For the new BBC podcast Top Comment, we spoke to one of the savvy social media operators creating viral pro-Iran propaganda using AI videos.

They look like something out of a Lego movie and feature dying children, fighter jets and US President Donald Trump.

Behind them is a man who wanted us to refer to him as Mr Explosive. He initially denied working for the Iranian government, he later admitted the regime is a "customer" - something he's never before confirmed publicly.

Read our full story here.

Image source, Explosive Media

Image source, Getty Images

We have some more comments from Donald Trump on Iran's nuclear ambitions after both sides left peace talks in Pakistan without an agreement.

The US president says Iran still wants a nuclear weapon and expressed that intention during the meeting in Islamabad.

"They still want it, and they made that clear the other night. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon."

Trump has already said direct talks with Iran failed because Tehran was "unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously stated the two parties were "inches away" from reaching a deal but Iran was met with "maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade".

Donald Trump has given an update on the two US airmen who were rescued from Iran after their fighter jet was shot down earlier this month.

"They are in very good shape and we're very proud of them," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

The two US crew members included the pilot, who was found shortly after ejecting from the plane, and a weapons-system officer who was rescued after spending more than 24 hours hiding in the mountains of Iran.

Both sustained injuries from the incident.

Speaking a short while ago at Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC after returning from Florida, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he is "fine" if Iran doesn't return to negotiations.

"I don't care if they come back or not. If they don't come back, I'm fine," Trump said, a day after peace talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan failed to produce an agreement.

He added that the ceasefire between the US and Iran is "holding well".

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is strongly criticising Pope Leo XIV on social media after the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church condemned the US president's threat against Iran.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, the US president writes that the Pope is "terrible for Foreign Policy".

"I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump says.

Listing a number of other complaints about the pontiff, Trump writes that Pope Leo is "Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons".

Last week, Pope Leo criticised Trump's threat that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" unless Iran agreed a deal to end the war.

Describing it as "truly unacceptable", he added: "There are certainly questions of international law, but much more than that, it is a moral question."

As a reminder, we've had several Iranian responses to the US announcement that it plans to blockade Iranian ports.

Most recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US and Iran were "inches away" from reaching a deal during peace talks in Pakistan, but Tehran was then met with "maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade".

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker who led negotiations in Pakistan, appeared to mock the US decision, writing in a post on X: "Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called 'blockade', Soon you'll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas."

In an earlier statement carried by Iranian outlets, Ghalibaf said Iran will not "surrender under threats".

Responding to US President Donald Trump's earlier threat to blockade "any and all ships" trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's naval forces said that any military vessels approaching the waterway will be dealt with "severely".

Trump is reportedly considering resuming airstrikes in Iran after talks over the weekend in Pakistan failed to bring a lasting end to the war.

The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed US officials, that the president is considering strikes in addition to other measures including the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump announced on Sunday.

The White House told the BBC all options are on the table when asked about the newspaper's report.

"The president has already ordered a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, ending the Iranian extortion, and wisely keeps all additional options on the table. Anyone who is telling the Wall Street Journal that they know what President Trump will do next is purely speculating," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales says.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iran has been under a near-total internet outage since the war began on 28 February.

Iranian authorities often cite reasons such as protecting the country from cyberattacks to restrict internet access.

But these measures also limit the flow of information among citizens and make it harder for those who rely on the internet to provide for themselves and their families.

Those who remain connected can be broadly divided into two groups: those who have been granted access, and those paying a lot.

The BBC understands that the first group mainly consists of officials, pro-establishment users, journalists, and more recently, some academics and university students.

Some in the first group stay connected with authorised SIM cards and selective institutional access.

The second group is mostly ordinary citizens paying a lot to keep their connections, using satellite internet such as Starlink, or connections routed through it.

Internet access via Starlink is being sold at around $6 (£4.50) per gigabyte - a high price in a country where the average monthly salary is estimated to be between $200 and $300.

Using Starlink in Iran can lead to up to two years in prison, and authorities have reportedly confiscated hundreds of devices since the war began.

Image source, Reuters

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker who led negotiations in Islamabad, has mocked Donald Trump in a post on X referencing US plans to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

"Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called 'blockade', Soon you'll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas," the post says, accompanied by a map appearing to show petrol prices around Washington DC.

In an earlier statement carried by Iranian outlets Ghalibaf said Iran will not "surrender under threats".

Image source, X

Trump's next move poses risks for US after failed talkspublished at 00:48 BST 13 April

00:48 BST 13 April

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Reu

After a diplomatic team led by Vice-President JD Vance tried, and failed, to reach a negotiated agreement to end the US war with Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump had to decide his next move.

That came on Sunday morning, in a series of Truth Social posts.

The US will impose a naval blockade, he wrote.

"No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas."

He also said that the US would continue clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz in order to ensure a safe passage for allied shipping.

The US military, he added, was "locked and loaded" and prepared to resume attacks against Iran at an "appropriate moment".

He went on to say that while progress had been made in the 20-hour negotiations in Islamabad, Iran would not meet the US demand that it abandon its nuclear ambitions.

While his posts didn't have the apocalyptic bluster of last week's threat to end Iranian civilisation, they pose a number of new challenges – and risks – for the American side.

You can read more of Anthony's analysis here

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Oil prices jumped above $100 a barrel as energy markets reopened after talks between the US and Iran ended without a new deal and Donald Trump said he would blockade Iranian ports.

Global benchmark Brent crude is up by 7.5% at $102.37, while West Texas Intermediate is 8.3% higher at $104.56.

The failure of negotiations at the weekend raises concerns that the war will continue to deepen the energy crisis.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The US military says it will start a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday, but that it will "not impede" vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz travelling to or from other countries.

Here are the latest developments:

• US Central Command says the blockade of traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports will begin at 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT) on Monday
• US President Donald Trump says his order is in response to Iran "knowingly failing" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He also warns the US Navy will "blow to hell" any Iranians that attack them and will interdict any ship found paying transit tolls to Iran
• Oil prises rise above $100 following the escalation, which follows the collapse of peace talks in Pakistan this weekend

• Trump says direct talks with Iran in Islamabad failed because "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions"
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran engaged in "good faith" with the US during peace talks, while the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the negotiations, says Iran will not "surrender under threats"

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says military vessels approaching the strait will be considered a violation of the current ceasefire