Iran US War News LIVE Updates: Iran warns to ‘sink American ships’ enforcing military blockade in Hormuz Strait

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi to make efforts to restore normal navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in a phone call on Wednesday, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, Reuters reported.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked two resolutions that would have stopped the sale of some $450 million in bombs and bulldozers to Israel, as President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans rallied behind his support for the Jewish state, as reported by Reuters.

Oil prices slipped in early Thursday trading as optimism over easing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Brent crude futures fell 44 cents (0.5%) to $94.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 70 cents (0.8%) to $90.59 a barrel, as reported by Reuters.

United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, says, “We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil and Iranian oil. That was oil that was on the water prior to March 11th. All that has been used”

The US military’s Middle East command CENTCOM said it had stopped 10 vessels from sailing out of Iranian ports during the first 48 hours of a naval blockade against the Islamic Republic.

But ship tracking data indicated at least three ships sailing from Iranian ports crossed the Strait of Hormuz, though some vessels taking the route later turned back.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, “…Bad reporting this morning that we had formally requested an extension of the ceasefire. That is not true at this moment. We remain very much engaged in these negotiations, in these talks. You heard from the Vice President and the President this week that these conversations are productive and ongoing, and that’s where we are right now…We feel good about the prospects of a deal. The President mentioned that in his interview yesterday. It is in the best interest of Iran to meet the President’s demands. I think he’s made his red lines in these negotiations very clear to the other side. We are continuing to see how these conversations go”

Israel’s military chief of staff said he had ordered areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River to be turned into a Hezbollah “kill zone” as troops pressed a major offensive there.

Major Wall Street stock indices finished at records Wednesday, extending an upward climb on optimism about an accord in the US-Iran conflict.

United States officials issued new sanctions against Iran, targeting more than two dozen people involved in oil transport, along with companies and ships that operate within the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

“Treasury is moving aggressively with ‘Economic Fury’ by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Battleships in the US armada “can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them,” Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was named as a military adviser by Khamenei last month, told state TV, as reported by AFP.