Iran-US war latest: Trump accuses Tehran of violating ceasefire after US navy boards another sanctioned tanker

Shifting power structures within the Iranian government mean that anti-America hawks could now be setting the agenda for negotiations, according to experts.

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The United States navy boarded a sanctioned vessel in the Indian Ocean overnight, according to the department of war.

The Tifani, a commercial vessel reportedly loaded with around 300,00 tonnes of cargo, was reportedly linked to an Indian shipping company that is also under American sanctions.

“Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the department of war wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran—anywhere they operate. International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.

“The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain.”

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Tehran’s parliamentary speaker and top negotiator, said Trump wants to “justify renewed warmongering” by “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he added in a post on X.

President Donald Trump has accused Iran of breaking the 14-day ceasefire agreement set to expire tomorrow.

In a post on Truth Social, the US leader wrote: “Iran has Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!”

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit the lowest figures of his term in recent days as the US leader has had his temperament questioned following his spat with Pope Leo, according to a Reuters and Ipsos poll.

The six-day public opinion poll, concluded on Monday, showed only 36 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, unchanged from a month earlier.

Trump enjoyed the highest approval rating of his current term, 47 per cent, shortly after he was sworn in to office in January 2025.

Around 36 per cent of Americans approve of U.S. military strikes against Iran, compared with 35 per cent in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between 10 to 12 April.

The latest poll of 4,557 US adults nationwide, conducted online, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

It showed that many Americans, including some members of Trump’s Republican Party, have some concerns about the 79-year-old president’s temperament and mental sharpness following a series of explosive outbursts.

Only 26 per cent of Americans said they consider Trump “even-tempered” while Republicans were divided on this question, with 53 per cent considering him to be so and 46 per cent saying he is not. Only 7 per cent of Democrats saw Trump as even-tempered.

Iranian state television on Tuesday issued an on-screen alert saying that “no delegation from Iran has visited Islamabad … so far” as speculation about possible talks with the United States grows.

The on-screen alert likely reflects the internal debate ongoing within Iran’s theocracy as it weighs how to respond to the U.S. Navy’s seizure of an Iranian container ship over the weekend.

Iranian state TV long has been controlled by hard-liners within Iran’s theocracy.

So far, no official has acknowledged that a delegation will be heading to Islamabad, where officials have been on standby for days now for the possible talks.

ahra* woke up in the middle of the night at around 3.30am on 8 April, just before the ceasefire was announced. She could hear the hum of electricity. “Thank god,” she said. “The power hasn’t gone out.”

“On the one hand, I was happy they hadn’t hit the power plants, but immediately after that happiness there was a strange fear. A kind of freezing feeling took over me,” she told The Independent. “What is going to happen to us now in their [the Islamic Republic’s] hands? It felt like that fear quickly erased the joy.”

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