Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at a U.S. military blockade on Iranian ports as well as key elections in Hungary, Peru, Canada, and Benin.<\/p>\n
\u2018BLOWN TO HELL\u2019<\/p>\n
A U.S. military blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Strait of Hormuz went into effect<\/a> on Monday. According to U.S. Central Command, vessels transiting the strategic waterway to and from non-Iranian ports will be allowed to proceed unimpeded. However, President Donald Trump has made clear<\/a> that if any ships \u201ccome anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump first announced the blockade on Sunday, after U.S.-Iran peace talks<\/a> in Islamabad over the weekend failed to reach a breakthrough. \u201cNo one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,\u201d the U.S. president wrote<\/a> on Truth Social, adding that \u201c[a]ny Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!\u201d<\/p>\n Since the Iran war erupted in late February, Tehran has effectively prevented most vessels from transiting the strait, causing an unprecedented global energy crisis<\/a> that has caused oil prices<\/a> to skyrocket and upended financial markets<\/a>. According to Kpler, a shipping data tracker, just 14 ships<\/a> crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, though Trump claimed<\/a> on Monday that 34 vessels had passed through the thoroughfare during that time.<\/p>\n The imposition of a sweeping blockade on Hormuz threatens the already fragile U.S.-Iran cease-fire<\/a>, which went into effect on Wednesday. Trump has repeatedly conditioned the two-week truce on the strait\u2019s reopening. On Monday, he told reporters that Iran had reached out<\/a> to schedule another round of talks. \u201cThey\u2019d like to make a deal very badly,\u201d Trump said. However, the U.S. president did not specify whether Washington would rejoin negotiations, and Tehran did not confirm Trump\u2019s assertion.<\/p>\n Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesperson, warned<\/a> on Monday that if Iranian ports are threatened, \u201cno port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n If the White House is hoping to get support from its NATO allies, though, it will likely be disappointed. Estonia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom refused to back<\/a> the U.S. blockade in Hormuz on Monday. \u201cMy \u200bdecision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure, and there\u2019s been some considerable \u200bpressure, we\u2019re not getting dragged into the war,\u201d British Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> said. Trump has repeatedly criticized the alliance<\/a> for not helping U.S. forces reopen the strait.<\/p>\n French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed<\/a> on Monday that Paris will co-host a conference with London in the coming days that will focus on restoring freedom of navigation in the strait.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Strait of Hormuz problem had a military solution, then surely the mightiest military in the world, the United States military, would have already solved it,\u201d Jonatan Vseviov, the secretary-general of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, told FP\u2019s John Haltiwanger on Monday.<\/p>\n But NATO is not the only place where the White House is lacking support. Since the Iran war began, Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly called on all parties to move toward peace and reconciliation. On Sunday, Trump lashed out<\/a> at the U.S.-born pope, calling him \u201cWEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States,\u201d Trump wrote while claiming that Leo would not have been chosen to lead the Catholic Church had Trump not been president.<\/p>\n That same day, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated photo<\/a> of himself being likened to Jesus. He has since deleted the post<\/a>, arguing that he thought it was a portrayal of him as a doctor.<\/p>\n Leo, however, appears unconcerned with the White House\u2019s ire. \u201cI have no fear of the Trump administration,\u201d the pope told<\/a> reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Most Read<\/p>\n The World This Week<\/p>\n Tuesday, April 14: Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n Finnish President Alexander Stubb begins a two-day trip to Canada.<\/p>\n The U.S. State Department mediates talks between Israel and Lebanon.<\/p>\n European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa begins a two-day tour of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.<\/p>\n Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese begins a four-day tour of Brunei and Malaysia.<\/p>\n Wednesday, April 15: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk concludes a three-day trip to Japan.<\/p>\n Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/p>\n Thursday, April 16: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosts NATO chief Mark Rutte.<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosts Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.<\/p>\n Sunday, April 19: Bulgaria holds early parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n What We\u2019re Following<\/p>\n Election roundup. The past 48 hours saw countries on four continents hold crucial elections.<\/p>\n Hungary. Far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban suffered a crushing defeat<\/a> in parliamentary elections on Sunday, ending 16 years of populist rule and opening the door to major reforms for one of Europe\u2019s most influential illiberal democracies. In his place, Peter Magyar<\/a>\u2014whose opposition Tisza party secured more than two-thirds of seats in Hungary\u2019s parliament\u2014is expected to usher in a new era of pro-European Union, pro-Ukraine policies.<\/p>\n Anti-Western rhetoric was a key strategy<\/a> of Orban\u2019s reelection campaign. Capitalizing on the White House\u2019s very public endorsement of him (U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance flew to Budapest last week to back the populist leader), Orban hoped that his close ties to Trump would outweigh his declining popularity<\/a> at home.<\/p>\n However, Hungary\u2019s economic stagnation<\/a> and international isolation<\/a> under Orban\u2014as well as his pro-Russian sympathies<\/a>\u2014appear to have soured voters on the populist leader, giving Magyar widespread approval to begin reversing many of these policies. Already, Magyar has vowed to<\/a> drop Hungary\u2019s opposition to an EU loan of $105 billion to Ukraine that Orban had previously blocked, though Magyar said<\/a> that Hungary itself would still not contribute to the loan.<\/p>\n Peru. Early results in Peru\u2019s general election on Sunday show no clear front-runner in the crowded presidential race. With 37 percent of votes counted, Keiko Fujimori\u2014the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori<\/a>, whose authoritarian regime carried out severe human rights abuses, including the killing of civilians\u2014is in the lead with just 17.17 percent<\/a> of the vote, barely ahead of right-wing former Lima Mayor Rafael L\u00f3pez Aliaga\u2019s 16.97 percent. This makes the likelihood of a June 7 presidential runoff almost certain.<\/p>\n Peruvians also voted on Sunday on a bicameral Congress<\/a> for the first time in more than 30 years. The new structure, approved in March 2024 through constitutional reform, will make it easier for lawmakers to impeach the country\u2019s president and reduce the previous centralization of power<\/a> in Peru\u2019s Senate.<\/p>\n Unanticipated logistical issues<\/a> complicated Sunday\u2019s vote. More than 50,000 people were unable to cast their ballots in Lima on Sunday after many polling stations reported delays in opening due to lack of ballot papers and defective computers. This required some stations to extend voting hours into Monday. Roberto Burneo, the head of Peru\u2019s election authority, said that legal action would be taken against the contractor responsible for distributing the delayed \u200bvoting materials.<\/p>\n Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> is on track to secure a majority government, as Liberal Party candidates looked set on Monday to win two of three special elections<\/a> to fill vacant seats in the House of Commons. Both by-elections in Toronto constituencies are considered safe Liberal wins; the third seat, for a Montreal suburb, remains more up in the air. Still, all Carney\u2019s Liberals need to do is win one of these elections to reach the 172 seats required to hold a voting majority.<\/p>\n Support for Carney has grown in the past year, with five lawmakers having defected from opposition parties to join the Liberals. If he gains control of Parliament, then Carney will have greater leverage<\/a> to push his legislative agenda. This would include new measures to reduce Canada\u2019s trade dependence on the United States<\/a>. Such control would also allow Carney to remain in power until 2029 without needing to call a general election.<\/p>\n Benin. The sole opposition candidate in Benin\u2019s presidential election conceded defeat<\/a> on Monday, even before provisional results were announced. Paul Hounkpe offered \u201crepublican congratulations\u201d to Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, who was personally endorsed by outgoing leader Patrice Talon. Wadagni oversaw a decade of economic growth despite a growing jihadi insurgency in the country\u2019s north; Benin\u2019s economy grew 7 percent in 2025, making it one of West Africa\u2019s steadiest performers.<\/p>\n Although Benin is known for its stability relative<\/a> to the rest of the region, rights activists have repeatedly denounced Talon\u2019s administration<\/a>. The two-term leader executed a sweeping crackdown on political dissidents during his tenure, carrying out arbitrary detentions and restricting press freedom. Some experts worry<\/a> that Wadagni will only continue Talon\u2019s controversial legacy.<\/p>\n Odds and Ends<\/p>\n Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants the world to know that he\u2019s still fighting fit. After being briefly hospitalized in January for diverticulitis, rumors of poor health and an untimely death have followed the 68-year-old leader. On Monday, Marcos said enough was enough. Wearing formal wear, leather shoes, and reading glasses, Marcos did jumping jacks and went for a brief jog to disprove<\/a> these claims. \u201cI challenge anyone who are saying that I am sick, that they come and exercise with me,\u201d Marcos told reporters. \u201cYou come to the gym with me. Let\u2019s see who can lift the weights better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at a U.S. military blockade on Iranian ports as well…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[38,855,102,34,856,213,8648,8649,101,858,51,4214],"class_list":{"0":"post-65893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-strait-of-hormuz","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-homepage_regional_middle_east_africa","10":"tag-hormuz","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-iran-u-s","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-paywall-free","15":"tag-post-to-buffer","16":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","17":"tag-u-s-military","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-vatican"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116399717894423399","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}