Cairo: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulate that Beijing has considered transferring arms.China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly denied in recent days that the country is providing any form of military support to Iran.In an interview that aired on Wednesday, Trump said the war in Iran was “very close to over”. He has declared a US victory repeatedly since mere days after the war started – even as the reality on the ground has been far more complicated.US Central Command said it has achieved “maritime superiority” and that the blockade on Iranian ports had been “fully implemented” within 36 hours of its launch, according to a statement on social media late on Monday.Mediators’ efforts to extend a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have made progress as the warring sides are expected to return to the negotiations table, regional officials said. Mediators aim to extend the ceasefire, which is due to expire on April 22, for at least another two weeks to allow diplomacy another chance. APIran open to discussing matters about enrichment, official saysApril 15, 2026 7:51 pmCairo: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country “based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment,” Iran’s state media reported. APTrump says Chinese president denies sending weapons to IranApril 15, 2026 5:54 pmWashington: United States President Donald Trump has said Chinese President Xi Jinping denied sending weapons to Iran. Trump said in the Fox News interview that Jinping issued the denial in a written response letter to Trump, after the US president wrote him following reports that surfaced about China supplying Iran with weapons for the war. “I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that. And he wrote me a letter saying that, essentially, he’s not doing that,” Trump said. Trump is scheduled to meet Xi in Beijing in early May. APUN nuclear chief urges strict Iran checks in any deal to end warApril 15, 2026 1:28 pmThe head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that “very detailed” measures to verify Iran’s nuclear activities must be included in a potential US-Iran agreement to end their war in the Middle East.War is over for Wall Street: stocks, dollar, fear index unwind movesApril 15, 2026 1:27 pmAs the conflict in the Middle East edges towards its eighth week, financial markets are starting to diverge. US stocks have wiped out all the losses incurred since the start of the war, but oil prices are still punishingly high, dragging on both government bonds and gold. There are dramatic disparities in emerging markets too. Brazilian markets have surged and China’s have seen healthy inflows, but a number of smaller, energy-dependent economies are struggling.South Korea secures 273 million barrels of crude via routes outside Strait of HormuzApril 15, 2026 1:26 pmSouth Korea has secured 273 million barrels of crude oil from the Middle East and Kazakhstan through the end of the year, with supplies routed outside the Strait of Hormuz, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said on Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy has also secured 2.1 million metric tons of naphtha over the same period, Kang said at a press briefing following his visit as a special presidential envoy to Kazakhstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar over the past week.Asian shares scale six-week peak on hopes for US-Iran peace talksApril 15, 2026 1:23 pmAsian stocks tracked Wall Street higher on Wednesday as hopes for a resumption of US-Iran peace talks capped oil prices at under $100 a barrel, while the dollar steadied after seven days of losses. But European markets were bracing for a more muted open, with pan-region futures down 0.2 per cent, and FTSE futures little changed. Wall Street futures were flat after a strong rally on Tuesday.South Korea provides information about vessels stuck in straitApril 15, 2026 1:22 pmSouth Korea on Wednesday said it provided information to Iran, the United States and Gulf nations concerning its 26 vessels that are stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea is attempting to secure their safe passage out of the strait. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in a legislative hearing Wednesday that officials consider the ceasefire between the US and Iran as a window to ensure the safe exit of the ships from the region.Safe-haven dollar at six-week lows on hopes of fresh Iran talksApril 15, 2026 1:21 pmThe US dollar lingered near six-week lows on Wednesday, surrendering nearly all the gains it had made since the Iran war erupted as signs of another round of talks between Washington and Tehran lifted risk appetite.Sri Lanka repatriates over 230 Iranian sailorsApril 15, 2026 12:46 pmMore than 230 sailors of two Iranian Naval vessels distressed in Sri Lanka after a US submarine attack and engine failure respectively have been repatriated, defence officials said here Wednesday.JD Vance flags deep ‘mistrust’ between US-Iran talks ahead of fresh talksApril 15, 2026 12:43 pmUS Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said that the stalemate in the first round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad was due to the deep-rooted mistrust between the two nations. However, he struck a cautiously optimistic tone about the prospects of reaching a deal with Tehran in a potential second round of negotiations. During a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia, Vance stated that the level of mistrust was due to the lack of high-level diplomatic engagement between the two nations for almost half a century, noting that his meeting with the Iranian delegation was the first such high-level meeting between the two nations.Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US bases: ReportApril 15, 2026 9:52 amIran secretly used a Chinese spy satellite that gave the Islamic Republic a new capability to target US military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.Lebanon, Israel hold first direct diplomatic talks in decades in WashingtonApril 15, 2026 9:50 amLebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it a “historic opportunity” but making clear that no breakthrough agreement would happen right away. In a statement after the two-hour session ended, the State Department praised the two sides for what it called “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.” Hezbollah opposed the direct talks and was not represented, appearing to step up its fire on northern Israel as the discussions began.Trump hints at new Iran talks as Hormuz standoff intensifiesApril 15, 2026 9:49 amThe US military claimed Tuesday that it has successfully begun to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports, as the standoff between the US and Iran deepens. Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region, a day after Trump warned on social media that any Iranian warships nearing the blockade would be destroyed in a “quick and brutal” strike. With Pakistan racing to bring the sides together for more talks, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a second round “could be happening over the next two days.” The first round ended without an agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which the White House says is a sticking point.VLCC Agios Fanourios I succeeds in entering Gulf on second attemptApril 15, 2026 9:46 amSeparately, the Malta-flagged VLCC Agios Fanourios I entered the Gulf via the strait on Wednesday in a second attempt to transit, according to the data. The tanker was among several vessels that tried to enter the Gulf on Sunday during the US-Iran ceasefire deal. It is heading to Iraq to load Basra crude for Vietnam’s Nghi Son refinery, according to the data and trade sources.VLCC Alicia enters Gulf to load oil at IraqApril 15, 2026 9:45 amAnother US-sanctioned vessel, the Very Large Crude Carrier Alicia that has a record of carrying Iranian oilsince 2023, is entering the Gulf via the strait on Wednesday, Kpler and LSEG data showed. The empty tanker, capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, is heading to Iraq to load a cargo on Thursday, Kpler data showed.Sanctioned tanker turns back to Strait of Hormuz, day after Gulf exitApril 15, 2026 9:43 amThe US-sanctioned tanker Rich Starry made its way back to the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after exiting the Gulf the day before, shipping data showed, failing to break through a US blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports. US President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to reach a deal. “During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US. blockade,” the US Central Command said on X, adding that six vessels complied with directions from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port.Trump reiterates Pope Leo criticism, says it is ‘unacceptable’ for Iran to have a nuclear bombApril 15, 2026 9:41 amUS President Donald Trump reiterated his criticisms of Pope Leo on Tuesday and said it is “unacceptable” for Iran to have a nuclear bomb. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” Trump said on Truth Social.Length of Iran uranium enrichment ban is a political decision: AEA chiefApril 15, 2026 9:38 amThe International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday a decision on how long a moratorium on uranium enrichment that Iran must be bound by under any agreement with the US was a political decision. US and Iranian officials ended talks at the weekend on ending the Iran war, without agreement over differences that included how long Tehran would suspend uranium enrichment, which the US and the West say would be used to build weapons.US military will operate blockade in Gulf of OmanApril 15, 2026 8:40 amA US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, explained that the strategy is to observe vessels subject to the blockade leave Iranian facilities and clear the Strait of Hormuz before intercepting them and forcing them to turn around. The official said that the military relies on more than just automated tracking beacons that all merchant ships are required to carry called AIS to determine merchant ships were coming from a port in Iran but wouldn’t go into more detail, citing the need for operational security. The official also wouldn’t go into what the military would do should they need to board and capture a ship.Trump says Iran war is very close to overApril 15, 2026 8:14 amIn clips showing excerpts of an interview he taped with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Trump says of the Iran war, “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over.” He adds, “If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.”