War in the Middle East: Latest Developments

US President Donald Trump said he has ordered his navy to block “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz”. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world’s oil and gas passes on March 1, 2026. Photo by Sahar AL ATTAR / AFP Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google The latest developments in the Middle East war: Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . US President Donald Trump said he has ordered his navy to block “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz”, after a round of peace talks in Pakistan between American and Iranian delegations ended in failure. He said on social media he had also ordered the US Navy to “interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” Trump also threatened -- again -- to destroy Iranian energy infrastructure if no deal ended up being reached, telling Fox News: “I could take out Iran in one day.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said after Trump’s announcement that Iranian security forces had full control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned enemies would be trapped in a “deadly vortex” in case of any “wrong move”. The entire American negotiating team involved in the weekend talks with Iran has left Islamabad, a US official said, leaving no-one behind who could have pursued back-channel discussions towards a deal. The top Iranian official in the Islamabad talks, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on X that Washington was “unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations”. Other Topics of Interest The Trump-Putin Co-Dependency Recognizing Trump for what he really is and how to handle him. Iranian and US media said the main sticking points in the talks were the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s insistence on a right to enrich uranium. Trump threatened 50 percent tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States if Beijing helps Iran militarily. “If we catch them doing that, they get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering -- that’s a staggering amount,” Trump told Fox News. Ireland’s government has convened an emergency meeting to approve measure aimed at quelling protests over spiralling petrol and diesel prices amid the Middle East war. Kuwait arrested 24 people, including five former lawmakers, as part of a probe into the “financing of terrorist entities”, authorities said. Gulf states including Kuwait have, since Iran started attacking them, moved against individuals and organisations suspected of links to or supporting Tehran. An Iranian official said 3,375 people in Iran have been killed in the war with the United States and Israel. Abbas Masjedi, head of the judiciary’s Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, said state media the toll included 2,875 males and 496 females, without specifying if they were adults or children. Due to reporting restrictions, AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor to independently verify tolls in Iran. The foreign minister of Pakistan, which mediated the weekend round of talks, called for the two-week ceasefire that had been agreed by Washington and Tehran to be upheld. His counterpart in Oman, which has mediated in the past, urged it be extended and a new round of talks be held. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that he was ready to help mediate the peace efforts, the Kremlin said.