US President Donald Trump told aides to prepare for a prolonged blockade of Iranian ports, the Wall Street Journal reported, as talks remain stalled and oil prices keep rising.
Trump said Iran was in a “state of collapse” and wants the Strait of Hormuz reopened, while insisting Tehran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
US Treasury expanded sanctions on Iran’s shadow banking, oil, crypto and procurement networks, and warned firms against paying Iran or the IRGC “tolls” for Hormuz passage.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted, with only a handful of vessels crossing, while US forces say dozens of ships have been redirected under the blockade.
Iran’s internet blackout entered its 61st day on Wednesday, with most of the public still cut off from the global internet despite limited tiered access for select groups.
Deepening splits over US talks are surfacing inside Iran’s hardline camp, as disputes grow over the negotiating team, nuclear red lines and secrecy around diplomacy.
Pakistan is continuing efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington, Al Arabiya reported, citing a senior Pakistani official.
The official said consultations aimed at narrowing differences between the two sides are still ongoing.
A senior member of Iran’s parliament said the country’s missile and drone stockpiles were sufficient for “several years of war” and warned that Tehran would not let President Donald Trump go.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, deputy chairman of parliament’s national security committee, told Tasnim that Iran had entered negotiations with the United States on the orders of the Supreme Leader, and said Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was managing the talks with “valuable experience.”
“The negotiating table is not a place of compromise and humiliation,” Boroujerdi said, adding that he hoped the process would reach a good outcome.
Sources familiar with the matter told Iran International last week that Ghalibaf had stepped down as head of Iran’s negotiating team with the United States after internal disagreements over the talks.
Boroujerdi dismissed Trump’s threats as empty and said the two-week ceasefire had been extended without any move by the other side.
“But Trump should know that we will not let him go,” Boroujerdi said. “Our fighters are present on the battlefield, and the struggle and war will certainly continue until the Zionist regime and criminal America are truly punished.”
He also described the US maritime blockade as ineffective and lacking international legitimacy, saying no European or NATO country had joined Washington in the effort.
Boroujerdi said the Strait of Hormuz was an outcome of what he called the imposed war and added that Trump knew Iran would “never lose control” of the waterway.
European airlines are facing their biggest test since the COVID-19 pandemic as the Iran war drives up jet fuel prices, disrupts Middle East routes and raises concerns about possible fuel shortages ahead of the summer holiday season.
Jet fuel prices have risen nearly 84% since the start of the war on February 28, according to Reuters. Airlines have so far softened the impact through hedging, which allows them to lock in fuel prices, but some of those protections are starting to run out as the conflict drags on.
“There is a risk that we’ll see rationing of fuel supply, particularly in Asia and Europe,” Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association, told Reuters, though he said supply remained robust for now.
Walsh said the crisis was still far smaller than the pandemic-era collapse in travel, because demand for flights remains strong. “I think COVID was on a completely different scale,” he said. “What we’re seeing here is, in effect, a cost issue for the airlines.”
Iran has once again tapped its sovereign wealth reserves to fund essential imports, highlighting the growing strain on an economy battered by war, inflation and a rapidly weakening currency.
The government’s Task Force for Food Security and Livelihood Improvement has announced that $1 billion from the National Development Fund will be allocated to import basic goods such as sugar, rice, red meat and animal feed.
The move comes alongside a broader policy decision to continue subsidizing critical imports despite earlier plans to scale back such support. It marks the second time in two years that the fund has been tapped to finance basic imports.
With reserves estimated at around $40 billion, the fund is also expected to help rebuild war-damaged industries, particularly steel and petrochemicals, highlighting growing tension over how these resources are prioritized.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations accused the United States of “piracy” over the seizure of Iranian vessels and urged the UN Security Council to condemn Washington’s actions.
In a letter to the UN secretary-general and Security Council, Amir Saeid Iravani said the US seizure of the MT Majestic and MT Tiffany and the confiscation of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian oil amounted to unlawful coercion, interference in international trade and the illegal seizure of property.
Iravani said the seizures violated the UN Charter, international law and the law of the sea, and argued they could create “a dangerous precedent” that would undermine the rule of law internationally.
US Central Command said more than 20 vessels remain moored or anchored at Iran’s Chabahar port as US forces enforce the ongoing blockade on Iranian maritime trade.
CENTCOM said an average of five ships were moored or anchored at the port on a normal day before the blockade.
The command said the current buildup showed US forces were cutting off economic trade going into and coming out of Iran during the blockade. The claim comes as US forces continue to intercept and redirect vessels as part of the operation.
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi on Tuesday called for continued pressure on Iran’s ruling system, urging efforts to target what he described as the regime’s infrastructure while enabling conditions for public protests.
"I don’t think anyone can breathe easily as long as this regime exists. The regime has been weakened, but not to the point of collapse; there are still parts of the system that remain active and must be addressed and targeted. When the regime is on the verge of collapse, people will be ready to take matters into their own hands," Pahlavi said in an interview with Fox.
"This must be a coordinated campaign. We will do our part as a nation, but we need external support. That support has begun, but it must not stop halfway. The regime has never intended to negotiate and likely never will, because coexistence with the free world is not part of its DNA," he added.
Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, extending a multi-day rally, amid reports that the United States is preparing to prolong its blockade of Iran, raising concerns over continued supply disruptions.
Brent crude for June rose 52 cents to $111.78 a barrel in early trading, marking an eighth straight day of gains, while the more active July contract was also higher, Reuters reported.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also advanced, tracking gains in global benchmarks, the report added.
US President Donald Trump told aides to prepare for a prolonged blockade of Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
At a White House state dinner on Tuesday US President Donald Trump said Iran would never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, adding that King Charles agreed with his position.
"And we are doing a little work in the Middle East right now, you might know and we are doing very well. We have militarily defeated that particular opponent and we never going to let that opponent ever – Charles agrees with me even more than I do – will never let that opponent get nuclear weapon and they know that, known it very powerfully," Trump said at the state dinner at the White House, without mentioning name of Iran.
