European countries are preparing a plan for a coalition of states to help clear shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after the conflict, including sending minesweeping ships and other military vessels, the Wall Street Journal reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the plan was envisioned as an international defense mission that would not involve "warring" parties, and sources said it could include the United States, Israel and Iran.
No ships managed to break through a US naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships obeyed orders to turn back, the US military said, providing the first details of a day-old operation ordered by President Donald Trump after peace talks between the US and Iran collapsed.
The US military had previously said the blockade, which began on Monday, would only apply to ships heading to or departing from Iran, including all Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
"During the first 24 hours, no ships passed the US blockade, and six merchant vessels followed instructions from US forces to turn around and return to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman," the US military's Central Command said in a statement.
The blockade is reportedly being enforced by more than 10.000 US military personnel, more than a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft.
"The blockade is being implemented impartially against ships of all countries entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas," the statement added.
In a notice sent to mariners on Monday about the blockade, the US military stated: "Any vessel entering or leaving the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion and seizure."
Monday's announcement also stated that the blockade would cover the entire Iranian coast, but that humanitarian shipments, including food, medical supplies and other essential goods, would be allowed through subject to inspection.
The blockade further increases uncertainty about how ships will pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that transports a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies.
Iranian threats to maritime traffic have caused global oil prices to rise by about 50 percent since the US and Israel launched a war on February 28.
The blockade efforts in the Strait of Hormuz will not fall to the US Coast Guard, at least for now, a US official told Reuters, in part because six Coast Guard ships, which were based in the Middle East, were sent to Asia in the early days of the war.
Thousands of US military strikes have severely weakened Iran's military. However, analysts say Tehran has emerged from the conflict as a formidable challenge for Washington, with a tougher leadership and hidden stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran could continue in Pakistan over the next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post.
"You really should stay there, because something could happen in the next two days, and we're more inclined to go back there," he was quoted as saying.
Trump said that Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is doing a "great job" in these negotiations.
"He's fantastic, and that's why we're more likely to go back there," Trump said.
The US blockade of Iranian ports involves more than 10.000 US military personnel, more than a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft, the US Central Command said.
In the first 24 hours, no ship managed to pass the blockade, while six merchant ships acted on orders from US forces, the statement said.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had spoken with Iranian President Massoud Pezizian and United States President Donald Trump about a ceasefire and the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
"I called for the resumption of the negotiations interrupted in Islamabad, for the clarification of misunderstandings and for the avoidance of new phases of escalation," Macron wrote on X.
He stated that it is necessary for everyone to strictly respect the ceasefire, and that includes Lebanon.
"It is equally important that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened as soon as possible, unconditionally, without controls or tolls," Macron added.
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The war with Iran has led to a sharp increase in Russia's oil export revenues, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today.
Russian crude oil and refined product exports rose by 320.000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7,1 million bpd in March, driven by a search for alternative sources of oil amid supply disruptions in the Middle East. But revenue from those exports rose even more sharply as global oil prices rose: Russia earned $19 billion last month, almost double the $9,7 billion in February, the IEA said in its monthly report.
The agency, however, warned that Russia may have difficulty increasing oil production beyond the levels recorded at the beginning of the first quarter of this year in the coming period, due to damage to port and energy infrastructure. According to the report, Russian ports on the Baltic and Black Seas, as well as refineries, have been repeatedly damaged in Ukrainian drone attacks.
High oil prices have boosted the Kremlin's revenues, helping Russia plug the federal budget deficit and sustain war operations in Ukraine.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that she is suspending the defense agreement between Italy and Israel, reports The Guardian.
"In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel," she said on the sidelines of an event in Verona, Italian news agency Ansa reported, without providing further details.
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the agreement, first signed in 2005 and automatically renewed every five years, was designed to boost trade deals between Italy and Israel, particularly in the defense sector, as well as to facilitate military research and development.
In additional comments, Meloni responded to Donald Trump's extensive criticism on his Truth Social app, in which he accused Pope Leo XIV of being "weak on crime." Meloni described such statements as unacceptable.
"I have expressed and continue to express my solidarity with Pope Leo," she added.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will host a summit in Paris on Friday that will focus on efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Downing Street has announced, reports the Guardian.
"The summit will advance work on a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to protect international shipping after the conflict ends," a British government spokesman said.
Macron previously said that the countries participating in the initiative would work on a "strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties in the conflict", which is "intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances allow".
As the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah calls on Lebanon to withdraw from today's talks with Israel, Reuters reports additional details, including news that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the meeting.
The talks will be held in Washington at 11 a.m. Eastern time between Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamada Moawad, officials said.
In addition to Rubio, the meeting will be attended by US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, as well as State Department advisor Michael Needham, a State Department official said.
Lebanon, Israel and the US have issued conflicting statements about what the talks will cover.
The Lebanese presidency said the talks would focus on declaring a ceasefire and setting a date for the start of bilateral negotiations. Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said on Sunday that the ceasefire was the only substantive issue that Moawad was authorized to discuss.
Israel, however, says the talks will not discuss a ceasefire, but will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said on Monday.
Reuters is now reporting that, according to the Iranian embassy in Pakistan, the talks could take place this week or early next week.
"No final date has been set, and the delegations have left the period from Friday to Sunday open," a senior Iranian source said, the agency reported.
Three Iranian-linked tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the first full day of a US blockade of Iranian ports, Reuters reported, citing shipping traffic data.
The agency states that the three vessels were not en route to Iranian ports, and therefore were not included in the blockade.
The Panamanian-flagged medium-range tanker Peace Gulf was en route to the port of Hamriyah in the United Arab Emirates. The ship is carrying Iranian crude oil (chemical crude), which is used to make plastics and chemicals.
The US-sanctioned tanker Murlikishan, which was sailing to Iraq to load fuel oil, also passed through. The ship, formerly known as the MKA, was carrying Russian and Iranian oil.
The Rich Starry, a Chinese-flagged ship under US sanctions that is set to be the first to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, is currently near the Gulf of Oman. It is carrying about 250.000 barrels of methanol, which it loaded at its last port of call in the UAE.
China has said it will impose countermeasures after Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States if Beijing provides military aid to Iran.
"If the US insists on using this as an excuse to impose additional tariffs on China, China will definitely take decisive countermeasures," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press conference, according to Agence France-Presse.
Giakun added that reports that China is supplying weapons to Iran are completely fabricated.
In additional comments, Guo stated that the US blockade of Iranian ports further threatens the safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as dangerous and irresponsible behavior.
Saudi Arabia is calling on the United States to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, fearing that Iran could retaliate and target other shipping routes, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Arab officials.
Officials have expressed concern that Iran could close the Bab el-Mandeb, a key maritime point between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, which has already been exposed to Houthi attacks.
Saudi Arabia relies on its Red Sea port of Yanbu for oil exports, but the closure of Bab el-Mandeb could leave the kingdom without its last remaining export route.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the world not to be allowed to return to the "law of the jungle" in his most significant comments yet on Middle East security since US and Israeli attacks on Iran six weeks ago plunged the region into conflict, CNN reports.
Xi, who has largely left China's response to the Gulf war to diplomatic channels, made the statement during a meeting with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in Beijing today.
The two sides exchanged views on the current situation in the Gulf, with Xi stressing China's position on the need to promote peace and dialogue, reiterating that China will continue to play a constructive role, according to a statement by Chinese state media.
As part of his "four proposals", Xi called for respecting the principle of peaceful coexistence among states and developing a sustainable security architecture, a formulation that Beijing often uses to indirectly criticize the US-led alliance system, which it sees as a threat to global security.
He also called for respect for international law and stressed that it must not be applied selectively, another frequent criticism of Beijing against the United States.
"The authority of international law must be upheld; it must not be applied selectively or discarded when convenient, nor must the world be allowed to return to the law of the jungle," Xi said, according to the statement.
The phrase "law of the jungle" is often used by Chinese leaders and state media to criticize unilateral moves, which they most often attribute to the United States.
The Chinese leader also stressed that the sovereignty of states must be respected, including protecting the security of their personnel, facilities and institutions of all countries, and that security and development should be harmonized.
Reuters reports that the United States and Iran will return to Pakistan to continue peace talks. Citing four sources, the agency said that negotiating teams from both sides will be in Islamabad for a second round of talks later this week.
The US State Department has confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will participate in a meeting between the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel in Washington today.
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moavad will join Rubio in talks scheduled for today (15:30 GMT) at the State Department.
The talks are aimed at ending the conflict that has engulfed southern Lebanon, where Israel has been shelling Hezbollah positions, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee. The latest fighting between Israel and Lebanon has been devastating - more than a million people have been displaced from Lebanon, and more than 2.000 have been killed and more than 6.500 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, reports the BBC.
It is the first time in decades that officials from two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, have met face to face, in direct negotiations.
The talks come just days after the US and Iran failed to reach a deal to end a wider Middle East war.
The two ambassadors are expected to discuss the possibility of direct negotiations at a higher level.
Lebanese authorities first want to broker a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hezbollah. But Israel has ruled that out, insisting that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group, must disarm. Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, saying it will not abide by anything agreed upon.
Hezbollah leader Haim Qassem yesterday called on Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel. The group rejects the idea of direct negotiations with Israel.
Later today, Rubio will also meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati.
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Iran's representative to the United Nations has demanded compensation from countries it claims participated in US-Israeli war operations against Iran, reports The Guardian.
Iranian state media reports that these countries include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Iran's official IRNA news agency, citing the Associated Press, reports that Iran's representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, assessed that these countries violated international law and must fully compensate for the damage caused to Iran, including paying compensation for all material and non-material damage resulting from their international violations.
As previously reported, Iravani on Monday condemned the US blockade of Iranian ports as a serious violation of Iran's sovereignty.
The Israeli army announced that one of its soldiers was killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, while three others were wounded.
"In the incident in which Sergeant First Class Ayal Uriel Bianco was killed, one reservist was moderately wounded, and two additional reservists were lightly injured," the Israeli army announced on the X network.
It added that the soldiers were evacuated for hospital treatment and that their families have been notified.
Israeli attacks on Beirut and its southern suburbs have reportedly stopped since last Wednesday, but heavy fighting has continued in southern Lebanon, where ground forces have invaded and Israel claims to be establishing a security buffer zone.
A tanker under US sanctions passed through the Strait of Hormuz today, shipping data shows, testing the US naval blockade.
The tanker "Rich Stari" is Chinese-owned and has a Chinese crew, according to data cited by Reuters.
Bloomberg reported earlier in the day that the medium-range tanker, formerly known as the Full Star, was blacklisted by Washington in 2023 for helping Tehran evade energy sanctions. It was not clear whether it visited Iranian ports before transiting or was carrying cargo.
"President Trump, Vice President Vance and the negotiating team have clearly defined the red lines of the United States. Iran's desperate need for an agreement will only grow now that President Trump's highly effective naval blockade is in place," said White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt, according to the Guardian.
Earlier today, US Vice President JD Vance said that negotiations with Iran had made some progress, particularly on the US insistence that nuclear material be removed from Iran, as well as on a mechanism that would ensure that uranium enrichment cannot occur in the future.
"They moved in our direction," Vance said in an interview with Fox News.
He added that he believes Iranian negotiators are unable to reach an agreement and need approval from others in Tehran.
Vance also said that US negotiators had made it clear that Trump "would be very happy if Iran was treated as a normal country, with a normal economy," but did not go into detail.
"I really think there is a great deal that can be achieved. But it's up to Iran to take the next step," Vance concluded.
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