Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open” for all commercial ships, but uncertainty remained after President Trump declared the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports would remain in place.
Iranian pushback: Iran’s top negotiator said the strait would close if the United States continued its blockade, adding to the uncertainty.
Negotiations: President Trump’s public comments raised hopes that negotiations with Iran were going well enough to sustain the cease-fire as they worked on a long-term peace deal.
Trump extends sanctions exemption on some Russian oil as high gas prices persist.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the U.S. government would not renew the sanctions exemption on Russian oil already at sea. Credit…Eric Lee for The New York Times
Just two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would not extend a sanctions exemption on the sale of some Russian oil, the Treasury Department did just that on Friday, issuing one for about a month.
The renewed license will be in effect until May 16 and supersede the sanctions waiver on Russia that expired on April 11.
Trump has made numerous exaggerated and unverified claims over the course of the war since it began on Feb. 28. He has long called for zero uranium enrichment in Iran, and asserted at a Turning Point USA event on Friday that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon.” Iran has previously offered to temporarily suspend uranium enrichment, but has said it could never accept Trump’s zero-enrichment position. Experts have also said that retrieving Iran’s 970 pounds of enriched uranium would be a complex, lengthy process that would likely take longer than the reported 60-day window for American and Iranian negotiators to strike a deal.
Ghalibaf also said in his social media post that President Trump made seven false claims in a single hour. It was not clear which of the president’s claims he was refuting. Trump has been on a media tear all day, including saying that Iran had agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again and that the country would coordinate with the United States to send its enriched nuclear stockpile abroad. Both of those claims were denied in statements from Iranian officials. Ghalibaf said that Iranians would not be affected by what he referred to as media warfare and attempts to engineer public opinion.
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An anchored tanker off Muscat, Oman, last month, as the Strait of Hormuz was functionally closed by Iran. Credit…Benoit Tessier/Reuters
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An anchored tanker off Muscat, Oman, last month, as the Strait of Hormuz was functionally closed by Iran. Credit…Benoit Tessier/Reuters
James' World 2 
Apr 18, 2026 @ 10:20:33
Very nice.
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Apr 18, 2026 @ 11:42:47
I hope so sir, but in a war someone always seeks revenge!
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