PARIS, France (AFP) — The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Hormuz blockade stays until deal: Trump

US President Donald Trump said the United States would not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran had agreed a peace deal to end the war.

“THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran,” Trump said on social media. “They are losing $500 million a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”

US to host new Israel-Lebanon talks

The United States (US) State Department will hold new talks on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity, after a previous meeting saw the start of a tense ceasefire.

“We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments,” the official said.

US delegation to h old Iran talks

A US delegation will head to Pakistan “soon” for a new round of peace negotiations with Iran, a source familiar with the plan told AFP, as Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend.

US-Iran ‘mistake’

French President Emmanuel Macron called the Iranian and US blockades of the Strait of Hormuz “a mistake on both sides”.

Oil prices up

World oil prices jumped Monday as traders reacted to Iran’s weekend closure, again, of the Strait of Hormuz, and after the US Navy shot at and seized an Iranian cargo ship just outside the waterway.

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were both up nearly six per cent, at $94 and $86 a barrel, respectively.

China ‘concerned’

China — the main buyer of Iranian oil — expressed “concern” over the weekend US seizure of the Iranian-flagged vessel near the Strait of Hormuz and urged all parties to resume peace talks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call that “normal traffic” through the vital Strait of Hormuz “should be maintained”.