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Live Updates
ABC News

Iran live updates: US blockade 'fully implemented' CENTCOM commander says

PHOTO: A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman's Musandam province, April 12, 2026.
1:33
Reuters
US proposes 20-year minimum suspension on Iranian uranium enrichment: Source
By David Brennan, Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: April 15, 2026, 8:51 AM

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military and government sites.

Trump set a deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face broad strikes on its critical infrastructure. Hours before the deadline expired, Trump said he had agreed to suspend planned bombing for two weeks if Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

But subsequent U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to reach a peace deal. Trump said that Iran's nuclear program was the key sticking point, and said the U.S. would respond with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

Israel, meanwhile, has continued ground operations and intense strikes in Lebanon, where it is engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the ceasefire with Iran, but that Lebanon was not covered by the agreement, despite Iranian protests.

Key Headlines

  • IDF issues 'urgent' warning for southern Lebanon
  • Trump criticizes Pope Leo, NATO in late-night social media posts
  • Blockade of Iranian ports 'fully implemented,' head of CENTCOM says
  • Trump says in interview he views war with Iran as 'very close to over'
Here's how the news is developing.

Apr 15, 2026 8:51 AM

IDF issues 'urgent' warning for southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces issued an "urgent" warning for residents of southern Lebanon, south of the Zahrani River, calling on them to move north and saying airstrikes were ongoing with "significant force" in the area.

"Hezbollah's terrorist activities are forcing the Israel Defense Forces to act against it forcefully in that area, and it has no intention of harming you," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arab-language spokesperson, said on social media on Wednesday.

PHOTO: Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on April 15, 2026.
Abbas Fakih/AFP via Getty Images
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on April 15, 2026.
Abbas Fakih/AFP via Getty Images

The IDF called on residents south of the Zahrani to move "immediately" north, saying that remaining in place "may endanger your lives and the lives of your families."

The IDF in recent weeks has issued similar warnings for much of southern Lebanon, where it's attacking the Hezbollah militia, an Iranian proxy.


Apr 15, 2026 4:05 AM

Trump criticizes Pope Leo, NATO in late-night social media posts

President Donald Trump again leveled criticism at Pope Leo and the NATO alliance over the war with Iran in late-night posts on social media Tuesday.

In the first post, Trump said that the Catholic leader -- who has repeatedly called for peace in the conflict -- needed to be informed that Iran had killed tens of thousands of protesters, and that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump followed up minutes later with another post directed at NATO allies, again claiming that the alliance "wasn't there for us, and they won't be there for us in the future" -- a sentiment the president has repeatedly conveyed in recent weeks.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr


Apr 15, 2026 3:18 AM

Blockade of Iranian ports 'fully implemented,' head of CENTCOM says

The blockade of Iranian ports "has been fully implemented," the commander of U.S. Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper said in a social media post late Tuesday.

"In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea," the post stated.

Cooper said an estimated 90% of Iran's economy is fueled by international trade by sea.

PHOTO: A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman's Musandam province, April 12, 2026.
Reuters
A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman's Musandam province, April 12, 2026.
Reuters

The U.S. military began the blockade of Iranian ports on Monday after President Donald Trump announced the move over the weekend, following the failure of peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.



Apr 15, 2026 1:59 AM

Trump says in interview he views war with Iran as 'very close to over'

President Donald Trump said that he viewed the war with Iran as "very close to over" in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday afternoon.

"I think it's close to over. Yeah. I mean, I view it as very close to over," Trump told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo when asked whether or not the war was over.

The president also claimed that it would take Iran two decades to rebuild if the U.S. pulled out right now.

"If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we're not finished, but we'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly," Trump said.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr


Apr 14, 2026 11:54 PM

Vance says 'mistrust' between Iran and US cannot be solved overnight

After being unable to secure a deal with Iran, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that there is a lot of mistrust between the U.S. and Tehran that cannot be solved "overnight," but that he does feel good about where things currently stand.

"We had never had a meeting like that, where you have, you know, the person who's effectively running the country in Iran sitting across from the vice president of the United States, that had never happened," Vance said during a Turning Point USA college event in Athens, Georgia.

PHOTO: Vance Turning Point
Erik S. Lesser/AP
Vice President JD Vance speaks at a Turning Point USA tour stop at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
Erik S. Lesser/AP

"After 49 years, there's a lot of, of course, mistrust between Iran and the United States of America. You're not going to solve that problem overnight. But yeah, I think the people we're sitting across from wanted to make a deal, and I know the president of the United States told us to go out there and negotiate in good faith. That's what we did. That's what we're going to keep on doing," Vance continued.

Vance says he feels "very good about where we are."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie


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