Iran Welcomes Gulf Ministerial Statement on Resumption of Relations with Saudi Arabia


Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Saudi National Security Adviser Musaed al-Aiban and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, in Beijing (AP)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Saudi National Security Adviser Musaed al-Aiban and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, in Beijing (AP)
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Iran Welcomes Gulf Ministerial Statement on Resumption of Relations with Saudi Arabia


Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Saudi National Security Adviser Musaed al-Aiban and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, in Beijing (AP)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Saudi National Security Adviser Musaed al-Aiban and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, in Beijing (AP)

Iranian Foreign Ministry welcomed the statement issued at the 155th GCC Ministerial Council on the resumption of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Spokesman Nasser Kanaani expressed his country's aspirations for the agreement to be influential in promoting peace and stability in the region.

Saudi Arabia and Iran announced earlier this month that they had agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen the embassies within a maximum of two months.

On Tuesday, the GCC Ministerial Council held a meeting at the headquarters of the General Secretariat. The meeting welcomed the agreement, under the auspices of China, to resume Saudi-Iranian diplomatic relations.

The Council hoped the agreement would be a positive step for resolving differences and ending all regional conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy.

It also aimed to establish relations between countries based on understanding, mutual respect, good neighborliness, respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, and adherence to the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's charters and international laws and norms.

Kanaani appreciated China for supporting and hosting the process and Iraq and Oman for their effective measures toward resuming political relations between the countries.

He said the support of regional countries for this agreement indicates the neighbors' determination to promote diplomatic initiatives at the regional level.

Kanaani pointed out that Tehran considers interaction and cooperation with its neighbors as the best way to solve regional problems and welcomes positive initiatives in developing relations based on good neighborliness and international principles and rules.

However, Kanaani said the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb were an integral and eternal part of the territory of Iran.

The Iranian statement rejected the Ministerial Council's affirmation of the importance of Iran's commitment not to exceed the rate of uranium enrichment for peaceful uses and the need to fulfill its obligations and fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Council also stressed the need for the Gulf states to participate in all regional and international negotiations, discussions, and meetings.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran knew its international responsibilities and obligations and has always adhered to the treaties. Regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it interacts and communicates with the relevant parties in the technical and political frameworks related to this agreement."



Ukraine Regains Control of Frontline Areas in Southeast and East, Army Chief Says

 A serviceman of the 154th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attends a military exercise between combat missions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 4, 2026. (Reuters)
A serviceman of the 154th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attends a military exercise between combat missions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 4, 2026. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Regains Control of Frontline Areas in Southeast and East, Army Chief Says

 A serviceman of the 154th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attends a military exercise between combat missions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 4, 2026. (Reuters)
A serviceman of the 154th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attends a military exercise between combat missions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 4, 2026. (Reuters)

Ukraine has regained control of ‌480 sq. km (185 sq. miles) of territory in the southeastern and eastern parts of the front since late January, its army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said, adding that Russia was continuing its spring offensive.

After visiting the frontline, Syrskyi said that Ukraine had returned control over eight settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the east and four settlements in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Despite Ukraine's successes, Russian troops were pressing ahead with a spring offensive, he said.

"Russian troops are not abandoning their plans for further offensive operations and are ‌regrouping their available ‌forces and equipment," Syrskyi said on the Telegram ‌app ⁠late on Sunday. "Despite ⁠significant losses in personnel and military equipment, the invaders aim to seize more Ukrainian territory and establish a ‘buffer zone’ in the Dnipropetrovsk region."

The Ukrainian troops maintained defense lines, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that the frontline situation for Ukraine was the best since the middle of last year.

KYIV COUNTER ATTACKS ⁠DISRUPT RUSSIAN PLANS

Military analysts said that Ukrainian ‌counter attacks in the southeast of ‌the country were helping to disrupt Russian efforts around Pokrovsk in the ‌eastern Donetsk region, and overall, the Russian spring offensive along ‌more than 1,200 kilometers of the frontline.

"Ukrainian counter attacks in the Hulyaipole and Oleksandrivka directions continue to present the Russian military command with dilemmas that overstretched Russian forces appear challenged to meet," the Washington-based non-profit Institute for ‌the Study of War said in a daily report on Monday.

Russian troops continued to gain ⁠ground in ⁠the eastern Donetsk region, pressing on in the north of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub, Russian state media quoted Russia's defense ministry as saying last week.

The battle for Pokrovsk has raged on since mid-2024 as Russia seeks to consolidate its control of the Donetsk region.

Syrskyi said he also visited the Pokrovsk area and ordered additional ammunition and other supplies to strengthen the Ukrainian troops there.

With the diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled, Ukraine has also intensified its long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure. Over the past two weeks, Ukrainian troops targeted Russian Baltic sea ports and oil infrastructure in the Leningrad region.


US-Israeli Strikes Kill Iran Guards Intelligence Chief

An Iranian youth sits at the Pardisan Park in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
An Iranian youth sits at the Pardisan Park in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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US-Israeli Strikes Kill Iran Guards Intelligence Chief

An Iranian youth sits at the Pardisan Park in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
An Iranian youth sits at the Pardisan Park in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

US-Israeli strikes killed on Monday the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Guards said.

"Major General Majid Khademi, the powerful and educated head of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was martyred in the criminal terrorist attack by the American-Zionist enemy... at dawn today," said the Guards in a post on their Telegram channel.

The Guards did not elaborate on where Khademi was killed. However, multiple airstrikes targeted residential areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, early Monday morning.

Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks Monday that killed more than 25 people in Iran.


Iran, US Receive Draft Proposal for 45-day War Ceasefire

A truck loaded with logs and other vehicles drive along a road toward Tehran near the Turkish border on the outskirts of Razi, northwestern Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A truck loaded with logs and other vehicles drive along a road toward Tehran near the Turkish border on the outskirts of Razi, northwestern Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Iran, US Receive Draft Proposal for 45-day War Ceasefire

A truck loaded with logs and other vehicles drive along a road toward Tehran near the Turkish border on the outskirts of Razi, northwestern Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A truck loaded with logs and other vehicles drive along a road toward Tehran near the Turkish border on the outskirts of Razi, northwestern Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Iran and the United States have received a draft proposal that calls for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to try and find a way to end the war, two Mideast officials have told The Associated Press.

The proposal comes from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators working to halt the fighting, the two officials said. They hope the 45-day window would provide enough time for extensive talks between the countries to reach a permanent ceasefire.

Iran and the US have not responded to the proposal, sent late Sunday night to both Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.

It remains unclear whether the sides would agree to such terms. Iran has insisted it will keep fighting until it receives financial reparations and a promise that it won’t be attacked again. US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iranian bridges and power stations this week.

The news website Axios first reported on terms of the proposal.