Iran Unveils New Drone, Missile amid Rising Tensions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second left, listens to commander of the Revolutionary Guard's ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, left, as the army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, right, stands while they review an annual armed forces parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraq's Saddam Hussein 44 years ago, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second left, listens to commander of the Revolutionary Guard's ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, left, as the army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, right, stands while they review an annual armed forces parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraq's Saddam Hussein 44 years ago, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Iran Unveils New Drone, Missile amid Rising Tensions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second left, listens to commander of the Revolutionary Guard's ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, left, as the army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, right, stands while they review an annual armed forces parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraq's Saddam Hussein 44 years ago, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second left, listens to commander of the Revolutionary Guard's ground force Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, left, as the army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, right, stands while they review an annual armed forces parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraq's Saddam Hussein 44 years ago, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and an upgraded one-way attack drone at a military parade on Saturday, state media said, amid soaring regional tensions and allegations of arming Russia.

Iran stands accused by Western governments of supplying both drones and missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, a charge it has repeatedly denied.

The solid-fuel Jihad missile was designed and manufactured by the aerospace arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and has an operational range of 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles), state news agency IRNA said.

The Shahed-136B drone is an upgraded version of the Shahed-136, with new features and an operational range of more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles), it added.

New President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the annual parade in Tehran, commemorating the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

"Today, our defensive and deterrent capabilities have grown so much that no demon even thinks about any aggression towards our dear Iran," he said.

"With unity and cohesion among Islamic countries... we can put in its place the bloodthirsty, genocidal usurper Israel, which shows no mercy to anyone, women or children, old or young."

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei delivered a similar tirade against Israel to delegates to an annual meeting of Muslim clerics hosted by Iran, calling on Islamic countries to "completely cut off their economic relations" with Israel and "weaken political ties."

"This inner strength can eliminate the Zionist regime, this malignant cancerous tumor, from the heart of the Islamic community in Palestine and get rid of US domination and coercive interference in the region," he said.

Middle East tensions have soared since Iran-backed Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza and drawing in Iranian allies around the region.

The tensions have intensified in recent days as the focus of Israel's firepower has shifted north to the Lebanon border where its troops have been battling Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

An Israeli air strike on Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold on Friday killed 31 people, including two of its top commanders, Lebanese authorities said, hot on the heels of deadly sabotage attacks on the group's communications earlier this week.

Britain, France, Germany and the United States slapped new sanctions on Iran earlier this month, alleging that it had been providing ballistic missiles for Russia's war effort in Ukraine.



US Treasury Chief Says Businesses Working with Iranian Airlines Risk Sanctions

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent testifies during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on “A Review of the President's FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 22 April 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent testifies during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on “A Review of the President's FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 22 April 2026. (EPA)
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US Treasury Chief Says Businesses Working with Iranian Airlines Risk Sanctions

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent testifies during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on “A Review of the President's FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 22 April 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent testifies during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on “A Review of the President's FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 22 April 2026. (EPA)

Businesses working with Iranian airlines risk US sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, calling the warning a part of a campaign to put economic pressure on Tehran amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Iranian state media reported over the weekend that Iran has resumed commercial flights from Tehran's international airport for the ‌first time ‌since the start of the war.

‌Iran's ⁠state media reported ⁠that flights were scheduled to depart for Istanbul, Oman's capital of Muscat, and for Iraq and Qatar.

The US Treasury Department has said Washington is imposing a "financial stranglehold" on the Iranian government.

"Doing business with sanctioned Iranian ⁠airlines risks exposure to US sanctions," Bessent ‌said in a post ‌on X.

"Foreign governments should take all actions necessary ‌to ensure that companies in their jurisdictions do not ‌provide services to those aircraft, including the provision of jet fuel, catering, landing fees or maintenance," he said.

Bessent said the Treasury Department "will not hesitate to act against ‌any third parties that facilitate or conduct business with Iranian entities."

A Trump ⁠administration official ⁠said the Treasury Department will impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions "that continue to facilitate Iran's activities."

A fragile ceasefire in the Iran war began nearly three weeks ago.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.


White House to Review Trump’s Security After Gunfire Near Press Dinner

 25 April 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump delivered remarks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, following the cancellation of the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner amid reports of a possible shooting. (dpa)
25 April 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump delivered remarks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, following the cancellation of the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner amid reports of a possible shooting. (dpa)
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White House to Review Trump’s Security After Gunfire Near Press Dinner

 25 April 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump delivered remarks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, following the cancellation of the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner amid reports of a possible shooting. (dpa)
25 April 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump delivered remarks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, following the cancellation of the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner amid reports of a possible shooting. (dpa)

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles will meet with law enforcement and homeland security early this week to review security protocols after Saturday's shooting in a Washington hotel where President Donald Trump and top officials were attending a dinner, a senior White House official told Reuters.

The third major security incident targeting Trump in less than two years comes as he prepares for a summer packed with high-profile public events, testing the Secret Service at a moment of high political ‌and global ‌tensions.

Wiles will meet with leaders of the US Secret ‌Service ⁠and the Homeland Security ⁠department to discuss "protocol and practices" for major events involving Trump, the official said.

They said Trump is standing by the Secret Service leadership following the shooting outside the Washington Hilton ballroom where the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was being held.

TRUMP'S SECURITY ALREADY TIGHTENED AFTER INCIDENTS

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in interviews that Trump and other administration officials were the likely intended targets of the suspect, ⁠a California man who was expected in court on Monday ‌to face felony charges.

The 31-year-old is suspected ‌of firing a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint one floor ‌up from the ballroom entrance before being tackled and arrested. Trump and first ‌lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the dinner.

In July 2024, a sniper's bullet skimmed Trump's ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Two months later, Secret Service agents spotted an armed man hiding in bushes a few hundred yards from where Trump ‌was golfing in Florida. Since then, security around Trump has tightened, and bulletproof glass is used when he speaks ⁠at outdoor events.

Wiles' ⁠meeting will examine Saturday's security response and measures to keep future events safe, the official said.

Trump is expected to attend events this summer for the nation's 250th anniversary and the football World Cup.

Trump told reporters that the first lady had found Saturday's incident traumatic. Nevertheless, the couple was continuing with plans to welcome Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla on Monday for several days of events.

After the shooting, Trump praised the security response, argued that security concerns were more justification to continue building his East Wing ballroom, and mused to reporters about the risks of being president.

Asked if he was satisfied with his protection, he said: "I'd be up here right now saying they didn't do their job," adding: "Believe me, because, you know, it's my life."


Putin Praises Iranian People for Resistance to US in Talks with Araghchi

27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
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Putin Praises Iranian People for Resistance to US in Talks with Araghchi

27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday praised the Iranian people for battling to stay independent in the face of US and Israeli pressure and said Moscow would do all it could to help Tehran.

Russia has offered to mediate to try to help restore calm to the Middle East following US and Israeli strikes, which Moscow has strongly condemned. ‌It has ‌also repeatedly offered to store Iran's enriched uranium ‌as ⁠a way of ⁠defusing tensions, a proposal spurned by the United States.

"We see how courageously and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence and sovereignty," Putin told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, saying he hoped they could get through what he called a "difficult period" and that peace would prevail.

"For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests and the interests ⁠of all the peoples of the region to ensure ‌that peace is achieved as ‌quickly as possible," said Putin.

Putin received Araghchi in the presidential library in Russia's former ‌imperial capital St Petersburg as sources from mediator Pakistan said work ‌had not halted to bridge gaps between the United States and Iran.

Putin said he received a message from Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, last week, and asked Araghchi to convey to him that Russia intended to ‌continue its strategic partnership with Tehran.

That 20-year agreement was sealed last year. Russia is building two new ⁠nuclear units at ⁠Bushehr - the site of Iran's only nuclear power plant - and Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drones for use against Ukraine, the production of which Moscow has since localized.

Araghchi, who said he wanted to brief Putin on the situation around his country, thanked Putin for Moscow's support.

"It has also been proven to all that Iran has friends and allies, such as the Russian Federation, who stand by Iran precisely in difficult times," he said.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said that Moscow wanted to see the US and Iran continue negotiations. There should be no return to military action, he added, something he said was not in anyone's interests.