Trump discusses persevering with Iran blockade for MONTHS with oil execs – Live updates

A White House official told Reuters that Donald Trump and representatives discusses steps to continue the blockade of Iranian ships for ‘months’ if necessary.

US president Donald Trump met with oil and gas executives at the White House yesterday, Axios reported.

Among the attendees was Chevron CEO Mike Wirth. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also at the meeting.

A White House official told the media outlet: ‘The president meets with energy executives frequently to get their feedback on domestic and international energy markets.’

They added that domestic production, progress in Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas and shipping were all discussed.

Speaking to a congressional hearing, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has said the US is putting its defence industrial base ‘back on a wartime footing.’

He defended the Trump administration’s request to increase the defence budget to $1.5trillion, claiming it ‘reflects the urgency of the moment.’

The UN has said the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has sent the price of energy and fertiliser soaring, could plunge more than 30 million people into poverty.

‘It’s development in reverse,’ Alexander De Croo, the head of the UN Development Programme, said.

‘It took decades to build stable societies, to develop local economies, and it took only several weeks of war to destroy that,’ he added.

‘We did a study after six weeks of war and estimated that even if the conflict ended at that point, 32 million people would be pushed into precarity in 160 countries,’ said De Croo.

The war has led to closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows in peacetime.

Gulf nations are also important for many oil products and feedstocks to make fertiliser.

A shortage of supplies and high prices has led to countries in Africa and Asia imposing a range of measures that include fuel rationing and shortening the work week to reduce consumption. Other countries have reduced fuel taxes to cushion the impact on consumers.

The UNDP says the war will have a profound impact on Sub-Saharan African countries as well as certain countries in Asia such as Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Developing island nations will also be particularly hard hit.

High ‘energy costs, a lack of fertiliser, will have an enormous impact in the months to come’ on people in these countries, said De Croo, a former prime minister of Belgium.

He also warned of ‘political instability and a drop in remittances from abroad because a lot of people working in the Gulf countries send money home’.

To avoid poverty taking hold, the UNDP estimates that around $6bn ‘is needed in subsidies to support those most vulnerable to high food and energy prices’, he added.

De Croo said discussions were already underway within the IMF and World Bank.

‘You can say that six billion dollars is a lot – the war cost nine billion dollars per week,’ he added.

The crisis comes as development aid is at a historic low, having dropped by more than 23 percent last year, primarily due to cuts by major donors led by the United States.

Italy has enough reserves of jet fuel to last through the end of May, the country’s transportation minister told parliament on Wednesday.

‘The reserves available in Italy guarantee operations at least until the end of May, and our position is stronger than that of most European countries,’ said Matteo Salvini.

‘I want to be very clear. We are not facing an emergency that jeopardises flight safety or the continuity of the system,’ added Salvini.

Salvini said a meeting was scheduled next week to present a national plan for Italy’s airports in light of the energy crisis provoked by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar has said his nation will reconsider military action against Tehran if the Iran-US peace talks fail.

He said: ‘If the negotiations fail, we will reconsider the military option.’

Britain must take more risk to stay ahead of its enemies and maintaining the status quo is ‘simply not good enough’, the head of the Navy has said.

First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins warned the UK faces an ‘inflection point’ and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war showed the ‘vulnerability of traditional naval platforms’.

In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute on Wednesday, Sir Gwyn said he was determined to leave the Royal Navy ‘much stronger than the one I inherited’ by 2029, as he warned: ‘Standing still is not an option.

‘Just maintaining the capable status quo is simply not good enough. We are at an inflection point.

‘This need has come into focus as threats have developed and evolved over the last decade but it became irrefutable in 2022 with Russia’s egregious, full-blown invasion of Ukraine.

‘That rallying call has only grown louder with the geopolitical developments of the last four years, including in the Middle East.

‘The most recent conflict, in particular the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, has also confirmed something else – sea power is vital if we are to maintain the free flow of trade, uphold freedom of navigation, deter our adversaries and safeguard Britain’s economy against the kind of global shocks we have been experiencing.’

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, has confirmed that Ukraine has issues a request for legal assistance regarding a vessel waiting to sock in Haifa which is suspetced of carrying grain stolen by Russia from its territory.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that a vessel carrying grain ‘stolen by Russia’ had arrived in Israel.

Sa’ar said in a post to X today that Ukraine’s request was submitted ‘late last night.’

But he pointedly added: ‘One would expect the submission of a legal request before Tweeting. You chose differently, for your own reasons.

‘Finally, you submitted the request late last night and now you are following it up with another Tweet.

‘The request is now being examined by the relevant authorities.’

Iran has warned it will take ‘unprecedented military action’ against the US if it continues to seize Tehran-linked ships.

French oil major ​TotalEnergies will not resume its production of oil in the Middle East until shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has stabilised, its ​CEO said.

Speaking to analysts, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said: ‘We will wait for a real stabilisation in the Strait of Hormuz before ‌restarting operations.’

The firm said about 15% of its oil and gas production is offline as it cannot pass cargo through the waterway. Pouyanne said it can take up to three months to properly restart production.

He added: ‘Nobody knows how ​long this war will last … and ​in all the scenarios I read, ​at least $80 per barrel is expected for 2026.’