Iran war updates: Trump voices optimism about deal; Tehran cautious

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We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a quick recap of the main developments today:

• Throughout the day, US President Donald Trump has stressed that the US and Iran are on the cusp of reaching a deal. But Iranian officials have suggested that major issues remain unresolved.
• Tehran has dismissed Trump’s repeated claim that Iran has agreed to allow its enriched uranium to be moved to the US.
• A Pakistani source has told Al Jazeera that much more needs to be done in talks between Iran and the US before there can be a lasting peace in the region.
• The ceasefire in Lebanon largely held in its first full day.
• Tehran and Washington have both announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now open, but Iran’s IRGC said ships will have to obtain permission from Iranian forces and follow a designated path to cross the waterway.
• Washington said its blockade on Iranian ports would remain in place until a final deal is reached with Tehran.
• Trump said he “prohibited” Israel from bombing Lebanon, but added that the issue of Hezbollah’s presence would be dealt with separately from Iran and in an “appropriate manner”.
• Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun defended Beirut’s decision to enter into direct talks with Israel, stressing that his government is working only in the interests of the Lebanese people.
• Despite the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, several Lebanese news outlets reported that Israeli troops are blowing up homes in the border towns they continue to control.
• The US Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions against commanders of Iraqi groups allied with Iran, including individuals associated with Kataib Hezbollah.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has called for the UN to effectively respond to acts of “aggression” towards his country, Iran’s IRNA news agency reports.

During a meeting with the UN’s top peace-building official, Rosemary Di Carlo, Saeed Khatibzadeh said the attacks on Iran were a “continued blatant violation of international laws and rights.”

The UN Security Council has voted to condemn Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbours, but not the attacks first launched by the US and Israel on Iran on February 28.

The Balkan nation’s parliament has voted overwhelmingly, 89-0, to contribute dozens of troops to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza, a US-backed initiative following last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Defence Minister Ejup Maqedonci told The Associated Press that NATO countries had “contributed to the security of the Republic of Kosovo” and that now, his country is “entering a phase where we are becoming a provider, or exporter, of security”.

Created under Trump’s Board of Peace and backed by the UN Security Council, the ISF, which has yet to deploy to Gaza, will reportedly work to “demilitarise” the Strip and help to train a new Palestinian police force.

Other countries that have pledged to send troops include Indonesia, Albania, Kazakhstan and Morocco.

Israel remains in control of about half of the territory of Gaza, where it has forcibly displaced the Palestinian population.

Some of Trump’s allies are voicing dismay with the US president’s announcement that Israel is “prohibited” from bombing Lebanon.

Mark Levin, an American pro-Israel commentator who has been one of the most vocal cheerleaders of the war, said Trump’s “declaration actually protects Hezbollah”.

“How will we disarm Hezbollah, now that we have taken on this responsibility? How will we prevent Hezbollah from regenerating and reconstituting its forces?” Levin wrote on X.

“The Lebanese government has neither the will nor the way or they’d have done it in last year’s ceasefire that Hezbollah violated.”

US Senator Lindsey Graham, another foreign policy hawk close to Trump, endorsed Levin’s grievances.

“Great questions from The Great One,” he said in response to Levin’s post.

The US president shares a news article noting that Spain did not allow its airspace to be used by the US military during the attacks on Iran.

“They were not there for us!” Trump wrote in a social media post.

Earlier, the US president hit out at NATO, calling the alliance a “paper tiger” for failing to intervene to open the Strait of Hormuz by force.

Spain, a NATO ally, took a defiant stance against the war, refusing to back down even after Trump threatened to cut off trade with the country.

Human Rights Watch has decried the Israeli bombing of the Qasmieh bridge, on of the main passageways into south Lebanon.

After the ceasefire was announced, many residents crossed the destroyed bridge on foot as authorities worked to repair it.

“Governments should signal to Israel that they will not tolerate or risk complicity in war crimes by immediately suspending arms sales,” HRW said in a social media post.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the most senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon, but she said more work is needed to build on the fragile gains and enable those displaced by Israeli attacks to return home.

“This is an important start, but more progress is needed,” Shaheen said. “I urge the sides to work together to rebuff Iranian influence and allow all displaced residents to return home.”

"I commend the Lebanese and Israeli governments for reaching a ceasefire. This is an important start, but more progress is needed. I urge the sides to work together to rebuff Iranian influence and allow all displaced residents to return home." –@SenatorShaheenhttps://t.co/D2U3Kfr3Xw

— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) April 17, 2026

Congressman Bill Foster, who holds a PhD in physics from Harvard, has released a video criticising the lack of expertise in the US negotiating team with Iran.

“Nothing is more important than coming to a safe resolution on the nuclear issue with Iran,” Foster said. “But under what circumstances would you put a couple of real estate dealers and nepo babies in charge of these negotiations?”

The congressman was likely referring to Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Foster said the 2015 deal was negotiated by technical experts and physicists who understood how nuclear weapons are made, and that under the agreement Iran could not build a bomb.

We need technical experts negotiating with Iran, not real estate dealers. pic.twitter.com/RLtnG45XzJ

— Congressman Bill Foster (@RepBillFoster) April 17, 2026

The sense is that markets want to move past these conflicts, and the announcement of the Strait of Hormuz reopening has solidified optimism.

The gains on the markets on Friday are certainly very strong, with Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq all closing well above 1 percent.

This optimism comes from certainty, as the markets do not like uncertainty. Now, they are seeing some sort of certainty, and that is what’s fuelling this market run.

They’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps we could be at the end of this conflict. We don’t know that for sure, but that’s how the markets are portraying it.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan, and the two discussed the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in Lebanon, the kingdom’s news agency SPA says.