The Pope pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s criticism of him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.
Leo XIV’s comments came as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to have come to a halt, an intelligence firm said, and oil prices resumed their climb after Trump announced on social media that the United States would blockade the waterway.
U.S. Central Command later said the blockade would involve all vessels entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, but that ships traveling between non-Iranian ports will still be allowed to transit, a step down from the president’s earlier threat to blockade the entire strait.
Trump confirmed the timing and some details of the CENTCOM statement in a post on his social media site early Monday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the strait remained under Iran’s “full control” and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a “forceful response,” two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported.
The moves came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, setting the stage for a showdown. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran’s side in the talks, addressed Trump in a statement on his return to Iran: “If you fight, we will fight.”
The war, which is entering its seventh week, has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets.
—Associated Press