Trump convenes White House Situation Room meeting
Donald Trump convened a White House Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the renewed crisis around the strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Iran, according to reporting from Axios.
A senior US official told Axios that unless there is a breakthrough in peace talks, it appears that the war could reopen within days. There is still no firm date for negotiations to resume this weekend, despite Trump’s hopes to end the conflict before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.
The official told Axios that JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and Scott Bessent, among other senior government officials, were present at today’s meeting.
Key events
António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, released a statement condemning the attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which killed a French soldier and injured three others.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends & colleagues of the fallen peacekeeper, and wish a full & fast recovery to the injured peacekeepers,” he posted on X.
“This is the third incident in recent weeks to have resulted in the deaths of peacekeepers serving in Lebanon,” he added. “These attacks must stop. All actors must respect the cessation of hostilities & the ceasefire.”
Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, has issued a statement on social media in response to a post by the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that said transit through waterways such as the strait of Hormuz “must remain open and free of charge” under international law.
“No rule of international law forbids Iran, the coastal State, from taking necessary measures to stop the Strait of Hormuz being used for waging military aggression against Iran,” Baghaei wrote on X.
“And ‘unconditional transit passage’ in Hormuz? That fiction sailed the moment US/Israeli aggression brought US military assets into the strait’s backyard,” he added.
Donald Trump has left the White House to play golf, despite Iran’s re-closure of the strait of Hormuz in response to the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump’s weekend golf trip follows reports of an earlier convening of a White House Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the renewed crisis around the strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Iran.
A confrontation between the US and Iran regarding an American minesweeper in the strait of Hormuz had nearly escalated into confrontation, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim.
Ghalibaf said that he told the American delegation in Islamabad during peace talks that if a minesweeper “moved even slightly forward from its position, we would definitely fire at it,” Tasnim reported.
Ghalibaf said that the US backed down shortly afterward, and reiterated that the strait is under Iranian control.
Jessie Williams
Iranian officials say they have reversed the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and reimposed restrictions on the vital shipping lane after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports.
A UK maritime agency reported that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ships had fired at a tanker as it attempted to pass through the strait on Saturday. Reuters reported an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil had also been attacked while in the waterway.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Saturday that Tehran had restored the strait to its “previous status” and was now “under strict management and control by the armed forces”.
Iran said the restrictions would remain if Washington did not “ensure full freedom of navigation for vessels traveling from Iran to destinations and from destinations to Iran”.
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People around the world are lining up to stock up on gas and refuel their vehicles as the ceasefire is set to expire in a few days, leading to uncertainty about the future of oil prices and availability.
The war on Iran has already caused gas prices to skyrocket, with some areas, such as Bangladesh, having to implement fuel-rationing measures.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says they will blockade strait of Hormuz again as of today
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will blockade the strait of Hormuz again as of today, the IRGC warned in a statement published by semi-official news agency Tasnim News.
“Approaching the strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any offending vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC statement read. The statement cited the US blockade as a ceasefire violation.
Trump convenes White House Situation Room meeting
Donald Trump convened a White House Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the renewed crisis around the strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Iran, according to reporting from Axios.
A senior US official told Axios that unless there is a breakthrough in peace talks, it appears that the war could reopen within days. There is still no firm date for negotiations to resume this weekend, despite Trump’s hopes to end the conflict before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.
The official told Axios that JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and Scott Bessent, among other senior government officials, were present at today’s meeting.
Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with US officials, a senior Iranian official said Saturday, citing Washington’s refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands on key issues.
In an interview with the Associated Press on the margins of a diplomacy forum in Turkey, Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh also said his country will not hand over its enriched uranium to the US, rejecting claims made by Donald Trump.
“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to the United States,” Khatibzadeh said. “This is a non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are non-starters.”
Khatibzadeh said there have been many exchanges of messages between the sides but accused the US of holding firm on demands Iran deems to be excessive.
“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned, their maximalist position,” Khatibzadeh said. Iran was seeking the finalization of a “framework agreement” before moving to an in-person meeting, he added.
Pope Leo says ‘not in my interest at all’ to debate Trump on Iran war
Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that it is “not in my interest at all” to debate Donald Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.
Leo spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola as part of his 11-day tour of Africa.
He addressed the spiraling back-and-forth saga of Trump’s critiques of his peace message, which have dominated news headlines this week. But the American pope also sought to set the record straight, insisting that his preaching isn’t directed at Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.
“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” he said. “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”
