President Trump extended a 10-day ceasefire with Iran indefinitely at Pakistan’s request on April 22, even as the U.S. maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports and Iran seized two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz the same day.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the blockade “an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued near-identical public statements rejecting Trump’s claim of a leadership divide inside Iran. “In Iran there are no ‘hard-liners’ or ‘moderates,'” both wrote. “We are all Iranians and revolutionaries.”
On Friday, Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot and kill Iranian small boats found laying mines in the strait. U.S. forces also seized an Iranian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean — at least the fourth Iran-linked vessel diverted since the blockade began. The Pentagon confirmed 13 U.S. service members killed and 415 wounded in the conflict. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put Iranian civilian deaths at 3,636. That figure includes 254 children.
Peace talks planned for Islamabad collapsed when Iran declined to confirm its participation, and Vice President JD Vance canceled a planned trip to Pakistan. White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are now heading to a new round of talks. The International Energy Agency declared the conflict has produced the worst energy crisis the world has ever faced, as satellite images showed oil spills spreading across the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz from strikes on oil facilities and vessels
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