Iran War Live Updates: Oil Climbs Back Above $100 as U.S. Plans Hormuz Blockade

 

Iran War Live Updates: Oil Climbs Back Above $100 as U.S. Plans Hormuz Blockade

The U.S. said it would block ships entering or exiting Iranian ports or coastal areas starting at 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday. It was unclear how that would affect the cease-fire.

 

Katie RogersTyler Pager Aaron Boxerman and Isabel Kershner

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/13/world/iran-war-trump-news

 

Here’s the latest.

Oil prices surged and stocks fell early Monday, hours before the U.S. military was expected to begin a blockade of Iranian parts of the Strait of Hormuz.

 

Mr. Trump announced the blockade on Sunday, adding to uncertainty around an already fragile truce between Iran and the United States. Marathon peace talks between top Iranian and American leaders in Pakistan over the weekend ended without a breakthrough.

 

The U.S. military said that it would begin blocking ships “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” starting at 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday, while allowing other vessels to transit the strait on their way to or from non-Iranian ports.

 

Iran has already choked off shipping through the waterway — through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil normally flows — since the war began in late February, allowing only its own ships and a few others to pass. Uncertainty over when the war might end has been rattling investors seeking signs that oil and natural gas flows from the Persian Gulf will stabilize.

 

As markets opened Sunday evening, the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rose more than 7 percent to around $102 a barrel. Brent crude, which had climbed as high as $119 a barrel in late March, fell to $95 a barrel after Mr. Trump announced the cease-fire last week. Global oil prices have soared more than 50 percent during the conflict.

 

A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports would be a significant change in Washington’s approach so far. Last month, Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, said that the United States was allowing Iranian oil tankers to traverse the strait to keep up global supplies.

 

It remained unclear how a U.S. blockade would affect the cease-fire or the peace talks.

 

On Sunday, an adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader, warned that Iran had “large, untouched levers” to counter any naval blockade. Its top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, directly addressed American consumers: “Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

 

But other Iranian officials appeared to leave the door open for further diplomacy, even as they emphasized a lack of trust in American negotiators.

 

On Sunday night, Mr. Trump told reporters that the cease-fire was “holding well” and that Iran may yet return to the negotiating table. But he claimed not to be bothered either way.

 

“I don’t care if they come back or not,” he said. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”

 

Here’s what else we’re covering:

 

Negotiations in Islamabad: Talks ended with the U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, saying that Iran’s refusal to give up its nuclear program was a sticking point, while Tehran accused Washington of a “maximalism approach.” The key differences between the two sides center on the fate of nearly 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium, frozen Iranian revenues held abroad, and control of the strait.

 

Israel and Lebanon: The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States are expected to meet in Washington this week for rare direct talks. Israel was not involved in the weekend negotiations in Pakistan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided mentioning them in an address on Saturday evening. Iran has accused Israel of breaking the cease-fire by continuing to attack in Lebanon, where state media reported a new wave of Israeli strikes on Monday. Israel says its attacks are targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

 

Death tolls: The Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 1,701 civilians, including 254 children, had been killed in Iran as of Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry on Saturday said that 2,020 people had been killed in the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, including 357 in a wave of Israeli strikes on Wednesday. In attacks attributed to Iran, at least 32 people have been killed in Gulf nations. At least 22 people had been killed in Israel as of Sunday, as well as 12 Israeli soldiers fighting in Lebanon. The American death toll stands at 13 service members.