Cairo: Iran has rowed back on its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that it would continue to block transit through the hugely important waterway as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.The announcement on Saturday came after US President Donald Trump said the blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme. Tehran had reopened the strait Friday to commercial vessels.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 Friday announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil is shipped, came as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.Despite the escalation, Pakistani officials say the United States and Iran are still moving closer to a deal ahead of the April 22 ceasefire deadline.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. (Agencies)Defiant message from Iran as vessels attempting to cross Hormuz report gunfireApril 18, 2026 5:52 pmAt least two merchant vessels reported they were hit by gunfire as they attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, three maritime security and shipping sources said, shortly after Iran said it was once more tightening control of the waterway. Some merchant vessels received a radio message from Iran’s Navy that the vital energy chokepoint was shut again and no ships were allowed to pass through, shipping sources said. In a defiant message posted on his Telegram channel, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran’s navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.Lebanese leaders discuss future talks with IsraelApril 18, 2026 5:00 pmThe meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam came during a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group. According to a statement from Aoun’s office, the pair discussed Lebanon’s “readiness for negotiations” with Israel. US President Donald Trump has invited Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, although no date has been set yet. Aoun has said he is ready to go anywhere to “liberate my country, protect my people and save my nation.”Trump says he has ‘good news’ on Iran as tankers cross Strait of HormuzApril 18, 2026 4:57 pmA convoy of oil tankers was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the first major movement of ships in the crucial waterway since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran seven weeks ago. The group of four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, was passing through Iranian waters south of Larak Island with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data. US President Donald Trump hours earlier had cited “some pretty good news” about Iran, declining to elaborate. He also said a ceasefire in the war may not be extended without a deal by Wednesday.Iran announces partial reopening of its airspaceApril 18, 2026 2:12 pmIran on Saturday announced a partial reopening of its airspace after a seven-week hiatus because of the war, state media reported. The Civil Aviation Organisation said air routes over eastern Iran were reopened at 7 am (0330 GMT), according to the state-owned IRAN newspaper. It said flights at the country’s airports would gradually resume, but did not give a timeframe. Iran’s airspace had been closed since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28. The partial reopening has come more than a week into a ceasefire between Iran and the US.Iran’s navy chief says Trump’s naval blockade is ‘piracy and maritime theft’April 18, 2026 11:06 amThe commander of the Iranian navy, Shahram Irani, said Friday evening that Trump “has blockaded his friends” and not Iran, as the US said its blockade will remain in place after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial traffic. In a statement carried by Mizan, Iran’s official judiciary news agency, the navy chief said Trump’s blockade is just “empty words” and that no one is listening to him. The US military says it has turned 19 ships back to Iran since imposing the blockade earlier this week.Oil prices fall sharply, Wall Street rallies to a record as Iran reopens Strait of HormuzApril 18, 2026 11:06 amOil prices dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, while US stocks raced to another record. The S&P 500 leaped 1.2 per cent Friday after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying crude. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt as many as 1,100 points before paring its gain and ended with a jump of about 870 points, or 1.8 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5 per cent. A freer flow of oil could take pressure off prices not only for gasoline but also for groceries and all kinds of other products. Oil prices fell 9 per cent.Vessel movement remains constrained in the Strait of HormuzApril 18, 2026 11:06 amData firm Kpler said ship movement through the Strait of Hormuz remained confined to corridors requiring approval on Friday evening, hours after the US and Iran announced full reopening of the strategic waterway. Iran’s state media reported the country’s conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the beginning of the war, including that all commercial vessels transiting must go through a route designated by Iran and in coordination with the IRGC Navy. Kpler said that “markets have responded with cautious optimism” to the reopening decision, but warned that underlying supply dynamics remain tight, and a “full normalisation in trade and confidence is likely to take months, not weeks.”Trump says US will go into Iran and excavate uraniumApril 18, 2026 11:04 am”The USA will get all the nuclear dust,” Trump said in a speech in Arizona. “We’re going to get it by going in with Iran with lots of excavators.” Iran has yet to confirm that it has agreed to give up the 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites badly damaged by US military strikes last year. Giving up the uranium and agreeing to US troops entering Iranian territory would be huge concessions by Iran. Trump insisted that “no money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form” as part of a potential deal with Iran to end the war.Iran warns US blockade risks fresh Strait of Hormuz closureApril 18, 2026 10:58 amIran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X early Saturday that if the US blockade continued, “the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open.” On Friday, Iran had said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, but US President Donald Trump said the American blockade on Iranian ships and ports would “remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US. A data firm, Kpler, said later Friday that movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran’s approval.Israel experiences its first 24 hours without incoming strikes since the Iran war startedApril 18, 2026 10:57 amIt’s been more than 24 hours since air raid sirens went off in any part of Israel – and that last time, very early on Friday morning in a small community at the border with Lebanon, turned out to be a mistaken identification. Since the Iran war started on February 28, Iran, then Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants and eventually the Houthis in Yemen, sent barrages of missiles and rockets into Israel, sometimes more than a dozen times a day. Hezbollah kept up firing right until a ceasefire went into effect on Friday. In Israel’s major metropolitan areas of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but also in villages in the country’s desert south and hilly north, sirens and alerts sent residents to bomb shelters and safe rooms throughout the day and night. The strikes have killed 23 people and wounded about 600 more, according to Israel’s emergency services.Australia says opening of Strait of Hormuz is ‘positive news’April 18, 2026 10:57 am”We hope that it certainly holds. This was positive news that we received last night,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Saturday. “But we know that it’s very fragile, and we don’t assume the best. What we do is prepare as best we can for the uncertainty which is there,” Albanese added.Trump says US will secure Iran’s nuclear dust ‘in a much more unfriendly’ way if deal not reachedApril 18, 2026 10:52 amUS President Donald Trump warned that Washington will act more aggressively to secure Iran’s nuclear materials if an agreement aimed at achieving a complete halt to the hostilities in West Asia is not reached, reiterating that the US would secure nuclear materials of the Islamic Republic “in a much more unfriendly way” if diplomacy fails. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during a press gaggle, Trump said the US expects cooperation from Tehran on securing nuclear-related materials and reiterated that Washington prefers a negotiated settlement but is prepared for alternative measures if necessary. “Somewhere after the signing of the agreement, we’ll go with Iran. We’ll go in with Iran, and we will take it together, and we will bring it back 100 per cent of it back to the United States. If we don’t do that, we will get it in a different, form in a much more unfriendly form. But in any event, we’ll get it,” Trump said.More than 20 ships turned back by the US blockadeApril 18, 2026 9:24 amUS Central Command says that since the blockade began on Monday, 21 ships returned to Iran at the direction of US forces. US President Donald Trump said earlier on Friday that the American blockade of Iranian ports would remain “in full force” until Iran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.Next round of US-Iran talks likely to be held in Pakistan on Monday: Iranian sourcesApril 18, 2026 9:23 amA fresh round of talks between Iranian and American negotiators is expected to take place in Islamabad on Monday, Iranian officials familiar with the discussions said, CNN reported. They added that delegations are likely to arrive in the Pakistani capital on Sunday, as reported by CNN. The development comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts to ease West Asia tensions. Separately, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and discussed “international efforts aimed at de-escalation and advancing diplomatic solutions”, Al Jazeera reported.US President Trump, without elaborating, cites ‘some pretty good news’ on IranApril 18, 2026 8:41 amUS President Donald Trump said on Friday there had been some “pretty good news” regarding Iran but he declined to elaborate. “We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, but it seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “You’ll hear about. I just think it’s something that should happen. It’s something that only makes sense to happen. And I think it will. We’ll see what happens, but I think it will,” Trump said when asked what the good news was.