US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Moscow shared Washington's position on Iran's nuclear program, following a call with Vladimir Putin, adding that Iran had a “small percentage of missile-making facilities.”
US President Donald Trump told Axios that he would keep Iran under a naval blockade until Tehran agreed to a deal, calling the blockade “somewhat more effective than the bombing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed ideas on Iran’s nuclear program and voiced support for the US decision to extend the ceasefire in a phone call with US President Donald Trump, a Kremlin aide said on Wednesday.
The United States has spent $25 billion on the war with Iran so far, according to Reuters citing a senior Pentagon official.
The UN said at least 21 people had been executed and more than 4,000 arrested in Iran since the war began, many linked to the January 2026 protests.
Iran’s rial weakened to a record low of around 1.8 million per dollar on Wednesday, reflecting ongoing economic pressure.
Iran’s internet blackout entered its 62nd consecutive day on Thursday, leaving the public broadly cut off from the world, NetBlocks said.
“Beyond human rights and economic impacts, the measure severely hinders schooling and higher education by decimating access to knowledge,” the internet monitoring group said in a post on X.
Pakistan has opened six overland transit routes for goods bound for Iran as thousands of containers remain stranded at Karachi port amid the US blockade, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday, citing Pakistan’s commerce ministry.
The ministry issued an order on April 25 allowing goods from third countries to pass through Pakistan and be delivered to Iran by road, according to the report.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that US and Israeli strikes on Iran had negatively affected the Caspian Sea and its coastline.
Lavrov, speaking after talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev, called the strike at Iran’s Anzali seaport on the Caspian Sea unacceptable.
“The Caspian region must remain a zone of peace and cooperation,” Lavrov said.
Taliban leaders and affiliated figures voiced support for Iran after Israeli strikes in June 2025 and later US threats, signaling a limited and conditional alignment despite longstanding disputes with Tehran.
Despite a history of sectarian and political friction, recent statements from Taliban officials point to an alignment with the Islamic Republic during a period of heightened regional confrontation.
Differences over border clashes, water rights from the Hirmand (Helmand) River and the treatment of Afghan refugees remain unresolved.
The world is facing its biggest energy crisis in history due to disruption caused by the Iran war, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said on Thursday.
“The oil markets and gas markets are going through big difficulties,” Birol said at a conference in Paris.
“Our world is facing a major economic and energy challenge,” he added.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that he spoke by phone with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis to discuss bilateral relations and the latest regional and international developments.
Iran’s Reformists Front called for equal access to the global internet, saying restrictions were harming livelihoods and undermining citizens’ rights.
“Cybersecurity policy should shift from ‘broad shutdowns’ to technical, targeted and professional approaches, and people’s access to stable, free and secure internet should be restored immediately,” read the statement released on Wednesday.
The group said millions of Iranians depend on the internet for income, education, healthcare and family connections, warning that disruptions to such a “vital tool” violated the state’s duty to protect civil rights and social resilience.
It criticized unequal access, including so-called tiered internet services, and urged authorities to recognize equal access to the global network as a right for all citizens.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that US military bases in the region endangered host countries and allowed Iran to treat their territory as legitimate targets.
He said foreign presence in the region did not improve security and instead increased tensions.
Pezeshkian added that any insecurity in Strait of Hormuz was the responsibility of the United States and Israel.
Amazon said on Thursday that its Amazon Web Services region in Bahrain had suffered damage due to the Iran war and was currently unavailable.
A senior figure in Iran’s reformist camp said on Thursday that slogans targeting current and former officials risk undermining national unity during pro-government rallies.
Hassan Rasouli, vice president of Iran’s Reformists Front, said placards criticizing former officials such as Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif as well as current ones such as parliament speaker and foreign minister detracted from the pro-Islamic Republic gatherings.
Rasouli urged organizers to be more careful in shaping slogans and messaging, warning that language attacking officials could weaken cohesion and reduce the impact of the demonstrations.
China’s Baosteel said on Thursday it had become more cautious about investing in Saudi Arabia following the Iran war.
Iran ranked among the world’s worst countries for press freedom in 2026 as global conditions hit a 25-year low, with legal pressure on journalists intensifying across multiple regions, Reporters Without Borders said.
More than half of all countries now fall into “difficult” or “very serious” categories, with the global average score at its lowest since the index began, the organization said.
“Iran remains near the bottom of the ranking, held back by the regime’s own repression and the US-Israeli war on its soil,” Reporters Without Borders wrote.
Iran’s consumer prices rose 73.5% in the month of Farvardin (March 21 to April 20) from the same month last year, the Statistical Center of Iran said on Thursday.
The consumer price index increased 5% from the previous month, the center said.
Average inflation in the 12 months ending in April rose 53.7% from the same period a year earlier, it added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged faster reconstruction in war-hit areas on Thursday, calling on governors to use delegated powers to speed up rebuilding, state media reported.
He spoke separately with the governors of Hormozgan, Bushehr, Isfahan and Qom to review recovery efforts, according to the report, and called for mobilizing government resources, reducing administrative barriers and implementing targeted support packages for those affected.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Thursday that the outcome of US-Iran negotiations to end the war remained uncertain.
Lee called for stronger and more effective policies to keep living costs down as the conflict continued to weigh on prices.
Police in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan said on Thursday that two armed men were killed in a clash with security forces in Iranshahr.
US paratroopers completed their first training exercise with a new drone hunter-killer system called the Bumblebee V2, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The Pentagon said 20 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to track and defeat adversary drones using the autonomous system.
US Army Sgt. Maj. Kellen Rowley said troops must master the basics of drone operations and passive countermeasures before using air-to-air interceptors operationally.
High energy prices resulting from the Iran war threaten growth by squeezing consumers and companies while fueling inflation, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Citi said Brent could climb to $120 through year-end in an adverse scenario, cutting global growth to between 1.5% and 2% and raising headline inflation to nearly 5%, according to the report.
Gas prices in Europe and Asia have also risen, while farmers face another surge in fertilizer costs, it added.
US Central Command has asked to deploy the Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to the Middle East for possible use against Iran, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the request.
The request seeks a longer-range weapon to hit ballistic missile launchers deep inside Iran after Tehran moved some launchers beyond the range of other US systems, the person said.
No decision has yet been made on the request, the person said and CENTCOM declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday shared a post on Truth Social citing a Harvard Harris poll, saying that a strong majority of Americans support his stance on stopping Iran’s nuclear program.
