Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published April 5, 2025 5:00 AM
Matt Baffert stands in the ruins of his Altadena home that burned down in the Eaton Fire.
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Brian Vernor
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LAist
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Topline:
An Altadena resident and dedicated trail steward now has a two-fold mission — to rebuild his house, and the nearby trails that made it home.
Why it matters: The Eaton Fire not only destroyed thousands of homes, but also miles of beloved trails. For Matt Baffert, co-founder of the nonprofit trail restoration group Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club, the trail restoration mission is more personal this time since he also lost his home in the fire.
What's next: The Angeles National Forest has reopened some trails, but it'll likely be a few years before others are open to the public again.
Two months and six days after the Eaton Fire broke out, on the very same day the Army Corps of Engineers came with bulldozers to clear the rubble of his burned down home, Matt Baffert finally got back out on the mountain trails.
“Idlehour Trail…in the upper Eaton Canyon,” he said. “For lack of a better word, my second home.”
Baffert works as a construction contractor by day. In his free time, he’s an avid mountain biker and trail steward, repairing trails after wildfires, floods and other mayhem in the Angeles National Forest. In 2019, he co-founded the Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club, a dedicated nonprofit group of volunteer trail builders and menders.
Listen
5:22
After the fire, a volunteer looks to rebuild Eaton canyon trails -- and his Altadena home
Erik Hillard, CFO of Lowelifes (left) talks with Matt Baffert, CEO of Lowelifes (right) ahead of a trail work day on Mount Wilson in 2023.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Baffert and his crew have spent thousands of hours restoring trails in some of the more remote parts of the forest, including three off Mount Wilson that were heavily damaged after the Bobcat Fire and subsequent record rainstorms. That fire was the second-largest in L.A. County history, burning more than 115,000 acres in the Angeles National Forestin 2020.
Baffert’s group, in partnership with the Forest Service, has worked on those trails since. Thanks to their work, several of them are now open, but repairs are ongoing.
Matt Baffert during better days on the trails i the Angeles Forest.
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Brian Vernor
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LAist
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After the Eaton Fire, that volunteer work became more personal than ever. The January wildfire didn’t burn as many acres in the forest as the Bobcat, but it destroyed thousands more homes, including Baffert’s in Altadena, where he and his family lived for about seven years.
Baffert grew up in Long Beach, where he used to surf, but the mountains ended up calling him inland.
“Altadena, for me, is home, and the mountains and the trails are probably the biggest piece of that,” Baffert said.
Now, his mission is two-fold — rebuilding the trails he loves, while rebuilding his own home after fire.
Assessing the damage
On the same day the Army Corps was scheduled to clear the rubble of his home in mid-March, Baffert got the go-ahead from the Forest Service to assess the damage to nearby trails.
Before taking off for the wilderness above, Baffert and a friend and fellow trail steward made a stop.
“ I really wanted to see my property before it was gone,” he said. “I don't know why I was so compelled to do that.”
The view of the upper Idlehour trail in mid-March after the Eaton Fire.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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The drive through Altadena was heart-wrenching, Baffert said. Then came the next blow — to the 5.3-mile Idlehour trail up the mountain. They started their survey up at the Eaton Saddle and the plan was to ride their mountain bikes down from there.
“We had made our way maybe about one mile down the trail and the impact of the damages really started to escalate,” Baffert said. “As you progress down the trail, the after effects of rain and storms on completely burned areas just becomes more exponential.”
As they descended, things didn’t look so good — chaparral charred black; formerly lush, tree-shaded canyons now sparse; trails washed out from the recent storms.
Fellow Lowelifes volunteer and friend Eric Melanson surveys damage in the "Harvard Branch" area of Eaton Canyon.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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But there were pockets of hope.
“A moment of relief washed over me seeing green on the second half of Tom Sloane all the way to the saddle,” Baffert wrote in a web post of his post-fire observations on the group’s website. “Within the green are beautiful rock staircases built by the recently passed away volunteer and master mason, the legendary Dave Baumgartner.”
Despite the heartaches, Baffert also felt a sense of catharsis of finally knowing exactly how bad it all was. Baffert said he could now plan how to rebuild the trails — and his house.
Rebuilding home
Baffert said it’ll probably be at least three years before Idlehour and other heavily damaged trails reopen to the public.
A charred landscape in the upper Idlehour trail.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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Signs of regrowth as native Humboldt lilies peak out of ashy dirt in mid-March.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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“There's still cleansing that needs to take place, more erosion that's gonna take place,” Baffert told LAist. “Like we saw with the Bobcat Fire, eventually things start to stabilize. Chaparral starts to grow in. Roots start to bed into the hillsides. Eventually, you start to see things starting to hold.”
The aftermath of the Eaton Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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Once vegetation like chaparral takes hold, Baffert said they can start repairing the trails in earnest.
“It'll always look different, but you'll build a new relationship with the land, and then you'll realize that you kind of love it just as much as you did before,” Baffert said.
Even though things will never be exactly the same, Baffert said he’ll do everything he can to regain that old sense of home.
“Altadena’s forever changed,” Baffert said. “But everybody just kind of wants what they had before. So working towards that, like rebuilding my home and rebuilding Idlehour, I think of them collectively. It's a mission and I must do it.”
Before and after the Eaton Fire on the Idlehour trail.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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After the Eaton Fire on the Idlehour trail.
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Courtesy of Matt Baffert
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How to help
Baffert said Lowelifes always welcomes new volunteers. You can keep up with their post Eaton Fire efforts and sign up to volunteer here.
There are also other trail steward groups in the region, including:
And remember, if you do visit the forest, tread lightly and stay on the trails — the land still needs time to heal, and higher traffic on trails after fires is one reason trails and landscapes can face further damage.
Jury gives $11.7M to man partially blinded by LAPD
Jordan Rynning
holds local government accountable, covering city halls, law enforcement and other powerful institutions.
Published April 16, 2026 6:48 PM
Isaac Castellanos, fourth from left, stands next to his attorneys from the firm Wisner Baum outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.
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Courtesy Wisner Baum
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Topline:
A federal court jury today ordered the City of L.A. to pay more than $11.7 million to Isaac Castellanos, who was partially blinded by an LAPD less-lethal projectile during the 2020 Dodgers World Series celebrations.
What the jury decided: The jury unanimously found that LAPD Officers Cody MacArthur and Jesse Pineda acted negligently, used excessive force and violated Castellanos’ constitutional rights when they fired 37mm launchers into a crowd and caused his injury. Castellanos’ attorneys say they hope the jury’s decision will lead LAPD to reform their policies and prevent more people from getting injured.
Not an isolated incident: An LAist analysis of data from the City Attorney’s office found the city has already paid more than $19 million since 2020 on liabilities stemming from LAPD’s crowd control actions, but this verdict comes at a much higher cost to the city than any other case over that time.
What’s next for Castellanos: Castellanos testified in court that the injury ended his emerging career as an Esports athlete and streamer. Speaking to LAist after the verdict was announced, he said he is focused on mending relationships and his mental health, which suffered from the stress caused by his injury.
A federal court jury has ordered the City of L.A. to pay more than $11.7 million to a man partially blinded by LAPD officers during a 2020 Dodgers World Series celebration.
Isaac Castellanos told the court that he was struck and permanently blinded in one eye early in the morning on Oct. 28, 2020, when two officers fired 37mm less lethal launchers toward the crowd he was standing in. He was 22 years old at the time.
The jury on Thursday unanimously found that Officers Cody MacArthur and Jesse Pineda acted negligently, used excessive force and violated Castellanos’ constitutional rights when they fired into the crowd and caused his injury.
Castellanos isn’t the first crowd control injury case faced by the LAPD, and more are working their way through the courts.
Already, Los Angeles has paid more than $19 million in liabilities stemming from LAPD’s crowd control actions since the beginning of 2020, according to an LAist analysis of data from the City Attorney’s office. Castellanos’ verdict is by far the largest sum awarded since then.
Castellanos and his lawyers told LAist that people should feel free to peacefully celebrate or exercise their first amendment rights without fear of being injured by the police.
“ I'm grateful to have this system of justice where Isaac can be compensated,” Castellanos’ lawyer Pedram Esfandiary told LAist, “and I just hope that this sends a loud and clear message to the LAPD that this is not okay.”
The LAPD has not responded to LAist’s request for comment on the case.
What happened to Castellanos
Unidentified LAPD officers disperse crowds in downtown L.A. during a celebration of the Dodgers winning the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Oct. 27, 2020. A jury has awarded a man partially blinded by officers that night $11.7 million.
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Jason Armond
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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When the Dodgers won their first World Series in more than three decades on Oct. 27, 2020, Castellanos and his friends went to downtown L.A. to celebrate.
Castellanos told the court that he and his friends didn’t see any police officers nearby when they arrived, but within minutes they noticed a squad of police officers gathering down the street.
Video evidence presented in the trial showed that some people in the crowd threw rocks and glass bottles toward the officers. Castellanos said he was not involved. He said he did not act violently or aggressively.
Castellanos said he saw the officers holding “some kind of firearms” start to move toward the crowd, but he did not hear any order for the crowd to leave. By this time, it was after midnight.
He had begun to leave, he said, when he saw a bright muzzle flash from the direction of the officers and heard a loud pop.
He was immediately in extreme pain and felt warm blood coming from his face, he testified. He also noticed a loss of vision in his right eye.
Dr. Jerry Sebag is an eye specialist who testified as an expert witness in the case. He said that Castellanos experienced “severe blunt force trauma” to his eye, most likely from a rubber bullet, causing legal blindness in his right eye and a loss of depth perception.
Sebag said there is no medication or surgery that could fix his condition.
Evidence provided in the case later proved that the MacArthur and Pineda fired 37mm less lethal launchers at the same place and time as Castellanos says he was injured.
Lawyers for Castellanos argued in court that the officers used their weapons outside of LAPD policy, being too far away from the crowd to accurately use the weapons and not issuing a warning or dispersal order to allow Castellanos a chance to leave.
The city’s attorneys claimed that it was not the officers who caused the injury, and that the officers’ use of their weapons was within policy as they were responding to a threat from the crowd.
Other cases cost the city millions
At least seven other cases since 2020 stemming from LAPD’s crowd control actions have exceeded $1 million in liability costs to the city, according to city data.
Behind Castellanos’ $11.7 million verdict, the next largest was $3.6 million awarded to filmmaker A. Jamal Shakir Jr. after he was found to have been shot by LAPD less lethal projectiles during a May 29, 2020, protest.
City data shows the LAPD’s actions over the course of a single day — May 30, 2020 — eventually cost the city a combined total of $4.25 million to settle three lawsuits.
Iz Sinistra, a Marine Corps veteran who was struck in the head by an LAPD less lethal projectile while attending George Floyd protests on May 30, 2020, was awarded a $1.25 million settlement from the city.
Seconds after Sinistra was hit, Patricia Hill could also be seen struck in the head by a less lethal round fired by LAPD in a video released by the department. Hill was awarded a $1.5 million settlement by the city, according to city data.
Monique Alarcon is an attorney who represented both Castellanos and Sinistra in court.
Alarcon said that while the severity of injuries that have led to lawsuits against the LAPD over its crowd control tactics vary, she sees the improper use of force as a common thread.
“ I think this behooves the City of L.A. and the LAPD to really take a look at their crowd control practices and consider discontinuing using these weapons in those settings, because people get really hurt,” she told LAist.
In the past year, at least two more people have filed lawsuits alleging LAPD less lethal munitions caused permanent eye damage and blindness.
In one such case, Marshall Woodruff claims LAPD fractured his cheekbone and ruptured his right eye while he was photographing the “No Kings” protest on June 14, 2024. His lawsuit claims he is now permanently blind in that eye.
The department acknowledged in a public video that Marshall Woodruff was hit by a 40mm less lethal projectile fired by LAPD.
Jesus Javier Islas says he was blinded in one eye by a less lethal projectile allegedly fired by LAPD at a protest on Jan. 31, 2026. Lawyers for Islas told reporters they are asking $100 million in damages from the LAPD and the City of L.A.
Getting back on track
Castellanos was a college student at Cal State Long Beach when he was injured.
Before the injury, he'd been gaining momentum as an Esports athlete and streamer, testifying that he had recently won a $40,000 prize with a teammate at a competition and had won a qualifying match to play for a professional team.
While he got some accommodations from his college and was able to graduate on time, Castellanos said his Esports career ended with his injury.
Castellanos testified that he played in an Esports competition with a college alumni team after his injury, but he couldn’t play like he did before. By the end of the competition he said his team had done well, but he felt he’d held them back.
No longer able to follow his passion, he said he began working at an Amazon warehouse, packaging and sorting boxes part time. That work, too, was made much harder by the injury.
“I’m always bumping into stuff,” Castellanos testified, “I always mess up and put [items] in the wrong box.”
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Now that the verdict is in, he told LAist he wants to get his life back on track so he can lead a full life.
His lawyers described in court how he has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, depression and panic disorder as a result of the injury. Castellanos said the mental strain also made his relationships with friends and family suffer.
He told LAist the next steps are to mend those relationships and get into professional treatment for his mental health.
“ I want to try to try to get comfortable in my own skin again,” he said.
Jill Replogle
covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.
Published April 16, 2026 4:17 PM
The backers of USA Surfing say they have proof that their rival US Ski & Snowboard doesn't know anything about the sport of surfing. It's an image used by the Utah-based snow group that appears to show a surfer facing backwards on a board.
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Jill Replogle
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LAist
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Topline:
The U.S. surf team will officially be managed by surfers when the Olympics come to LA in 2028. Duh? Well, for a while there, it was in doubt. Let us explain:
What changed? In a news conference this week, Gene Sykes, board chair of the U.S. Olympic committee, credited USA Surfing’s “new leadership and new approach” with earning back the board’s confidence. “Surfing is a sport that has deep roots in Southern California and will no doubt be a highlight of the LA28 games,” Sykes said.
Keep reading ... for more on this sand vs. snow battle.
The U.S. surf team will officially be managed by surfers when the Olympics come to LA in 2028. Duh? Well, for a while there, it was in doubt. Let us explain:
The backstory
US Ski and Snowboard, based in Utah, had initially been vying for control of the Olympic surf team in hopes of turning itself into an action sports juggernaut. But faced with strong opposition in the surf world, the organization dropped its bid to manage the U.S. Olympic surf team late last year.
Why it's a second chance for USA Surfing
The designation of USA Surfing as the official “National Governing Body” for Olympic surfing is a kind of second chance for the organization. Previously, it had relinquished control over the U.S. Olympic surf team following a 2019 auditthat found numerous problems with its accounting and finances.
What changed?
In a news conference this week, Gene Sykes, board chair of the U.S. Olympic committee, credited USA Surfing’s “new leadership and new approach” with earning back the board’s confidence. “Surfing is a sport that has deep roots in Southern California and will no doubt be a highlight of the LA28 games,” Sykes said. “We look forward to a positive and collaborative working relationship as we deliver on the promise of LA28 and beyond.”
Tell me about Olympic surfing
Olympic surfing at the LA28 Games will take place at Lower Trestles, a world-class surf break in San Clemente.
Go deeper on this surf v. sand fight, and the latest Olympic news
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment reporter and brings you the top news you need for the day.
Published April 16, 2026 3:07 PM
Orange County is set to host two Olympic events, including volleyball at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
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Sean M. Haffey
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The OC Board of Supervisors voted this week to create an Olympic committee to help the county prepare for the 2028 Games. The county will host two Olympic competitions, volleyball and surfing.
What we know: Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento will form the LA 28 Olympic committee. The group is tasked with figuring out how the county could generate revenue and exploring if there are potential financial risks tied to the Games, according to county officials.
Why now? Foley said the county is behind in preparing for the Olympics. “Right now, Orange County doesn't really have a seat at the table, so we felt like we needed to get going,” Foley told LAist. “We did miss that opportunity in 1984, and we don't want that to happen again.”
Read on … for more on what the Olympics could mean for Orange County.
Orange County is set to host two competitions during the Olympics in 2028, with surfing in San Clemente and volleyball in Anaheim. The global event is set to attract millions of fans to the region, and OC officials now want to figure out how to make money off the Games.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to create the LA 28 Olympic Preparedness Committee, which will be led by Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento.
Foley said the county is behind in preparing for the Olympics and the revenue opportunities that may come with the Games.
“Right now, Orange County doesn't really have a seat at the table, so we felt like we needed to get going,” Foley told Laist. “We did miss that opportunity in 1984, and we don't want that to happen again.”
The county is not responsible for paying for the Olympics, but Foley said the committee will work to find out what associated costs there may be.
Those costs could come from transportation needs, security, community events and more.
“It will be a long list,” Sarmiento added. “And we're not going to solve it all, but we need to ask the questions so later on we don't say, 'Why weren't these questions asked?’ or ‘Why wasn't even a discussion entertained?’”
Mike Lyster, Anaheim’s chief communications officer, said the city doesn’t have the full details yet on the cost of hosting the volleyball tournament, but that the city is no stranger to large sporting events.
“The Olympics do bring some added dimension with international visitors and other considerations,” Lyster said. “We are working through that now to best understand what it entails.”
The county is also set to host several countries during the Games, according to Foley.
“We just learned that Italy is taking over all of Cal State Fullerton. That's great news for Orange County,” Foley said. “UCI is going to be an Olympic Village. Dana Point Harbor, we're going to create what I'm calling a seaside Olympic Village, not an official village of the Olympics, but official for Orange County.”
Officials say the athletes and the fans could help the county bolster its tourism.
“This isn't just about the Olympics in 2028,” Foley said. “This is about showcasing Orange County as a place for people to want to come back to after the Olympics.”
How much will Olympic-related spending cost the county?
That number is elusive, Sarmiento told LAist, and the committee will ask for a report on what the county could be on the hook for.
“We'll be trying to anticipate and predict what the cost would be,” Sarmiento said. “But also being preemptive and looking to both the state and the federal administration to see, are there monies that they are going to be providing for the region?”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee said during Tuesday’s meeting that state and federal funding is in question.
“I know on other boards, such as our transportation board, we're being asked to provide special transportation, but the money hasn't come yet,” Chaffee said. “If the money is offered too late, it'll be hard to provide the transportation.”
Sarmiento said there is interest in developing the relationship between the Los Angeles and Orange counties transportation systems.
“It really is aligning the transportation systems so people can easily access events, training facilities [and] temporary residential sites,” Sarmiento added.
Last month, the Trump administration’s federal budget proposal for L.A. Metro’s key transit plan for the Games didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the agency is seeking. The plan includes using thousands of buses to scatter venues hosting the Games.
What could this mean for Orange County residents?
The committee will also look into organizing community events, like public watch parties and its own fan zones.
“At the county parks, where we currently have movie nights and concerts and we can host 2,000 people, I would like to see us have viewing opportunities and experiences where not only the tourists can participate, but our own residents can participate in the game,” Foley said.
“Watching them in community, watching them at our parks, at venues that we have available here in the county, is going to be a unique, special experience for many of our residents because we just know they will be priced out of being able to attend in person,” Sarmiento said.
Israel has agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which would pause Israel's conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has escalated since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran. The truce will start Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern time, President Donald Trump announced.
The context: The devastating conflict in Lebanon has posed a challenge for the shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, as Iranian leaders have insisted the agreement include Lebanon. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues enforcing a naval blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, as mediators work to bring about an end to the Iran war that has engulfed the region, and caused oil supply disruptions and higher fuel prices around the world.
The reaction: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he welcomed Trump's ceasefire announcement. But Hezbollah said the Lebanese people have "the right to resist" if Israeli forces remained in Lebanon, Reuters reported, raising the question of whether it will abide by the truce.
Read on... for more on where things stand in the regional conflict.
Israel has agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which would pause Israel's conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has escalated since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran. The truce will start Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern time, President Donald Trump announced.
The devastating conflict in Lebanon has posed a challenge for the shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, as Iranian leaders have insisted the agreement include Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the U.S. continues enforcing a naval blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, as mediators work to bring about an end to the Iran war that has engulfed the region and caused oil supply disruptions and higher fuel prices around the world.
Here are more updates from the Middle East conflict:
Lebanese displaced woman Mariam Zein sits with her son inside the classroom of a school transformed into a displaced reception center in the area of Dekwaneh, east of Beirut on April 15, 2026.
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Joseph Eid
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AFP via Getty Images
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Israel agrees to a 10-day ceasefire in the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has agreed to enter a 10-day ceasefire in the fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah but will not withdraw Israel's troops from southern Lebanon.
His remarks followed President Trump's announcement on social media that Netanyahu and the president of Lebanon agreed to the temporary ceasefire.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he welcomed Trump's ceasefire announcement.
But Hezbollah said the Lebanese people have "the right to resist" if Israeli forces remained in Lebanon, Reuters reported, raising the question of whether it will abide by the truce.
Hezbollah has both a political wing, with lawmakers in Lebanon's national parliament, and a militant wing that operates largely independently of the Lebanese government and receives funding and direction from Iran.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the ceasefire would take effect at 5 p.m. — but warned that Israeli forces would take action if threatened.
"We will have to follow very carefully what's happening on the ground. And if we will feel threatened, we will react," Danon told reporters at the State Department in Washington. "We are not going anywhere. We are holding our positions."
"The problem is not with the Lebanese government. The problem is with Hezbollah. And it will be challenging," he said.
Trump also said he is inviting Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for peace talks.
These developments come two days after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. held rare talks in Washington, the first direct high-level engagement between the two countries in decades.
Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2024, but U.N. peacekeepers recorded more than 10,000 violations of that agreement, mostly by Israeli forces.
The latest chapter of fighting escalated after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Within a few days, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes and an invasion of southern Lebanon.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,100 people and displaced over 1 million in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah's attacks have killed at least 12 Israeli soldiers and two civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Pakistan army chief visits Tehran to revive talks
Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator in talks between the U.S. and Iran, was in Iran's capital Tehran Thursday to secure a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations ahead of April 22, the deadline of the tenuous two-week ceasefire.
Pakistan, which holds strong diplomatic relations with both the U.S. and Iran, has emerged as a key mediator in negotiations between the two countries.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed the point on Wednesday, saying the Pakistanis "are the only mediator in this negotiation" and the president felt it's important to streamline the process through them.
Vice President Vance, Washington's lead negotiator, said a major sticking point that led to the breakdown in Saturday's talks was Iran's refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
In this photo released by Telegram channel of the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, welcomes Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon his arrival in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
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AP
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Telegram channel of the the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
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"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance said.
Iran, under its 10-point negotiation plan, demanded an end to Israel's attacks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah as part of any permanent agreement. Other demands from the Iranian delegation included the release of $6 billion in frozen assets, guarantees around its nuclear program and the right to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's military threatens to block key shipping routes
Iran's military warned it will retaliate by blocking other important shipping routes if the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues.
Major-General Ali Abdol-lahi, the commander of Iran's top military command center, renewed threats on Wednesday to halt all trade in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea in retaliation for U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
Of particular concern is Bab al Mandeb, a narrow waterway in the Red Sea for vessels sailing between Europe and Asia. Iranian-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen control much of the coastline near the Bab al Mandeb. Houthis disrupted shipping in that passage during the height of the Gaza war.
Another route that could be in jeopardy if Iran retaliates is a pipeline that Saudi Arabia has used just after the Iran war began on Feb. 28 to divert crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.
A top aide to Iran's supreme leader said Thursday Iran would sink U.S. ships if Trump tries to "police" the Strait of Hormuz and that he'd welcome a ground invasion as a chance to hold US soldiers hostage.
Mohsen Rezaee, a former commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, told the Iranian Fars news agency he is personally opposed to a ceasefire, and that Iran is prepared for a prolonged conflict with the United States.
Feelings are mixed among the Iranian public about the possibility of a ceasefire. Many say they welcome an end to the war, but critics of the regime say keeping a hardline government in place will lead to a harsher crackdown on dissent and personal freedoms.
In this voice note shared with NPR, a carpenter in the city of Rasht, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety, said he thinks it's a good sign that Iran has sat at the negotiating table at all. But many, he says — are fed up with and how long the process has taken. It makes people's hopelessness even worse, he said.
Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Israel, Kat Lonsdorf and Jawad Rizkallah in Beirut, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Abuhamdain Cairo, Rebecca Rosman in London, Jackie Northam in Maine, Tina Kraja and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report. Copyright 2026 NPR
