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13:11
Labor Activist: 750,000 People Registered As Unemployed Since Start Of War
Hassan Sadeghi, head of Iran’s Union of Veteran Workers, mentioned that because the begin of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, round 750,000 folks have newly registered as unemployment.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund, which earlier than the conflict had supported round 180,000 folks, has now grown to almost 1 million beneficiaries, in response toSadeghi. He mentioned the surge in functions was putting an excessive burden on obtainable sources.
Large-scale job losses amongst staff have been reported attributable to strikes on Iran’s petrochemical and metal industries.
Although no exact figures have been launched on how many individuals have misplaced their jobs attributable to strikes and the shutdown of manufacturing services, studies point out that tens of hundreds of staff misplaced their jobs in reference to the metal sector alone, given the dimensions of strikes on main vegetation such because the Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan.
According to preliminary estimates by Irans Labor Ministry, the 40-day conflict resulted within the lack of greater than 1 million jobs, with 2 million folks instantly or not directly affected by unemployment.
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12:58
UN: Iran Executed 21 People, Arrested Over 4,000 Since Escalation of Conflict
Iran has executed at the very least 21 folks and detained greater than 4,000 extra because the escalation of battle within the Middle East, the United Nations Human Rights Office mentioned.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, at the very least 9 folks have been executed in reference to the January 2026 protests, 10 on expenses of alleged membership in opposition teams, and two on espionage expenses.
The group additionally mentioned that greater than 4,000 of individuals have been arrested in Iran on nationwide security-related expenses because the starting of the battle.
I’m appalled that — on high of the already extreme impacts of the battle the rights of the Iranian folks proceed to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal methods, mentioned UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk in thestatement.
In instances of conflict, threats to human rights enhance exponentially. Yet even the place nationwide safety is invoked, human rights can solely be restricted the place strictly essential and proportionate, and for a respectable finish. And core, non-derogable rights — resembling safety towards arbitrary detention, and the precise to honest trial — have to be revered completely, always.”
Previously, Amnesty International warned that cease-fires in the Middle East could not prevent the humanitarian crisis from escalating, saying civilians in Iran continue to face the “double menace” of war and repression.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Iran carries out one of the highest numbers of executions per capita in the world and ranks among the countries with the highest total executions globally, after China, for which reliable data is limited.
Two organizations, the Norway-based Iranian Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, based in Paris, have reported that Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025.
According to the rights groups, this is the highest annual execution total recorded in Iran since 1989.
SEE ALSO:
Iran Sentences Four More To Death Over Mass Protests, Rights Groups Say
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11:50
Trump Says Iran ‘Better Get Smart Soon’
US President Donald Trump asserted that Iran is incapable of reaching a non-nuclear deal.
Writing on his Truth Social network on April 29, Trump said: “Iran cannot get its act collectively. They do not know signal a non-nuclear deal. They higher get good quickly!”
He did not elaborate further on what such a “deal” would entail.
His post also featured an AI-generated image of Trump, in aviator sunglasses, holding a machine gun with fires blazing behind him.
This new statement by the US president comes as negotiations between Iran and the United States remain deadlocked after a round of talks in Islamabad failed to produce any positive results amid an ongoing cease-fire.
It was reported earlier this week that Iran had made a proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the naval blockade by the US military, but reports indicate that US government officials have not accepted this offer.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explicitly called the offer unacceptable.
In Iran, officials have often remained silent on the matter, but in recent media discussions, the issue has been raised that lifting the naval blockade should be a precondition for negotiations for any agreement with the United States, while the Iranian government’s resistance to dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program has been cited as one of the main obstacles to the failure of Iran-US negotiations.
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10:26
Japanese Vessel Safely Passes Strait of Hormuz
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has confirmed that a Japanese-linked vessel that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz on April 29 and is heading to Japan with three Japanese crew members on board.
In aposton X published on April 29, she also emphasized the importance of quickly restoring free and safe navigation through the strait for vessels of all countries, including Japan, and said she had conveyed this position to Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian.
“The Government of Japan considers this passage of a Japan-related vessel as a constructive growth,” Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a separatestatement.
Iran has restricted commercial shipping from transiting through the strait, while the United States has enforced a naval blockade on all ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. This has led to sharply reduced traffic and ongoing disruptions to global oil flows.
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08:42
US Flags Sanctions Risk Over China ‘Teapot’ Refineries
The US Treasury Department has warned that China-based independent “teapot” refineries, especially in Shandong Province, pose sanctions risks due to their role in importing Iranian crude oil.
According to the Treasury, China buys about 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, much of it processed by these smaller refineries, generating revenue for Tehran.
“This income in the end advantages the Iranian regime, its weapons packages, and its navy,” the Treasurystatementsaid.
The United States has intensified economic pressure on Iran by targeting the countrys international shadow banking infrastructure, shadow shipping fleet, and Chinese “teapot” refineries that support Tehrans oil trade, as part of the administrations “most stress” campaign, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a poston X.
Bessent stated that Iran’s key oil export hub, Kharg Island, is nearing storage capacity, a situation that could force Tehran to reduce oil production. He added that this could cost the country around $170 million per day in lost revenue and potentially cause “everlasting injury to Iran’s oil infrastructure.”
“Treasury will proceed to exert most stress and any individual, vessel, or entity facilitating illicit flows to Tehran dangers publicity to U.S. sanctions,” Bessent wrote on X.
SEE ALSO:
Beijing Pushes Back As US Sanctions Chinese Oil Refinery Over Iran Links
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23:59
28.4.2026
We are now closing the live blog for the day. We’ll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
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22:09
28.4.2026
US Hits Iran’s ‘Shadow Banking’ Network With New Sanctions
The US has announced new sanctions targeting 35 entities and individuals tied to Iran’s covert financial network.
Announcing the move, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said that Iran’s shadow banking operations have “enabled the switch of tens of billions of {dollars} to evade sanctions.”
The United States maintains a comprehensive sanctions regime against Iran, including a near-total trade embargo for US persons, frozen Iranian assets, bans on dealings with the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and secondary sanctions that punish foreign companies for engaging in Irans oil, petrochemical, shipping, finance, and weapons sectors.
Under the current maximum pressure campaign, the US has added hundreds of new designations since 2025 targeting shadow fleets, illicit financial networks, and proliferation activities.
Pigott said that the newly targeted shadow banking network had enabled Iranian forces such as the IRGC “to illicitly entry the worldwide monetary system to acquire proceeds from illicit oil gross sales, purchase delicate elements for missiles and different weapons programs, and fund Iran’s terrorist proxy teams all through the Middle East.”
Dismantling these channels, Pigott said, would advance the Trump administrations policy in the conflict with Iran and continue to impose “most stress” on the Islamic republic.
In a post on X, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that funds funneled through this shadow banking system “help the regimes ongoing terrorist operations, posing a direct menace to US personnel, regional allies, and the worldwide economic system.”
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20:40
28.4.2026
Britain Summons Iranian Ambassador Over Social Media Posts
Britain announced on April 28 that it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to London following what it described as “unacceptable and inflammatory feedback on social media.
The British Foreign Office mentioned in a press release that Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer had careworn that the Iranian embassy “must cease any form of communications that could be interpreted as encouraging violence in the UK or internationally.”
Iranian officers weren’t instantly obtainable for remark after the British announcement, Reuters reported.
In a publish on the Telegram channel of the Iranian Embassy in London earlier this month, Iranians dwelling within the UK had been requested to volunteer for the “Jan Feda” marketing campaign, through which they might declare their readiness to sacrifice their lives in a conflict with the US and Israel.
The Foreign Office didn’t specify which of the embassy’s social media posts it was referring to. British MPs have beforehand warned of great and widespread threats from Iran towards the UK.
Britain additionally summoned Iran’s ambassador final month after an Iranian citizen and a British-Iranian twin nationwide had been charged below the UK’s National Security Act for allegedly helping Irans intelligence companies.
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20:19
28.4.2026
European Parliament’s Iran Delegation Head Demands Release Of Political Prisoners
The chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with Iran has referred to as for the discharge of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Narges Mohammadi, and different political prisoners in Iran.
Referring to latest talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad, Hannah Neumann posted on X on April 28: We demand #NasrinSotoudehs rapid launch. No deal until the Iranian regime opens the web, #StopExecutionsInIran and releases all #politicalprisoners!.
She additionally spoke to the European Parliament.
Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, was arrested at her house in Tehran on the night of April 1 with out being charged.
Meanwhile, issues have grown about Mohammadi’s well being in jail and studies that the Nobel Peace Prize winner is being denied entry to correct medical care.
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18:09
28.4.2026
Chinese Leadership Pledges To Prioritize Energy Security In Wake Of Iran War
In a gathering held on April 28, Chinas management laid out plans to strengthen the economic system by prioritizing power safety and expertise self-sufficiency within the wake of the Iran conflict.
Beijings highest decision-making physique, the Politburo, pledged to systemically reply to exterior challenges and counter numerous uncertainties, in response to a readout revealed in Xinhua, a distinguished Chinese news outlet.
Beijing has been comparatively resilient to the results of the conflict in Iran, largely attributable to oil stockpiles and a give attention to renewable power. The prolonged blockade, nonetheless, of the Strait of Hormuz is beginning to take impact.
A 5 p.c development determine for the primary quarter reveals that China has weathered the worst of the power shock, however the economic system has nonetheless been affected by the disaster. Export development slowed to 2.5 p.c in March, down from 21.8 p.c between January and February.
Speaking to Reuters on April 28, Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, mentioned that Beijings financial momentum will probably gradual within the second quarter as a result of unsure exterior atmosphere and excessive power costs.”
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