U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Drive One on April 17, 2026 simply previous to touchdown at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
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Win McNamee/Getty Pictures North America
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps joint navy command issued a press release on Saturday morning claiming that management of the Strait of Hormuz has “returned to its earlier state” and the strategic waterway is now “beneath strict administration and management by the armed forces.” In a press release cited by Iranian state tv, the IRGC command stated that the restriction can be in place till the U.S. fully lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
The announcement got here the morning after President Donald Trump had stated the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will stay and assaults might resume if no settlement is reached earlier than the present ceasefire with Iran expires subsequent week.
Talking aboard Air Drive One on Friday evening, requested by a reporter what he’ll do if there is no deal earlier than the ceasefire expires, Trump stated, “I do not know. Possibly I will not prolong it, however the blockade goes to stay. However possibly I will not prolong it, so you will have a blockade and sadly we’ll have to begin dropping bombs once more.”
Trump was on his approach again to Washington, after showing at Turning Level USA’s “Construct the Crimson Wall” rally in Phoenix, AZ. Regardless of hinting at the potential for resuming assaults on Iran, Trump additionally informed reporters “I feel it is going to occur,” referring to a deal.
Additionally on Friday, hours after Iran stated that the Strait of Hormuz was open to industrial ships, the U.S. Treasury Division introduced it was extending its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments to ease shortages from the Iran struggle. Talking on the White Home on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had dominated out such a transfer.
girl is seen carrying an Iranian flag throughout a pro-government Nationwide Military Day demonstration on April 17, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.
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Majid Saeedi/Getty Pictures Europe
Listed here are additional updates within the Center East battle:
Strait of Hormuz | World leaders on ceasefire | Lebanon reactions | European leaders
A flurry of bulletins and reactions on Friday
Iran stated early Friday it was reopening the Strait of Hormuz for industrial ships, after Israel and Hezbollah started a short lived ceasefire in a single day.
However whereas President Trump celebrated the reopening, he insisted the U.S. naval blockade remained in enforced on Iran.
The bulletins got here in a flurry of social media messages.
First, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi stated the passage for industrial ships by means of the Strait of Hormuz was “fully open” on a coordinated route beforehand indicated by Iran.
Trump responded with a slew of posts.
“THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED,” Trump wrote.
Iran’s International Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, informed Iranian state outlet Mehr that if the naval blockade continues, Iran will take reciprocal motion.
Trump additionally stated Iran was eradicating “all sea mines,” with the assistance of the U.S., presumably referring to mines positioned within the Strait of Hormuz.
Merchants work on the ground of the New York Inventory Trade throughout morning buying and selling on April 17, 2026 in New York Metropolis.
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Pictures North America
Oil costs tumbled and inventory markets rallied on the announcement the strait was open for industrial ships.
World leaders urge restraint as an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire takes maintain
President Trump hailed the ceasefire to pause preventing between Israel and Hezbollah as a “historic day” for Lebanon. He later issued his strongest public feedback demanding that Israel uphold the settlement, after urging the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah to take action.
“Israel is not going to be bombing Lebanon any longer. They’re PROHIBITED from doing so by the usA. Sufficient is sufficient!!!” Trump wrote on Reality Social Friday.
On Thursday evening, he wrote: “I hope Hezbollah acts properly and properly throughout this vital time frame. It will likely be [a] GREAT second for them in the event that they do. No extra killing. Should lastly have PEACE!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the ceasefire might open the door to a broader settlement with Lebanon, however made clear Israel wouldn’t withdraw from what he described as an expanded 10-kilometer-deep safety buffer zone in southern Lebanon. He additionally stated any talks would hinge on Hezbollah’s disarmament.
A person walks amongst particles in a mosque destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Jibchit, southern Lebanon, Friday, following the beginning of a short lived ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
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Hassan Ammar/AP
Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, known as the settlement a central Lebanese demand because the begin of the struggle and stated he hoped displaced residents would have the ability to return residence quickly.
Trump on Thursday additionally stated he was inviting Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White Home for peace talks.
U.N. Secretary-Normal António Guterres stated he welcomed the ceasefire and urged all sides to respect it totally, including he hoped it could result in negotiations towards a long run resolution.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who’s credited for mediating the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, additionally welcomed the truce, calling it a step towards “sustainable peace” and reaffirmed his nation’s assist for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Hezbollah, in the meantime, urged individuals displaced by the preventing to not rush again to southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs till the scenario turns into clearer. The Israeli navy additionally warned Lebanese residents to not return to their villages but for his or her security.
Hezbollah stated in a separate assertion any ceasefire should apply throughout Lebanese territory and warned that any continued Israeli presence would go away Lebanon with the suitable to withstand relying on how occasions unfold.
Hezbollah has each a political wing, with a number of lawmakers in Lebanon’s nationwide parliament, and militia that operates largely independently of the Lebanese authorities and receives funding and course from Iran.
Lebanon’s authorities has pushed for a ceasefire earlier than coming into larger diplomatic negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah opposes the talks.
Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2024, however U.N. peacekeepers recorded greater than 10,000 violations of that settlement, largely by Israeli forces.
1000’s in Lebanon head residence regardless of warnings
1000’s of individuals displaced by preventing in Lebanon in latest weeks started heading residence Friday, hours after the ceasefire with Israel took impact, regardless of warnings from Hezbollah, Lebanese authorities officers and the Israeli navy that it was nonetheless too harmful to return residence.
The struggle has displaced round 1.2 million individuals in Lebanon, in response to United Nations and Lebanese figures, and plenty of are actually going again to evaluate the injury of their properties.
A supporter of Hezbollah holds a machine gun whereas celebrating the ceasefire with Israel because it takes impact after midnight within the southern suburbs of Beirut.
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Ibrahim Amro/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Hussein Farhat, a shopkeeper from Beirut’s southern suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold that was repeatedly focused in Israeli strikes — informed NPR he was eager about going residence to test on his store, however would not transfer again till the preventing got here to a everlasting finish.
“You are feeling a heartbreak simply visiting your own home and neighborhood and then you definately depart,” he stated. “It is heartbreaking.”
Israeli forces have destroyed greater than 40,000 properties in southern Lebanon, in response to Lebanese officers, taking up entire villages to create what Israel says is a “safety buffer zone” to maintain Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel.
The most recent spherical of preventing started after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel following the U.S. and Israeli assaults on Iran on Feb. 28. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes and a floor invasion of southern Lebanon.
In his remarks shortly after the ceasefire was introduced, Netanyahu made clear Israel didn’t intend to withdraw quickly, saying “we aren’t leaving.”
In a prolonged assertion on Friday, the Israeli prime minister’s workplace stated, “The street to peace remains to be lengthy, however we’ve got begun it.” It added, “One in every of our fingers holds a weapon; our different hand is prolonged in peace.”
France and Britain push to revive long-term safety within the Strait of Hormuz
Friday’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz was now open got here as European leaders gathered in Paris for a gathering targeted on securing freedom of navigation within the very important waterway, by means of which about 20% of the world’s crude oil and pure gasoline sometimes passes.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who hosted the worldwide summit — welcomed the information however stated there must be a long-lasting and workable resolution.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron, proper, welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer previous to a global summit to push ahead efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, on the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Friday, April 17, 2026.
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Michel Euler/AP
Leaders from dozens of nations attended the assembly, together with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Talking after the summit, Starmer stated that every one attendees agreed that the strait ought to be opened with out tolls or restrictions.
The U.S. was not concerned within the talks, which Macron described as targeted on a “strictly defensive” mission to guard industrial transport when the preventing stops. That features demining the route, intelligence sharing, navy escorts and guaranteeing Iran doesn’t cost ships for passing by means of the waterway.
The transport route had been choked off by the struggle within the Center East, with Iran successfully closing off the slender strait. As well as, Iran’s retaliatory assaults on Gulf international locations’ oil and gasoline refineries have brought on additional disruption in world provide. In consequence, some worldwide specialists stated the world was dealing with “the best power safety menace in historical past.”
Forward of the assembly, Starmer stated the reopening of the strait was a “world duty,” as international locations labored to restrict the financial fallout from the battle, which has despatched power markets reeling.
Trump has criticized European international locations for rejecting or hesitating to become involved within the struggle with Iran.
The struggle on Iran has had extreme penalties for economies throughout the Mideast.
A brand new report by the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) says the hardest-hit international locations are Iran, Iraq and Qatar.
Along with disruption of oil circulate by means of the Strait of Hormuz, main airports from Doha to Dubai have seen visitors drop dramatically due to the struggle, affecting income throughout the Gulf.|
The Worldwide Financial Fund stated the nation worst-hit economically is Qatar, with a virtually 9% contraction to its financial system this yr due to an entire suspension of gasoline manufacturing.
The IMF additionally predicts that Iran’s financial system will shrink by 6% this yr, and that Iraq’s will contract by almost 7%.
These figures are primarily based on assumptions the present ceasefire holds and power manufacturing resumes to regular ranges by June.
Elsewhere within the area, in response to the report, power importers like Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan have needed to spend extra attributable to hovering oil and gasoline costs, widening their fiscal deficits.
