LIVE | Hegseth warns that naval blockade of Iranian ports will last "as long as necessary"

The United States will blockade Iranian ports"as long as it takes," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday, threatening further attacks if Tehran fails to reach an agreement.

"If Iran makes a bad decision, it will face a blockade and bombs falling on its infrastructure, its power grid and energy facilities," the Pentagon chief told a news conference in Washington.

Chief of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, for his part, clarified thatthe "blockade applies to all ships, regardless of nationality, bound for or leaving Iranian ports."

The New York Stock Exchange opened slightly higher Thursday after hitting a double all-time high the previous day, betting on a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran negotiations, and amid corporate results.

The technology index Nasdaq and the S&P 500 maintained their uptrend from Wednesday, with gains of 0.19% and 0.17%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was in turn up 0.12%.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan told AFP Thursday that the Lebanese government's decision to enter direct negotiations with Israel was a "grave mistake", and urged Beirut to stop making concessions.

"Direct negotiations with the enemy are ua huge disgrace and a grave mistake (...) and do not serve any interest of the country," Hajj Hassan said from his parliamentary office. The MP also urged the Lebanese authorities to put an end to "this series of useless concessions."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that if Iran rejects a U.S. proposal requiring it to, among other things, renounce "nuclear weaponry", Israel will launch "even more painful" strikes against new targets.

"Iran is at a historic crossroads: one path consists of renouncing terrorism and nuclear armament, in conformity with the U.S. proposal; the other leads to an abyss," the minister said during a ceremony.

"If the Iranian regime chooses the second option," it will discover very quickly that Israel can bomb targets that prove "even more painful"than those it has already attacked, he added.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, leader of the Anglican Church, on Thursday praised the "courageous call" ofPope Leo XIV, the target in recent days of attacks by Donald Trump, after delivering a tough anti-war speech.


"I join my brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in his courageous call for a reign of peace," Sarah Mullally, who will meet with the pope in late April in Rome, said in a statement. Mullally also stressed the importance of the pope's message "in these times of hatred, division and violence" in response to the U.S. president, who said Sunday he is "not a great admirer of the pope."

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, a rising figure within the Islamic republic, said Thursday that a "cease-fire in Lebanon (is) as important" as in Iran, in a message posted on Telegram.


"I closely follow the situation in Lebanon and the establishment of a ceasefire in Lebanon, an issue we consider paramount," specified Mohama Baqer Qalibaf, reporting on a conversation with her Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri.


"We strive to oforce our enemies to establish a permanent cease-firein all areas of conflict, in accordance with the agreement" on a truce reached April 8 with the United States, he added.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed the importance of a cease-fire with Israel before engaging in direct negotiations with the Jewish state, the holding of which he has not confirmed, after Donald Trumpannounced a meeting that same day between the "leaders" of the two countries.

According to the Lebanese presidency, Aoun thanked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his "efforts for a cease-fire" with Israel.