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14:36
Some Shipping Traffic Resuming Through Strait Of Hormuz
Reuters and Iran’s Tasnim news company, which is near the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported on April 4 that Iran has allowed vessels carrying important items via the Strait of Hormuz, together with humanitarian assist and fundamental provides, to succeed in its ports, offered they coordinate with native authorities.
The strait has been blocked by Iran since February 28.
Since April 3, ships from Oman, Pakistan, Turkey, India, France, and Japan have handed via the strait, in accordance with MarineTraffic and LSEG. Among them, the Sohar LNG, which is Panama-flagged and co-owned by Japan’s Mitsui O.S.Ok. Lines, turned the primary Japan-linked vessel and liquefied pure fuel (LNG) service to transit via the strait because the battle started. Other profitable passages included an Indian liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG) tanker and a French container ship.
Despite this, Japan’s Transport Ministry has stated that about 45 Japanese-operated ships stay stranded within the area, primarily within the Persian Gulf. Based on vessel-tracking information from MarineTraffic and LSEG, general visitors is estimated at round 512 % of prewar ranges.
As of April, studies from maritime intelligence corporations, news companies, and authorities ministries present 2,190 vessels stranded within the area, together with 400 oil tankers.
US intelligence sources, cited by Reuters on April 3, warn that Iran is unlikely to completely reopen the strait quickly, utilizing management of the waterway as leverage over the United States. US President Donald Trump has advised US forces may act to reopen the passage if mandatory.
The UN Security Council plans to vote subsequent week on a Bahraini decision to guard delivery. China and Russia have opposed authorizing power, whereas the draft, backed by the Gulf states and Washington, would enable defensive measures for not less than six months.
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10:38
Iran Executes Two More Men On Terrorism Charges
Iran executed two males on April 4 convicted of finishing up terrorist acts and hyperlinks to the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), in accordance with the Mizan News Agency, which is near the nation’s judiciary.
The two males had been the remaining defendants in a six-person case. The different 4 males had been executed earlier this week.
MEK is an exiled opposition group that seeks to overthrow the Islamic republic and is regarded by Tehran as a terrorist group. In latest weeks, there was a surge in executions, notably focusing on members of the MEK.
The two males, Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amerian, had been reportedly executed “on charges of rebellion through involvement in numerous terrorist acts and explosions led by the terrorist group of the MEK, membership in a rebel group, gathering and colluding to commit a crime against the internal security of the country.”
Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the decision, Mizan reported.
Earlier this week, Hamed Bani-Amerian, the brother of Vahid Bani-Amerian, instructed RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that “The Supreme Court had raised objections to the verdict and the case and returned the case to the court of first instance to resolve the objections.”
But then, he stated — talking earlier than his brother’s execution — “suddenly we were faced with the news of the execution of four of my brother’s co-defendants.”
Bani-Amerian was referring to the opposite 4 males being tried — Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, and Akbar Daneshvarkar — who had been executed by Iranian authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison within the metropolis of Karaj, about 20 kilometers northwest of Tehran. Sangdehi and Daneshvarkar had been executed by hanging on March 30; Alipour and Ghobadi had been executed a day later.
In latest weeks, Iranian state media have reported growing numbers of individuals arrested for being “spies” and “mercenaries.”
Iran has maintained one of many world’s highest execution charges for years, with the numberestimated to have greater than doubled in 2025compared to 2024.
UN human rights specialists and the UN High Commissioner have expressed grave concern over the latest surge in executions in Iran.
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01:08
We are actually closing the reside weblog for the day. We’ll be again tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cowl the most recent occasions throughout the Middle East.
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01:05
Rescue Mission Races To Find Crew Member Of US Jet Downed Over Iran
WASHINGTON — Rescue groups proceed to go looking early on April 4 for a US crew member lacking after their fighter jet was introduced down over Iran, one in every of two American forces planes reportedly knocked out of the sky within the area a day earlier.
A US official instructed RFE/RL one crew member was recovered whereas the search is ongoing for the second within the first identified lack of an American airplane, a two-seat F-15E jet, to hostile hearth because the struggle started.
Separately, a US official later stated one other US Air Force warplane, an A-10 assault plane, crashed within the Persian Gulf and that the lone pilot in that incident was safely recovered. Full particulars weren’t instantly obtainable.
Iranian state media additionally reported the downing of each planes. Iranian officers stated additionally they had been looking for the lacking crew member of the primary airplane and urged residents to report back to the authorities any data that might result in the airman’s seize.
Specifics of the Iran rescue mission weren’t offered by the US official who spoke to RFE/RL.
To learn the total story, clickhere.
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20:41
3.4.2026
US Embassy In Lebanon Warns That Iran, Allies Could Target Universities
The US Embassy in Lebanon on April 3 warned that Iran and its allied teams may try to focus on universities within the nation.
“Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon,” asecurity alertsaid on the embassy web site.
“The security situation in Lebanon is volatile and unpredictable. Air strikes, drones and rocket attacks occur throughout the country, especially in the south, the Beqaa, and parts of Beirut,” the safety alert additionally stated.
The American University in central Beirut is without doubt one of the most prestigious instructional establishments within the area.
“If you are in the country, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial flight options remain available,” it added.
It didn’t determine any particular establishments, nevertheless it comes days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to focus on US universities within the Middle East, claiming that US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
Lebanon is dwelling to the American University of Beirut, one of the distinguished US establishments within the area, whose campus and hospital are in central Beirut.
The Israeli navy has been blasting websites in Beirut and southern Lebanon identified to accommodate belongings of the Iran-backed Hezbollah motion, deemed a terrorist group by the United States.
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20:23
3.4.2026
UN Security Council Set To Vote On Plan To Open Strait Of Hormuz Amid Divisions
The United Nations Security Council is anticipated to vote on April 4 on a revised decision geared toward restoring industrial delivery via the Strait of Hormuz, as international powers stay divided over how far to go in confronting Irans blockade of the important waterway.
The newest draft, put ahead by Bahrain, has reportedly been scaled again after opposition from veto-wielding members China, Russia, and France, who objected to earlier language that may have approved nations to make use of all mandatory means to safe the waterway. That led to a delay in holding the vote, which was initially scheduled for April 3.
The Associated Pressreportedthat a revised model of the textual content now permits just for defensive measures to make sure protected passage via the strait and adjoining waters, marking a compromise geared toward avoiding a veto whereas nonetheless enabling some type of coordinated response.
The vote comes at a pivotal second within the struggle that started with joint US-Israeli strikes in late February, with Irans efficient closure of the strait roiling international vitality markets and sparking longer-term fears of fallout from blocked fertilizer and provide chain shipments.
China has remained publicly against any decision that might legitimize using power, with Fu Cong, Beijing ambassador to the UN, saying that “any such authorization would inevitably lead to further escalation and serious consequences” as he urged members to prioritize a political settlement.
Read extraright here.
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19:50
3.4.2026
Egyptian Citizen Killed In Abu Dhabi After Iranian Missile Strike
A citizen of Egypt was killed and 4 individuals suffered minor accidents after particles from an intercepted Iranian missile fell on Abu Dhabi’s Habshan fuel services on April 3, the emirate’s media workplace reported.
The Egyptian was killed in the course of the evacuation of the location, the workplace stated. Four others — two Egyptians and two Pakistanis — sustained minor accidents, it added.
“Significant damage has occurred at the facilities and an assessment is ongoing,” it stated.
With reporting by Reuters
Earlier, authorities in Abu Dhabi — part of the United Arab Emirates — stated 12 individuals had been injured by falling particles within the Ajban space. The injured had been Nepalese and Indian nationals, authorities stated.
Tehran has focused US Gulf Arab allies in retaliation for the US-Israeli air strikes towards Iran that started on February 28.
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17:57
3.4.2026
Italy’s Meloni Travels To Saudi Arabia In Show Of Support Amid Iranian Attacks
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has flown to Saudi Arabia for a beforehand unannounced journey that will even embody conferences with officers from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, a authorities official stated on April 3.
Meloni’s two-day go to is geared toward exhibiting assist for Gulf companions which can be within the Iranian line of fireplace and to guard Italy’s personal vitality provides, the official stated.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (file picture).
Italy is very depending on vitality imports and has been struck by rising vitality costs.
Reuters reported that earlier than the struggle, about 10 % of Italy’s complete fuel consumption was lined by Qatari liquefied pure fuel and that Middle East oil accounted for 12 % of Italy’s complete oil imports final yr.
It wasn’t instantly clear if Meloni would go to Qatar and the UAE or meet with officers whereas in Saudi Arabia.
It is the primary journey by a European Union chief to Saudi Arabia because the United States and Israel launched their air marketing campaign towards Iran on the finish of February.
Tehran has retaliated for the air strikes by launching missile a drone assaults towards Israel and most Gulf Arab states.
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15:42
3.4.2026
France Demands Immediate Release Of Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh
Nasrin Sotoudeh
France has demanded that Iran launch distinguished Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested on April 1 at her residence in Tehran.
“France calls for the immediate release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and all those arbitrarily detained in Iran,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman stated.
Mehraveh Khandan, the lawyer’s daughter who resides outdoors Iran, stated safety forces additionally confiscated Sotoudeh’s private digital gadgets, together with her cell phone and laptop computer.
Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh’s husband, has been in jail since December 2024.
Sotoudeh, who received awards together with the 2012 Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament and the 2020 Right Livelihood award, has been arrested a number of occasions since 2010.
She has campaigned for quite a lot of human rights-related points within the repressive state, together with working to stop the execution of individuals convicted of crimes dedicated whereas minors.
Her detention has included intervals of solitary confinement, highlighting the challenges confronted by human rights defenders in Iran. Tehran has additional cracked down on dissent throughout its present struggle with the United States and Israel.
“This arrest is yet another illustration of the Iranian regime’s systematic policy of persecuting and intimidating human rights defenders, which must stop,” the French ministry spokesman stated.
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13:58
3.4.2026
Britain Deploys Its Air Defense System To Kuwait
Britain is deploying its air protection system to Kuwait, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s workplace introduced on April 3, following an in a single day Iranian drone assault on a Kuwaiti oil facility.
Starmer mentioned the deployment of the UKs Rapid Sentry air protection system to the Gulf nation, throughout a name with the crown prince of Kuwait. The dialog occurred simply hours after a drone assault hit the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the necessary in Kuwait and the broader area.
According to apress launch from Starmer’s workplace,the Rapid Sentry system, which is designed primarily to shoot down drones and different low-flying aerial threats, will defend Kuwaiti and British personnel and pursuits within the area.
The British prime minister condemned the “reckless” in a single day drone assault on the Kuwaiti oil refinery and reiterated that the UK stands with Kuwait and all its allies within the Gulf.
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