Trump extends Iran ceasefire

Donald Trump has extended the ceasefire with Iran, averting a return to fighting just hours before it was due to expire. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has thanked Trump for extending the truce. Trump said the US will maintain its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian ports until Tehran submits a ‘unified proposal’ and talks are completed. Iran has yet to respond to Trump’s ceasefire extension. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.

10:13 AM, 22 April 2026

Iran hangs man convicted of links to Israel’s Mossad

Iran hanged a man on Wednesday convicted of links to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, the judiciary said, the latest in a string of executions against the backdrop of the war with Israel and the United States.

“Mehdi Farid… was hanged this morning for extensive cooperation with the terrorist spy service Mossad after the case was examined and the final verdict was approved,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

It was not immediately clear when he was arrested or when his trial took place, but the court found him guilty of “intelligence cooperation and espionage for the Zionist regime” under the capital offence “corruption on earth”.

09:55 AM, 22 April 2026

Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Bekaa kills one despite truce

An Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Bekaa region killed one person and wounded two others on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, despite an ongoing truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“One person was killed and two others were wounded as a result of an attack carried out by an enemy drone at dawn on the outskirts of Al-Jabur in West Bekaa,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had launched rockets and attack drones at a site in northern Israel in response to “blatant” Israeli ceasefire violations, which it said included “attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages”.

The Israeli military said that day that Hezbollah “launched several rockets” towards soldiers stationed in south Lebanon and that the military struck the launcher in response.

NNA on Wednesday reported Israeli artillery shelling and demolitions in southern towns Israel currently occupies.

09:50 AM, 22 April 2026

Iranian gunboat targets container ship off Oman coast

An Iranian gunboat fired at a container ship off the coast of Oman on Wednesday, causing damage but no casualties, the UKMTO British maritime security agency said.

“The master of a container ship reported that the vessel was approached by one IRGC gunboat… that then fired upon the vessel, which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported,” the UKMTO said.

It added that the incident took place 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman and all the crew were safe.

09:05 AM, 22 April 2026

US Treasury vows maximum pressure as Iran blockade continues

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a post on X, said the United States Navy will continue its blockade of Iranian ports. He warned that Kharg Island oil storage is nearing capacity and that Iran’s fragile oil wells may be shut in, directly targeting the regime’s primary revenue sources.

Bessent added that the Treasury will maintain ‘maximum pressure through Economic Fury’ to disrupt Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds. He also cautioned that anyone facilitating covert trade or finance with Iran risks US sanctions.

He said the Treasury is freezing funds stolen by corrupt leadership on behalf of the people of Iran.

08:43 AM, 22 April 2026

Iran undecided on next US talks amid extended ceasefire

Donald Trump has extended the ceasefire with Iran, but Tehran has not yet confirmed whether it will attend a new round of peace talks with the U.S. later this week.

In an interview with the BBC, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran approached the first round of Islamabad talks ‘with good faith and a sense of seriousness, but you have a negotiating party that has shown its lack of seriousness, lack of good faith.’

08:31 AM, 22 April 2026

Trump says Iran losing $500m a day, calls situation ‘SOS’

Donald Trump has claimed that Iran is ‘collapsing financially’ in a post on Truth Social, saying the country is ‘starving for cash’ and losing around $500 million a day.

Trump alleged that Iran’s military and police are complaining about unpaid wages and said Tehran wants the Strait of Hormuz reopened ‘immediately’.

He added that the situation amounts to an ‘SOS’, amid ongoing tensions over the US blockade of Iranian maritime routes.

GN