US President Donald Trump has signalled a possible second round of talks with Iran in the coming days.
Published On 15 Apr 2026
United States President Donald Trump has said that the war on Iran is “very close to over” as Israel and Lebanon held rare direct talks in Washington, DC amid continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Trump has signalled a possible second round of talks with Iran in the coming days, even as Washington enforces a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
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The International Monetary Fund has, meanwhile, warned that any further escalation could tip the global economy into recession.
Here is what we know:
In Iran
- Red Cross sends aid: The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said a shipment of medical supplies and humanitarian aid crossed into Iran on Sunday, the first delivery since the war began.
- US to end Iran oil relief: The US Treasury said it will not renew a temporary sanctions waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil stranded at sea, with the measure due to lapse in the coming days.
- Tensions inside Tehran: Minor explosions caused limited damage and injuries, highlighting continuing instability in the capital.
- Economic toll rises: Iran estimates it has $270bn in war losses and plans to seek reparations.
- International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi has said that the length of a moratorium on uranium enrichment that Iran must be bound by under any agreement with the US was a political decision, according to the Reuters news agency.
War diplomacy
- Rare US-brokered talks: Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors held direct talks in Washington, with Beirut seeking a ceasefire and Israel pushing for Hezbollah’s disarmament.
- Iran-US talks may resume: Trump said negotiations with Iran could resume in Pakistan “within days”, though uranium enrichment remains the main sticking point. The US is reportedly seeking a 20-year halt, while Iran has proposed five. Disputes over the Strait of Hormuz persist.
- Mixed signals on progress: Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism about progress with Iran, while Iranian analyst Hamid Reza Gholamzadeh said that surviving US pressure has strengthened Tehran’s position at the table.
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In the US
- Senate to vote on war powers: The Senate could vote as early as Wednesday on a Democratic-led effort to limit Trump’s war powers, with lawmakers pledging to keep pushing the issue.
- US blockade raises pressure on Trump: Former US defence official David Sedney said Iran has “called Trump’s bluff”, arguing the Hormuz blockade is backfiring by increasing pressure on Washington as global partners face disruption and US domestic support weakens.
- CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper says “a blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented” and that US forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East.
- The US president lashed out at Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his closest allies, saying she lacked courage for failing to join the US in attacking Iran. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
- Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, has said that the US will block Chinese tankers carrying Iranian oil in the Strait of Hormuz. “They’re not going to be able to get their oil. They can get oil. Not Iranian oil,” Bessent told reporters in Washington, DC.
In Israel
- Israel proposes long-term presence in Lebanon: Israeli media report a proposal for a long-term troop presence in southern Lebanon, extending up to 8km into the country until Hezbollah is dismantled.
- Ongoing military operations: Israel continues its air strikes across southern Lebanon, including a concentrated effort to encircle the symbolically and strategically important town of Bint Jbeil.
- Diverging priorities with the US on Iran: Former US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman noted a growing gap between the US and Israel regarding the war on Iran. He noted that Israel is far more concerned about Iran’s ballistic missile programme than the US is, creating a split in their strategic perspective.
- Italy fallout: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suspended the automatic renewal of a longstanding defence agreement with Israel, a move driven by growing domestic pressure from Italian civil society. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar over the suspension, calling it “yet another embarrassing failure” to advance Israel’s interests with its allies.
In Lebanon
- Israeli attacks continue: Lebanese civil defence teams and paramedics have recovered four bodies following an Israeli raid in the Qadmus area in southern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). Five people were killed in an Israeli air attack in the town of Ansariyah in Lebanon’s south.
- Hezbollah fires rockets: Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster says 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon to the Galilee region in northern Israel this morning, with some intercepted and others falling in open areas.
- Mixed reactions in Lebanon: Reactions to the Israel-Lebanon talks are mixed, with some hoping for peace while others reject negotiations with Israel after more than 2,100 deaths. Hezbollah has rejected the negotiations.
- Lebanese villages razed ‘just like’ in Gaza: Israeli soldiers have told the Haaretz newspaper that the Israeli military is demolishing villages in southern Lebanon in “methods similar to those used in the Gaza Strip”.
- Civilian infrastructure hit: Strikes have hit homes, farmland and critical infrastructure, including the last functioning hospital in Tebnin, as the death toll grows and services come under severe pressure.
Global economy:
- IMF warns of global recession: The International Monetary Fund has warned that a further escalation in the war on Iran and a continued disruption to oil markets could push the world to the brink of recession.
- IMF cuts region’s forecast: The IMF cut its 2026 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa to 1.1 percent, down from 3.9 percent, citing war-related disruptions to Gulf oil and gas exports.
- Stocks rise, oil slips: Stock markets climbed and oil prices tumbled on Tuesday on rekindled hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.