President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military and government sites.
After initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to reach a peace deal, Trump announced Sunday, April 19, that U.S. negotiators would head back to Islamabad Monday for a new round.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance would accompany special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, to Islamabad for the talks.
Iran's continuing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz and their alleged refusal to abandon their nuclear program remain key sticking points in negotiations, according to Trump.
Trump says Iran's Navy is 'completely obliterated'
President Donald Trump touted U.S. military action against Iran’s Navy on Monday, moments after the 10 a.m. ET deadline he set for when he said American troops would start enforcing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
Vessels and a boat at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman's Musandam province, April 12, 2026.
Reuters
“Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated - 158 ships,” Trump wrote on social media, claiming that he hadn’t ordered strikes on “fast attack ships” because they aren’t a threat.
On Saturday, CENTCOM confirmed Trump's announcement that the U.S. military had begun mine-clearing operations to ensure safe passage through the Strait.
Trump threatened in his post on Monday, “If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Apr 13, 2026, 9:27 AM EDT
Pope Leo says he has 'no fear' of the Trump administration
Pope Leo XIV on Monday responded to criticism from President Donald Trump, telling reporters while traveling to Algeria that he has "no fear" of the White House.
"I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the gospel. That's what I believe in. I am called to do what the church is called to do," Pope Leo said.
The pope on Saturday addressed world leaders and called for an end to conflict, without explicitly mentioning the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. "Enough of war," Pope Leo said during an address in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Trump then posted on social media calling the pope "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
Pope Leo XIV addresses journalists during the flight heading to Algiers on April 13, 2026. Pope Leo XIV embarks today on an 11-day visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea for his first major international trip since becoming pontiff last year.
Alberto Pizzoli/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, Pope Leo said that his comments "are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone and the message of the gospel is very clear, 'Blessed are the peacemakers.'"
"I will not shy away from pronouncing the message of the gospel, of inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges for peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war any time that's possible," Pope Leo continued. "To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here I think is not understanding what the message of the gospel is and I'm sorry to hear that."
Responding to another question from reporters, Pope Leo said of the apparent tensions with Trump, "I do not look at my role as being political ... I don't want to get into a debate with him. I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing."
"I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue, multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems," he said. "Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, 'There's a better way to do this.'"
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Trump's comments about Pope Leo, saying on social media on Monday, “Desecration of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is not acceptable to any free person."
Pope Leo XIV boards his plane heading to Algiers at Rome's Fiumicino airport on April 13, 2026.
Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images
-ABC News' Melissa Adan and Victoria Beaule
Apr 13, 2026, 9:19 AM EDT
Iran says 380 children among more than 3,300 killed
At least 3,375 people in Iran have been killed in the war so far, the head of Iran’s forensic medicine organization said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. At least 383 children are among the dead, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.
A breakdown of military vs. civilian victims was not provided.
People from other countries are among those killed, the Islamic Republic News Agency said, including victims from Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, China, Iraq and Lebanon.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Apr 13, 2026, 6:55 AM EDT
UK won't join US Strait of Hormuz blockade, Starmer says
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement on Monday that the U.K. will not take part in President Donald Trump's planned blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, which is due to begin on Monday.
"We're not supporting the blockade," Starmer told BBC radio in an interview Monday morning, while declining to say whether the U.K. was sending minesweeper vessels to the Strait, as Trump indicated in an interview with Fox News.
"We do have mine-sweeping capability, I won't go into operational matters, but we do have that capability -- that's all focused, from our point of view, on getting the Strait fully open," Starmer said.
He reiterated his position that the U.K. will not join the conflict. "The UK is not getting dragged in," Starmer said. "That's not in our national interest, because I'm not going to act unless there's a clear, lawful basis and a clear thought-through plan."
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a Monday post to X that the U.K. and France are coordinating on a "peaceful multinational mission" to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to maritime traffic "as soon as circumstances permit."
The two countries will host a conference "in the coming days" Macron said.
"This strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict, is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit," Macron wrote. "No effort must be spared to swiftly reach, through diplomatic means, a strong and lasting settlement to the conflict in the Middle East."
