U.S.-Iran peace talks still in limbo after Iran seizes ships in the Strait of Hormuz

Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. By NPR Staff Mourners hold posters that show portraits of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike, during her funeral procession in the village of Baysariyeh, in southern Lebanon, on Thursday. Mohammed Zaatari/AP hide caption Click here to listen to NPR's State of the World podcast, a human perspective on global stories in just a few minutes, every weekday. Iran says the continued U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports is a violation of the deal and Iranian negotiators will not return to the table until the blockade is lifted. The U.S. Central Command said it has directed 31 vessels to change course since imposing its blockade earlier this month. The U.S. military on Thursday said it seized a tanker transporting oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, a day after Iran took control of two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. State of the World from NPR President Trump extends the ceasefire with Iran, what happens now? President Trump said on social media he ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. He added that the U.S. would triple the level of minesweeping in the strait. The latest regional turmoil coincided with another shakeup at the Pentagon, where U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan was dismissed following months of tension with senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. A man reads a newspaper with a front page article referring to anticipated US-Iran peace talks, at a stall in Islamabad on April 22, 2026. A woman mourns next to a press ballistic helmet as relatives and friends gather at the house of Amal Khalil, a veteran correspondent for the daily newspaper Al-Akhbar who was killed in a reported Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, in the village of Bisariyeh on April 23, 2026. Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption The Israeli government has called on the Lebanese government to do more to pressure Hezbollah into disarming. Salman Harb, a Hezbollah spokesperson, told NPR that the group maintained its "right to resist" if Israel refused to withdraw from Lebanon. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least five people, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil. Lebanese officials said Khalil and another journalist took shelter in a house after a nearby vehicle was targeted, but the building was then struck as well. Medics said they were able to rescue a wounded journalist accompanying her. They then came under fire and were forced to retreat before they could save Khalil, who later died under the rubble. The Israeli military said it was responding to an "imminent threat" and was reviewing the incident. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of targeting journalists. "Israel's targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions," Salam wrote in a post on social media. At least eight journalists have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, according to the Committee to Project Journalists. The latest regional turmoil coincides with another shakeup at the Pentagon, where Navy Secretary John Phelan was dismissed on Wednesday. John Phelan, 79th U.S. Secretary of the Navy speaks onstage during the Reindustrialize Conference 2025 on July 16, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America hide caption The Pentagon said only that Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately," and said that Undersecretary Hung Cao would serve as acting Navy secretary. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Phelan's dismissal "another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth." Phelan, a billionaire investor with no naval experience, was the service's top civilian official who oversaw the Navy's budget, personnel and effort to build more ships. He was not, however, responsible for day-to-day operations taking place in the Middle East. Phelan's departure puts him on a list of over 30 Pentagon officials who have been ousted since Hegseth's arrival at the Pentagon, many of them generals and admirals. A former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command spoke about the dismissal on NPR's Morning Edition on Thursday. "Well, all political appointees in every administration come and go. Did he meet his objectives? Are there new objectives? So it's just indicative of political leadership and the time and somewhat inconsistency or fluid situation all political appointees are in," retired Navy SEAL and Vice Adm. Robert Harward said. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor