3m agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 9:29pm
Still no word on what happens after ceasefire expires
Since the face-to-face talks between the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement, there has been no update on an extension to the fragile ceasefire.
Neither nation indicated what would happen after April 22, when the ceasefire expires.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says his country will try to facilitate restarting talks in the coming days.
Iran says it is open to continuing a dialogue, state-run IRNA news agency reports.
Loading…28m agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 9:04pmUS confirms blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
The US military has confirmed it will begin implementing a blockade of “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports”.
In a post on social media, US Central Command said the blockade would begin at 10am US eastern standard time on April 13, which is midnight tonight, Australian eastern standard time.
“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” the post on X said.
“CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”
The post goes on to advise all ships and tankers to contact US naval forces on a specific radio channel “when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches”.
Below is a satellite image of the current build-up of tankers and cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil tankers (red) and cargo ships (green) currently in or near the Strait of Hormuz. (Marine Traffic)
36m agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 8:55pm
Lebanon PM committed to ending the war through negotiations
Earlier we reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming there was no longer a threat of an invasion by Hezbollah militants.
Shortly after Netanyahu made this statement, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he was committed to ending the conflict through a ceasefire.
Nawaf Salam. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
Lebanon and Israel will hold direct talks in Washington starting on Tuesday, local time, in a bid to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Hezbollah supporters have voiced concern over negotiations, saying the government is too weak to end the war.
The government has set a truce as a prerequisite for talks and plans to demand an Israeli withdrawal.
“I feel the pain of the mother who lost her son [fighting] on the frontlines as I feel the pain of the mother who lost her child who did not choose this war and only wanted to live,” said Salam.
52m agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 8:40pm
Iran affirms ‘strategic partnership’ with Russia
After the failed ceasefire talks in Pakistan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Vladimir Putin on the phone.
The pair “reaffirmed their countries’ strategic partnership”, according to the semi-official Iranian news service, Tasnim.
Pezeshkian praised Moscow’s support for Iran’s stance in negotiations with the US, it reports.
“The Iranian President stated that US all-or-nothing demands and double standards are the primary barrier preventing a balanced agreement between Iran and America,” Tasnim reported
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. (Reuters: Sputnik)1h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 8:22pmExpect oil price to jump due to threatened blockade, analysts say
Donald Trump’s latest threat to Iran about the Strait of Hormuz will most likely lead to a jump in the price of oil again, according to experts.
Brent crude oil has gone from about $US99 per barrel before the war in late February to more than $US169 at times.
Michael Lynch, from the Energy Policy Research Foundation, estimates the blockade threat could boost oil prices upwards of $US15 when the market opens after the weekend.
(ABC News: John Gunn)
The blockade would take an estimated 2 million barrels of oil a day out of the market, and the Iran war has already taken roughly 10 million barrels a day out of supply, Lynch said.
“This is a pretty big insult to a pretty big injury, I guess, is the way to put it,” he said.
Kevin Book, managing director of research at ClearView Energy Partners, added that leaner volumes generally mean tighter markets and higher prices.
1h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 8:16pm
Israeli strike kills infant girl during father’s funeral in south Lebanon
Members of the Saeed family were attending a funeral in southern Lebanon to bury a father who was killed in an air strike, when another strike killed other members of the family, including an infant.
The strike on the Saeed family home in the village of Srifa took place on Wednesday, the first day of a US-Iran ceasefire.
Nasser Hussein Saeed, 64. (Reuters: Louisa Gouliamaki)
“They said it was a ceasefire. Like all these people, we went up to the village. We went to the casket to read the prayers and walk home … suddenly we felt like a storm was landing right on us,” said Nasser Saeed, a 64-year-old grandfather, who also survived.
On Sunday, he joined other relatives in the southern port city of Tyre to pick up the bodies wrapped in green cloth.
One of them, a fraction the size of the rest, contained his granddaughter Taleen.
She had not yet turned two.
The body of Taleen Saeed, 18 months old. (Reuters: Louisa Gouliamaki)
With bandages to his head and right hand and scratches on his face, Saeed mourned in silence as the women around him turned their faces up to the sky and screamed in agony.
The Israeli military said it did not have enough details to look into the incident, adding that it takes measures to reduce harm to civilians in its strikes against Hezbollah militants.
1h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 8:05pm
📷 Murals in Tehran during US-Iran talks
AFP photographer Atta Kearne was in Tehran during the US-Iran talks yesterday and captured the images below.
The anti-US mural, which locals walk past each day, was created near the former US embassy in Iran’s capital.
(AFP: Atta Kenare)
(AFP: Atta Kenare)
(AFP: Atta Kenare)
1h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:57pm
Netanyahu declares no risk of invasion from Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used a visit to troops in southern Lebanon to declare that Israeli forces had eliminated the threat of an invasion by Hezbollah militants.
His visit comes two days before officials from Lebanon, Israel and the United States are due to hold direct talks in Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office, which showed him wearing a flak jacket and surrounded by masked soldiers.
“What we are seeing is that we have thwarted the threat of an invasion from Lebanon through this security zone,” he said.
Netanyahu said the ground operations inside southern Lebanon helped in “containing the danger of rocket fire” from Hezbollah targeting northern Israeli communities, adding that Israeli forces were also “dealing with Hamas” in the area.
1h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:40pm
Trump’s first comments post-ceasefire talks
In his first comments since negotiations in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement, the US president said Iran’s actions in the strait were “world extortion”.
Donald Trump instructed the US Navy to commence a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
My colleagues Tim Swanston and Sarah Spina-Matthews have broken down Trump’s first comments following the ceasefire talks.
2h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:24pmIran says it still has control of the strait
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has the Strait of Hormuz shipping bottleneck under its control.
The IRGC warns its enemies will be trapped in a “deadly vortex” if they try to take over or blockade the waterway
“All traffic … is under the full control of the armed forces,” the Guard’s naval command said in a Persian-language post on X.
“The enemy will become trapped in a deadly vortex in the Strait if it makes the wrong move,” it added, posting a video showing vessels in crosshairs.
Iran says there is no blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. (AP: Altaf Qadri)
In a separate statement released by the Guard’s public relations office, the force’s naval command insists the Strait of Hormuz is “open to the harmless passage of civilian vessels in compliance with specific relevant regulations”.
It did not give details on the nature of these rules but added: “Any military vessels that intend to approach the Strait of Hormuz under any pretext will be considered in violation of the ceasefire and will be dealt with severely.”
2h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:19pm
Iran navy chief says Trump’s blockade threat is ‘ridiculous and funny’
The head of Iran’s navy, Shahram Irani, has responded to Donald Trump’s blockade threat.
Irani says the US president’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz is “ridiculous”.
“The brave men of the naval force of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran are monitoring and supervising all the movements of the aggressive American army in the region,” he said in comments aired on Iran state television.
“The threats of the US president to blockade Iran at sea … are very ridiculous and funny.”
2h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:17pmTrump issues fresh Strait of Hormuz threat to Iran
Donald Trump directed the US Navy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz after the ceasefire talks ended.
He also said in a post on Truth Social that the US would take action against every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran.
“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” Trump wrote on social media.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Trump added the US had begun destroying mines that he said the Iranians had dropped in the strait.
(Reuters)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with a statement warning that military vessels approaching the strait will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with harshly and decisively, underlining the risk of a dangerous escalation.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country’s delegation to the talks along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on Iran.
“If you fight, we will fight, and if you come forward with logic, we will deal with logic,” he said.
2h agoSun 12 Apr 2026 at 7:07pmThank you for joining us
Good morning.
Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East war.
Yesterday, marathon talks between the US and Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
After the talks ended, US President Donald Trump said the US Navy would start blockading the Strait of Hormuz.
Stay with us as we bring you updates throughout the day.