Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
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Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the expansion of the war amid the renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying that the region will enter a new phase "through resistance forces."

On Sunday, the foreign minister made the remarks during a press conferen with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Tehran.

The two ministers discussed the recent developments in Gaza amid reports about a possible Oman mediation in the Iranian nuclear program.

Amirabdollahian said that the new phase of the Israeli attacks on Gaza began with the presence of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the ministerial meeting of the Zionist entity.

He added that the US must bear the consequences of this hypocritical behavior in supporting Israel, saying Washington claims it recommends Israel does not kill civilians while granting it the green light for genocide.

For more than 50 days, "we have been following the developments in Palestine to return stability and security in the region and stop the killing and genocide of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said.

The leaders of the resistance warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, the region will enter a new phase, he indicated, warning that the killing of children and women must stop before it is too late.

He asserted that Iran never wanted the war to expand, but the warmongers in the region were strongly warned to stop their support for Israeli crimes.

He said that there is documented evidence that the Zionist regime is seeking to displace people in the Gaza Strip forcibly.

"In a part of the documents that were seized by the Resistance forces during the al-Aqsa Storm operation and in a part of the laptops that were captured, this hypothesis has been proven that the Israeli regime seeks to relocate all the residents of Gaza to a part of the territory and land of Egypt, and it seeks to transfer the residents of the West Bank to parts of Jordan," he noted.

"We hope that our brothers in Egypt will take immediate and serious action to reopen the Rafah border crossing and prevent this Israeli conspiracy against the territorial integrity of Jordan and Egypt."

- Discussing nuclear power

Earlier, the official IRNA agency reported that the two ministers were scheduled to discuss developing cooperation, achieving a ceasefire in the Strip, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart discussed over the phone Israel's resumption of war crimes in Gaza without any regard to the international community and global public opinion.

Busaidi warned against the outbreak of war and its expansion in the region, stressing the necessity of establishing a sustainable truce, sending humanitarian aid on a large scale, and establishing an effective international action.

Iranian media expected Busaidi's visit to Tehran to be within the context of exchanging messages between Tehran and Washington to prevent the expansion of tension in the region.

During the past two months, Iranian officials welcomed an Omani initiative proposed by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

However, they noted it was not a new agreement or a new plan but rather a practical initiative to converge views between Washington and Tehran and the return of all parties to the 2015 agreement.

Last week, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said in press statements that talks with Iran might require a new framework rather than an attempt to revive the 2015 accord.

- Borrell urges Tehran to cooperate constructively

The nuclear agreement was part of the telephone conversation between Amirabdollahian and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that Amirabdollahian called on Borrell to stop the Israeli military attacks on the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Iranian diplomat repeated previous warnings against displacing Palestinians and warned of the possibility of expanding the war in the region.

The two officials also addressed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's cooperation, and Amirabdollahian noted that the "cooperation will continue within a technical and legal framework."

Borrell expressed hope that constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will continue.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country's positions in the Gaza war.

Speaking on Sunday at the "Second National Conference on Responsibility for the Implementation of the Constitution," Raisi said Iran's support for Gaza and Palestine is wholly based on the constitution's principles, which considers the protection of the oppressed as one of its duties.

"Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the basic principles and approaches of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the rights of the Palestinian people and to recognize this issue as the first issue of the Islamic world."

He asserted that the principle is still standing and that global political developments will not change the primary direction of foreign policy.

Raisi reiterated that 6,000 children killed by the "Zionist usurpers will bring down this fake, cruel and usurping regime."



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.


UN Maritime Agency Rejects Iran’s Demand for Hormuz Tolls

A woman walks past a billboard with a graphic design about the Strait of Hormuz on a building, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks past a billboard with a graphic design about the Strait of Hormuz on a building, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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UN Maritime Agency Rejects Iran’s Demand for Hormuz Tolls

A woman walks past a billboard with a graphic design about the Strait of Hormuz on a building, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks past a billboard with a graphic design about the Strait of Hormuz on a building, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The head of the UN's maritime agency said Monday there was "no legal basis" for imposing any fees for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping through the narrow strait has been strangled since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Iran has sealed off the passage, sharply cutting oil and gas flows and sending prices soaring, while the US has blockaded Iranian ports. Tehran has also said it wants to impose transit fees as part of any lasting peace deal.

"There's no legal basis for the introduction of any tax, any customs, or any fees for on straits for international navigation," IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said at a press conference.

Iran's armed forces would have authority over the key shipping lane under the country's proposed law for managing the waterway, a top official said Monday.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran's parliament, told state TV the armed forces were already in control of the strait and were seeking to prohibit the passage of "hostile vessels".

The bill also provides that financial gains from the strait would be paid in Iran's rial currency.

Speaking on the sidelines of an IMO maritime protection committee meeting, Dominguez said he was in contact with "all the countries of the region", including Iran.

He firmly rejected the idea that reopening the waterway could involve payment of any fees.

Dominguez also said a planned evacuation operation for around 20,000 seafarers currently stranded on vessels in the Gulf could only go ahead once the strait was fully secure.

The shipping lane remains a key sticking point in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, even as a fragile April 8 ceasefire continues to hold.