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."



Ukrainian Strikes Kill 3 in Russian Border Region

A crater is seen at the site of the Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
A crater is seen at the site of the Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
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Ukrainian Strikes Kill 3 in Russian Border Region

A crater is seen at the site of the Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
A crater is seen at the site of the Russian strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine, 27 April 2026. (EPA)

A Ukrainian drone attack Tuesday killed three people in the Russian border region of Belgorod, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"Three civilians were killed following drone attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces," he wrote on Telegram, adding that three others were wounded.

The drones targeted a car, killing a man and a vehicle in another area where a man and a woman died, he said.

Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been regularly bombing Ukraine, especially key infrastructure sites.

In response, Kyiv strikes targets in Russia, insisting it is aiming at military sites as well as energy facilities in order to reduce Moscow's ability to finance its war effort.

A fire broke out on Tuesday at an oil refinery in Tuapse, in southern Russia, after debris from a Ukrainian drone that had targeted the facility fell on it, according to local authorities.


Train Collision Kills 14, Injures Dozens Near Jakarta

 A drone view shows ambulances standing by at the station following a deadly collision between a commuter line train and a long-distance train, in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows ambulances standing by at the station following a deadly collision between a commuter line train and a long-distance train, in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Train Collision Kills 14, Injures Dozens Near Jakarta

 A drone view shows ambulances standing by at the station following a deadly collision between a commuter line train and a long-distance train, in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows ambulances standing by at the station following a deadly collision between a commuter line train and a long-distance train, in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Indonesia's president ordered an investigation Tuesday after a long-distance train smashed into a stationary commuter train overnight, killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

Officials ended a nearly 12-hour rescue effort near Bekasi Timur station, east of the capital Jakarta, which saw crews prying open mangled carriages following the Monday night collision.

"And this morning... it is all finished," Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) told a news conference Tuesday. "I am certain there are no more victims to be found."

One survivor described the terror of being trapped inside a crushed carriage.

"I thought I was going to die," Sausan Sarifah, 29, said from her bed at the RSUD Bekasi hospital where she was admitted with a broken arm and a deep cut to one thigh.

She was on her way home from work on Monday night, she said, when her train stopped at the Bekasi Timur station some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Jakarta.

"It all happened so fast, in a split second," Sausan recounted.

"There were two announcements from the commuter train. Everyone was ready to get off, and then suddenly there was the sound of the locomotive, really loud," she said.

"There was no time to get out, and everyone ended up piled up inside the train, crushed on top of one another. I don't know how the person underneath me is doing."

She said she had feared suffocating to death in the human pile-up, and worried that some pinned underneath didn't make it.

"Thank God I was on top, so I could be evacuated quickly," said Sausan.

State-owned rail operator KAI said on Tuesday morning that the death toll had risen to 14. Another 84 people required medical treatment, it said, without specifying how many remained hospitalized.

According to Franoto Wibowo, a KAI spokesman, a taxi appears to have clipped the commuter train on a level crossing, causing it to come to a standstill on the tracks, where it was hit.

At the station, chaotic scenes unfolded in the aftermath of the crash, with rescue workers shouting for oxygen tanks as ambulances stood by in a snaking queue, lights flashing.

An AFP reporter at the scene witnessed people being carried out of the wreckage on gurneys and loaded into waiting ambulances as hundreds of bystanders looked on, some seemingly in shock.

The military, fire brigade, the national search and rescue agency, and the Red Cross aided in the massive evacuation effort that followed.

President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday visited hospital patients in Bekasi, offered his condolences to relatives of the deceased, and said he had ordered an "immediate investigation."

He also ordered the construction of an overpass in Bekasi.

"In general, we do see that many railway crossings are not guarded," the president said.

"I have ordered that we immediately repair all these crossings, either by guard posts or by flyovers."

- Rescue efforts -

Jakarta police chief Asep Edi Suheri said the long-distance train had crashed into the last, women-only, carriage of the commuter train.

All the victims were in the commuter train, and all 240-odd passengers on the other train had been evacuated safely, according to Anne Purba, another KAI spokeswoman.

The agency said it would cover all medical expenses for the injured and funeral costs for the deceased.

The collision had caused "significant damage to several train carriages", the Jakarta search and rescue agency said in a statement.

Several people were trapped in the carriages "due to the force of the impact," it added.

The rescue agency would not say Tuesday whether all had been freed.

Eva Chairista, 39, told AFP she had rushed to the RSUD hospital after hearing that her sister-in-law, who she named only as 27-year-old Fira, had been injured in the crash.

She arrived to a frenetic scene of medical triage.

"The doctor told us to be patient, there are many whose condition is worse than my sister-in-law's," she said.

Transport accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation where buses, trains and even planes are often old and poorly maintained.

The previous major train crash in the Southeast Asian country killed four crew members and injured about two dozen people elsewhere in West Java province in January 2024.

Sixteen people were killed when a commuter train crashed into a minibus on a level crossing in Jakarta in 2015.


US Says Examining Latest Iran Proposal

A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, April 18, 2026. (AP)
A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, April 18, 2026. (AP)
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US Says Examining Latest Iran Proposal

A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, April 18, 2026. (AP)
A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, April 18, 2026. (AP)

The White House said on Monday that it was examining Iran's latest proposal to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, two months after a US and Israeli offensive sent shockwaves through the global economy.

Peace talks between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war and fully reopen the vital strait have so far proven inconclusive since a ceasefire came into force.

Trump met with top security advisors on Monday to discuss an Iranian proposal after Tehran passed "written messages" to Washington via Pakistan, spelling out its red lines in negotiations, including on nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz, the Fars news agency reported.

The proposal was "being discussed," spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a White House briefing.

Asked about the terms of Iran's proposal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News "it's better than what we thought they were going to submit," but questioned whether it was genuine.

"We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point," he said.

Iran's top diplomat blamed Washington on Monday for the failure of peace talks during a visit to Russia, where President Vladimir Putin promised him Moscow's support in ending the war.

"The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

Araghchi was in Saint Petersburg after visiting Oman and Pakistan, the main mediator in the Middle East war.

Islamabad had hosted a first, unsuccessful round of US-Iran talks, and Araghchi's visit had raised hopes for more negotiations over the weekend.

But US President Donald Trump scrapped a planned trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Trump told Fox News if Iran wanted talks, "they can call us" -- adding the cancellation does not signal a return to hostilities.

Tehran would first need guarantees Washington and Israel would not attack again if it was to offer security assurances in the Gulf, Iran's envoy to the UN said.

Meanwhile in Saint Petersburg, Putin and Araghchi both voiced their commitment to their countries' "strategic relationship" following their meeting.

Araghchi said the war, which began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, showed "Iran's true power" and stability.

But back home in Tehran, the mood was more sober.

"Everything in the country is up in the air right now. I have not worked for a long time," small business owner Farshad told Paris-based AFP journalists.

"The country is in complete economic collapse."

- Feeling the pinch -

Though the US-Iranian ceasefire holds, the war's economic shock waves continue to reverberate.

Tehran resident Shervin, a photographer, said he was feeling the pinch.

"It is the first time that I have reached a point where I was late on my rent. I still don't have any projects," said Shervin, 42.

Iran has blockaded Hormuz, cutting off flows of oil, gas and fertilizer and sending prices soaring.

In response, the United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports.

Trump faces domestic pressure to find an off-ramp as fuel prices rise, with midterm elections due in November and polls showing the war is unpopular among Americans.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have no intention of easing their market-rattling chokehold of the strategic waterway.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran's parliament, said a proposed law for managing the strait would make the Islamic republic's armed forces the overseeing authority, with levies to be paid in Iranian rial.

The head of the UN's maritime agency, Arsenio Dominguez, said there was "no legal basis" for imposing transit fees.

Rubio also rejected the idea.

"They cannot normalize -- nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize -- a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway, and how much you have to pay them to use it," he told Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom."

- 'Playing with fire' -

Violence has continued on the war's Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Beirut's health ministry reporting Israel killed four people in the south.

Fifty-one others were wounded, including three children, the ministry added.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes and a ground invasion.

The group's leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected planned direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel as a "grave sin," vowing to "not back down."

Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said it had begun hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Israel maintains that under the terms of the truce, it can act against imminent threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah's rockets and drones remained a threat meriting military action.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that "Qassem is playing with fire."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, responding to Qassem, said his "goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel."

But Israeli army chief of staff Eyal Zamir said 2026 was "likely to be another year of fighting" for Israel on all fronts.