Global oil prices have surged above $100 after the US Department of War announced that American forces will begin enforcing a blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports from 10 am ET (2 pm GMT) on April 13.
US Central Command said the blockade would apply to vessels of all nations calling at Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, but insisted that it would not impede freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for ships travelling to and from non-Iranian ports.
Global oil prices soared past $100 a barrel after the announcement, as Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned Americans to “enjoy” current prices at the pump, adding that “soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”
President Donald Trump has previously threatened to deny “safe passage” to any ships that have complied with Iran’s transit rules.
Iran, for its part, has warned that any hostile military activity in the waterway will be met with force, even as President Masoud Pezeshkian has said a deal would still be possible if Washington abandoned what he called “totalitarianism.”
Key developments:
- After the collapse of marathon 21-hour negotiations in Islamabad, Vice President J.D. Vance said Washington had left Pakistan with its “final and best offer” still on the table, while Tehran said the process broke down because of “excessive” or “unreasonable” American demands.
- The main sticking points remain the same: Iran’s nuclear program, the future of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief, war compensation, and the wider regional conflict. Washington has framed the impasse around its demand for a binding commitment that Iran not pursue a nuclear weapon, while Iranian officials say the US tried to win at the negotiating table what it failed to secure during the war.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Islamabad talks came within “inches” of reaching a memorandum of understanding before the process was derailed by “maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade.”
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
13 April 2026
President Trump has sharply escalated his public clash with Pope Leo, attacking the pontiff as “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy” in a lengthy post on Truth Social that touched on Iran, Venezuela, COVID-era church restrictions and the Pope’s criticism of the administration.
The outburst comes days after Leo condemned Trump’s threat against Iran as “truly unacceptable” and denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” driving the war.
Trump accused Leo of being soft on Iran and hostile to his foreign policy, while claiming the Pope’s rise was tied to his own return to the White House.
The UK will not take part in President Trump’s planned blockade of Iran-linked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, but will instead focus on maintaining freedom of navigation, a government spokesman said, insisting that the waterway “must not be subject to tolling.”
“We continue to support freedom of navigation and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is urgently needed to support the global economy and the cost of living back home,” the spokesman told multiple media outlets.
In an interview with Fox News earlier on Sunday, Trump renewed his criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, comparing him to Neville Chamberlain, the former British prime minister associated with pre-World War II appeasement, and dismissing his offer to send military equipment after the conflict, saying such support is needed “before the war starts or during the war.”
The Israeli military says two soldiers from the 98th Division were moderately injured on Sunday in southern Lebanon after a Hezbollah rocket strike. According to the IDF, both were hurt by the blast wave from the impact, evacuated to hospital, and their families were informed.
Hezbollah says it carried out 43 attacks on Israeli positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israel on Sunday, using rockets, drones and other weapons against troops, bases and border positions. According to the group’s account, the targets included Israeli forces in and around Khiam, Biyyada, Bint Jbeil, Taybeh and Shama in southern Lebanon, as well as positions near Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Avivim, Metula and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. The group also said it struck a number of Israeli barracks and bases, including Al-Aliqah, Beit Hillel, Mount Neria, Filon, Yiftah and Dishon.
Open-source flight-tracking accounts on X are reporting a fresh wave of US Air Force cargo aircraft heading toward the Middle East late on Sunday, suggesting Washington may still be moving personnel and materiel into the region after the failed Pakistan talks and the new blockade announcement. The claims have not been formally confirmed by the Pentagon.
Two million barrels of Iranian crude oil were reportedly delivered to India by a National Iranian Tanker Company supertanker, the VLCC FELICITY, on Sunday, marking the first such shipment in seven years following a US sanctions waiver, according to TankerTrackers.com.
India’s shipping ministry granted special permission two days earlier to four vessels carrying Iranian oil at the request of Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s largest refining complex, according to a Reuters report. Those approved include the tankers FELICITY and HEDY, as well as the aframax KAVIZ and VLCC LENORE, each capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels of oil.
Additional shipments totaling several million barrels are expected to arrive in the coming days, the monitoring group said.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the US will “vigorously prosecute” anyone involved in buying or selling sanctioned Iranian oil.
12 April 2026
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who previously served on Iran’s nuclear diplomacy team, says the failed Pakistan talks still showed that a diplomatic channel remains open between Tehran and Washington.
“No one expected a big deal in Pakistan after 40 days of war. Nevertheless, it was high-level direct negotiations, and they can continue to resolve the two remaining issues,” Mousavian told Al Jazeera.
According to Mousavian, the two main sticking points are now clear: freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear enrichment. “I believe there is a solution for both,” he said, suggesting that despite the deadlock in Islamabad, there is still room for further negotiations.
Besides the announced US blockade targeting Iranian ports and traffic around the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is considering resuming “limited” strikes against Iranian infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing sources.
The US president has also not ruled out a broader bombing campaign, though officials say that is less likely because of the risk of wider regional destabilization and his reluctance to enter a prolonged conflict.
“I would hate to do it, but it’s their water, their desalination plants, their power plants, which are very easy to hit,” Trump told Fox News earlier on Sunday.
A White House spokesperson declined to detail specific plans, saying the president “keeps all additional options on the table” and dismissing reports about his next steps as speculation.
Australia has signaled it is not preparing to join the US naval blockade around Hormuz, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying Canberra has not been asked to take part and ministers stressing that diplomacy remains the best path forward.
“We haven’t been asked to participate. We’ve received no requests. We haven’t been asked … and I don’t expect that we will be,” Albanese told local media.
Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who helped steer the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, has warned against expecting any quick breakthrough between Washington and Tehran after the failed Islamabad talks.
“It took us 12 years and an immense amount of technical work, anyone seriously thought an agreement could be reached in 21 hours….?” Mogherini wrote in a post on X.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached in 2015, was negotiated between Iran and the E3/EU+3 – China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the EU coordinating the process – and was designed to keep Iran’s nuclear programme exclusively peaceful in exchange for sanctions relief. The US unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
US gasoline prices have surged since the late-February attack on Iran, with the conflict disrupting global oil supplies and forcing American drivers to cut back on spending.
Fuel costs have climbed above $4 per gallon nationwide, rising by roughly 25% to 30% over the past month, with the national average reaching about $4.16, up around 8 cents in a week.
Global crude markets remain highly volatile, with prices swinging more on Trump’s rhetoric than on developments on the ground, where a tentative ceasefire continues to hold despite the collapse of talks.
Oil prices have jumped sharply after the Pentagon announced a US naval blockade targeting Iranian ports, with fresh fears of disruption around the Strait of Hormuz jolting energy markets.
Market screens showed WTI crude up 8.41% to $104.69 and Brent up 7.46% to $102.30, pushing the global benchmark back above the $100 mark.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked Donald Trump’s blockade threat by warning American drivers that fuel prices could soon surge far beyond current levels.
“Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas,” Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X, sharing a map of gas prices near the White House.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran engaged “in good faith” in the Islamabad talks and came within inches of an “Islamabad MoU” before the process was derailed by “maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade.”
“Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity,” he added in a pointed warning to Washington.
Iran’s embassy in Thailand has mocked President Trump’s decision to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in order to free the waterway as “comical”.
“The new move from Trump against our country is so comical that we don’t even have a meme for it,” the mission said in a post on X.
US Central Command has announced that it will begin enforcing a blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 10am ET on April 13, acting under what it described as President Donald Trump’s “proclamation.”
"The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman," CENTCOM said, promising not to "impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports."
The US military added that commercial mariners would receive further guidance through a formal notice before the operation begins, and advised vessels in the Gulf of Oman and near the approaches to Hormuz to monitor official maritime broadcasts and contact US naval forces on channel 16.