{"id":11110,"date":"2026-04-22T22:53:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/iran-us-war-live-tehran-threatens-trumps-ceasefire-by-seizing-cargo-ships-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:53:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:53:38","slug":"iran-us-war-live-tehran-threatens-trumps-ceasefire-by-seizing-cargo-ships-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/iran-us-war-live-tehran-threatens-trumps-ceasefire-by-seizing-cargo-ships-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran-US war live: Tehran threatens Trump\u2019s ceasefire by \u2018seizing cargo ships\u2019 – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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US blockade of Iran\u2019s ports choking economy, says spokeswoman, as President Trump suggests peace talks could restart
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The White House has accused Iran<\/a> of acting \u201clike a bunch of pirates\u201d after its Revolutionary \u2060Guard Corps Navy fired on then captured two ships seeking to go through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> \u2013 threatening the fragile ceasefire.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: \u201cIran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates.\u201d
The US blockade of Iran\u2019s ports was incredibly effective at choking Iran\u2019s economy, she said.
Earlier, US president Donald Trump<\/a> said fresh peace talks with Tehran<\/a> could begin within two days, despite Iranian officials demanding an end to the blockade of ports as a condition for negotiations.
Pakistani sources said peace talks could begin within the next \u201c36 to 72 hours\u201d. When this was put to the US president, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s possible!\u201d
However, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, had warned that Tehran<\/a> would not negotiate \u201cunder threat\u201d. He added: \u201cWe won\u2019t go to Islamabad before the lifting of the blockade.\u201d
President Trump tested Nato and its member countries failed, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
\u201cWe hear a lot of talk from the Europeans,\u201d she said. \u201cUnfortunately, we don’t see enough action, as far as President Trump is concerned.
\u201cIn his view, he tested Nato and they failed. They failed to come to the defence and to join forces with the United States as the president engaged in this very bold and courageous operation to take out the number one state sponsor of terrorism in this world – the Iranian regime.
\u201cAgain, through Operation Epic Fury, the United States on its own, of course, with the help of our partner and friend, Israel, but on its own, irrespective of the European nations and our Nato allies, has completely degraded Iran’s military.
\u201cWe have completely confused and obliterated their regime. They are in a very weak position thanks to the actions taken by President Trump and our great United States Armed Forces.
\u201cAnd so we will continue this important mission on our own. And again, we’ve seen a lot of talk but very little action. And the President is well aware of that.\u201d
The US Navy could sink Iran\u2019s fast, small boats, Karoline Leavitt said.
\u201cWe have sunk more than 16 of their naval vessel classes, of Iranian warships. I mean, their traditional and conventional Navy has been completely destroyed. They were the most lethal Navy in the Middle East, and again, now they sit at the bottom of the ocean, as the United States Navy is stronger than ever.
\u201cSo yes, the commander in chief has a number of options at his disposal, but right now, the blockade continues to be massively effective and inflicting maximum leverage and economic pressure on the regime,\u201d she told Fox News.
The point of the US blockade of Iran\u2019s ports was economic leverage over Iran, and the US was choking its economy, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
\u201cWe are strangling their main source of revenue – they can’t pay their own people. They’re losing $500 million every single day, Kharg Island is completely full of oil because they can’t transport it to and from…\u201d
She said the cards were in the President Trump\u2019s hands.
\u201cThe United States maintains control over the situation, he has all of the leverage, and again, that’s why he’s maintained a little bit of flexibility with the extension of the ceasefire, as we await a unified response from the Iranians to the President’s very clear proposal. ”
Iran is acting like a bunch of pirates, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
\u201cIran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates,\u201d she told Fox News.
\u201cThey don’t have control over the strait. This is piracy that we are seeing on display, and the naval blockade that the United States has imposed continues to be incredibly effective.
\u201cAnd to be clear, the blockade is on ships going to and from Iranian ports.\u201d
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt says Iran\u2019s seizure of ships does not violate the ceasefire because they were not US ships.
\u201cThese were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,\u201d she told Fox News.
President Trump had completely obliterated Iran’s conventional navy, she claimed.
The US \u201cbreach of commitments\u201d \u2060and its blockade of Iranian ports and \u2060threats \u200bare \u2060the main \u2060obstacles to “genuine negotiations”, Iran\u2019s president has warned.
\u2060Masoud \u200cPezeshkian wrote, without identifying Donald Trump: \u201cWorld \u200csees your \u200cendless hypocritical rhetoric \u2060and contradiction between claims and actions.
\u201cBad faith, siege, and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiation.\u201d
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent \u2060said on Wednesday that he extended sanctions relief on Russian seaborne oil for \u206030 \u200bdays because \u2060of requests from countries that are the \u2060most vulnerable to oil \u200bshortages from \u2060the closed \u200cStrait of Hormuz.
Bessent told a US Senate Appropriations \u200csubcommittee budget hearing that \u200cthe requests came from finance leaders of about 10 \u2060countries during last week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings. The action reversed his earlier comments last week that he \u200cwould not renew \u200bexpiring sanctions waivers.
Bessent said \u200cestimates that \u2060Iran has gained more \u2060than $14 billion from the relief are “a \u200cmyth,” \u200bbut he \u200cdid not \u200bprovide an alternate figure.
Yesterday, US president Donald Trump reposted a social media post on eight women who, it was claimed, were to be hung by the Islamic Republic.
He called for the release of the women, writing \u201cplease do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations\u201d.
Tonight, Mr Trump has posted again on the issue, claiming \u201cvery good news\u201d.
He writes: \u201cI have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison.\u201c
Iran\u2019s judiciary had denied that the eight women were ever set for execution, according to the New York Times.
President Emmanuel Macron says a second French soldier has died following an \u2060attack on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon last week, which he said was carried out by Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The soldier, Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, was severely wounded four days ago and died of his \u2060wounds after being evacuated to France \u200bon \u2060Tuesday, Mr Macron said.
One of his colleagues was killed \u2060immediately while clearing a road in southern Lebanon in the \u200bsame \u2060attack.
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