LIVE | Mojtaba Khamenei 'reappears' with Telegram message threatening US and Israel
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf spoke about the negotiations as the Revolutionary Guards again threatened world trade and fired on three vessels.
US sailors on deck of the USS Bainbridge.
Iran is reluctant to give up its main trump card in the war against the US and Israel and reiterated its threats against "any vessel" that tries to cross the Strait of Hormuz, which will be "taken as a target," according to the Revolutionary Guards. For his part, the president of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, the most visible face of the regime at the moment, assured that "progress" has been "registered," but that a final agreement "is still far away."
All this comes as the 14-day ceasefire agreed between both parties ends next Wednesday, April 22, and as Donald Trump warned Iran that he would not tolerate "blackmail." In addition, NATO countries warned Tehran that the attack on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz amounted to a "dangerous" escalation.
Times correspond to Eastern Standard Time (ET).
Mojtaba Khamenei 'reappears' with Telegram message threatening U.S. and Israel
A post attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, on the ayatollah's Telegram account again threatened the U.S. and Israel with "bitter defeats" at the hands of the Iranian navy.
"Just as Iranian drones strike like lightning against the U.S. and Zionist criminals, Israel, the brave Navy is also ready to inflict a new bitter defeat on the enemies."
Israeli soldier dies in Lebanon
The Israeli military said Sunday that a soldier was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where a temporary truce is in effect. This raised to 15 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in fighting with the pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Revolutionary Guards warn any ship approaching Hormuz will be "taken as a target"
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, warned on Saturday that any ship approaching the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be"taken as a target."
In the morning, Iran announced the closure of that crucial passage for hydrocarbon trade that had been reopened for commercial shipping Friday afternoon.
Iranian parliament speaker acknowledges progress, but believes final deal "still a long way off"
Peace negotiations between Iran and the United States have "registered progress," but a final agreement "remains far off," the powerful speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf told local television on Saturday.
Iran studies "new proposals" from the U.S.
Pakistan's army chief conveyed U.S. "new proposals" to Iran, Iran's Supreme National Security Council, announced, as quoted by the official IRNA agency.
"Iran is studying them and has not yet responded," the body said. However, the negotiating delegation of Iran "will not make even the slightest concession," it warned.
Iran, without internet for 50 days
The Internet outage imposed by Iranian authorities at the start of the war entered its 50th day, cybersecurity monitoring NGO NetBlocks said.
Hezbollah says Lebanon-Israel negotiations "do not concern them"
"The negotiations conducted by the state do not concern us," said Mahmoud Qamati, vice chairman of Hezbollah's political bureau in an appearance in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian terror group.
Nothing prevents "the state from coordinating with us" in any initiative aimed at "preserving sovereignty, but not in this way that leads us to capitulation," he added.
Highlights of the Middle East conflict so far, here
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