UN rapporteur slams strikes on Iran ahead of Human Rights meeting

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump hinted that there were talks but said that “I don’t think they are ready.”

"I think they will negotiate at some point," he added. "We are doing very well with respect to the whole situation in Iran."

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed suggestions Tehran was seeking talks. “

We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he told CBS. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes.”

As the US-Israeli war with Iran entered its third week, tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continued to roil global energy markets.

Trump said his administration was in talks with seven countries about helping to secure the strait and called on them to protect shipping through the vital waterway that Tehran has largely blocked to tanker traffic.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Florida to Washington on Sunday.

He did not say which countries he meant. Australia has already said it will not send naval ships to help reopen the strait.

He also told the Financial Times that NATO allies faced a “very bad future” if they failed to do more to support US efforts against Iran.

Oil giants concerned

The chief executives of ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips warned Trump administration officials that disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz is likely to worsen the global energy crisis, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The executives cautioned that prolonged instability around the strategic waterway could sustain volatility, tighten supplies and risk shortages of refined products.

In a separate social media post, Trump accused Iran of using artificial intelligence and sympathetic news outlets to spread false battlefield claims.

He rejected reports of damage to US aircraft and ships and said media organizations that carried such accounts could face legal consequences, suggesting some should be charged with treason.

President Donald Trump accused Iran of using artificial intelligence and sympathetic media outlets to spread false claims about the war, dismissing reports of damage to US aircraft and naval assets.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump said Iran was “militarily ineffective and weak” but adept at media manipulation, alleging it had circulated fabricated images and videos—including supposed attacks on ships and aircraft—to exaggerate its capabilities.

He rejected reports that US refueling planes had been struck and said depictions of burning ships, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, were false.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Iran of drawing Lebanon into the widening regional war and urged Hezbollah to halt its attacks on Israel.

Cooper said the actions of the Iran-backed group were pulling Lebanon into a conflict “they do not want and which is not in their interests,” adding that Hezbollah’s operations were carried out “at the instigation of the Iranian regime.”

She also announced that the UK would provide more than £5 million in emergency funding to support humanitarian work by the Lebanese government.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he called on Iran to immediately end what he described as “unacceptable” attacks across the region and pressed for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to be restored.

In a post on X, Macron said he warned that unchecked escalation risked plunging the region into chaos with long-term consequences and said civilians across the Middle East—including in Iran—were paying the price.

He said he urged Tehran to stop attacks carried out directly or through allied groups in countries including Lebanon and Iraq, while stressing that France was operating in a “strictly defensive framework” aimed at protecting its interests, regional partners and maritime security.

Since the start of joint US–Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran has targeted at least 16 vessels and tankers, sharply curbing flows through one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

Data from the commodity intelligence firm Kpler, seen by Iran International, shows Iranian crude exports averaging more than 1.5 million barrels a day (bpd) so far this month through the strait.

Discharges at Chinese ports have also risen, increasing from about 1.17 million bpd in February to more than 1.25 million so far in March. Figures from the International Energy Agency and maritime intelligence provider Lloyd’s List similarly point to a surge in Iran’s shipments.

Last week, Iran also loaded a two-million-barrel cargo from Jask — its only export terminal outside the Strait of Hormuz — marking the first such shipment since October 2024.

Before the escalation, roughly 14.7 million barrels of crude and 4.8 million barrels of refined products moved daily through the strait — about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

Among Persian Gulf producers, only Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pipeline routes bypassing Hormuz. Even those alternatives were already partly utilized.

According to Lloyd’s List, combined exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman via non-Persian Gulf ports averaged about 3.5 million barrels a day in recent months but have climbed to roughly 6 million — still far short of offsetting lost flows.

President Donald Trump said Friday the US Navy would “soon” begin escorting oil tankers through the waterway, though officials have not outlined a timeline or operational details.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, pushed back Sunday on suggestions Tehran was seeking talks, telling CBS’s Face the Nation: “We have never asked for a ceasefire … we are ready to defend ourselves for as long as it takes.”

Lloyd’s List estimates that even with naval escorts, no more than about 10 percent of lost volumes could realistically be restored — echoing the limited recovery seen after Houthi attacks in the Bab el-Mandeb.

The IEA said Thursday that disruptions have cut global supply by about 8 million barrels a day of crude and another 2 million barrels of condensates and natural gas liquids.

In response, its 32 member countries plan to release roughly 400 million barrels from strategic reserves over 120 days beginning next week, including about 172 million barrels from the United States and 80 million from Japan.

Even so, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday there were “no guarantees” oil prices would fall in the coming weeks.