Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the US aggression against an Iranian commercial vessel and the taking of its crew and their families as hostages, warning of “very dangerous consequences.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry emphasized the need for the immediate release of the Iranian ship, its sailors, crew members, and their families.

“The act, which involved the intimidation of the ship’s sailors, crew, and their families, constitutes maritime banditry and a terrorist act,” the statement read.

According to the ministry, the act is another example of a clear violation of the ceasefire understanding dated April 8, and is an aggressive act against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“Iran, while warning about the very dangerous consequences of this illegal and criminal American act, emphasizes the necessity of the immediate release of the Iranian ship, its sailors, crew, and their families,” it said.

The statement added that the Islamic Republic of Iran would undoubtedly use all its capabilities to defend its national interests and security, and to protect the rights and dignity of Iranians.

It further stated that the United States clearly bore full responsibility for the situation in the region becoming more complicated.

Iran not only survived the heaviest bombardment of its civilian infrastructure in modern history during the 40-day war of aggression imposed by the US-Israeli alliance but also achieved the rare engineering feat of restoring six major railway bridges and dozens of critical transport links in under 96 hours.

One key span near Qom reopened in less than 40 minutes, effectively neutralizing the enemy’s key strategy of paralyzing the nation through economic strangulation.

The ceasefire that took effect on April 8, 2026, after more than five weeks of sustained aggression, did not come a moment too soon for civilians.

But for Iran’s engineering corps, it came just in time to showcase a level of infrastructure resilience and readiness unmatched in modern military history.

While enemy war planners had explicitly targeted the country’s railway bridges, freeway overpasses, power substations, and even civilian airports to break supply chains and demoralize the population, the response from Tehran’s domestic engineering team fundamentally rewrote the rules of modern warfare.

Rather than crippling Iran, the aggression has demonstrated that the Islamic Republic can rebuild its most vital arteries faster than foreign adversaries can destroy them.

The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement at the end of historic, face-to-face talks after the U.S. said Tehran refused to commit to not developing a nuclear weapon, leaving uncertainty over a fragile, two-week ceasefire.

Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said the talks lasted 21 hours in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad but in the end they did not see “an affirmative commitment” from Iran “that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.”

Vance’s comments did not indicate what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire initially agreed to by the U.S., Iran and Israel, but Pakistani mediators called on the U.S. and Iran to maintain the ceasefire.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said, adding that his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the U.S. in the coming days.

In one of the first reactions from Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the talks fell apart over a “gap between our opinions over two or three important issues.” He told Iran’s state TV that the Strait of Hormuz was among the topics discussed by negotiators and blamed “U.S. overreach.” He did not mention nuclear weapons.

The discussions in Islamabad began Saturday, a few days after the fragile ceasefire was announced as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week.

“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” he added.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.

The United States and Iran entered talks with sharply different proposals and contrasting assumptions about their leverage to end the war. Before negotiations began, the ceasefire was already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran’s 10-point proposal ahead of the talks called for a guaranteed end to the war and sought control over the Strait of Hormuz. It included ending fighting against Iran’s “regional allies,” explicitly calling for a halt to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah. The United States’ 15-point proposal includes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.

Indeed, Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war. Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil had typically passed through on over 100 ships a day. Only 12 have been recorded transiting since the ceasefire.

During the talks, the U.S. military said two destroyers transited the critical waterway ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran’s state media, however, reported the country’s joint military command denied that.

“We’re sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump said as talks extended into early Sunday morning.

The U.S. delegation led by Vance and the Iranian one led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf discussed with Pakistan how to advance the ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades.

Hezbollah joined the war in support of Iran in the opening days. Israel followed with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

The day the Iran ceasefire deal was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

Source: Crux

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the court responsible for his corruption trial to postpone his testimony, citing “security concerns.”

His lawyer made the request in a court filing on Friday.

Netanyahu’s long-running corruption trial was set to resume on Sunday, after Israel lifted a state of emergency imposed over its war of aggression on Iran following Wednesday’s ceasefire announcement.

The defense said it was prepared to continue ⁠hearing the testimony of a prosecution witness.

“Due to classified security and diplomatic reasons connected … to the dramatic events that have taken place … in recent times, the Prime Minister will not be able to testify in the proceeding for at least the next two weeks,” the filing said.

It said that a sealed envelope detailing the classified ‌reasons ⁠was delivered to the court, which will rule once the prosecution submits its response.

Netanyahu, the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be charged with a crime, denies charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust brought in ⁠2019 after years of investigations.

His trial, which began in 2020 and could lead to jail terms, has been repeatedly delayed due to various wars his cabinet has initiated, including the Gaza genocide since 2023, which has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians, two wars of aggression against Iran in 2025 and 2026, and recurring assaults on Lebanon since 2023, with ⁠no end date in sight.

The charges against Netanyahu, along with the al-Aqsa Flood Operation conducted by Palestinians resistance movements in October 2023, have damaged his standing.

Israel is due to hold an election in October that Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is likely to lose, according to polls.

Source: Presstv

The Iranian president says the continuation of a temporary ceasefire agreement depends on the adherence of the United States to its commitments.

Masoud Pezeshkian made the remarks during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, one day after a two-week truce went into force between Tehran and Washington to pave the way for negotiations.

The Pakistan-mediated ceasefire deal followed the failure of the US and the Israeli regime to achieve their objectives after 41 days of war against the Iranian nation.

“Iran’s responsible approach towards accepting the ceasefire is in line with preserving regional stability and preventing the spread of clashes,” he said, adding that the truce’s “continuation depends on the opposite side’s adherence to its commitments.”

Pezeshkian also expressed gratitude to the efforts of friendly countries to stop the illegal US-Israeli act of aggression against Iran and praised Turkey’s condemnation of the military assault and the Turkish nation’s solidarity with the Iranian nation during the imposed war.

“Despite the United States’ betrayal of diplomacy and attacks against Iran during the last two rounds of negotiations, the Islamic Republic maintained its responsible stance and accepted the request of neighboring and friendly states to stop fighting and establish a ceasefire,” he said.

Both US-Israeli wars against Iran, including the 12-day aggression in June 2025 and this year’s 41-day war, occurred amid indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States.

The latest criminal US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.

Iranian armed forces responded by launching daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

Source: Presstv

Iran has declared a “historic and crushing defeat” of the United States and the Israeli regime after 40 days of war, announcing that Washington has been forced to accept a 10-point Iranian proposal that includes a permanent ceasefire, the lifting of all sanctions, and the withdrawal of US combat forces from the region.

In a statement addressed to the “noble, great, and heroic nation of Iran,” the Supreme National Security Council said the enemy had suffered an undeniable defeat and now saw “no way forward but to submit to the will of the great nation of Iran and the honorable Axis of Resistance.”

The announcement comes on Day 40 of the US-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, which began with the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and top-ranking commanders on February 28.

According to the statement, the United States has agreed to a 10-point proposal that fundamentally commits Washington to:

No new aggression against Iran

Continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz

Acceptance of enrichment

Removal of all primary sanctions

Removal of all secondary sanctions

Termination of all UN Security Council resolutions

Termination of all Board of Governors resolutions

Payment of compensation to Iran

Withdrawal of US combat forces from the region

Cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic Resistance of Lebanon

“Iran has achieved a great victory and has forced criminal America to accept its own 10-point proposal,” the statement read.

The statement by the top security body described the past 40 days as one of the “heaviest combined battles in history,” in which Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and occupied Palestine inflicted blows that “the historical memory of the world will never forget.”

“Iran and the Resistance have almost completely destroyed the American military machine in the region,” it stated. “They have inflicted crushing and deep blows on the vast infrastructure and capabilities that the enemy had built and deployed around the region over many years for this war against Iran.”

The statement added that within the occupied territories, Resistance forces had dealt “devastating and crushing blows to the enemy’s forces, infrastructure, facilities, and assets.”

It further stated that the United States understood as early as 10 days into the war that it could not win.

“Not only did none of the enemy’s main objectives materialize, but the enemy realized from about 10 days after the start of the war that it would have no ability to win this war,” the statement said. “For this reason, through various channels and methods, the enemy began efforts to establish contact with Iran and request a ceasefire.”

The top security body further said the enemy had initially imagined a quick military victory, believing Iran’s missile and drone capabilities would be “quickly extinguished,” and noted that the “vile global Zionism” had convinced the “ignorant President of the United States” that the war would finish Iran.

While declaring victory, the top security body also urged continued vigilance.

Source: Presstv

Satellite imaging company Planet Labs says it will indefinitely withhold visuals of American military losses to comply with a censorship request from US President Donald Trump amid the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

In an email to customers on Saturday, the US company announced that the Trump administration had asked satellite imagery providers to impose an “indefinite withhold of imagery.”

Planet Labs further said that it would now switch to a “managed distribution of images” deemed not to pose a risk to safety.

The firm, which was founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists, will release imagery on a case-by-case basis for urgent, “mission-critical requirements or in the public interest.”

“These are extraordinary circumstances, and we are doing all we can to balance the needs of all our stakeholders,” the California-based firm said.

The restriction expands upon a 14-day delay on imagery of the Persian Gulf and West Asia region that Planet Labs implemented last month, which extended an initial 96-hour delay.

The firm said the move was meant to “prevent adversaries from using the imagery to attack the US and its allies.”

Planet Labs said it will withhold imagery dating back to March 9 and that it expects the policy to remain in effect until the end of the war.

The US and Israel started a fresh round of military aggression against Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.

The US-Israeli aggression led to the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and hundreds of Iranian civilians, including women and children, as well as several senior military commanders.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missiles and drone attacks on Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases and interests in regional countries.

Source: Press TV