Timeline – Shabtabnews

20 April

Iranian side in a bit of a ‘chaos,’ US ambassador to UN Mike Waltz says

alarabiya – US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said on Sunday that the Iranians were in a bit of “chaos” noting that Tehran doesn’t have many cards left to play. Speaking with CBS News’ Face The Nation, Waltz also pointed to a lack of trust with the Iranian side as it remains to be seen whether Iran will join …

20 April

Shipping traffic remains at virtual standstill through Hormuz, data shows

alarabiya – Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a virtual standstill on Monday with just three crossings in the past 12 hours, according to shipping data.Oil products tanker Nero, which is under UK sanctions, left the Gulf and was sailing through the Strait on Monday, according to satellite analysis from data analytics specialists SynMax and tracking data …

20 April

IRGC Defines New Route for Ship Transit in the Strait of Hormuz

Iranwire – Iranian media have reported that the Revolutionary Guard navy has introduced a new route for ship transit in the Strait of Hormuz, called the “Larak Corridor” or the “Path of Authority.” Use of this route is allowed only with authorization from the IRGC. According to these reports, the route runs through the area from south of Hormuz Island …

20 April

Iranian Woman Arrested in the U.S. for Alleged Sale of Iranian-Made Weapons

Iranwire – The New York Post reported on Sunday, April 19, that an Iranian businesswoman with a U.S. Green Card was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport over allegations that she was involved in weapons deals linked to the Islamic Republic. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, 44-year-old Shamim Mafi, a resident of Woodland …

20 April

Two Iranian Citizens Executed Over Alleged Mossad Links

Iranwire – Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with the Judiciary, reported that two Iranian citizens, Mohammad Masoom-Shahi and Hamed Validi, were executed early on Monday, April 20, after their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court. Mizan claimed that the two men were part of a “spy network linked to Mossad,” saying they had been in contact with …

20 April

Iran Says No Plans To Take Part In Second Round Of Talks

RFL/RE – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said on April 20 that the Iranian side has no plans to participate in a second round of peace talks with the United States. There has been continued uncertainty over a potential second round of Pakistani-hosted face-to-face talks between US and Iranian delegations in Islamabad. While the White House has said a …

20 April

Iran Didn’t Act On Seized Ship Due To ‘Presence’ Of Crew’s Families

RFL/RE – The Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters, the Iranian military’s joint operational command, has said its forces did not react to the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged ship in the Sea of Oman “due to the presence of some families of its crew.” The US Navy took control of the cargo vessel, the Touska, in the Sea of Oman on April …

20 April

For the Leadership in Iran, Gaza and Beirut, What Is the Only Important Outcome?

gatestoneinstitute.org – [The US president’s negotiations and ceasefires] are viewed by Tehran, Gaza and Beirut as infidels trying to tell Muslims what to do. For them, such a situation is unimaginable, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to stand. To Iran’s current leaders, whoever they are, if Trump carries out his threat to bomb the country’s bridges and power plants on …

20 April

War at the Borders, Crimes in the Cells in Iran: When the Head of the Judiciary Orders “Acceleration”

Iran-HRM – Behind the Curtain of News While the recent war remains at the forefront of global headlines, behind the curtain of this war and a digital blackout in Iran—now entering its 49th day—atrocities are being committed against innocent human beings under the rule of the Islamic Republic. It can be said that war and digital silence have become a …

19 April

Iran to resume international flights from Mashhad airport on Monday

alarabiya – Iran will resume international flights on Monday from Mashhad airport in the country’s northeast, its civil aviation authority said. “Permission to operate international passenger flights at Mashhad Airport has been issued, starting tomorrow,” state TV said, quoting the Civil Aviation Organisation. The organisation later said travellers can now “purchase tickets for international routes to and from Mashhad Airport,” …

19 April

A nation in limbo: 100 days after the massacre, has the world moved on?

iranintl – One hundred days after one of the deadliest crackdowns in modern history, Iran remains suspended between grief and uncertainty, with a fractured public mood as some see justice in recent blows to the regime, while others feel left behind with it still in place. At least 36,500 Iranians were killed by the Islamic Republic during the January uprising, …

19 April

IRGC Claims: We Are Reloading Missile and Drone Launch Platforms Faster Than Before

Iranwire – News agencies affiliated with military and security institutions in Iran have released a video showing Majid Mousavi, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, visiting one of the Islamic Republic’s underground missile cities. In addition to the video, the news outlet Entekhab published a written message from Mousavi, claiming that “unlike Iran, the enemy has been unable to replenish …

19 April

Over 3,400 People Killed During the 40-Day War

Iranwire – According to new statistics released on Sunday, April 19, by the Islamic Republic’s “Martyrs Foundation,” the total death toll from the war with the United States and Israel has been announced as over 3,400 people. Ahmad Mousavi, vice president and head of the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation, stated that 3,468 people were killed in the 40-day war, …

19 April

Trump Says Negotiators Heading To Pakistan, Urges Tehran To Take ‘The Deal’

RFL/RE – US President Donald Trump said his representatives are traveling to Islamabad, Pakistan, for another round of talks on April 20 with Iran as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Tehran has not yet confirmed it will take part. Writing on his Truth Social platform on April 19, Trump said that “the US was “offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, …

19 April

Iran: Heading for Another Ceasefire?

gatestoneinstitute.org – Under the system created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, even the chiefs of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are not allowed to hold staff meetings without prior approval of the Office of the Supreme Guide (“Beit-e Rahbari“) and the presence of his military advisers. Two things seem clear at this juncture. The Khomeini-Khamenei system cannot …

19 April

Iran’s Regime Is Not Iran: The War the West Refuses to Understand

gatestoneinstitute.org – One of the most persistent and dangerous misreadings of the confrontation with Iran is the stubborn confusion between a brutal ideological regime and the people it has oppressed for nearly five decades. In Western capitals, where moral clarity too often yields to political expediency, this confusion produces a strange paralysis: the fear of “hurting the Iranian people” serves …

18 April

Trump says Iran cannot ‘blackmail us’ with Strait of Hormuz

alarabiya- US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Iran not to “blackmail” Washington with its flip-flopping on the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran declared the strategic waterway once again closed.“We’re talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again – you know, as they’ve been doing for years – and they can’t blackmail us,” Trump …

18 April

IRGC fires at Indian vessel in Hormuz

iranintl – Two vessels, including an Indian-flagged supertanker, were forced back out of the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after being approached by Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ naval units, shipping monitor TankerTrackers said. Two vessels, including an Indian-flagged supertanker, were forced back out of the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after being approached by Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ naval units, shipping monitor …

18 April

Detained Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Contacts Family From Undisclosed Location

Iranwire – Mehraveh Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s daughter, said in an Instagram post that her mother made a brief phone call on Saturday, April 18. During the call, Sotoudeh told her family that she is being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center. Mehraveh Khandan wrote: “Apparently, she was either not allowed to say her exact location or she did …

18 April

Ghalibaf: If the Blockade Continues, the Strait of Hormuz Will Not Remain Open

Iranwire – Following reactions to the news of the Strait of Hormuz reopening, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of Parliament and head of the Islamic Republic’s negotiating team in Pakistan, wrote on X: “If the blockade continues, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open.” This post was in response to statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who indicated …

18 April

Assets of Dissident Celebrities Consficated

Iranwire – Mizan News Agency, the media organ of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Judiciary, reported that, in continuation of the “confiscation of assets” belonging to opponents of the Islamic Republic, the assets and bank accounts of Mahnaz Afshar, Mazdak Mirzaei, Niki Karimi, Sina Sarlak, Masoud Shojaei, and Mr. Taster have been seized. Since the beginning of the war between …

18 April

Trump Says Ceasefire May Not Be Extended if Iran Deal Fails by Wednesday

Iranwire – U.S. President Donald Trump stated that if an agreement with Iran is not reached by Wednesday, the current ceasefire may not be extended. He emphasized, however, that the naval blockade of Iranian ports will continue regardless. He added, “In that case, you will see a blockade, and unfortunately, we will be forced to resume the bombing.” The two-week …

18 April

Mohammad Jafari Sahraroudi: The Man Who Shot Ghassemlou Now Sits Beside the U.S. Delegation

Iranwire – Four days after the ceasefire between Iran and the United States began, an 85-member Iranian delegation sat across from their American counterparts in Islamabad, Pakistan, to begin negotiations to end the 40-day war. Among the negotiators was Mohammad Jafari Sahraroudi, a man recognizable by the scars on his shoulder and jaw from the summer of 1989 in Vienna. …

18 April

Iran Reviewing Says It’s Reviewing New US Proposals, No Response Yet

RFL/RE – Iran’s top national security body says that Tehran is reviewing “new proposals” from the United States delivered through Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, but has not yet responded. In a statement on April 18, the Supreme National Security Council said the proposals had been presented in recent days with Munir acting as an intermediary in negotiations. It stressed, …

18 April

Ryan Kirkley: From Oil To Bitcoin, Markets Shift With Strait Of Hormuz News

RFL/RE — Cryptocurrency markets surged and oil traders recalibrated after signals that the Strait of Hormuz is reopening, even as military tensions and policy contradictions persist. While equities have been slower to react, analysts say the divergence reflects how different parts of the global financial system process risk and liquidity. Ryan Kirkley, CEO of blockchain payments company Global Settlement Network …

18 April

Selective Outrage: When Hezbollah Attacks

gatestoneinstitute.org – [T]he latest escalation in hostilities did not begin with Israel. It began with Hezbollah. Israel found itself faced with ongoing rocket fire from Lebanon and the presence of a heavily armed group on its border – in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which had unanimously required of Lebanon: “three principles — no foreign forces, no weapons for nongovernmental …

17 April

Trump says ‘no money’ to be involved in any Iran nuclear deal

alarabiya – US President Donald Trump denied Friday that any money would be involved in a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, after an Axios report that Washington was considering a $20 billion cash-for-uranium exchange. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear ‘Dust,’ created by our …

17 April

Three charged over attempted arson at Iran International office in London

iranintl – British police on Friday have charged three people over an attempted arson attack near the London offices of Iran International. Oisin McGuinness, 21, Nathan Dunn, 19, and a 16-year-old boy were all charged with arson with intent to endanger life. McGuinness faces an additional charge of dangerous driving. All three suspects are British nationals and are scheduled to …

17 April

US arrests Iranian national over alleged Basij-linked visa fraud

iranintl – US immigration authorities have arrested an Iranian national accused of lying about past ties to a paramilitary organization linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Iran International. Homeland Security Investigations agents, working with the FBI, arrested Yousof Sadat Azizi on April 13 on charges related to alleged fraud and misrepresentation in his visa …

17 April

WSJ: U.S. Has Intercepted Eight Iranian Tankers Since Start of Blockade

Iranwire – The Wall Street Journal, citing a U.S. official, reported that the United States Navy has intercepted eight tankers either entering or leaving Iranian ports since the blockade began on Monday morning. According to U.S. officials, American forces reached out to the crews in each case via radio, instructing them to change course and turn back. Officials said all …

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April, 2026