Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open at 05:00 GMT on 17 April; Trump replied the US blockade would remain in full force; Iran's joint military command reimposed restrictions within 24 hours and IRGC gunboats fired on an Indian-flagged tanker. GL-U lapses at 00:01 EDT on Saturday on a Treasury Secretary's cable-TV quote, with no published instrument; Paris was 51 nations, not 40; and the WPR clock hits 29 April with Senator Josh Hawley now signalling an AUMF vote.
Forty-nine days of war, zero signed instruments; four unsigned deadlines converge in eleven days.
Iran declared the strait open at 05:00 GMT on 17 April. Within a day IRGC gunboats were firing on an Indian-flagged super tanker.
United States×2United Arab EmiratesIran declared Hormuz open at 05:00 GMT on 17 April; Trump said the US blockade would remain in force. Iran's military reimposed restrictions within 24 hours, and IRGC gunboats fired on an Indian-flagged tanker on 18 April.
Brent fell 9.07% to $90.38 on the opening and recovered almost entirely when the strait closed again. The only ship to transit was the empty cruise vessel Celestyal Discovery; Kpler logged 8 transits that day versus 15 on 15 April.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Tribune India on 16 April that General License U would not be renewed; OFAC signed a Russia replacement the next day and excluded Iran by name. No Federal Register instrument followed for Iran.
IndiaTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on 16 April that General License U would not be renewed. The licence lapses at 00:01 EDT on 19 April with no replacement, removing cover from roughly 325 tankers carrying about $31.5 billion of Iranian crude.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published a 30-day wind-down for Russian oil on 17 April but wrote Iran out by name. India's state refiners and Chinese buyers face secondary-sanction exposure from Saturday with no guidance document.
A Macron-Starmer joint statement published on GOV.UK on 17 April put the Hormuz coalition at 51 nations. Most coverage is still running the 40-nation figure.
The Macron-Starmer joint statement published on GOV.UK on 17 April put the Hormuz coalition at 51 nations, not the 40 reported in first-wave coverage. Britain and France lead the mission; the US was not in the room and will be briefed on the outcome.
Military chiefs from the 51-nation coalition will meet at Northwood, the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters, in the week of 20 April to draft rules of engagement. Deployment requires a sustainable Ceasefire first.
Ebrahim Rezaei told Iranian media that Tehran will not extend the ceasefire unless the extension hands Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz.
QatarIran's parliament security spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei said on 18 April that Tehran will not extend the Ceasefire unless the deal includes Iranian control of the strait of Hormuz. AP and Bloomberg reported an in-principle 2-week extension based on unnamed regional mediators.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the US had not formally requested an extension. Tasnim News Agency dismissed the wire reports as a psychological-operations campaign by the American negotiating team.
Trump told reporters on 17 April that Iran had 'agreed to everything', including handing over its enriched uranium. Tehran denied it within hours.
United States×2Trump told reporters on 17 April that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium to the US. Iran's Foreign Ministry denied it within hours, stating the stockpile would not be transferred anywhere.
This was the 4th time in 49 days Trump claimed Iranian agreement and Iran denied it the same afternoon. The uranium comes from facilities destroyed by US and Israeli strikes; Iran cannot enrich at any surviving plant.
A 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire took effect at 17:00 local on 17 April. An Israeli strike killed one civilian in Kounine within 24 hours.
FranceAn Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire took effect at 17:00 on 17 April, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet it excluded Hezbollah operations. An Israeli strike killed 1 civilian in Kounine within 24 hours; Lebanon's army reported multiple shelling violations.
The truce carries no signed text, no monitoring body, and no Lebanese counter-signature. Hezbollah remains outside the deal entirely, leaving no armed Lebanese party bound to a Ceasefire Netanyahu has already partially disowned.
Senator Josh Hawley told reporters on 15 April that Congress should vote on a military authorisation at the end of 60 days of Iran hostilities.
The Senate blocked a 4th War Powers Resolution 47-52 on 15 April. Senator Josh Hawley then told reporters Congress should vote on a military authorisation by 29 April, the War Powers Resolution's 60-day deadline.
Hawley's move opens a third path: an Authorization for Use of Military Force vote would produce the first signed Iran instrument of the war. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is reportedly working through at least 2 procedural paths to bring it to the floor.
Netblocks recorded Iran's nationwide internet shutdown at its 49th consecutive day on 17 April, the longest such outage in recorded global history.
RussiaIran's internet blackout reached Day 49 on 17 April at 1,152 cumulative hours, the longest nationwide shutdown in recorded history per NetBlocks. Connectivity sat at roughly 1% of pre-war levels; the economic cost reached $1.8 billion as of 16 April.
Iranian MP Fazlollah Ranjbar publicly endorsed the blackout on 17 April, calling internet access inadvisable "under such circumstances." His on-record defence fixes the shutdown in the domestic political record, alongside the 221-0 Majlis vote to suspend IAEA cooperation.
The IRGC gunboat attack on an Indian-flagged tanker on 18 April is the first direct flag-state escalation of the blockade period. Combined with the GL-U lapse Saturday and the Hormuz transit collapse (8 on the open day versus 15 two days earlier), the strait is physically more restricted after the announcement of an opening than before it. The Lebanon truce fraying within 24 hours of taking effect, with Hezbollah outside the agreement, adds a second front where verbal ceasefires are already producing casualties. Escalation direction: upward on both maritime and land tracks, with the four-deadline convergence window creating maximum institutional pressure between 19 and 29 April.
