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25-04-2026
BEIRUT: Senior Iranian officials have blamed Washington for stalled peace negotiations due to the United States naval blockade of the country’s ports.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it captured two foreign vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on a third ship for violating maritime regulations.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran wants “dialogue and agreement” but “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations”.
Israeli forces have shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid in Nablus, occupied West Bank.
Lebanon has condemned Israel for the targeted killing of Lebanese newspaper correspondent Amal Khalil and the wounding of journalist colleague Zeinab Faraj.
Visit our live tracker for the latest casualty figures from across the region
Gaza death toll rises as Israel’s genocidal war continues
The death toll from Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza has reached 71,568 Palestinians with thousands still missing beneath the rubble.
Wafa news agency reported that another 172,338 have been wounded since October 2023.
Since the October “ceasefire”, 791 people have been killed and 2,235 wounded, while rescue teams have recovered 761 bodies from destroyed buildings, it reported.
Trump’s mixed messages, blockade stand in way of talks:
Iran will return to negotiations only if the US lifts its naval blockade and Trump commits to diplomacy, a senior Iranian analyst has told media.
Ali Akbar Dareini, of the Center for Strategic Studies in Tehran, dismissed Trump’s suggestion of a fracture within Iran’s leadership as a “delusional miscalculation”.
“There have always been differences of opinion, but when Iran adopts a strategy in foreign policy, there is unity,” he said, adding that Trump’s mixed messages are part of a “psychological war”.
“If the blockade is lifted and Trump remains committed to diplomacy, the way is open for negotiations,” he said, calling on Washington to “end the piracy” of seizing Iranian ships.
Trump claims to have ‘total control’ over Strait of Hormuz
Trump has claimed that the US had “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, and that it was “sealed up tight” until Iran made a deal.
UK, France ‘confident’ on reopening Strait of Hormuz
The UK’s Defence Minister John Healey and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin said they are confident that real progress can be made on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as the two countries hosted a meeting with military planners on the issue.
“Turning diplomatic momentum into action demands sharp planning, frank discussion and firm commitments from allied and partner nations,” the ministers said in a joint statement released by the UK’s Defence Ministry.
“We are grateful to those nations who have already indicated their willingness to contribute. We are confident that real progress can be made.”
Israel’s killing of journalist Amal Khalil on the eve of Lebanon-Israel talks in the US constitutes a war crime and undermines the entire negotiation process, says independent Lebanese MP Najat Aoun Saliba.
“Israel has not shown any goodwill, especially with the killing of Amal Khalil and the wounding of Zeinab Faraj,” Saliba told Al Jazeera.
“Those two journalists were on duty, doing their job, and Israel did not even allow the Red Cross to reach them in time. We consider this a war crime.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
