At least three vessels have reportedly been attacked since Iran renewed restrictions on the strait
Published 18 Apr, 2026 09:30
| Updated 18 Apr, 2026 23:58
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz seen off the coast of Oman, April 08, 2026. © Getty Images / Shady Alassar/Anadolu
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced that no vessels, regardless of their flag, are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while the US maintains its blockade of Iranian ports. Any attempting to approach the waterway will be targeted, it said.
On Friday, Tehran initially declared the waterway completely open for commercial vessels for the remaining period of the ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, prompting a drop in oil prices on hopes of de-escalation. However, while US President Donald Trump praised the news, he said that the US blockade of Iranian ports “will remain in full force” until a peace deal is reached.
This violated the ceasefire conditions, prompting Tehran to reimpose restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the IRGC.
At least three vessels have been attacked while attempting to pass the key freight corridor, according to Axios. India has summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest attacks on two Indian-flagged vessels, and to urge it to resume letting New Delhi’s ships through.
According to multiple media reports, the US has presented several demands to Iran, including the handing over of its enriched uranium stockpile. While Trump claimed that Tehran had “agreed to everything,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei reiterated that the Islamic Republic would not give up the stockpile, which he described as “as sacred as Iranian soil.”
Key developments:
• Trump has suggested that he would not extend the ceasefire with Iran and could resume attacks if the peace talks do not produce the desired result by Wednesday.
• One French peacekeeper has been killed, and three others injured in southern Lebanon, President Emmanuel Macron has said, adding that Hezbollah was the most likely culprit. Hezbollah has denied involvement.
• At least three commercial ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, with at least one sustaining some damage, according to Axios.
• India has summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi to raise concerns about attacks on two Indian-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and to urge Tehran to let friendly ships through.
• Hezbollah said it is “not concerned” with Lebanon’s talks with the US, suggesting that Beirut is set to cave in to Washington’s demands. Israel insists the current truce does not apply to “immediate threats from terrorists.”
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
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18 April 2026
22:04 GMT
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the country would not send any enriched uranium to the United States, adding that the issue is non-negotiable.
“Multiple messages have been exchanged between Iran and the United States, but [the U.S.] insists on demands that Tehran considers excessive,” the diplomat said, as cited by Al Jazeera.
- 21:49 GMT
Iran has retained about 40% of its prewar drone arsenal – enough to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. intelligence and military estimates.
The report also said Iran has restored its missile launcher arsenal to about 60% of its prewar level.
- 20:56 GMT
CENTCOM has published a photograph of an American destroyer participating in the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“The blockade has completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,” it claimed.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) patrols regional waters in support of blockade operations. The blockade has completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea. pic.twitter.com/x5hr6jMnke
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 18, 2026
- 20:26 GMT
Israeli forces have carried out shelling and large-scale bombings of at least four settlements in southern Lebanon, which Iran had demanded be covered by its ceasefire with the US, Lebanese state broadcaster NNA has reported.
A girl walks through the rubble of a home destroyed by an Israeli air-strike, Nabatieh, Lebanon, April 18, 2026. © Getty Images / Ryan Murphy
- 20:04 GMT
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has slammed Western interventions in Iraq, Libya, as well as the Israeli wars against Gaza and Lebanon, arguing that they were launched under false pretenses.
“The invasion of Iraq was a lie. Where are the chemical weapons that Saddam Hussein supposedly had? They were never found,” he said in a speech.
“And now the bombing of Israel against Lebanon – on what pretext? And now the invasion by the United States against Iran – on what pretext?”
- 19:38 GMT
If there is “no breakthrough” in the indirect Iran-US negotiations soon, “the war could resume in the coming days,” Axios has reported, citing a senior American official.
Currently, the tense ceasefire struck between the sides last week is set to expire on Wednesday.
- 19:23 GMT
Iran will sue over the US- and Israeli-inflicted damage to several historical sites and monuments in the Islamic Republic, IRNA has reported, citing Isfahan Province Governor Mehdi Jamali Nejad.
“Experts have spent several days in Isfahan, and we have compiled and submitted the necessary documentation” to international organizations, he reportedly said.
- 19:09 GMT
At least 131 Iranian cultural heritage sites have been damaged by US-Israeli bombings since February, Hassan Fartousi, Secretary General of Iran’s National Commission for UNESCO has told RT.
There is no easy way to estimate the cost of the damage to the priceless sites, some of which are up to 400-600 years old, Fartousi said. Even if a site is restored, “it cannot keep its originality anymore.”
“It is a catastrophic situation, horrible, that unfortunately we couldn’t protect and preserve the cultural heritage sites in our world.”
- 18:57 GMT
Tehran will not allow for vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian cargoes cannot, Iranian parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video statement.
“The Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
“The Americans have declared a blockade for several days, this is a foolish and ignorant decision. It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz but for us not to be able to.”
- 18:45 GMT
Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has called for Washington to take control of the Strait of Hormuz, continue the US blockade of Iranian ports and to “put Kharg island in the crosshairs.”
“The US and others must demonstrate the ability to control the Strait without Iranian interference,” he wrote on X.
“I urge President Trump to continue the blockade, which has been brilliantly executed and applies maximum pressure.”
My thoughts regarding Iran’s recent attack on international shipping and boasts that they are now in control of the Strait of Hormuz: Control the strait. Continue the blockade. Put Kharg island in the crosshairs. Over time, we have all the cards. After Iran’s brazen…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 18, 2026
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18 April 2026
09:30 GMT
While Iran allowed “a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a managed manner,” the US violated its part of the agreement and now “continues its piracy and maritime theft under the pretext of a so-called ‘siege,’” a spokesman for the Iranian military has said.
“For this reason, control over the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control of the Armed Forces,” he said, adding that the regime would be maintained as long as the US upholds the blockade of Iranian ports.
- 09:38 GMT
At least five more Iran-linked tankers are passing through the Strait of Hormuz despite the US blockade, Fars News agency has reported, citing tracking data.
- 09:51 GMT
Iranian authorities have reopened six airports, including Mehrabad, Imam Khomeini, Mashhad, Birjand, Gorgan, and Zahedan airports, the country’s Airline Association has said.
- 10:07 GMT
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has insisted that it was Tehran that closed the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the US “made safe and secure maritime traffic through the waterway impossible.”
He added that Iran has every right to restrict passage due to the threat to national security.
- 10:26 GMT
The IDF will impose a ‘yellow line’ in Lebanon and bar people from areas occupied by the Israeli military, CNN reports, citing officials.
According to the report, the IDF “is authorized to continue destroying terrorist infrastructures there even during the ceasefire.”
- 10:41 GMT
Ebrahim Azizi, Chairman of Iran’s National Security Commission, has said that Tehran had warned the US over the consequences of the continued blockade, mockingly adding that Washington could “now ENJOY the Strait of Hormuz returning to the status quo.”
We warned you, but you ignored it.Now ENJOY the Strait of Hormuz returning to the status quo :)) https://t.co/ftjqrSXRa1
— ابراهیم عزیزی (@Ebrahimazizi33) April 18, 2026
- 11:10 GMT
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has said that Trump’s messaging over the Strait of Hormuz has been “kind of confusing.” He added, as cited by CNN, that the current ceasefire could be extended only “if the other side just accepts negotiat[ing] on equal footing and just puts aside [its] maximalist position.”
- 11:41 GMT
The IDF has reported several incidents of ceasefire violation in Lebanon, accusing “terrorists” – who it said pose an “immediate threat” – of approaching the Israeli-mandated Yellow Line in the southern part of the country.
READ MORE:
Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by Trump’s Lebanon move – Axios“Following their identification, and in order to remove the threat, the Israeli Air Force, together with ground forces, conducted precise strikes against the terrorists,” the statement read.
The IDF insisted that the attack was in self-defense, stressing that actions aimed at removing immediate threats are not restricted by the ceasefire.
- 11:42 GMT
Egypt and Pakistan are pushing “very hard” for the US and Iran to reach a final agreement, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has said, adding that he hopes a peace deal will be achieved “in the coming days.”
- 11:55 GMT
The UK Maritime Trade Operations claims that two Iranian gunboats fired on an unnamed tanker in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported.
UKMTO WARNING 037-26 Click here to view the full Warning⤵️https://t.co/3Fxxl1HHUA#MaritimeSecurity#Marsecpic.twitter.com/SCG3TglveA
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) April 18, 2026
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