Iran threatens to strike ships approaching Hormuz (PHOTOS, VIDEOS): As it happened

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the country would not send any enriched uranium to the United States, adding that the issue is non-negotiable.

“Multiple messages have been exchanged between Iran and the United States, but [the U.S.] insists on demands that Tehran considers excessive,” the diplomat said, as cited by Al Jazeera.

Iran has retained about 40% of its prewar drone arsenal – enough to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. intelligence and military estimates.

The report also said Iran has restored its missile launcher arsenal to about 60% of its prewar level.

CENTCOM has published a photograph of an American destroyer participating in the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

“The blockade has completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,” it claimed.

Israeli forces have carried out shelling and large-scale bombings of at least four settlements in southern Lebanon, which Iran had demanded be covered by its ceasefire with the US, Lebanese state broadcaster NNA has reported.

A girl walks through the rubble of a home destroyed by an Israeli air-strike, Nabatieh, Lebanon, April 18, 2026. © Getty Images / Ryan Murphy

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has slammed Western interventions in Iraq, Libya, as well as the Israeli wars against Gaza and Lebanon, arguing that they were launched under false pretenses.

“The invasion of Iraq was a lie. Where are the chemical weapons that Saddam Hussein supposedly had? They were never found,” he said in a speech.

“And now the bombing of Israel against Lebanon – on what pretext? And now the invasion by the United States against Iran – on what pretext?”

If there is “no breakthrough” in the indirect Iran-US negotiations soon, “the war could resume in the coming days,” Axios has reported, citing a senior American official.

Currently, the tense ceasefire struck between the sides last week is set to expire on Wednesday.

Iran will sue over the US- and Israeli-inflicted damage to several historical sites and monuments in the Islamic Republic, IRNA has reported, citing Isfahan Province Governor Mehdi Jamali Nejad.

“Experts have spent several days in Isfahan, and we have compiled and submitted the necessary documentation” to international organizations, he reportedly said.

At least 131 Iranian cultural heritage sites have been damaged by US-Israeli bombings since February, Hassan Fartousi, Secretary General of Iran’s National Commission for UNESCO has told RT.

There is no easy way to estimate the cost of the damage to the priceless sites, some of which are up to 400-600 years old, Fartousi said. Even if a site is restored, “it cannot keep its originality anymore.”

“It is a catastrophic situation, horrible, that unfortunately we couldn't protect and preserve the cultural heritage sites in our world.”

READ MORE: Trump lied seven times in one hour – Iran’s top negotiator

Tehran will not allow for vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian cargoes cannot, Iranian parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video statement.

“The Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

“The Americans have declared a blockade for several days, this is a foolish and ignorant decision. It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz but for us not to be able to.”

Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has called for Washington to take control of the Strait of Hormuz, continue the US blockade of Iranian ports and to “put Kharg island in the crosshairs.”

“The US and others must demonstrate the ability to control the Strait without Iranian interference,” he wrote on X.

“I urge President Trump to continue the blockade, which has been brilliantly executed and applies maximum pressure.”