Iran war updates: IRGC says Hormuz closed until US blockade lifted
Here’s what happened today
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has said the Strait of Hormuz is closed again, blaming US “violations” of the ceasefire agreement.
It said the vital shipping lane would remain closed until the US ends its blockade of Iranian ports.
An attack on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon resulted in the death of one French soldier and the wounding of several others.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, denied all responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, Israel carried out at least two strikes on southern Lebanon, despite a two-day-old ceasefire.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, said the truce between Lebanon and Israel could not be “one-sided”, and that its fighters remain in the field, prepared to respond to Israeli aggression.
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Iran, saying it could not “blackmail” the US by using its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain condemns Lebanon attack that killed French soldier serving with UNIFIL
The Foreign Ministry of Bahrain has condemned the “terrorist” attack that killed a French soldier serving with UNIFIL, and wounded three others as a “flagrant violation” of international law.
In a statement, the ministry said it affirmed Bahrain’s solidarity with Lebanon and support for the efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.
It also expressed its backing for the work of UNIFIL in maintaining peace and stability in Lebanon.
Editor’s Choice: What to read and watch right now
We’ve published several stories covering various aspects of the conflict in recent hours. Here are a few highlights:
Iran reasserts control of Hormuz Strait as Trump warns against ‘blackmail’
Israel says established a ‘yellow line’ in Lebanon, as it has in Gaza
Watch: Mariana Mazzucato on the Iran war’s economic shock: Who pays the price?
Trump claims on Iranian concessions trigger questions, rejections in Tehran
Watch: Iran’s deputy FM says no date for more US talks until ‘framework’ agreed
Photos: Protests held in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu’s war policy
Israeli left-wing activists hold placards against the ongoing war with Iran and Lebanon and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, in Tel Aviv on April 18, 2026.
Left-wing activists hold placards against the ongoing war on Iran and Lebanon, and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government [Jack Guez/AFP]
Iranian official says no enriched uranium to be sent to US
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh says his country will not send any enriched uranium to the US and that the question is “not open for discussion”.
The IRNA news agency reported on Khatibzadeh’s comments, which came on the sidelines of a diplomatic meeting in Turkiye.
“Multiple messages have been exchanged between Iran and the United States, but [the US] insists on demands that Tehran considers excessive,” he said, according to IRNA.
US, Iran, and the ‘escalation trap’
Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, has cautioned that the war “is very far from over”.
“I realise there are great hopes; there’s been tremendous pain and damage as a result of this war.But we need to understand that there are large zero-sum differences between the United States and Iran,” he told Al Jazeera.
Pape said the reason for this is “simply not the result of complexity or bad diplomatic skills”,but the fact that both sides cannot have their preferred outcome in their key issues.
“Iran wants Hormuz, and it wants to keep its enriched uranium; and the US wants exactly the opposite, not half of a loaf –and that’s what’s really standing in the way,” he added.
For Pape, the “most troubling part” of this reality is that both sides are signalling they prefer war to losing on one of these key issues.
“That’s the real rub here and why you can’t just simply divide everything in the middle or have one side lose, because it will just go back to an escalation,” he said,adding that this circles back to the “escalation trap”.
“Both sides are now trapped where they prefer fighting to surrendering on one of these core issues, and it’s not likely to be resolved really any time soon,” Pape said, warning that this could effectively go on for weeks and even months.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/4/18/iran-war-live-tehran-says-president-trump-made-false-claims-amid-talks