North Korea Says 'Shameless' US Making Mockery of UN

A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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North Korea Says 'Shameless' US Making Mockery of UN

A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

North Korea condemned on Monday what it called "shameless" moves by the United States that it said undermined the United Nations and accused Washington of a "hideous criminal act".

Pyongyang's mission to the United Nations in New York blasted reported plans for a briefing on its alleged violations of sanctions, in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Instead, it said, "what should be questioned and openly discussed in the UN as the most important pending issue is the hideous criminal act of the US".

"The US despises the existence of the UN itself," Pyongyang said.

Pyongyang's envoys did not specify the act in question, but the statement comes just over a week after the United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

That operation represents a nightmare scenario for North Korea's leadership, which has long feared a so-called "decapitation strike" of that kind and accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power.

Washington's "irrationality and malpractice of abusing the UN arena to satisfy its geopolitical self-interest should never be allowed", North Korea's mission said.

It also accused Washington of "shameless illegal and immoral acts" and "trying to make a mockery of the UN arena for unilateral and selfish purposes".

President Donald Trump last week announced the United States would leave a number of United Nations organizations it identified as "contrary to the interests of the United States".

North Korea is under a slew of United Nations Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile program.



Türkiye May Consider Role in Hormuz Demining After Iran-US Deal, Minister Says

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks to the reporters at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks to the reporters at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye May Consider Role in Hormuz Demining After Iran-US Deal, Minister Says

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks to the reporters at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks to the reporters at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Türkiye could consider taking part in demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz following a possible peace agreement between Iran and the United States.

Fidan, speaking to reporters in London on Friday ‌evening, said a ‌technical team was ‌expected ⁠to carry out ⁠mine-clearing work in the strait after any agreement, adding that Türkiye viewed such efforts positively in principle as a humanitarian duty.

Fidan said ‌any demining work would be ‌carried out by a technical team ‌from various countries, formed after a possible Iran-US peace agreement

Türkiye would have "no problem" with ‌participating in mine-clearing operations under those conditions

Fidan cautioned ⁠that ⁠ Türkiye would reassess its position if any future technical coalition of countries became a party to renewed conflict

He also said he believed issues related to Iran's nuclear program could be resolved at the next round of talks in Pakistan


Iran Resumes Commercial Flights from Tehran’s International Airport

A passenger walks through the terminal hall after flights resumed at Imam Khomeini International Airport, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A passenger walks through the terminal hall after flights resumed at Imam Khomeini International Airport, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Resumes Commercial Flights from Tehran’s International Airport

A passenger walks through the terminal hall after flights resumed at Imam Khomeini International Airport, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A passenger walks through the terminal hall after flights resumed at Imam Khomeini International Airport, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

US envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan on Saturday in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran, even as Iran ruled out direct negotiations with US representatives as its top diplomat arrived in Islamabad.

The latest effort to broker a deal comes as an indefinite ceasefire has paused most fighting, but the economic fallout is still mounting with global energy shipments disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

On Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport for the first time since the conflict with the US and Israel began about two months ago.

Iran’s state-run television reported that flights took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran bound for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Madinah.

Iran partly reopened its airspace earlier this month amid a ceasefire with the US which halted fighting between the two countries.

The airport opening comes as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met twice with Pakistan's top military and political leaders since arriving in Islamabad on Friday night, officials said.

According to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, the Iranian delegation will hold talks with Pakistan’s senior leadership as the US envoys were expected to travel to Islamabad Saturday. Officials have not specified when Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to arrive.


US Imposes Sanctions on Chinese ‘Teapot’ Refinery for Buying Iranian Oil

A view of an oil refinery in China's Shandong province. (Reuters)
A view of an oil refinery in China's Shandong province. (Reuters)
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US Imposes Sanctions on Chinese ‘Teapot’ Refinery for Buying Iranian Oil

A view of an oil refinery in China's Shandong province. (Reuters)
A view of an oil refinery in China's Shandong province. (Reuters)

The Trump administration said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an independent "teapot" refinery in China for buying billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil, as Washington and Tehran head into another round of peace talks over the weekend.

The Treasury Department targeted Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it said is one of Iran's largest customers of crude oil and petroleum products. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also imposed sanctions on about 40 shipping companies and vessels that operate ‌as part of Iran's ‌shadow fleet.

China has said it opposes "illegal" unilateral sanctions.

On Friday, ‌its ⁠embassy in Washington ⁠said normal trade should not be harmed and called on Washington to stop "abusing" sanctions to target Chinese companies.

"We call on the US to stop politicizing trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon and a tool and stop abusing various kinds of sanction to hit Chinese companies," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said in a statement.

The Trump administration last year imposed sanctions on teapots Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong ⁠Shengxing Chemical.

That created some hurdles for the refiners, including difficulties receiving ‌crude and having to sell refined products under different ‌names. Teapots account for a quarter of Chinese refinery capacity, operate with narrow and sometimes ‌negative margins and have been squeezed recently by tepid domestic demand.

CHINA BUYS MOST SHIPPED IRANIAN ‌OIL

The US sanctions, which block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them, have deterred some larger independent refiners from buying Iranian oil. China buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

Sanctions experts have long said, however, ‌that the independent refineries are somewhat immune to the full effect of US sanctions as they have little exposure to the ⁠US financial system. Imposing ⁠sanctions on Chinese banks that help facilitate the purchases would have a larger effect on purchases of Iranian oil, they say.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US is imposing a "financial stranglehold" on the Iranian government.

"Treasury will continue to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers Iran relies on to move its oil to global markets," Bessent said.

Bessent told reporters at the White House on April 15 that Treasury has written to two Chinese banks and "told them that if we can prove that there is Iranian money flowing through your accounts, then we are willing to put on secondary sanctions."

The teapot refiners recently have had to buy Iranian oil at premiums to international Brent oil prices after Washington's temporary waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea raised expectations that India might buy more of the oil. The US last week allowed the waiver to expire.