NPR Staff

President Trump said a second round of direct U.S.-Iran peace talks could resume in Pakistan within the next two days, even as he instituted a naval blockade of all Iranian ports.

President Trump said the U.S. would interdict vessels that had paid what he called an "illegal toll" to Iran to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

After talks between the U.S. and Iran collapsed, President Trump said the U.S. will "blockade" the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said it would blockade ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.

The fragile ceasefire agreement was tested again on Friday after Iran refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes in Lebanon, and Kuwait was attacked with drones.

Israel's prime minister said his government would begin talks with Lebanon but vowed to continue attacks against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite a fragile Iran ceasefire.

After Iran ceded to President Trump's demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump backed down from his threat of wide-scale destruction of Iran's civilian and military infrastructure.

Iran's top officials pushed back against a U.S. ceasefire plan and President Trump's deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks.