Iranians Anticipate Rouhani’s ‘Economic Breakthrough’ Mystery

FATF Plenary session in Paris
FATF Plenary session in Paris
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Iranians Anticipate Rouhani’s ‘Economic Breakthrough’ Mystery

FATF Plenary session in Paris
FATF Plenary session in Paris

Iranians currently anticipate the “economic breakthrough” that President Hassan Rouhani promised to announce next week while Iranian officials rejected hints about the possible approval of the bills that allow Tehran to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Iranian sources said Sunday that the government could pre-sale oil on the Energy Exchange market to provide liquidity that it needs to ease the load of the US sanctions imposed on the country.

In a cabinet meeting last Wednesday, Rouhani said important decisions had been made and would be announced "after the approval of the Supreme Leader" to bring about an "economic breakthrough.”
Iran’s Iktisad news website uncovered details of an economic plan, expected to be launched next week.

“It looks like the government plans to sell around 200 million barrels of oil in the exchange market to provide liquidity,” the website wrote.

In this regard, Fars agency said that if the price of oil at the time of delivery is higher than it was at the time of the prior purchase then its profits will go to the buyers.

“But, if the bond papers are less than the time of prior purchase, then the government would pay buyers the difference at the price of interest rate on long-term deposits,” the agency said.

Rouhani’s announcement led some Iranian media outlets to say that the good news is connected with the stock exchange market and the FATF laws.

FATF is a multilateral organization overseeing compliance with anti-money laundering and transparency banking rules and regulations.

The organization had asked Iran in 2017 to adopt legislation in support of financial transparency and against money-laundering and financing of terrorism.

For his part, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said parliament has put a people-oriented economy on its agenda for improving the country's economy through a bill that supports the lower and middle classes of the society.

MP Elias Naderan wrote on his twitter account Sunday that the government promised financial breakthroughs in the next week, however, “experience shows that promises have not affected the middle and poor classes.”

Commenting on the speculations that linked Iran with FATF, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Sunday that Western pressures cannot dissuade Iran from pursuing its main policies.

He said Tehran will resolve problems through active resistance and national solidarity.

"Preventing Iran's strategic cooperation with the East and continued dependence of its national economy on oil [revenues] set the West's core policy towards Iran," Shamkhani wrote on his twitter page.

He underlined his country's decision to pursue both policies of close ties with the Eastern block and independence from oil revenues, and vowed that his nation "will go past the existing challenges with active resistance and national solidarity".



German FM, in Call with Iranian Counterpart, Demands Hormuz Reopening

An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
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German FM, in Call with Iranian Counterpart, Demands Hormuz Reopening

An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he on Sunday demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its nuclear weapons programme in a telephone call with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, AFP reported.

"I emphasized that Germany supports a negotiated solution," Wadephul said in a post on X about the call.

"As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded by" US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

 

 

 

 


Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
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Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, an Italian government source said Sunday, weeks after President Donald Trump's stinging criticism of Pope Leo XIV.

Italian media reported that Rubio would meet the US pontiff himself on Thursday.

The government source told AFP that Rubio would meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The meetings come just weeks after Trump's extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric.

The source said Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope.

Media reports said he was also due to meet Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the Middle East war.

Leo, 70, will on Friday mark one year as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, after being elected by cardinals on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

As the first ever pope from the United States, his words have arguably carried more weight in Washington than previous pontiffs -- and he has used them, criticising notably the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

But it was the pontiff's increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, that triggered Trump's ire.

Leo declared Trump's threat to destroy Iran "unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace".

The US president slammed the pontiff in a social media post as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy".

Trump also said he was "not a big fan of Pope Leo" and that he does not "want a pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

The pontiff responded by saying he had a "moral duty to speak out" against war -- and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting "tyrants" ransacking the world.

However, he insisted afterwards that the remarks were written long before the row, and said he had not intended to start a new debate with the US president.

Christians across the world expressed their solidarity with the pope, and Meloni condemned Trump's remarks as "unacceptable" -- prompting the president to turn his fire on her.

"I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

He accused Meloni -- a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between diverging US and European views -- of failing to help the United States with NATO.

Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war.

He has made a similar threat towards Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany.

As of December 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany, there were 36,436.


Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

An Israeli court has extended by two days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece, their lawyer said on Sunday.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestinian activists aboard the boats were taken to the Greek island of Crete.

A court spokesperson confirmed that their remand had been extended until May 5.

The governments of Spain and Brazil issued a joint statement on Friday calling their detention illegal.

The activists were part of a second Global Sumud flotilla, launched in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships had set sail from Barcelona on April 12.

Israeli authorities requested a four-day extension of their arrest on suspicion of offences that include assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and the transfer of property for a terrorist organization, said rights group Adalah, which is assisting in the activists' defense.

Hadeel Abu Salih, the men's attorney, said that the two deny the allegations. Their arrest was unlawful due to a lack of jurisdiction, she told Reuters at the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court after the hearing, adding that the mission was meant to provide aid to civilians in Gaza, not to any militant group.

Abu Salih said that Abu Keshek and Avila were subjected to violence en route to Israel and kept handcuffed and blindfolded until Thursday morning.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel's foreign ministry had on Thursday called the flotilla organizers "professional provocateurs".

"Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," it said.