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The Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a fifth of the world’s oil, has again become the chaotic centre of the United States-Israel war on Iran, as a standoff between Washington and Tehran is complicating efforts to end the war.

Iran on Saturday reversed its decision on reopening the strait, and its military opened fire at a ship trying to pass through the waterway after US President Donald Trump said Washington will continue its blockade on Iranian ports.

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Trump has refused to end the blockade until a deal is finalised. On Saturday, he said that there have been “very good” discussions, but Washington won’t be “blackmailed”.

After a short-lived rise in transit attempts on Saturday, ships in the Persian Gulf once again stayed put, after reports of vessels coming under fire mid-passage and being forced to withdraw.

Their pullback restored the strait to its pre-ceasefire status, raising the risk of a worsening global energy crunch and increasing the likelihood of renewed fighting.

Here is what you need to know:

What has Iran said?

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said the strait would be open for commercial vessels during the truce, which ends on April 22, in “line with the ceasefire in Lebanon”.

However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced a clear reversal in Iran’s position, saying the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its “previous state”, amid the blockade of Iranian ports.

The IRGC’s joint military command said the US has “continued acts of piracy and maritime theft under the guise of a so-called blockade”.

“For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic waterway is now under strict management and control by the armed forces,” said the statement, cited by Iranian broadcaster IRIB.

“Until the United States restores full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from Iran to their destinations and back, the status of the Strait of Hormuz will remain tightly controlled and in its previous condition,” it added.

Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, said it was “impossible for others to pass” the strategic strait without Iran’s consent. He called Washington’s blockade “ignorant” and “foolish”, saying Tehran would not allow others to transit the strait if its own ships were blocked.

On Saturday, he said that major differences remain, despite some progress towards a deal.

What has the US said?

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, the US president ‌accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement, but added that US negotiators will be heading to Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday to strike a deal.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran,” he said in the post.

Iran on Sunday said that it was tightening its control over the waterway once again in response to the US blockade of Iranian ports, which began on April 14. Tehran says the blockade violates the terms of the ceasefire.

Trump on Saturday said that the US was having “very good conversations” with Iran, but he noted that Tehran wanted to close the important oil corridor again and that it could not blackmail the US with such a move.

What is happening in the strait right now?

Lloyd’s List, a maritime firm, said traffic in the Straight of Hormuz had come to a halt after Iranian forces fired on several ships on Saturday.

The United ⁠⁠Kingdom ⁠⁠Maritime Trade Operations agency said it received a report ⁠⁠of a tanker being fired upon by what it ‌‌said were two gunboats linked to the IRGC.

Meanwhile, India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

Abas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Centre for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, said the two sides are “engaging in war rhetoric ahead of any possible escalation and military conflict”.

“It seems that they are pressuring each other to win concessions – and we are not there yet,” Aslani told Al Jazeera.

“There are speculations that maybe the US is possibly planning to engage in limited strikes against Iran, but Iran has been saying that it will retaliate strongly,” he said. “This might end again in a wider conflict.”

What are other sticking points between the US and Iran?

Nuclear enrichment

The biggest contention is over hardening positions on Iran’s nuclear programme, chief among them being Tehran’s nuclear enrichment capability.

On Friday, Trump said Washington would obtain Iran’s enriched uranium, calling it “nuclear dust” and referring to the 440kg (970lbs) believed to be buried at sites hit by US strikes last year. He repeated on Truth Social that “the USA will get all Nuclear ‘Dust’”.

Speaking to Reuters news agency, Trump said the US would work with Iran “at a nice leisurely pace” and “start excavating with big machinery” to recover the material.

In a rebuke to Trump, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Washington had no justification for depriving Iran of its nuclear rights.

“Trump says Iran cannot make use of its nuclear rights, but doesn’t say for what crime. Who is he to deprive a nation of its rights?” Pezeshkian asked, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Israel and the US have repeatedly accused Iran of enriching uranium to develop nuclear weapons. But Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes and that it has honoured its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US National Intelligence, testified to Congress in March 2025 that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003.”

Khamenei was killed on February 28 in US and Israeli strikes. His son Mojtaba Khamenei has been named his successor.

Lebanon

A ceasefire in Lebanon had also been a key Iranian demand before it agreed to the two-week truce between the US-Israeli side and Iran.

While a 10-day ceasefire is technically in place between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, it remains fragile. Israel has carried out strikes despite the truce, and its forces have created a Gaza-like “yellow line” to create a buffer zone.

The truce was declared just days after Lebanon and Israel held their first face-to-face negotiations in decades in Washington. According to Iran’s FM Araghchi, the brief reopening of the Strait of Hormuz came in response to the ceasefire being extended to Lebanon.

Hezbollah has condemned the ceasefire agreement as “an insult to our country” and “a slippery slope with no end in sight”.

“A ceasefire means a complete cessation of all hostilities”, the Lebanon-based group said. “Because we do not trust this enemy, the resistance fighters will remain in the field, ready to respond to any violations of the aggression. A ceasefire cannot be unilateral; it must be mutual”.

Hezbollah is Tehran’s most powerful regional ally and a core pillar of the “axis of resistance” – a network of armed groups across the Middle East aligned with Iran against Israel, including Yemen’s Houthis and several factions in Iraq.

The group joined the fighting after the Israeli army killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei in its initial strikes on Tehran.

Tehran says it will keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed until Washington ends its blockade of Iranian ports.

The strategic Strait of Hormuz has been closed again during the standoff between Iran and the United States as the influential Iranian parliamentary speaker has indicated that a conclusive peace agreement is still “far” away even though talks have made some headway.

With mediators pressing on after high-level discussions in Pakistan last weekend failed to produce an accord, Tehran declared it would keep the vital maritime trade corridor closed until Washington lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission “will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted”.

The current two-week ceasefire will expire on Wednesday unless it is extended.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• US ⁠President ⁠Donald Trump has no justification to ⁠deprive Iran of its nuclear ⁠rights, the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ‌as saying on Sunday as Washington and Tehran continue to disagree on nuclear ⁠issues.
• Iran’s “valiant navy” is “ready to inflict new bitter defeats on its enemies”, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a series of X posts on Saturday.
• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said a framework of understanding must be agreed with the US first before more talks are held, saying, “There was significant progress made actually,” but dismissed US “maximalist” demands on Iran’s nuclear programme.
• “There is now a certain sense of frustration and uncertainty when it comes to the road ahead,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran. “We know that Iranians are very much worried, not only about the shadow of the war, but also about the element of surprise, even during this ceasefire.”
• Minister of Education Alireza Kazemi said Iran’s government does not have plans to resume in-person education at the moment.
• The Iranian Ministry of Science announced that 180 members of the academic community have been killed in the war, including 18 female students and one female university professor.
• The semiofficial Tasnim News Agency, quoting the deputy director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said the country’s airspace would be reopened with flights from east to west established gradually.
• The aviation authority said Iran will resume international flights on Monday from Mashhad airport in the country’s northeast.
• Iran is replenishing its missile and drone launchers at a ⁠higher speed than before the war started, Majid Mousavi, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, said.
• ⁠Iran’s ⁠armed forces turned back two tankers trying ⁠to transit the Strait ⁠of Hormuz after issuing warnings, Tasnim  reported.

War diplomacy

• Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address on Saturday night that there had been “progress” with Washington, “but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain.”
• “We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran’s negotiators in the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the US against Iran on February 28.
• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on Saturday from his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye in advance of an expected second round of US-Iran talks.
• Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo and Islamabad hope to secure a final agreement “in the coming days”.
• ⁠Turkish ⁠Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday ⁠that Iran and the US had the will to continue talks to end the ‌war and he remained “optimistic” that the two-week ceasefire would be extended.

In the US

• Trump accused Iran of getting “a little cute” in its recent moves and warned Tehran not to try to “blackmail” Washington by flip-flopping on the strait.
• “We have very good conversations going on,” the president told reporters at the White House, adding that Washington was “taking a tough stand”.
• The US military said it has forced 23 ships to turn around near the Strait of Hormuz since it imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a post on X, its Central Command said US forces were still enforcing the blockade “against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas”.

In Israel

• The Israeli military said another soldier has been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in less than 12 hours.
• Israeli forces said they established a “yellow line” in southern Lebanon similar to an Israeli military measure in the besieged Gaza Strip.
• More than 1,000 homes in Tel Aviv have been left uninhabitable by the war with Iran, its mayor said.

In Lebanon

• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Saturday’s attack that killed a French soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
• Naim Kassem, head of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, in a statement read on the group’s Al-Manar TV said a paper published by the US Department of State, which he described as the text of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, “means nothing at the practical level, but it is an insult to our country”.
• “Everyone knows that the government of Lebanon has not met or approved this statement,” Kassem said.

Tehran will keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed until Washington ends the blockade of Iranian ports.

The strategic Strait of Hormuz was closed again amid the standoff between Iran and the United States, as the influential Iranian parliamentary speaker indicated that a conclusive peace agreement was still “far” away, even though talks made some headway.

With mediators pressing on after high-level discussions in Pakistan failed to produce an accord, Tehran declared it would keep the vital maritime trade corridor closed until Washington lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission “will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted”.

The current two-week ceasefire will expire on Wednesday unless it is extended.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• US ⁠President ⁠Donald Trump has no justification to ⁠deprive Iran of its nuclear ⁠rights, the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ‌as saying on Sunday, as Washington and Tehran continue to face disagreements over nuclear ⁠issues.
• Iran’s “valiant navy” is “ready to inflict new bitter defeats on its enemies”, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday.
• Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed Trump’s claims over the uranium and sounded a note of caution with regard to future talks between the two countries.
• “There is now a certain sense of frustration and uncertainty when it comes to the road ahead. We know that Iranians are very much worried, not only about the shadow of the war, but also about the element of surprise, even during this ceasefire,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran.
• Minister of Education Alireza Kazemi has said the government does not have plans to resume “in-person education” at the moment.
• The Tasnim News Agency, citing the deputy director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said the country’s airspace would be reopened, with flights from east to west established gradually.

War diplomacy

• Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address on Saturday night that there had been “progress” with Washington, “but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain”.
• “We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran’s negotiators in the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the US against Iran.
• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on Saturday from his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye in advance of an expected second round of US-Iran talks.
•  Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo and Islamabad hoped to secure a final agreement “in the coming days”.

In the US

• Trump accused Iran of getting “a little cute” with its recent moves and warned Tehran not to try to “blackmail” Washington by flip-flopping on the strait.
• “We have very good conversations going on,” the president told reporters at the White House, adding that Washington was “taking a tough stand”.
• The US military said it forced 23 ships to turn around near the Strait of Hormuz since it imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a post on X, the Central Command said US forces were still enforcing the blockade “against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas”.

In Israel

• The Israeli military said another soldier had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in less than 12 hours.
• Israeli forces said they have established a so-called “yellow line” in southern Lebanon, similar to an Israeli military measure in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel has also been accused of violating the terms of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
• More than 1,000 homes in Tel Aviv have been left uninhabitable by the recent war with Iran, the city’s mayor said on Saturday.

In Lebanon

• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Saturday’s attack that killed a French soldier serving with the UN mission UNIFIL in Lebanon.
• Naim Kassem, head of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, in a statement read on the group’s Al-Manar TV, said a paper published by the US Department of State, which he described as the text of a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, “means nothing at the practical level, but it is an insult to our country”.
• “Everyone knows that the government of Lebanon has not met or approved this statement,” he said.

Tehran is ‘fully prepared’ for US to resume hostilities at any moment, says Iran’s parliament speaker Ghalibaf.

Iran and the United States have made progress in negotiations but are still a long way from a deal, according to Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator – amplifying concerns about a possible return to war when their ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.

In a nationally televised address on Saturday night, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that despite “progress” with the US, “many gaps and some fundamental points remain… we are still far from the final discussion”.

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On Sunday, Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that US ⁠President ⁠Donald Trump cannot justify depriving Tehran of what he called its ‘nuclear rights’.

“Trump says Iran ⁠cannot make use of its nuclear ⁠rights, but doesn’t say ⁠for what crime. ⁠Who is he to deprive a nation ‌of its rights?” Pezeshkian was quoted as ‌saying by the Iranian Student News Agency.

The future of Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz are key sticking points in the negotiations.

The latest comments from the political leadership came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, less than 24 hours after reopening it. The reversal, it said, was due to the continuing naval blockade of Iranian ports by the US.

Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s top negotiators, called Washington’s blockade “ignorant” and “foolish”, saying Tehran would not allow others to transit the strait if its own ships were blocked.

He also said Iranian forces are “fully prepared” for the US to resume hostilities at any moment.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Iranian officials are using the strait, through which 20 percent of globally traded oil normally transits, “as a pressure point” in negotiations, calling it perhaps the “most important bargaining chip”.

‘Start dropping bombs again’

Mediators have been pushing for a second round of US-Iran peace talks, after a first round in Islamabad ended on April 12 with no deal. The White House had said another round would likely be held in Islamabad. But Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday that no date could be set before the two sides agree on a “framework of understanding”, accusing Washington of maintaining a “maximalist” stance.

Donald Trump gave a series of mixed remarks on Saturday, saying Iran “got a little cute” on the Strait of Hormuz and that the US would not be “blackmailed”. The president added that US and Iranian officials remained in contact and negotiations were “working out really well”.

Earlier in the day, Trump said the US would “have to start dropping bombs again” if no deal was reached by Wednesday, when the ceasefire is due to end.

Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from Washington, DC, said Trump was likely trying to frame the latest setback in the Strait of Hormuz as “a bump in the road rather than anything definitive”.

“What we don’t have so far is whether there’s going to be a second round in the negotiations, as was thought just a day or two ago,” said Holman.

Abbas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Centre for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, said Iran is facing a “dual track” of negotiations and pressure from the US.

“The first track was negotiations, but Iran has been saying that if the US is genuinely seeking an agreement, why are they engaging in a naval blockade, why are they adding sanctions, and why are they intensifying their military presence in the region?” he asked.

“There are no signs of extension of these agreements, and nobody’s talking about extending this ceasefire,” he told Al Jazeera.

Argentine forward’s brace included the match winner against Colorado Rapids in front of over 75,000 fans in Denver.

Lionel Messi scored a brace and ‌German Berterame headed another as Inter Miami earned a ⁠3-2 win over ⁠the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer (MLS) on Saturday in Denver.

Messi scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute. He started a run just inside midfield and went ⁠unchallenged until the box, where he blasted into the upper left corner for a 3-2 lead.

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Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi each scored for Colorado (4-4-0, 12 points) in front of 75,824 at Empower Field, the second-largest crowd in MLS history.

Miami (4-1-3, 15 points) took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s pass was intercepted by Yannick Bright. Josh Atencio offered a hard challenge ‌and was shown a yellow card after video review.

Messi took the resulting penalty and rolled his shot straight down the middle as Miami took a 1-0 lead.

Colorado had a solid look at the goal when midfielder Wayne Frederick attempted a one-touch lob. Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was out of position and well beyond the penalty arc after heading away a loose ball, but Frederick’s attempt sailed ⁠over the open net.

In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage ⁠time, Miami extended their lead to 2-0, connecting on a series of passes deep in their attacking third. Messi got the run of play started with a tight touch pass to Rodrigo De ⁠Paul.

De Paul sent Mateo Silvetti on a run to the boundary line. His inward-spinning cross floated to the front of ⁠goal, where Berterame rose above the Colorado defence and ⁠tucked a header under the bar.

Navarro’s goal cut Miami’s lead to 2-1. He started a run in midfield and used a step-over move to get an open shot a few steps into the ‌box that tucked inside the left post past a diving St. Clair in the 58th minute.

In the 62nd minute, second-half substitute Yapi settled on a direct pass from Lucas ‌Herrington ‌and sizzled a shot past St. Clair for the equaliser.

Miami closed the win playing a man down as Yannick Bright was sent off with a red card in the 87th minute.

Despite missing leading scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the LA Lakers and LeBron James defeat Houston in opener.

Luke Kennard scored a career playoff-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers capitalised on Kevin Durant’s injury absence for a 107-98 victory over the Houston Rockets in the opener of their first-round playoff series on Saturday night.

Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers.

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Both teams played the opener without their most important player. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been out indefinitely with injuries since April 2, while Durant was a late scratch with a bruised right knee.

Los Angeles thrived by hitting 60.6 percent of its shots while holding the Rockets to 37.6 percent shooting with pesky defence.

Alperen Sengun scored 19 points, and Jabari Smith Jr had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who finished one game behind Los Angeles in the regular season. Amen Thompson added 17 points, but Houston’s young core got off to an inconsistent start after becoming the firm favourite in this series due to the Lakers’ injury woes.

Game 2 is on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

Kennard rallies Lakers in second half

The Lakers acquired Kennard from Atlanta in early February, and the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter became a key reserve before he seized a major role over the past two weeks in the absence of Los Angeles’s starting backcourt. He hit four 3-pointers in Game 1, while making nine of his first 12 shots.

Durant must wait at least one more game to make his Rockets playoff debut after banging knees with a teammate in practice on Wednesday. Reed Sheppard took his spot in the starting lineup and hit five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, but the Rockets struggled for consistent half-court offence in Durant’s absence despite grabbing 21 offensive rebounds.

The Lakers took the lead for good on their first bucket of the second half, and they pushed their advantage to 16 points in the fourth quarter. Kennard scored 16 points after halftime, while the 41-year-old James began his 19th NBA postseason with an inspired, eight-assist first quarter, followed by several gritty baskets down the stretch.

Los Angeles also got a boost from veteran guard Marcus Smart, who had 15 points and eight assists with four 3-pointers in his Lakers playoff debut. Smart said before the series that success would come down to “willpower”, and the Lakers clearly had more for starters.

Bronny James began the second quarter playing alongside his famous father in the first significant playoff minutes of the 21-year-old’s career.

Top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says US naval blockade of Iran’s ports is ‘a clumsy and ignorant decision’.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC) says the Strait of Hormuz is closed and that any ship that attempts to pass through the waterway will be targeted, a dramatic reversal less than 24 hours after the critical shipping lane was reopened.

In a statement carried by Iran’s Student News Agency, the IRGC navy said on Saturday the strait will be closed until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports. It said the blockade was a violation of the ongoing ceasefire agreement in the US-Israel war on Iran.

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“We warn that no vessel of any kind should move from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted,” it said.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and a senior negotiator in talks between Washington and Tehran on ending the war, said in a television interview that “the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic”.

“The Americans have been declaring a blockade for several days now. This is a clumsy and ignorant decision,” he added.

The reassertion of control came just hours after Iran had briefly reopened the strait, in line with a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Oil prices dropped on global markets after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the waterway was “completely open for all commercial vessels.”

More than a dozen commercial ships passed through the waterway before the IRGC reversed course.

Iranian gunboats reportedly fired on two commercial ships on Saturday, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). India’s Ministry of External Affairs also said that two Indian-flagged ships were involved in a “shooting incident” in the strait.

Some merchant vessels in the region received radio messages from the IRGC Navy, warning that no ships were being allowed through the strait.

US President Donald Trump said Tehran could not blackmail Washington by closing the waterway and warned that he would put an end to the ceasefire if a deal before its expiry on Wednesday is not reached. Trump added that the naval blockade would “remain in full force”.

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, meanwhile, said the navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.

‘Two competing blockades’

Al Jazeera correspondent Zein Basravi said that Iran and the US are back where they were the previous day.

“Less than 24 hours ago, world leaders were praising what they thought was a breakthrough in this conflict, hoping Iran was signalling a confidence-building measure by opening the Strait of Hormuz, potentially leading to a ceasefire deal and a permanent end to the war,” he said.

“As disappointed as people may be, this isn’t entirely surprising. What we’re seeing now is a return to square one,” he added, saying there are now “two competing blockades in place”.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said Iran was using the strait to send a message.

“It’s clear that Iran is dealing with a situation in which they are not sure what’s on the table. So the Strait of Hormuz is once again the only space for engagement, even if it’s a negative engagement. And it’s the space where they are sending and conveying messages to the Americans, showing their leverage,” he said.

Israeli forces say they have established a so-called “yellow line” in southern Lebanon, similar to an Israeli military measure in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday that over the previous 24 hours, its forces “operating south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat”.

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It is the first time the Israeli military has referred to such a “yellow line” in Lebanon, and comes after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on Thursday.

Since a ceasefire in Gaza took effect in October, Israel’s so-called “yellow line” has divided the Palestinian territory into separate zones, with an eastern area controlled by the Israeli military and a western area where Palestinians face fewer restrictions on their movement.

Israeli troops routinely fire on anyone approaching the line, and they have demolished hundreds of homes in the zone under their control.

Reporting from Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the Israeli military’s announcement of a “yellow line” in Lebanon appeared to represent the “continuation of the ‘Gazafication’ of southern Lebanon”.

“Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz had said that the army has been instructed to demolish the Lebanese villages on the border based on the Beit Hanoon and Rafah models, and we know exactly what that looks like because there’s nothing left there,” she said.

“In Lebanon, it may not be, at least for now, to expand the area occupied in southern Lebanon. But, certainly, the demolition of Lebanese villages continues, and the minister of defence has also drawn an equivalence between Shia villages and Hezbollah infrastructure in the same way he considered Palestinians in Gaza to represent Hamas and to be an equal threat to Israel,” she added.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out attacks in southern Lebanon. Israeli artillery attacks on Saturday hit the southern Lebanese towns of Beit Leif, Qantara and Touline, while the military has continued razing homes across several areas.

In a statement, the military said it waged the attacks in response to fighters approaching areas where Israeli soldiers are still stationed in southern Lebanon, claiming they posed “an imminent threat”.

“Actions taken in self-defence and to remove immediate threats are not restricted by the ceasefire,” the military added.

Ceasefire ‘must be from both sides’

Later on Saturday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that the ongoing 10-day truce with Israel cannot continue unless both sides uphold it.

“A ceasefire means a complete cessation of all hostilities. Because we do not trust this enemy, the resistance fighters will remain in the field with their hands on the trigger, and they will respond to violations accordingly,” Qassem said in a statement read out on TV.

“There is no ceasefire from the side of the resistance only; it must be from both sides.”

Qassem also demanded that Israel completely withdraw from Lebanon.

The next steps, Qassem said, would focus on the release of prisoners and the return of residents to their homes in the border areas.

A final step, he said, would involve a significant reconstruction campaign, coupled with international Arab support.

He also added that Hezbollah is “open to cooperation with the [state] in Lebanon on a new page” based on achieving their “national sovereignty and preventing strife”.

Thursday’s ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah comes after a previous one, which had ostensibly been in effect since November 27, 2024. But the United Nations has counted more than 10,000 Israeli ceasefire violations since then, as well as hundreds of Lebanese deaths.

Israel has repeatedly told the Lebanese government that Hezbollah must be disarmed for any truce to last.

For its part, Hezbollah has said that Israel needs to withdraw from the country’s southern region first as part of the 2024 ceasefire deal agreed between the armed group and Israel.

The Lebanese government has been uneasy about Hezbollah’s influence in the country. Last December, the government said it was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of the 2024 ceasefire deal with Israel.

At the start of the latest conflict, the Lebanese government also outlawed Hezbollah’s military wing. But the government has also always been apprehensive of Israel’s actions. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun also previously refused to speak directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about their differences.

On Thursday, while announcing the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, US President Donald Trump revealed that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lebanon’s President Aoun could meet ⁠in Washington over ⁠the ⁠next week or two for negotiations on ending the fighting.

The leaders of Mexico, Brazil and Spain have pledged more aid to Cuba, while appealing for the island nation’s sovereignty to be respected amid an ongoing pressure campaign from United States President Donald Trump.

The joint statement on Saturday was released as leftist leaders from across the globe met in Barcelona.

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The three countries expressed “great concern about the serious humanitarian crisis that the people of Cuba are going through”.

The US has imposed a trade embargo on Cuba since Cold War tensions emerged in the 1960s.

But the Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on the island’s communist government, in an apparent attempt to prompt leadership change.

Since January, Trump has barred the import of oil from Venezuela. He also threatened other countries with sanctions if they deliver oil to Cuba, leading to fuel shortages and energy blackouts.

The campaign against Cuba’s government follows similar pressure tactics against Venezuela’s former President Nicolas Maduro, who was abducted and imprisoned in a US military operation on January 3.

Trump, meanwhile, has floated the removal of Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

In Saturday’s statement, the governments of Mexico, Spain and Brazil — represented by President Claudia Sheinbaum, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, respectively — warned against any actions that run “contrary to international law”.

“We are committed to coordinating an increase in our humanitarian response, aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Cuban people,” the trio said.

While the statement did not directly reference the US, it called for respect for “territorial integrity, sovereign equality and peaceful settlement of disputes”, as outlined in the United Nations Charter.

The three countries further said that any solution in Cuba must “ensure that it is the Cuban people themselves who decide their future in full freedom”.

Trump says Cuba could be next

Earlier this week, Trump again suggested the US could use military force against Cuba, saying his attention could turn to the island following the conclusion of the US-Israel war against Iran.

“We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this,” he said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly denied US policy has contributed to the humanitarian situation in Cuba, instead framing the crisis as the product of decades of economic mismanagement.

Diaz-Canel, meanwhile, was defiant as he spoke on Thursday during a gathering marking the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s declaration on the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution.

“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression,” Diaz-Canel said.

“We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it.”

Trump takes aim at Spain

Saturday’s joint statement came as leaders gathered in Barcelona to portray a united front in support of the multilateralism Trump has long railed against.

Spain’s Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Trump, did not mention the president by name as he railed against right-wing populism.

“They know their vision of how the world should be ordered is falling apart due to the tariffs and wars,” he said. “Their embrace of climate change denial, of xenophobia, or of sexism is their greatest error.”

“They have tried again and again to make us embarrassed of our beliefs. That ends now. From now on, they can be the ones who feel ashamed.”

Trump, meanwhile, took aim at Sanchez in a post on Truth Social. The president has repeatedly criticised Spain for not allowing the US military to use its bases in the US-Israel war with Iran and for not increasing its defence spending.

“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!” Trump wrote.

The order calls on the federal government to relax restrictions on psychedelics, including ibogaine, for potential treatments.

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to speed up the review of a handful of psychedelic drugs, including the controversial ibogaine.

Trump was joined by podcaster Joe Rogan during Saturday’s Oval Office event.

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Rogan, considered one of the most influential podcasters in the country, has been a leading proponent of ibogaine, which is derived from a plant that grows in West Africa and has been embraced by some military veteran groups as a treatment for post-traumatic stress.

Speaking at the event, Rogan recounted how he had previously texted information to Trump about ibogaine.

He recalled that the president quickly texted back: “Sounds great. Do you want FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approval? Let’s do it.”

Advocacy groups have long pushed for more research into the possible use of psychedelics to treat an array of issues, including depression.

“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump said at the signing.

“If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it’s going to have a tremendous impact.”

At one point, the president quipped that he would be open to taking psychedelics himself: “Can I have some, please? I’ll take some.”

But he quickly pivoted away from the joke. “I don’t have time to be depressed. You know, if you stay busy enough, maybe that works, too. That’s what I do,” he said.

Increasing research into psychedelics has proven a rare issue with bipartisan support in the US, where ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government’s most restrictive category for illegal drugs.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr had previously pledged to ease access to psychedelics for medical use.

Trump’s executive order calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to direct at least $50m to states that have enacted or are developing programmes to advance psychedelic drugs for serious mental illness.

It also arrives ahead of several actions from the FDA to loosen restrictions.

This week, the agency will issue so-called “national priority” vouchers for three psychedelics, which the agency’s commissioner, Marty Makary, said will allow certain drugs to be approved quickly “if they are in line with our national priorities”.

The FDA is also taking steps to clear the way for the first-ever human trials of ibogaine in the US. Previous research had been stalled by concerns over the drug potentially triggering fatal heart problems.

Ibogaine was first used by members of the Bwiti religion in African nations like Gabon for religious ceremonies.

Rogan’s endorsement helped boost Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election. He has since publicly questioned the administration’s war with Iran, saying it runs counter to Trump’s campaign pledges.

Also present on Saturday was Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL whose memoir about his time in Afghanistan, Lone Survivor, was later made into a film.

He praised ibogaine during the ceremony: “It absolutely changed my life for the better.”