live Iran's Parliament Speaker Says Strait Will Be Closed Again Unless Blockade Ends

Israel's military has issued a fresh evacuation order for residents of southern Lebanon as it pressed on with an offensive against Hezbollah -- a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU has blacklisted its armed wing.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on April 14 that “air strikes are ongoing” as its personnel are operating “with significant force in the area.”

“Therefore... we reiterate our urgent appeal for you to evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Zahrani River," the IDF added.

The order is the first to be issued by Israel’s military since direct talks were held on April 13 in Washington between Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the United States.

It comes amid renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with both sides exchanging fire despite the ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Lebanese state media reported fatalities from Israeli air strikes in the south, while Israel said it was conducting “targeted ground operations” against Hezbollah positions.

The Iran-backed group claimed attacks on northern Israel, where about 30 projectiles were recorded and one person was injured.

With reporting by AFP and dpa

South Korea has secured 273 million barrels of crude oil and 2.1 million tons of naphtha from Middle Eastern suppliers and Kazakhstan through the end of the year, routing deliveries outside the Strait of Hormuz to reduce disruption risks, according to a government official.

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said on April 15 that the supplies, negotiated during a regional trip, would help stabilize domestic energy markets amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi Arabia will provide the bulk of crude, including shipments via Red Sea ports, while Kazakhstan and Oman will supply smaller volumes.

The secured oil would cover more than three months of demand under normal conditions, while imports of naphtha -- a refined petroleum product used to produce plastics and other petrochemicals -- amount to around one month’s supply.

The move comes as Seoul seeks to reduce its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for 61 percent of its crude oil imports and 54 percent of its naphtha imports last year, amid fears of potential disruption linked to the regional conflict.

The Netblocks Internet connectivity monitor says the digital blackout in Iran has now passed 1,104 hours, meaning that it has now entered its 47th day.

Iran secretly acquired a Chinese-built spy satellite, giving it new capabilities to monitor and potentially target US military bases across the Middle East, the Financial Times reports.

Citing leaked Iranian military documents, the report said the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps obtained the TEE-01B satellite in 2024 and used it to track bases in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and elsewhere, with imagery captured around the time of missile and drone strikes.

The satellite’s high-resolution capability marks a major upgrade over Iran’s domestic systems. Analysts say access to Chinese-operated ground stations allows Iran to operate the satellite globally, complicating efforts to disrupt it.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the report, and officials in Washington and Beijing declined to comment on the matter.

With reporting by Reuters

US Central Command (CENTCOM) says a blockade of Iranian ports has been "fully implemented," cutting off vital trade for the country's economy.

"A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as US forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East," Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a post on X late on April 14. "In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea."

The US implemented the blockade after peace talks with Iran last weekend failed to reach a deal.

Earlier in the day, CENTCOM said that during the first 24 hours of the blockade, no ships made it out of the region, adding that six vessels complied with ‌directions from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port after setting sail.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia is able to make up for an energy shortage in China caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israeli war with Iran.

"Russia can, without a doubt, compensate for the shortfall in resources that has arisen" for China and "other countries that are interested in working with us," Russia's top diplomat told a news conference during a trip to Beijing on April 15.

A US naval blockade on ships entering Iranian ports and coastal areas took effect this week after peace talks between US and Iranian negotiators over the weekend failed to end the war, which began on February 28.

US President Donald Trump says he has no plans to extend the two-week cease-fire with Iran.

"It could ‌end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because ‌then ⁠they can ‌rebuild," Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl in an interview late on April 14.

The two sides reached a deal to halt the war on April 7 to allow for peace talks that were held in Islamabad last weekend.

The April 11-12 negotiations failed to produce an agreement to end the war, which began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28.

Earlier on April 14 Trump suggested that a new round of talks with Iran could resume in a day or two.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

The administration of US President Donald Trump will allow a 30-day waiver on sanctions covering Iranian oil shipments to expire later this week, as Washington intensifies pressure on Tehran alongside a naval blockade, according to Reuters

One official told the news agency that the US Treasury "is going full force on Economic Fury,” an apparent reference to Operation ‌Epic Fury, the US-led military campaign against Iran.

The move underscores a renewed push in the United States' long-running “maximum pressure” campaign over Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran's support for its proxies in the Middle East.

The waiver, issued on March 20 and due to expire April 19, allowed about 140 million barrels of oil onto global markets, easing supply strains during the recent US-Israeli war with Iran, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

US Lawmakers have criticized the temporary easing of sanctions on both Iran and Russia.

Reuters said one US official also warned that with the “snapback of UN sanctions” and Iran’s “history of trying to hide behind seemingly legitimate activity,” any dealings with Tehran may trigger further penalties.

Washington also did not renew the waiver on Russian oil at sea, which expired on April 12, according to one of Reuters' sources.

With reporting by Reuters

The US military said that no ships slipped through a naval blockade targeting vessels headed to or from Iran in the first 24 hours of the restrictive measure, while tracking-service data indicated that a few Iran-linked ships exited the Strait of Hormuz during that time period.

"During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman," the US Central Command, which is responsible for operations in the region, said in a post on X.

"The blockade is being 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," CENTCOM said. "U.S. forces are supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports."

Data from ship tracking services listed at least four ships, two of which had recently called at Iranian ports, that had passed or were passing through the 30-kilometer-wide Strait of Hormuz in the hours after the blockade came into force at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time on April 13.

A Liberian-flagged ship that had delivered corn to the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini passed Iran's Larak Island in the strait a few hours after that, and a Comoros-flagged tanker that was carrying methanol and had left the Iranian port of Bushehr on March 31 exited the strait around the same time, the AFP news agency reported, citing data from Kpler.

Also citing tracking services, Reuters separately reported that three Iran-linked vessels that transited the strait were not headed for Iranian ports and were not affected by the blockade. Two of the three vessels are under US sanctions and one of those two is Chinese-owned, Reuters reported.

US President Donald Trump ordered the blockade after US-Iranian peace talks in Islamabad on April 11-12 failed to produce an agreement to end the war, which began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28. Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week cease-fire on April 7.

Trump suggested on April 14 that negotiations could resume in Islamabad in the next couple of days.

"You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next ‌two days, and we're more inclined to go there [than to another location]," an Islamabad-datelined story in the New York Post quoted Trump as saying.

Read more here.