US-Iran war live updates: Trump’s blockade of Strait of Hormuz takes effect; Trump deletes image of himself as Jesus Christ; Tehran wants a deal ‘very badly’, says US president

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• The US military has begun its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to stop shipping traffic reaching or leaving the country, a move that threatens to upend an already fragile ceasefire and further disrupt oil prices.
• Iran is blocking traffic in the strait, but it allows some ships perceived as friendly to pass while reportedly charging considerable fees.
• Shortly after midnight today (AEST), Trump warned on social media that any Iranian warships coming “anywhere close” to the US blockade would be immediately destroyed.
• Iran hit back and warned that if Iranian ports were threatened, “no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.”
• Trump told reporters today that Iran had reached out for another round of negotiations, adding “they ’d like to make a deal very badly”.
• Ceasefire talks between the US and Iran over the weekend ended without an agreement, raising questions about what happens when the current two-week truce expires on April 22.
• Meanwhile, Israel continued its air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, engaging in fierce fighting with Hezbollah militants, while the group also fired rockets and drones at northern Israel.
• Trump deleted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ after a wave of backlash, telling reporters “it was supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better”.

According to The New York Times, during peace talks in Pakistan on the weekend, the US asked Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment for 20 years.

Iran sent a formal response to the US yesterday, refusing the offer. However, they said they would agree to suspend uranium enrichment for up to five years, according to two senior Iranian officials and one US official.

The US official said Trump rejected the five-year offer.

The official also said the US asked Iran to remove highly enriched uranium from the country entirely. Iranians insisted the fuel stay inside Iran, but they offered to dilute it significantly so it could not be used to produce a nuclear weapon.

This would not stop them from re-enriching the fuel to bomb-grade in the future.

While there are discussions of another round of in-person negotiations, officials said no plans had been finalised yet.

Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Kassem, has urged the Lebanese government to reject scheduled talks with Israel.

During a televised address, Kassem called on Lebanon not to attend the talks, set to take place in Washington tomorrow, and said Hezbollah “refused negotiations with the Israeli entity”.

“These negotiations are pointless,” Kassem said in a televised address, calling it a “free concession” to Israel and the United States.

Lebanon’s government has maintained it is committed to disarming the Iranian-backed militant group. Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has turned Lebanon into a major front in this conflict.

The country’s Health Ministry says at least 2055 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, among them 252 women, 165 children and 87 medical workers, while 6588 others have been wounded. More than 1 million people have been displaced.

with AP

Trump took a brief timeout overnight to accept a delivery at the Oval Office – because even international crises pause for a burger and fries.

A woman in a “DoorDash Grandma” shirt was photographed handing the US president two bags of McDonald’s. The staged delivery was to promote the government’s new regulations that eliminate taxes on some tips for service industry employees.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says the war in Iran demonstrates the need for Australia to make greater investment in drone warfare. He’s speaking ahead of announcing the new national defence strategy on Thursday.

Conroy said the strategy would invest $15 billion in drone and counter-drone technology, an increase of up to $5 billion.

“Anyone who’s seen the current conflict in the Middle East or the Ukraine-Russia conflict will understand that drones are a key feature of modern warfare, and in many parts of this technology we lead the world,” he told ABC Radio National.

“That up to $5 billion increase will equip the ADF with drones and, importantly, counter-drone technology. It will help deter conflict, and it will also employ more Australians in a very high-skilled Australian defence industry.”

Australia has received no requests from the US to join its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says.

Speaking to Nine’s Today show this morning, Conroy was asked whether Australia would send military assets to the strait if it received a request from the US.

“We’ve received no formal request to send naval assets to that region … Vice Admiral [Mark] Hammond yesterday made it clear that we have eight of our 10 major warships on the water at the moment available to meet government directions,” he said referring to the chief of the Royal Australian Navy.

“But you’re asking me a hypothetical call. No request has been received, and that’s our stated position.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a second deadly strike on a Red Cross centre.

Lebanon’s state news agency reported yesterday’s strike, which it said was carried out by Israel, killed one person and damaged Red Cross vehicles.

It was the second Red Cross volunteer worker death in the region in two days. On Sunday, an Israeli drone strike hit one of their units, killing one paramedic and injuring another.

According to the country’s Health Ministry, at least 87 medical workers in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during an impromptu press conference, Trump reiterated previous threats to take military action against Cuba.

He called it a “failing nation”.

“We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with this,” he said from outside the Oval Office.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has called on the US and Iran to return to the negotiating table amid the newest escalation in the ongoing conflict as Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports in Strait of Hormuz takes effect.

“We’d like to see Iran, the United States, return to the negotiating table, and a permanent peace achieved.

“We think the US has achieved its war aims, and we should continue to encourage a diplomatic opening of the strait,” he told ABC’s News Breakfast this morning.

Conroy confirmed Australia – along with 40 other countries – would attend a summit hosted by the UK this week to discuss how to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump refused to apologise for his remarks about Pope Leo after saying he was “not a fan” of the pontiff who was “WEAK on Crime”.

The US president told reporters he had “nothing to apologise for – he’s wrong”.

“He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran, Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result,” Trump said.

When asked about the AI-generated image post in which he seemed to depict himself as Jesus Christ, Trump said: “It wasn’t depicted. It was me.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there, which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one,” he said.

“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better.”

Two tankers have been turned back in the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data.

It came as Washington set out the boundaries of its new maritime restrictions.

The US Central Command said the blockade would extend east into the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, warning that any vessel entering or leaving the designated area without authorisation could be “intercepted, diverted and captured”.

It said the measure would not restrict “neutral transit passage” through the strait to or from non-Iranian destinations.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the tanker Rich Starry, en route from waters off Sharjah to China, turned back shortly after approaching the strait, along with another vessel, the Ostria. Both ships are capable of carrying oil and chemicals.

At the same time, two Iran-linked oil tankers exited the Gulf ahead of the blockade taking effect, according to Kpler and LSEG data.

with AP