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Apr 22, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: Iranian Forces Claim Seizure of 2 Ships After Trump Extends Truce
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked and seized two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported. Both sides were seeking to exert control in the waterway even as President Trump renewed a cease-fire.
Updated
April 22, 2026, 7:36 a.m. ET19 minutes ago
Adam RasgonLuke BroadwaterJonathan Swan and Francesca Regalado
Here’s the latest
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had seized two container ships on Wednesday in the area of the contested Strait of Hormuz, Iranian news media reported, hours after President Trump announced that he was extending a cease-fire.
Earlier Wednesday, U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, a shipping monitor run by the British Navy, reported that two ships had been attacked near the strait, one by a gunboat belonging to the Revolutionary Guards. Iranian news media reported that the Guards had targeted two cargo vessels, the MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, and the force’s Navy later claimed to have seized the ships after they attempted to navigate “without the necessary permits.”
The attacks showed how both Iran and the United States were seeking to exert control over shipping in the area.
Even as Mr. Trump announced the cease-fire extension late on Tuesday, before it was set to expire, he said the United States would continue to block ships heading to and from Iranian ports — a move that Iran’s foreign minister called “an act of war.”
Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks was put on hold Tuesday because Tehran had not responded to American demands in the negotiations, a U.S. official said.
In some of Iran’s first public comments in response to the extension of the cease-fire, the foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Wednesday that Iran stood ready to defend itself militarily while remaining open to the prospect of further talks.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said he had renewed the truce on a request from Pakistan, which is trying to mediate an end to the war. He said the cease-fire would remain in place until Iran’s “leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
Here’s what else we are covering:
Strait of Hormuz: On Wednesday, Britain and France were expected to begin a two-day conference in London of more than 30 countries to discuss detailed military plans to reopen the strait. At a summit last week, the countries agreed to establish a multinational defensive mission to escort commercial vessels through the strait, according to a statement by Mr. Starmer’s office.
Fuel prices: Germany’s Lufthansa Group said Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October, citing the doubling of jet fuel prices since the start of the Iran war. Energy: Oil prices approached $100 a barrel and stocks faded on Tuesday as uncertainty clouded the future of U.S.-Iran peace talks.
Lebanon: While a separate 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon has mostly held since it went into effect last week, Israel on Tuesday accused Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, of firing rockets toward Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah later confirmed firing on Israel, saying it had done so in response to cease-fire violations.
April 22, 2026, 6:51 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Leo Sands and Sanam Mahoozi
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy claimed on Wednesday to have seized two cargo vessels, the MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, after they attempted to navigate “without the necessary permits.” The navy said it was directing both ships to Iran’s coast. “Disrupting the order and security of the Strait of Hormuz is our red line,” it said in a statement shared by the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards. Earlier this morning, several Iranian news agencies reported that the Guards had targeted and “immobilized” those two ships.
April 22, 2026, 6:49 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Leo Sands and Sanam Mahoozi
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday that Iran stood ready to defend itself militarily while remaining open to the prospect of a further talks. He said Iran will negotiate “whenever we conclude that the necessary and rational conditions exist to use this tool to achieve national interests,” according to the official IRNA news agency.
April 22, 2026, 6:43 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Reporting from London
Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights to save fuel as costs surge and shortages loom
Lufthansa Group, the German airline, said it would cut 20,000 flights over the next six months to save jet fuel as the pressure builds on companies to address surging prices and declining supplies of energy caused by the war in Iran.
The airline said on Tuesday that it had already announced which flights it had trimmed through May. Overall, the cuts would save 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel through the end of October. The company added that it has secured its fuel supply for “the coming weeks.”
Airlines across Europe have warned that the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow artery off Iran’s southern coast that is a critical route for energy supplies, would lead to fuel shortages and severe disruptions. Aviation operations in the Middle East and Asia were already affected by the war, leading to flight reductions and fuel surcharges on ticket prices.
Europe is the largest consumer of jet fuel shipped through the strait. Those shipments account for about 41 percent of the region’s jet fuel imports. Global prices of jet fuel have risen more than 70 percent since the start the war at the end of February, according to the Platts Jet Fuel Price Index.
Last week, Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said that Europe had about six weeks of jet fuel supplies. European transportation ministers met on Tuesday to discuss the energy crisis.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European commissioner for transport, said officials were working to secure alternative fuel supplies, including from the United States.
“And if real supply issues arise, our emergency stocks must be put to the best use,” he added. The European Commission will make jet fuel its first priority as it increases coordination of the distribution of fuel across Europe, he said on Wednesday.
Lufthansa said it would cancel short-haul flights, focusing on unprofitable routes from Frankfurt and Munich, but would expand routes from its other hubs in Zurich, Vienna and Brussels. Last week, the airline announced measures to save fuel and other costs, permanently grounding 27 older-model planes operating on its Lufthansa CityLine, a regional carrier, and axing some of its long-haul flights at the end of the summer.
Other airlines have warned about the cost of fuel and potential flight disruptions.
Ryanair, a low-cost European airline, said last week that its suppliers could guarantee it enough jet fuel only through most of May. The Dutch airline KLM said that while it was not short of kerosene, it was cutting 80 return flights to and from Amsterdam to save money.
Niraj Chokshi contributed reporting.
April 22, 2026, 6:28 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Leo Sands and Sanam Mahoozi
The two container ships attacked earlier on Wednesday morning in the Strait of Hormuz were targeted as part of an enforcement operation by Iranian authorities, according to the semiofficial Iranian news outlet Tasnim. Referring to the second vessel, the outlet reported: “It appears that this container ship did not heed warnings from the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and was therefore targeted.”
April 22, 2026, 4:42 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Germany’s Lufthansa Group said Tuesday it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October, citing the doubling of jet fuel prices since the start of the Iran war. Europe is the biggest consumer of jet fuel shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and industry groups have warned that the continent’s airlines face serious shortages.
April 22, 2026, 4:39 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Leo Sands
A second cargo ship came under attack on Wednesday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, a British naval monitoring group. The vessel, about eight nautical miles west of Iran, was stopped in the water and no damage was reported. The crew was safe. It was not clear who fired on the ship.
April 22, 2026, 3:52 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Britain and France will convene military planners from more than 30 countries in London on Wednesday at a conference aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“The sessions will advance military plans to reopen the Strait, as soon as conditions permit, following a sustainable ceasefire agreement,” the ministry said in a statement. At a previous summit of 51 countries, hosted by the French and British leaders in Paris last week, they called for the strait’s “unconditional, unrestricted and immediate” reopening and agreed to establish a multinational defensive mission to escort commercial vessels.
April 22, 2026, 1:23 a.m. ET7 hours ago
A container ship was attacked by a gunboat from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps off the coast of Oman, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, an organization administered by the British Royal Navy. The crew was safe, it said, though the ship’s bridge sustained heavy damage. No radio warning was issued before the vessel was fired upon, according to the organization.