran, Day 51 — A 10-Day Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, US officials depict a rattled, chaotic Donald Trump.

It was Good Friday afternoon in a nearly empty West Wing soon after the president learned that an American jet had been shot down in Iran, with two airmen missing. Trump screamed at aides for hours. The Europeans aren’t helping, he said repeatedly. Gas prices averaged $4.09. Images of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis — one of the biggest international policy failures of a presidency in recent times — had been looming large in his mind.

Trump demanded that the military immediately rescue the two airmen of the downed F-15E jet fighter, but the officials needed to establish how to carry out the difficult mission in the mountains of southwest Iran.

A “senior administration official” said aides kept Trump out of the room as they received minute-by-minute updates “because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful”.

UPDATE 0708 GMT:

Iran Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has emphasized, “It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot. If US does not abandon this blockade, transit through Strait of Hormuz will certainly be restricted.”

He said he forced Donald Trump’s representatives to pull back a US warship in the Strait.

We dealt decisively with a US attempt at minesweeping, viewing it as a ceasefire violation. I told the US delegation in Islamabad that if their minesweeper moved an inch further, we would fire. They requested 15 minutes to order a withdrawal, and they complied.

UPDATE 0607 GMT:

An Israeli reservist was killed and nine others wounded by an explosive device in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

During battalion operations, an engineering vehicle drove over a bomb that had been planted by Hezbollah, said the Israel Defense Forces.

One soldier was seriously wounded.

After the blast, the IDF struck several targets in the area.

UPDATE 0604 GMT:

UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned Friday’s attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon which killed a French soldier and injured three others.

UPDATE 0557 GMT:

Israeli forces are demolishing homes in Bint Jbeil and other border towns in southern Lebanon, reports Lebanese state media.

Bint Jbeil is about 5 km (3.1 miles) north of the Israeli border, There was heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in the town before a 10-day ceasefire took effect at midnight on Thursday.

UPDATE 0553 GMT:

Commenting on talks with the US, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Saturday that gaps remain over nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have had progress but there is still a big distance between us,” he told State media. “There are some issues on which we insist….They also have red lines. But these issues could be just one or two.”

He added, “We are still far from the final discussion.”

UPDATE 0548 GMT:

At least 3,468 people in Iran have been killed by the US-Israel War, says the State-run Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said on April 7 that at least 3,636 people had been slain, including 1,701 civilians. Among them were at least 254 children.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Iran has tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, restricting the transit of all shipping until the US lifts a blockade on Iranian ports.

Amid a two-week temporary ceasefire in the US-Israel War, Tehran said on Friday that it would allow passage to commercial vessels, provided they used predetermined routes and obtained permission from the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy.

But on Saturday, politicians, officials, and commanders said the arrangements are withdrawn because of the blockade imposed by the Trump camp last week.

Around 25% of the world’s maritime oil traffic and 20% of maritime gas pass through waterway between Iran and the Gulf States. The Strait is just over 30 km (18.6) miles at its narrowest point.

On Saturday, two Guards gunboats fired on a tanker. 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman. At least two merchant vessels were hit by gunfire.

Earlier, a convoy including four liquefied petroleum gas ⁠carriers and several oil ⁠product and chemical tankers tried to pass through the waterway. There is still no word whether it was successful.

Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf jabbed at Donald Trump’s declaration that the Strait had been completely freed by Iran: “The President of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false. They did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either.”

He reiterated the conditions on passage: “Whether the Strait is open or closed and the regulations governing it will be determined by the field, not by social media.”

Later in the day, the Supreme National Security Council confirmed restrictions on passage “until the end of the war is definitively concluded”. As long as the US blockades Iranian ports, this is “a breach of the ceasefire [which] will prevent the conditional and limited reopening of the Strait of Hormuz”.

Iran’s military declared, “This strategic waterway is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.”