US-Iran war LIVE updates: Trump says US will ‘blockade’ the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks failed over Iran’s ‘nuclear ambitions’

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

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• US President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Washington time) the US would begin a full naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, escalating a standoff that has brought the critical waterway to a near standstill and disrupted global energy supplies.
• Trump’s announcement came hours after he said marathon peace talks in Pakistan collapsed because of Iran’s unwillingness “to give up its nuclear ambitions”.
• The blockade will further squeeze global oil supply, drive up fuel prices and cut off a vital lifeline for the Islamic Republic.
• 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.
• Pakistan, which brokered the negotiations, urged both sides to uphold the fragile ceasefire and said it would continue to pursue a diplomatic solution.
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong said a return to the negotiating table should be the priority, after the “disappointing” collapse of the Islamabad talks.
• Trump took time out on the weekend to sit ringside at an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in Miami.

One of Iran’s key negotiators in the failed peace talks in Pakistan, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, says there were “zero lessons earned” from the marathon negotiations with the US.

The foreign minister said an agreement had been “inches away” when the US introduced the possibility of a blockade.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Iran had “engaged in good faith” in the talks.

“Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity,” he wrote.

The PM has called for de-escalation between the US and Iran, saying he wanted to see an end to the loss of civilian life and infrastructure.

“That’s what Australians want to see, and that’s what global citizens want to see as well, because this global conflict on the other side of the world is having an impact here, and it’s having an impact right around the world,” the prime minister told ABC’s News Breakfast.

“I do wake up in the morning and there’s usually some change in the circumstances in the Middle East. And what I want to see is… that peace has broken out on a permanent basis, that we have de-escalation, that we have an end to civilian loss of life, we have an end to loss of civilian infrastructure, and that importantly, the Strait of Hormuz is about to be open with freedom of navigation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s oil producing capacity had dwindled because it was not commercially viable.

Asked whether the nation should consider drilling for oil, such as in the Great Australian Bight, to improve self-reliance amid the global oil shock, Albanese said it had already been explored.

“The Great Australian Bight was approved by the former government. There was exploration. None of the licenses were taken up because it didn’t make commercial sense, because of the depth that they would have to go,” he told Sunrise.

Albanese rejected claims from One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce that environmentalists had scuttled any drilling for oil in the region.

“Barnaby was the deputy prime minister, and nothing happened. He was deputy prime minister twice, and nothing happened because it didn’t stack up commercially. It wasn’t blocked environmentally. That’s the fact of what happened there.”

Albanese said his agreement with Singapore to ensure the flow of fuel and gas between Australia and its major fuel supplier was a “win-win”.

The prime minister is back in Canberra today after a trip to meet his Singaporean counterpart, Lawrence Wong, where the pair pledged to undertake “maximum efforts” to maintain supply between the two nations.

“There absolutely is a deal of secure supply. And Prime Minister Wong said that very clearly … that they won’t be imposing export controls that is happening in some places in Asia,” Albanese told Nine’sToday show.

“Singapore, because it is an oil hub, has been in a position to be able to replace the fuel that was meant to come from the Gulf, from Africa and from the Americas, and that’s why they’re very confident going forward and have continued to provide supply. They supply about 25 per cent of our refined products, and that’s important. We provide about 32 per cent of their LNG as well. That’s so important for their economy. So this is a win, win.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia had received no requests to join the United States’ naval blockade of Iran.

“They’ve made this announcement overnight, and they’ve done that in a unilateral way, and we haven’t been asked to participate. We’ve received no requests that we haven’t agreed to,” he told Nine’s Today show.

Asked whether Australia would send ships and resources if President Donald Trump asked, Albanese said: “Well, we haven’t been asked … and I don’t expect that we will be.”

“This is the US making this decision that they have. What we want is for negotiations to resume,” he said.

Coalition MPs have been criticising the government’s $20 million information campaign on how Australians can conserve fuel, including removing extra weight from cars or taking public transport instead of driving.

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume said the money could have been spent elsewhere, and equated it to 100,000 tanks of petrol.

“I don’t think a $20 million advertising campaign wagging its finger at people that have roof racks on their car or haven’t pumped up their tires in the last couple of months is the solution here. $20 million is not a small amount to spend,” she told Sky News.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek defended the campaign and said it was crucial to provide Australians with reliable information sources because of the misinformation swirling online.

“It’s a pretty small investment to give people believable, credible, detailed information about our national fuel security plan,” Plibersek told Sunrise.

The US Central Command has announced it will begin a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday at 10am (midnight, AEST).

It said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.

It said it would still allow ships travelling between non-Iranian ports to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic in the strait has been limited, even in the days since the ceasefire.

AP

Resources Minister Madeleine King has defended the government’s $20 million investment into an information campaign aimed at encouraging Australians to conserve fuel as the ongoing war in the Middle East continues to put pressure on supplies.

The “every little bit helps” campaign, launched today, advises people to take measures such as using their cars less, unloading excess weight from their cars and taking public transport.

ABC News Breakfast host James Glenday pressed King this morning on whether taxpayers needed to pay $20 million for the government to make “a statement of the bleeding obvious”.

The minister said: “It’s important that governments do work in a positive fashion to remind people of how they might change their behaviours in certain respects when we are going through an international crisis in the Middle East, which has ripple effects in this country.

“People should be reminded that they can each take steps … This is about doing what you can, one, to save money yourself on fuel costs, but also contributing to the national effort to make sure we see this through in a strong position.”

Despite reports out of the US, the UK has not said it plans to assist in a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

A government spokesperson told the Guardian that the UK would continue to “support freedom of navigation and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is urgently needed to support the global economy and the cost of living back home”.

The position contradicts Trump’s remarks that the UK would send minesweepers to the strait to assist the US – however, the UK did not confirm that it would deploy any minesweepers.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says an agreement will be reached between the US and Iran “if the American government abandons its totalitarianism and respects the rights of the Iranian nation”.

In the post on X early this morning, Pezeshkian commended the members involved in the negotiating delegation after marathon peace talks in Pakistan failed to reach an agreement.

Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country’s delegation in the talks, said Trump’s threats to fire at any Iranian vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz would have no effect on Iran.

In comments carried by Iranian state media, Qalibaf said: “If you fight, we will fight, and if you come forward with logic, we will deal with logic”.

with Reuters