Iran…Trump …Evening….4/14/2026…Talking…The Strait HAS Passages…..

The Lebanese government has no direct control over Hezbollah, which is both an Iranian-allied militia and a political party. That makes any diplomatic settlement between Israel and Lebanon would likely prove difficult to enforce.

The conflict is one of three major points of contention in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The other sticking points are the status of Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke-point in the international energy trade.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the status of a U.S. Navy blockade remained uncertain on Tuesday. President Trump announced the move to cut off Iran’s oil income, after high-level U.S.-Iranian negotiations broke down in Pakistan over the weekend. Mr. Trump told The New York Post that new talks could take place over the next two days in Pakistan.

Investors seemed to be buoyed by the prospect of more talks. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, stayed below $100, after rising to $120 at one point during the war, while stocks rose. The S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent.

U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that no ships using Iran’s ports had made it through its blockade. But ship tracking data showed several Iranian-linked vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after the blockade began on Monday. It was unclear if those ships departed within a grace period of the deadline. The Strait is a vital conduit for global oil and gas shipments.

Shipping data also showed some vessels had stopped east of the strait, possibly signalling they had stopped or turned around because the U.S. forces were telling them not to proceed, shipping analysts said.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

• Economy: The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that disruptions from the war to oil markets could slow growth, fuel inflation and make a global recession more likely. Even if the conflict is short-lived, the damage to the global economy has been done, the I.M.F. said. Read more ›

• Energy: The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday that it expected demand for oil in the current quarter to shrink by 1.5 million barrels a day. Resuming the flow of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz is “the single most important variable in easing the pressure on energy supplies, prices and the global economy,” the agency said.

• Lebanon: Israel’s airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday included one near the main hospital in the town of Tibnin that caused “significant damage” and injured several people, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. The medical center is one of a dwindling number in the country’s south as Israel intensifies its bombing campaign and ground invasion.

• Death tolls: The Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 1,701 civilians, including 254 children, had been killed in Iran as of Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry said on Tuesday that 2,124 people had been killed in the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. In attacks attributed to Iran, at least 32 people have been killed in Persian Gulf nations. At least 22 people had been killed in Israel as of Sunday, as well as 12 Israeli soldiers fighting in Lebanon. The American death toll stands at 13 service members….

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The Guardian….

• US president Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post. “You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying.

• US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington were a “historic opportunity”.He said that while every complexity would not be resolved in coming hours, he hoped the parties would begin to move forward.

• Lebanon’s president expressed hope that direct talks would lead to an end of his country’s suffering after war erupted again between Israel and Hezbollah last month. “I hope that the meeting in Washington… will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and those in the south in particular,” president Joseph Aoun said in a statement, adding that “stability will not return to the south if Israelcontinues to occupy its lands”. The Israeli ambassador to the US said on Tuesday that Lebanese officials said the government “will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah”, according to Reuters.

• More than 20 commercial ships have passed through the strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials. Earlier on Tuesday, the US military’s Central Command said no ships have made it past a US naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships have followed orders to turn back.

• The US will not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week officials told Reuters, as the US imposes a blockade on shipments from Iranian ports.

• UK prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macronwill co-host a summit in Paris on Friday focused on efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz, Downing Street said. A spokesperson said: “The summit will advance work towards a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping once the conflict ends.”

• Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including the UK, Tuesday urged Israel and Lebanon to “seize this opportunity” ahead of talks between the two nations in Washington. Britain’s foreign ministry posted the ministers’ joint statement saying “direct negotiations can pave the way to bring lasting security for Lebanon and Israel as well as the region”.

• Trump criticised Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, a political ally, in an interview published on Tuesday for her unwillingness to help in the Iran war. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

• Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt will meet Turkey’s top diplomat this week in Turkey for talks on regional matters, a ministry source told AFP on Tuesday. “This is the third meeting of the four countries to discuss regional affairs, not specifically Hormuz,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

• Hezbollah said it targeted 13 northern Israeli towns with rockets shortly after the start of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington. In a statement, the group said it targeted Kiryat Shmona, Metula and 11 other towns “with simultaneous rocket salvos” at 6.15pm…

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ISW...Iran Update Special Report, April 14, 2026

1. US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that no vessels have breached the US blockade on Iranian ports since CENTCOM implemented its blockade on April 13. The US blockade on Iranian ports does not have a defined geographic boundary, and the United States can interdict vessels almost anywhere in international waters until they arrive at their final port. It is unclear whether any of the vessels that left Iranian ports on April 14 were authorized to do so under CENTCOM’s “limited grade period.”
2. The United States’ decision not to renew a 30-day sanctions waiver for Iranian oil exports, which is set to expire on April 19, will further constrain Iran’s ability to export oil in addition to the US blockade on Iranian ports. Two US officials told Reuters on April 14 that the US Treasury Department will enforce sanctions on Iranian oil after April 19.
3. Iran is reportedly considering temporarily pausing shipments to avoid testing the US blockade on Iranian ports and raising tensions ahead of possible talks, according to a person familiar with Iranian decision-making on the Strait of Hormuz speaking to Bloomberg on April 14. Iran would only be able to pause shipments for a limited period of time before it would start to run out of room to store oil. Iran could also pursue several other courses of action in response to the US blockade, including agreeing to a deal acceptable to the United States, attempting to run the blockade, or resuming the war.
4. Iranian Supreme Leader Adviser Mohammad Mokhber warned that Iran will “open new fronts” and “increase economic pressures” on US allies and regional countries in response to the US blockade on Iranian ports, likely to try to coerce the United States to end its blockade. Mokhber may have been referring to the Houthis, which has not conducted attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea during the war thus far. Arab officials told the Wall Street Journal on April 14 that Iran is pressuring the Houthis to “close” the Bab al Mandeb Strait.
5. US President Donald Trump stated on April 14 that the United States and Iran may hold another round of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, “over [the] next two days.” A senior Iranian source told Western media on April 14 that the United States and Iran are keeping April 17 through 19 open for possible talks, but that no date has been confirmed.