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 Israel 'PROHIBITED' from bombing Lebanon
President Donald Trump said that the U.S. has "PROHIBITED" Israel from bombing Lebanon. This comes just one day after he announced a ceasefire had been reached between Israel and Lebanon.
"Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!" Trump said in a post on social media.
Trump added that the U.S. will work with Lebanon and "deal with the Hezboolah situation in an appropriate manner."
The president also talked about one of his main aims to end the war with Iran, saying that the U.S. "will get all Nuclear 'Dust,'" from Iran, but added that "No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form."
Apr 17, 2026, 9:54 AM EDT
Trump says blockade will remain in effect
Despite Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. blockade on Iran will remain in effect.
The blockade will remain "UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED," Trump wrote in a post on social media.
Apr 17, 2026, 9:17 AM EDT
Iran fully opens Strait of Hormuz, Trump says
President Donald Trump has announced that Iran is fully opening the Strait of Hormuz, in a post on social media.
"IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE," Trump said in a post on social media Friday.
Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman's Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026.
Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also announced the strait's opening on social media Friday.
"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran," Araghchi wrote.
Apr 17, 2026, 6:43 AM EDT
Thousands return to southern Lebanon, buoyed by ceasefire, as Israel issues warning
Tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese people were moving south on Friday, following the announcement of a 10-day ceasefire, headed back toward the homes they abandoned even as Israel issued new warnings.
"Out of concern for your safety and the safety of your families' members -- until further notice -- you are requested not to move south of the Litani River," Avichay Adraee, an Arab-language spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said in a social media post.
Women react as displaced people make their way back to their homes crossing the bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, which was hit earlier in an Israeli strike, after a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, in Qasmiyeh, Lebanon, April 17, 2026.
Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters
Israel's air raids and ground operations against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon pushed many locals north in recent weeks.
Israeli prior to the ceasefire had warned anyone south of the Litani River, a geographic boundary between southern and northern Lebanon, that they should move north for their safety.
Displaced residents ride past a destroyed building as they return back to the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on April 17, 2026.
Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images
Israel said its operations targeted members and infrastructure belonging Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, both in southern Lebanon and in the suburbs of Beirut.
President Donald Trump said a ceasefire would begin at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, news that followed talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington earlier in the week.
