President Donald Trump announced a U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
Trump made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social account, blaming the failure to reach a deal with Iran during talks in Pakistan this weekend.
"So, there you have it, the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not. Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote.
"At some point, we will reach an 'ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT' basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen by merely saying, 'There may be a mine out there somewhere,' that nobody knows about but them. THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted," Trump continued.
"I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL! Iran knows, better than anyone, how to END this situation which has already devastated their Country. Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft and Radar are useless, Khomeini, and most of their 'Leaders,' are dead, all because of their Nuclear ambition," he said.
"The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade. Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION. They want money and, more importantly, they want Nuclear. Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully 'LOCKED AND LOADED,' and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!" he added.
This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis senior fellow for National Security at the Family Research Council,
Clausewitz wrote that war is the continuation of policy by other means. The corollary—which Washington perpetually forgets—is that diplomacy without strategic clarity is just theater. This weekend in Islamabad, we got the theater.
Vice President JD Vance flew to Pakistan to lead the highest-level direct talks between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had warned Tehran before departing: "If they're going to try to play us, they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive." After 21 hours across multiple sessions, he boarded Air Force Two and flew home without an agreement, leaving behind what he called Washington's "final and best offer." Tehran has not accepted it.
Iran Did Not Come to Concede
Tehran's delegation—71 people, led by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi—presented four non-negotiable conditions before the session even began: full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, complete war reparations, unconditional release of frozen assets, and a durable ceasefire across the entire West Asia region. Those are not opening bids. They are a declaration of intent. Iran's state media put the breakdown squarely on Washington's "excessive demands."
Ghalibaf left no doubt about the atmosphere. "We have goodwill, but we do not trust," he told Iranian state media. The distrust is mutual: Tehran has not forgotten that Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal, and Washington has watched Iran exploit diplomatic pauses for decades.
The U.S. Oil & Gas Association (USOGA) fired back at Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., on Saturday night, rebuking narratives from Democrats in the deep blue state about gas prices, which include high state taxes.
"High gas prices in your district aren’t 'Trump’s war' — they’re Sacramento’s doing," the X account run by USOGA President Tim Stewart wrote in a direct response to Khanna.
"California drivers pay nearly double the national average in state taxes, plus cap-and-trade, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, unique reformulated gasoline, refinery limits, and geographic isolation that blocks cheap imports," he added. "That adds $1.00–$1.78+ over the U.S. average."
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Mack.
{{#rendered}}Israeli forces say they discovered a Hezbollah weapons stash inside a hospital in Lebanon this weekend.
The Israel Defense Forces carried out the operation in Lebanon's Bint Jbeil municipality. Images shared with Fox News show weapons, ammunition and explosives that Israel says were found within a hospital in the area.
The IDF says it eliminated "approximately 20 terrorists" inside the hospital compound after Hezbollah was detected conducting surveillance and firing upon IDF troops from a window of the hospital.
"The Hezbollah terrorist organization systematically and repeatedly used the hospital compound and its immediate surroundings for military purposes, constituting a serious violation of international law," the IDF said in a statement.
"The IDF operates in accordance with international law, and clarified prior to the operation to the relevant Lebanese authorities that all military activity within hospitals in Lebanon must cease, and disseminated these warnings through various channels. Despite this, Hezbollah continued to use the hospital for military activity," the IDF said in a statement.
Israel has continued operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon amid a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran this week.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. has deployed minesweeping vessels to the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
Trump made the comments during an on-air phone call with Fox News' Host Maria Bartiromo, saying the U.K. is assisting in the clearing effort.
"So we have minesweepers there now. We have highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers, which are the latest and the greatest. But we're also bringing in more traditional minesweepers," Trump said.
"I understand is the U.K. and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers. A lot of countries don't have minesweepers. Think of it. They had 28 mine droppers. What country has 28 mine droppers? 28 boats to drop mines," he continued.
Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is severely disfigured after sustaining leg and face injuries during joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Tehran in February, Reuters reported Saturday.
Khamenei is recovering after incurring the injuries in the February 28 airstrikes that killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. He has not been seen publicly since being hospitalized.
Despite the injuries, Khamenei allegedly remains "mentally sharp," Reuters reported, citing a trio of anonymous sources within his inner circle. The new supreme leader is in communication with the Iranian delegation in Pakistan for peace talks with a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance.
The Reuters report corroborates an earlier statement from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who told reporters March 13 that Khamenei was "likely disfigured."
He then reiterated the claim at a press conference Thursday while outlining the U.S. military's achievements in Iran.
"Their top leadership was systematically eliminated, their previous Iranian supreme leader dead, the supreme national security council secretary dead, the supreme leader office advisor dead, the supreme leader military office chief dead, the defense minister no longer with us, the IRGC commander dead, the armed forces general staff commander dead, the intelligence minister dead, the IRGC navy commander no longer here, the IRGC Intel chief dead," Hegseth said.
"I skipped over a bunch, and I could go on and on and on, to include the new so-called new supreme leader, wounded and disfigured. This new regime was out of options and out of time, so they cut a deal."
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Robert McGreevy.
{{#rendered}}Multiple U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Sunday that Iran has mined the Strait of Hormuz.
They said the U.S. plans to conduct demining operations in the coming days.
The confirmation comes after questions about whether Tehran had been bluffing about planting mines in the strait amid peace talks with the U.S.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Former Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer Tom Sauer joined Fox News on Sunday to break down how U.S. forces are preparing to sweep the Strait of Hormuz for possible Iranian mines.
Sauer warned the high-stakes mission may take days. Meanwhile, peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed this weekend, with Vice President JD Vance departing Pakistan empty handed.
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, have departed Islamabad, Pakistan after failing to reach a peace agreement with delegates from Iran on Sunday.
A U.S. official told Fox News of their departure after Vice President JD Vance left the country on Saturday.
The officials say no U.S. officials or negotiators stayed behind after Witkoff and Kushner departed.
{{#rendered}}Pope Leo in a Saturday vigil for peace, called out the "delusion of omnipotence" he claimed is fueling war.
"In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God. Thoughts, words and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God," he said in a prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica.
He continued, "A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness. It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive."
In posts on X and during the prayer vigil, the pontiff also warned that war "divides" while hope and faith unite humanity.
"Enough of the idolatry of self and money. Enough of the display of power. Enough of war," he wrote. "True strength is shown in serving life."
The archbishop of Tehran, Belgian Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, was among those in the pews.
Leo’s words came on the same day Vice President JD Vance and a U.S. delegation began face-to-face talks with Iran amid an uneasy ceasefire.
They were some of the first American pontiff’s strongest words yet after he called President Donald Trump’s threat against Iran on Tuesday "truly unacceptable."
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brie Stimson.
In a press conference delivered early Sunday morning from the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, Vice President JD Vance announced that Iran has "chosen not to accept our terms."
"The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement," Vance said. "And I think that's bad news for Iran, much more than it's bad news for the United States of America."
"Vance clarified that the U.S. was unflinching in presenting its red lines during negotiations.
"So we go back to the United States, having not come to an agreement, we've made very clear what our red lines are, what things we're willing to accommodate them on, and what things we're not willing to accommodate them on," Vance added. "And we've made that as clear as we possibly could, and they have chosen not to accept our terms.
"More information on the negotiations was not provided by the vice president at this time."Well, I won't go into all the details because I don't want to negotiate in public after we negotiated for 21 hours in private," Vance said.
Fox News Digital's Preston Mizell contributed to this reporting.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry urged early Sunday that the U.S. and Iran continue to uphold their ceasefire agreement after the two countries were unable to reach a lasting peace deal this weekend.
Shortly after Vice President JD Vance departed Pakistan following 21 hours of talks with Iranian officials without reaching a deal, the ministry encouraged both sides to continue efforts toward a sustained peace.
The foreign ministry said it helped mediate several rounds of “intense and constructive negotiations” on Saturday.
“We hope that the two sides continue with the positive spirit to achieve durable peace and prosperity for the entire region and beyond,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” it added.
Pakistan will continue to help facilitate dialogue between the two countries, the foreign ministry said.
The negotiations Saturday came after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in the conflict with Iran earlier this week.
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