Iran war: What is happening on day 51 of the US-Israeli conflict? | Explainer News | Al Jazeera

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Iran war: What is happening on day 51 of the US-Israeli conflict?

Tehran says it will keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed until Washington ends its blockade of Iranian ports.

Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman — Ships and tankers sit at the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, on April 18, 2026 [Reuters]

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and AP

The strategic Strait of Hormuz has been closed again during the standoff between Iran and the United States as the influential Iranian parliamentary speaker has indicated that a conclusive peace agreement is still “far” away even though talks have made some headway.

With mediators pressing on after high-level discussions in Pakistan last weekend failed to produce an accord, Tehran declared it would keep the vital maritime trade corridor closed until Washington lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission “will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted”.

The current two-week ceasefire will expire on Wednesday unless it is extended.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

US ⁠President ⁠Donald Trump has no justification to ⁠deprive Iran of its nuclear ⁠rights, the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ‌as saying on Sunday as Washington and Tehran continue to disagree on nuclear ⁠issues.
Iran’s “valiant navy” is “ready to inflict new bitter defeats on its enemies”, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a series of X posts on Saturday.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said a framework of understanding must be agreed with the US first before more talks are held, saying, “There was significant progress made actually,” but dismissed US “maximalist” demands on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“There is now a certain sense of frustration and uncertainty when it comes to the road ahead,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran. “We know that Iranians are very much worried, not only about the shadow of the war, but also about the element of surprise, even during this ceasefire.”
Minister of Education Alireza Kazemi said Iran’s government does not have plans to resume in-person education at the moment.
The Iranian Ministry of Science announced that 180 members of the academic community have been killed in the war, including 18 female students and one female university professor.
The semiofficial Tasnim News Agency, quoting the deputy director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said the country’s airspace would be reopened with flights from east to west established gradually.
The aviation authority said Iran will resume international flights on Monday from Mashhad airport in the country’s northeast.
Iran is replenishing its missile and drone launchers at a ⁠higher speed than before the war started, Majid Mousavi, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, said.
⁠Iran’s ⁠armed forces turned back two tankers trying ⁠to transit the Strait ⁠of Hormuz after issuing warnings, Tasnim reported.

War diplomacy

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address on Saturday night that there had been “progress” with Washington, “but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain.”
“We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran’s negotiators in the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the US against Iran on February 28.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on Saturday from his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye in advance of an expected second round of US-Iran talks.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo and Islamabad hope to secure a final agreement “in the coming days”.
⁠Turkish ⁠Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday ⁠that Iran and the US had the will to continue talks to end the ‌war and he remained “optimistic” that the two-week ceasefire would be extended.

In the US

Trump accused Iran of getting “a little cute” in its recent moves and warned Tehran not to try to “blackmail” Washington by flip-flopping on the strait.
“We have very good conversations going on,” the president told reporters at the White House, adding that Washington was “taking a tough stand”.
The US military said it has forced 23 ships to turn around near the Strait of Hormuz since it imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a post on X, its Central Command said US forces were still enforcing the blockade “against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas”.

In Israel

The Israeli military said another soldier has been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in less than 12 hours.
Israeli forces said they established a “yellow line” in southern Lebanon similar to an Israeli military measure in the besieged Gaza Strip.
More than 1,000 homes in Tel Aviv have been left uninhabitable by the war with Iran, its mayor said.

In Lebanon

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Saturday’s attack that killed a French soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
Naim Kassem, head of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, in a statement read on the group’s Al-Manar TV said a paper published by the US Department of State, which he described as the text of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, “means nothing at the practical level, but it is an insult to our country”.
“Everyone knows that the government of Lebanon has not met or approved this statement,” Kassem said.