Iran War Live Updates: Nuclear Negotiations Stall as U.S. Blockade Begins; Congress Postpones Oversight Hearings

In a dramatic escalation of tensions, the United States and Iran have traded competing proposals for suspending nuclear activities, but remain fundamentally at odds over duration. Iran offered to suspend uranium enrichment for up to five years during weekend negotiations in Pakistan, while Vice President JD Vance demanded a 20-year suspension—a gap Trump immediately rejected. The talks broke down without agreement just as the U.S. military launched a full blockade of Iranian ports on Monday, targeting vessels "entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas" while theoretically allowing other traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade aims to strangle Iran's oil revenues, though oil prices have already surged more than 50 percent since late February, with Brent crude hitting $102 a barrel. Iran promised swift retaliation, with Revolutionary Guards spokesman warning of "new methods of warfare" and threatening that "no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe" if Iranian ports remain threatened. Meanwhile, several European leaders rejected joining the blockade, and at least one Iranian-linked tanker defied it, signaling potential fractures in international coordination. The conflict has now claimed significant casualties: at least 1,701 Iranian civilians (including 254 children), 2,089 killed in Lebanon's fighting with Hezbollah, 32 deaths in Gulf nations from Iranian attacks, 22 Israelis, 12 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, and 13 American service members. Adding insult to diplomatic injury, House Republicans postponed critical Pentagon testimony from Admiral Brad Cooper and General Dagvin Anderson—originally scheduled for April 21—until May 19, effectively shielding the military operation from congressional scrutiny. Representative Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, blasted the move: "We are six weeks into this conflict, and we still haven't gotten a public briefing from anyone in the administration about the war," highlighting how oversight of this far-reaching military operation has effectively stalled despite lawmakers' desperate need for answers about strategic goals, costs, and regional implications.