Issued on: 19/04/2026 - 07:08Modified: 20/04/2026 - 01:18
The US Navy fired on an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman and took control of it, US President Donald Trump said Sunday. French shipping company CMA CGM confirmed that one of its ships was “fired upon with warning shots” on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had previously claimed to have regained control of the strait and threatened to target any ship that approached it. Follow our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This liveblog is no longer being updated.
European electric car sales jump in first quarter as petrol prices surge
Sales of fully electric cars in Europe's main auto markets jumped by almost a third in the first quarter of 2026, as drivers looked for alternatives to combustion engines after the war in Iran caused the highest spike in petrol prices in years.
New battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations, a proxy for sales, rose 29.4% from a year ago to almost 560,000 in the quarter and were up 51.3% at over 240,000 in March alone in 15 European markets, data collected by trade association E-Mobility Europe and research firm New Automotive showed on Monday.
"March's surge in electric car sales is one of Europe's biggest recent gains in energy security, in a month when oil dependence has become a real vulnerability," E-Mobility Europe Secretary General Chris Heron said in a statement.
Iran's military says it will retaliate against 'armed piracy' by US
Iran's top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, accused the US of violating a ceasefire by firing at one of Iran's commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman, vowing to retaliate.
State media quoted a Khatam al-Anbiya spokesperson as saying early on Monday that the vessel was en route from China to Iran.
"We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military," the spokesperson said.
UAE asks US for a wartime financial lifeline, WSJ reports
The United Arab Emirates has begun discussions with the US about securing a financial backstop, in case the US-Israeli war with Iran sends the Gulf nation into a deeper crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Iran not currently planning to attend new US talks, state media reports
Iranian state media reported that Tehran was not currently planning to take part in new talks with the US, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad.
"There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks," state broadcaster IRIB said, citing Iranian sources.
Trump says US has taken custody of vessel that tried to get through blockade
US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that US Marines took custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports, adding that US forces stopped the ship by blowing a hole in its engine room.
One of the vessels fired at in Hormuz Strait belonged to France's CMA CGM
French shipping company CMA CGM on Sunday confirmed that one of the ships that was the subject of gunfire in the Hormuz Strait on Saturday belonged to its fleet, referring to the incident as "warning shots".
The crew is safe, the company added.
"Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz – A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!" US President Trump wrote on social media on Sunday, adding that a French and British vessel were among the targets.
Pakistan prime minister speaks with Iran's president
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he spoke with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian about the conflict in the Gulf.
During the talk, Sharif shared insights with Pezeshkian regarding his recent conversations with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, he said in a post on X.
"I appreciated Iran’s engagement, including its high-level delegation to Islamabad for the historic talks, and recent discussions with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in Tehran," Sharif said.
Sharif assured Pezeshkian that Pakistan remains committed to its role as a facilitator of peace and regional stability.
Israel army probes image of soldier hitting Jesus statue in Lebanon
The Israeli army said that it was looking into the authenticity of an image circulating on social media that appears to show a soldier in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ with a hammer.
Spokesman Nadav Shoshani said on X that the army "is currently examining the reliability of the photograph".
"If this is indeed a real, recent picture, these actions do not align with the IDF's values and the behavior expected of IDF soldiers. The incident will be investigated thoroughly and in depth, and if necessary, steps will be taken in accordance with the findings," he added.
The image appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off of a cross.
Argentina's Milei says US-Israel war against Iran 'right thing to do'
Argentine President Javier Milei declared that the joint US-Israel war against Iran was the "right thing to do", as he signed on to the so-called Isaac Accords aimed at deepening bilateral ties between Israel and Latin American countries.
Making his third visit to Israel as president, Milei reaffirmed Argentina's support for the campaign against Iran, citing his government's earlier decision to designate the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organisation".
"We expressed our firm support for the United States and Israel in their war against terrorism and against the Iranian regime, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because our countries are brothers in suffering," Milei said in a joint statement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Global economy cannot afford more Hormuz uncertainty, says CEO of oil company ADNOC
The global economy cannot afford further Strait of Hormuz uncertainty, the CEO of Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC said, adding that the waterway should not operate under threat.
"Hormuz belongs to the world. It must be returned to the world. Exactly as it was," Sultan Al Jaber said in a post on X.
Syria says foiled cross-border attack by Assad remnants, Hezbollah
Syria's interior ministry said that security forces thwarted an alleged cross-border attack from the country's territory planned by remnants of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and cells linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
From March 2 until a 10-day ceasefire went into force on April 17, Hezbollah was battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire aimed at Israel in support of Tehran.
In a statement, the interior ministry said security forces "arrested members of a sabotage cell" linked to Hezbollah and Assad remnants.
Tehran has not decided whether to join new talks with US, Iran media reports
Iran has yet to decide whether it will take part in a new round of talks with the US, local media reported, with the IRNA state news agency saying "there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations".
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, quoting anonymous sources, said Tehran had yet to decide whether it would participate and that "the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive", with Fars citing one source as saying the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports was a precondition for talks.
IRNA, meanwhile, pointed to Washington's "maximalism and unreasonable and unrealistic demands, frequent changes of positions, constant contradictions and the continuation of the so-called naval blockade", adding that "in these circumstances, there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations".
Algeria issues new call for foreign oil and gas bids
Algeria launched a new call for international bids for hydrocarbon concessions, with global energy markets under extreme stress from the war in the Middle East.
The "Algeria Bid 2026" call for tenders, the second of its kind since 2024 aimed at attracting foreign investment, seeks "to reinforce the attractiveness of the sector, develop national hydrocarbon resources and consolidate Algeria's place as a reliable destination for energy investment", hydrocarbons minister Mohamed Arkab said at a ceremony in Algiers.
Israel re-establishes evacuated West Bank settlement
Israeli ministers officially reopened Sa-Nur, a settlement in the occupied West Bank that was evacuated 20 years ago, marking the occasion with defiant declarations against Palestinian statehood and calls to resettle Gaza.
Several cabinet members and lawmakers attended the ceremony near a cluster of white prefabricated homes arranged in rows on a hilltop.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.
Spain urges EU to end association agreement with Israel
Spain will ask the European Union to end its association agreement with Israel over alleged violations of international law, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
Spain has criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over the Gaza conflict and Israel's attacks on neighbouring Lebanon. Netanyahu has accused Spain of "hypocrisy and hostility".
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded with a social media post in Spanish saying his country would "not accept hypocritical lectures from someone who keeps ties with totalitarian regimes", citing Turkey and Venezuela under former leader Nicolas Maduro.
Trump says US delegation to go to Pakistan for Iran talks, threatens new strikes
US President Donald Trump said his envoys would return to Pakistan for new talks with Iran, while threatening new attacks on Iran's bridges and power plants unless it accepts his terms.
FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson, correspondant in Washington DC and Douglas Herbert, international affairs commentator have more.
Israeli military publishes map of south Lebanon territory under its control
The Israeli military published for the first time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, days after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.
Stretching east to west, the deployment line on the map runs 5-10km deep from the border into Lebanese territory, where Israel has said that it plans to create a so-called buffer zone.
Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese villages in the area, saying their aim is to protect northern Israeli towns from Hezbollah attacks. It has created buffer zones in Syria and in Gaza, where it controls more than half the enclave.
© Screengrab via X
Trump sending US team to Pakistan for Iran talks
US President Donald Trump said US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran, raising hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday even as Washington and Tehran remain in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
There is currently no decision by Iran to send a negotiating delegation to Pakistan "as long as there is a naval blockade", Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
Douglas Herbert, FRANCE 24's international affairs commentator, tells us more.
Yesterday's key developments:
Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy warned that any ship approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be treated as a target after Tehran reversed its reopening.
UNIFIL condemned what it described as a "deliberate attack on peacekeepers" after small-arms fire by non-state group actors killed one French peacekeeper and injured three others as they were clearing explosive ordnance in southern Lebanon to get to the outpost.
The Israeli military said it had established a "Yellow Line" in southern Lebanon, similar to the one separating its forces from territory still held by Hamas in Gaza, adding that it had already struck suspected militants approaching its troops along the line.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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