Summary

Iran War Live Updates: Iranian Official Warns of Escalation in Strait of Hormuz Standoff Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, accused the United States of violating the shaky cease-fire, after Iranian forces fired at vessels that the U.S. Navy was guiding through the strait. A top Iranian official warned on Tuesday of an escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and accused the United States of violating the fragile cease-fire, a day after the U.S. Navy began an initiative to escort commercial ships through the strait, a vital oil shipping waterway. As the truce appeared to falter, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator in the stumbling peace negotiations, said in a social media post that “a new equation” was emerging in the waterway. He said that American actions had endangered shipping through the strait, which Iran has effectively blockaded since the war began in late February. “We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even started yet,” Mr. Ghalibaf said. The U.S. Navy began escorting commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Reports of attacks from Iran in and around the Persian Gulf quickly tested the American actions and the Pakistani-brokered cease-fire that paused the war last month. The United Arab Emirates said Iran had fired missiles and drones at its territory on Monday, the first time since the cease-fire had come into effect. The U.A.E.’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country “reserves its full and legitimate right to respond” to the attacks. American forces shot down cruise missiles and drones and destroyed six Iranian speedboats that had threatened the vessels, according to U.S. Central Command. The U.S. military said two commercial ships operating under the U.S. flag had passed through the waterway. Iran did not officially confirm or deny whether it had resumed attacks. IRIB, Iran’s state-run broadcaster, said that a senior Iranian military official denied the American claim that several Iranian boats had been sunk. In an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that aired Monday, President Trump declined to say whether the cease-fire was over. “Well, I can’t tell you that,” Mr. Trump said. Here’s what else we’re covering: Economy and markets: Oil prices jumped and stocks fell as investors reacted to the continued uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz. Read more › South Korea: Mr. Trump said Monday that Iran had “taken some shots at unrelated Nations,” including a South Korean cargo ship, but said that there had been “no damage going through the Strait” aside from that ship. The South Korean government said that the vessel had caught fire after an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz, but did not say it had been attacked. China: The United States is pushing China to help pressure Iran to reopen the strait, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a rebuke to Beijing over its purchases of Iranian oil. Read more › Shipping: Shipping companies said on Monday that Mr. Trump’s offer to provide them safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz fell short of the sort of arrangements that would persuade them to make the trip. Read more › Oil prices pulled back on Tuesday after a sharp increase a day earlier. They had surged on Monday as the fragile truce in the Middle East appeared to be in jeopardy. The United Arab Emirates said it had been attacked by Iran, while the U.S. military said Iran had fired at the ships and commercial vessels that the Navy was guiding through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trading route for oil and gas. It remained unclear whether the attacks on Monday meant that the cease-fire had collapsed and the war had resumed. At the same time, the United States was pushing China to help pressure Iran to reopen the strait, through which tankers carry as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Investors and analysts are focused on the continued disruption to shipping in the strait. Oil prices retreat. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, declined 2 percent to around $112 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell 3 percent to about $103 a barrel. Price of Brent crude oil How much the international benchmark costs Stock futures point to a higher open. Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a 0.35 percent increase when stocks resume trading in the United States on Tuesday. Stocks in Asia, where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were largely flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1 percent. Markets were closed in China, Japan and South Korea for a holiday. In Europe, stocks were mixed. The Stoxx 600, a broad index that tracks the region’s largest companies, and the DAX in Germany ticked higher, erasing earlier losses. The FTSE 100 in Britain was down less than 1 percent. Hang Seng Gasoline prices continue to climb. Gas prices rose again on Tuesday, jumping to a national average of $4.48 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The increase has raised the cost for drivers by 50 percent since the war began. Gas prices don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days. The average price of diesel rose to $5.66 on Monday, up 51 percent since the start of the war. What they are saying: Inflation worries rise. Investors have faced a flurry of headlines, which continue to drive the market, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a research note on Tuesday, adding that the increased tension in the Persian Gulf and rise in oil prices have reignited concerns about inflationary pressures. “Global market sentiment has made a cautious start to the week, with renewed attacks in the Gulf casting doubt on the state of the four-week-old cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran as both the sides look to exert influence over the Strait of Hormuz,” they wrote. Facing pressure to address the economic fallout of his war in Iran, President Trump on Monday sought to portray his policy wins for small businesses as evidence that he was succeeding in building up the economy. Speaking to business leaders from across the country at an event in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Trump declared that slashing taxes and regulations had yielded “record business,” and that the economy was “roaring.” The White House described the Small Business Week event as highlighting “the extraordinary revival of Main Street under his America First agenda.” But looming over it all was a war abroad that Mr. Trump had begun, and whose economic impact is compounding cost-of-living concerns among Americans, many of whom increasingly say their economic reality has worsened under his tenure. Mr. Trump’s comments on Monday created a sharp contrast with the economic reality outside Washington, as rising energy prices hammer families and businesses alike. With talks between the United States and Iran at a standstill, the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, reached about $114 per barrel by Monday evening. The spike came at a moment of great uncertainty about the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key thoroughfare for the world’s oil. Mr. Trump, who often focuses on economic indicators like the stock market that have very little impact on the bottom line for most Americans, has brushed off the pain caused by his own policies with promises that it is temporary. During the event on Monday, he sought to downplay the rising cost of energy, saying that it had been projected to rise much more, and that he saw it “going down very substantially” soon. But for Americans, relief remained out of reach. The average cost of a gallon of gas topped $4.45 nationwide, according to AAA, marking an increase of more than a dollar compared with last year. Soaring even higher was the cost of diesel, which shot above $5.64 a gallon, or a roughly $2 increase from this time in 2025. This increases the cost of transporting products, which is likely to result in higher prices for consumers. Also at Monday’s event, Mr. Trump offered a new defense of one of his most consequential policies, slashing the federal work force, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. He boasted that private sector jobs had been created in their place, and suggested that federal workers were grateful to him for firing them. “And I feel sorry for everyone, you know, it’s a hard thing to do,” he said. “Many of those people voted for me, but now they like me because they went out, they got private sector jobs that they like better and is paying them sometimes two or three times more money.” With the midterm elections just months away, Mr. Trump has struggled to hone an economic message, despite pleas from Republicans to focus on how his policies are improving the lives of everyday Americans and pledges from his aides that he would travel the country doing just that. Mr. Trump has faced accusations from some in his “America First” base that he is too focused on foreign policy and global conflicts and not enough on the kitchen-table issues that he campaigned on addressing, such as the cost of living and grocery and gas prices. But delivering a focused message on the economy is not much in Mr. Trump’s style. During the more than one-hour speech on Monday, Mr. Trump veered off into other topics, including criticizing former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., boasting about passing cognitive tests and complaining about polls and media coverage. He also offered a lengthy account of how he had decided to renovate the reflecting pool at the National Mall. The event featured other speakers who praised Mr. Trump, including Rick Harrison of the reality television show “Pawn Stars” and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who praised his popularity in Venezuela after the United States removed its president. Last Friday, Mr. Trump delivered another economic speech at The Villages in Florida, where he was billed to speak about how his tax and domestic policy legislation would help older Americans who may be relying on Social Security. But for much of the roughly 1.5-hour speech, Mr. Trump’s tax policies seemed to be an afterthought. Standing in front of hundreds from a retirement community in a school gymnasium, Mr. Trump criticized the staff of the event for not ensuring his microphone volume was loud enough. He launched into a xenophobic tirade against the Somali community in the United States, mocked a transgender weight lifter and brought Dr. Phil McGraw, the talk show host, onstage to speak. He blamed his predecessors for high prices and inflation, and once again dismissed the issue of affordability, which he has called a “hoax.” “And the Democrats start screaming, ‘affordability, affordability’ — they’re the ones that caused the problem,” Mr. Trump said. Mr. Trump did touch on his domestic policies, pledging to defend Social Security and Medicare. But he also acknowledged that those issues did not have his full attention. He assured the crowd of supporters that Dr. Mehmet Oz, Mr. Trump’s administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, knew more about “Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being.” Mr. Trump said Dr. Oz was telling him about the programs on the way to The Villages, making it “the most boring trip I’ve ever made.” “I said, ‘You work out the details,’ but I did say, ‘Give them the max,’” Mr. Trump said. “That’s all I care about.” Tony Romm contributed reporting.