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Iran live updates: Iran pushes back on Trump's claims about agreement

The White House insists the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open."

ByDavid Brennan, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: April 17, 2026, 7:46 PM EDT

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 negotiations, U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to reach a peace deal. Trump said that Iran's nuclear program was the key sticking point, and said the U.S. would respond with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

Iran announced it would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, but Trump said the blockade will remain in place until the U.S.'s "transaction" with Iran is complete.

Israel, meanwhile, has reached a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, ending its ground operations and intense strikes, where it was engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the ceasefire with Iran.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
2:59 PM EDT

Israeli strike on Lebanon kills 1, marking first death announced since ceasefire went into effect: Lebanese Health Ministry

One person was killed and two wounded in an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon Friday afternoon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

This is the first death announced in Lebanon since the ceasefire began. The Lebanese National News Agency -- the government's official news agency -- has reported numerous instances of Israeli artillery fire in Southern Lebanon as well.

ABC News has asked the Israeli military for comment.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

2:16 PM EDT

IRGC announces 'new order' for Strait of Hormuz

Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Friday "a new order" for the Strait of Hormuz, allowing civilian ships to pass through a designated route while banning military vessels and requiring IRGC permission for all passage, according to Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency.

2:09 PM EDT

Iran warns of 'countermeasures' if US blockade continues

If the American naval blockade of Iranian ports continues, Iran will "undoubtedly take the necessary measures and no adjustments will be made in this regard," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday, according to Iranian state media.

He also emphasized that reopening the Strait of Hormuz, along routes specified by Iran and "in coordination with the competent authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran," was always going to be announced when a ceasefire was reached in Lebanon, as it was part of the conditions in the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine displays a map showing the blockade line in the Strait of Hormuz during a briefing on the Iran war, at the Pentagon in Washington, April 16, 2026.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Baqaei said that the Strait of Hormuz "is still under the supervision of the Islamic Republic of Iran and we are serious about our commitments. If the other party wants to breach its obligations again, which it seems to intend to do, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take the necessary countermeasures."

2:01 PM EDT

13 people killed in Lebanon shortly before ceasefire went into effect

At least 13 people were killed and 70 others were injured in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre last night, shortly before the ceasefire went into effect, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Nearly 2,300 people have been killed and over 7,500 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to the ministry.

Displaced people in cars queue up to cross a destroyed bridge in Qasmiyeh near Tyre city, south Lebanon, as they return to their villages following a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, April 17, 2026.
Mohammed Zaatari/AP

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

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