TEHRAN: Iran&#39;s top national security body said Saturday that the country was reviewing &quot;new proposals&quot; received from the United States.&nbsp;&quot;In recent days, with the presence of the commander of the Pakistani army in Tehran as an intermediary and mediator in the negotiations, new proposals have been put forward by the Americans, which the Islamic Republic of Iran is currently reviewing and has not yet responded to,&quot; the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement carried by state media.&nbsp;It went on to say that Iran&#39;s negotiating delegation &quot;will not make even the slightest compromise, retreat or leniency, and will defend with all its strength the interests of the Iranian nation&quot;.&nbsp;Pakistan has emerged as the main mediator between the two foes, and hosted an initial round of talks last week that ended without an agreement.&nbsp;The disclosure of the new proposals came hours after Iran declared that it was reimposing its closure of the Strait of Hormuz over an ongoing US blockade of its ports, prompting a warning from US President Donald Trump not to try to &quot;blackmail&quot; Washington.&nbsp;The Supreme National Security Council said &quot;Iran is determined to enforce supervision and control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the definitive end of the war&quot;, insisting the US blockade would preclude even a &quot;conditional and limited reopening&quot;.&nbsp;The council said such a reopening would involve Tehran issuing transit certificates to vessels, &quot;as well as requiring payment of fees related to services for security, safety and environmental protection&quot;.

Middle East

Iran said it is reviewing new US proposals delivered via Pakistan’s army chief as mediator. Tehran insists no compromise in negotiations while also reimposing control over the Strait of Hormuz amid US blockade tensions.

Iran says reviewing 'new proposals' from United States

WASHINGTON: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will &quot;for sure&quot; participate in the 2026 World Cup despite the Middle East war. &quot;Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help,&quot; Infantino told an economic conference organized by broadcaster CNBC. &quot;But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play,&quot; he said of the team&#39;s upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June. Infantino had made similar comments in March, when he attended an Iran-Costa Rica friendly in Antalya, Turkey, even though US President Donald Trump had previously suggested that Iranian players might not be &quot;safe&quot; in the United States. Iran is scheduled to play its three Group G matches in the United States, two in Los Angeles, one in Seattle with their base for the tournament in Tucson, Arizona. &#39;Outside of politics&#39; Iran&#39;s participation in the global tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico had been thrown into doubt by the conflict launched by the United States and Israel on February 28. Iran raised the prospect of a &quot;boycott&quot; of the competition before asking FIFA to move its matches from the United States to Mexico, a request the world governing body rejected. After several weeks of air strikes on Iran and Iranian reprisals against Israel and other countries in the region, a fragile truce came into effect on April 8. But Tehran has sealed off the strategic Strait of Hormuz and since Monday Washington has imposed a blockade on ships coming from or heading to Iranian ports. &quot;Sports should be outside of politics,&quot; Infantino said on Wednesday. &quot;If there&#39;s nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job,&quot; he said. The World Cup, the first to feature 48 teams, starts on June 11.

Football players take part in a training session of the Bicentini Foundation football school in the Fuik neighborhood, east of Willemstad, in the Dutch Caribbean, on April 11, 2026.

Football

Gianni Infantino says Iran will definitely play in the 2026 World Cup despite ongoing regional tensions, emphasizing that football should remain separate from politics.

Iran participating in World Cup, FIFA president confirms

Web Desk/AFP

ISLAMABAD: Iran slammed a US blockade around its ports on Monday as a &quot;grave violation&quot; of its sovereignty, while Washington and Tehran&#39;s belligerent rhetoric rattled a fragile truce. &quot;The imposition of a maritime blockade constitutes a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,&quot; Iran&#39;s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a letter seen by AFP. The &quot;unlawful&quot; blockade also &quot;constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the international law of the sea,&quot; Iravani added. US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Gulf on Sunday, following the failure of peace talks over the weekend, warning that any Iranian attack boats that challenged the blockade would be destroyed. US CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper released an update on the blockade on Wednesday in a post on X. Cooper said that the blockade of Iranian ports had been fully implemented, as they account for 90% of the country&#39;s economy. He said that US Navy guided-missile destroyers with crews of over 300 sailors are enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports, targeting all vessels entering or leaving Iranian coastal areas regardless of nationality. &nbsp; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2044237476701626522&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=5fe94a869d71fe718089e14094c034151ea09603&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 552px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> A US official confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that two oil tankers from an Iranian port were intercepted and turned back by a US Naval destroyer. He further said that more than 20 other ships not from Iranian ports had transited safely through the strait. Guterres on Monday called on &quot;all parties&quot; to respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran and subsequently the United States blocked passage through the critical waterway. The strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows, has become a key flashpoint as the US and Iran attempt to gain leverage over each other during ceasefire negotiations. Iravani said the &quot;unlawful blockade poses a grave threat to international peace and security and obviously exacerbates the risk of escalation in an already highly volatile region.&quot; In a second letter, the UN envoy called on Middle Eastern countries hosting US military bases to &quot;cease their internationally wrongful acts.&quot; Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan should pay &quot;compensation for all material and moral damage sustained,&quot; he said.

The narrow Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, separating Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south). (NASA)

Americas

Iran condemns a US maritime blockade as violating sovereignty and international law, after Washington enforced restrictions near Iranian ports, escalating tensions despite a ceasefire and raising risks to global energy flows.

US 'interdicts' 2 oil tankers in Hormuz, Iran slams blockade

UNITED NATIONS: The UN secretary-general on Tuesday called for the resumption of &quot;serious negotiations&quot; to end the war in the Middle East, saying the crisis has &quot;no military solution.&quot;&nbsp;Antonio Guterres also told journalists at United Nations headquarters in New York that international freedom of navigation must be respected &quot;by all parties&quot; in the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;&quot;There is no military solution to this crisis. Peace agreements require persistent engagement and political will. Serious negotiations must resume,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Guterres said the ceasefire between the United States and Iran &quot;must be preserved&quot; -- referring to the two-week truce agreed last Wednesday after mediation by Pakistan.&nbsp;The two sides held talks in Islamabad at the weekend but failed to reach an agreement. US President Donald Trump told the New York Post on Tuesday that a second round of Iran talks could happen in Pakistan &quot;over the next two days.&quot;&nbsp;The UN chief welcomed the start Tuesday of the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon -- a dialogue being held in Washington and opposed by pro-Iran Hezbollah, which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.&nbsp;&quot;Nobody expects that these talks today will solve all the problems, but I think it will be very important if these talks create the conditions to a change in the way the actors have been developing their activities,&quot; Guterres said.&nbsp;&quot;Until now, the truth is that Hezbollah and Israel have always helped each other to destabilize the government of Lebanon,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Guterres also made a broader appeal for diplomacy and &quot;restraint and responsibility,&quot; and for respect for international law which was being &quot;trampled&quot; around the world.&nbsp;The UN chief warned that &quot;lawlessness breeds chaos,&quot; suffering and destruction.&nbsp;

The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres calls for serious negotiations to end the Middle East war, saying no military solution exists, urging ceasefire preservation, respect for Hormuz navigation, and renewed diplomacy between involved parties.

UN chief says 'no military solution' for Mideast crisis 

WASHINGTON: The IMF cut its 2026 global growth projection Tuesday, warning that the world economy could be &quot;thrown off course&quot; by war in the Middle East as the conflict roils commodity markets and sparks higher prices.&nbsp;The global economy is set to grow by 3.1% this year, said the International Monetary Fund in its World Economic Outlook report, released during its spring meetings in Washington.&nbsp;This is down from 3.3% forecast in January before hostilities erupted as US-Israeli strikes against Iran started on Feb. 28, prompting Tehran&#39;s retaliation and sparking a broader conflict in the region.&nbsp;&quot;We were planning to upgrade growth for 2026 to 3.4 percent&quot; if not for the war, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP.&nbsp;Prices of oil, gas and fertilizers have surged due to the conflict, as Iran virtually blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for shipments. US President Donald Trump has also ordered a naval blockade around Iran&#39;s ports.&nbsp;The fund expects inflation to rise this year to 4.4%, 0.6 percentage points above its January forecast.&nbsp;After this, the &quot;disinflation path&quot; of the past few years should reassert itself, Gourinchas said.&nbsp;But these projections assume a relatively short-lived conflict with temporary energy market disruptions.&nbsp;&quot;We have to be very concerned about the potential for this to become a major energy crisis,&quot; he warned.&nbsp;In more adverse scenarios where energy prices remain high throughout the year, global growth could slow to 2.5% or even to around 2%.&nbsp;&quot;Since 1980, it&#39;s basically been four times when growth has been at two percent or below,&quot; said Gourinchas.&nbsp;These included periods such as the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;&quot;This latest shock comes less than a year since the shift in US trade policies, and the transition to a new international trade system is still ongoing,&quot; the IMF said.&nbsp;A year ago, Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, rocking financial markets and snarling supply chains.&nbsp;A swath of these tariffs has been struck down by the Supreme Court, but uncertainty lingers as Trump moves to reimpose duties via other means.&nbsp;Uneven impactAlthough overall revisions to global growth and inflation appear modest, the IMF cautioned that the war has taken a bigger toll on the Middle East and &quot;vulnerable economies&quot; elsewhere.&nbsp;&quot;The impact on emerging market and developing economies would be almost twice that on advanced economies,&quot; the fund said.&nbsp;Higher energy and fertilizer costs could bring steeper food costs, mainly hitting low-income energy importers, Gourinchas said.&nbsp;Growth projections for the Middle East and Central Asia this year were cut by around half to 1.9%.&nbsp;Saudi Arabia, the Middle East&#39;s biggest economy, is set to see 3.1% growth this year, down 1.4 percentage points from January&#39;s expectation.&nbsp;Among the world&#39;s two biggest economies, US growth is still set to accelerate to 2.3% this year, although the pace of growth was revised slightly lower.&nbsp;&quot;The US at the margin is benefiting from higher energy prices,&quot; Gourinchas said. But gasoline prices have also jumped for consumers.&nbsp;China&#39;s growth is also anticipated to cool to 4.4%, a touch below the January forecast.&nbsp;The IMF flagged an underlying &quot;unevenness&quot; in both economies.&nbsp;Domestic activity lags behind exports in China, while a strong showing in the United States has been accompanied by low employment growth.&nbsp;Euro area growth was revised 0.2 percentage points down to 1.1 percent for 2026.&nbsp;UK growth saw a larger decline of 0.5 percentage points, to 0.8% this year.&nbsp;While the IMF does not expect inflation expectations to go off track, there is concern that they may not be as well anchored as before.&nbsp;Past inflation episodes remain fresh in the public&#39;s minds, and firms might act to restore margins more quickly than before.&nbsp;&quot;If that happens, then you can get much more persistent inflation going on, that would be reflected in higher inflation expectations,&quot; Gourinchas said.&nbsp;If so, central banks might need to step in and raise interest rates to cool the economy, despite the ongoing negative supply shock.

The International Monetary Fund cuts its 2026 global growth projection to 3.1% due to the Middle East war, warning of energy shocks, rising inflation, and slower growth, especially in vulnerable economies, with risks of a deeper global slowdown.

IMF cuts 2026 global growth forecast on Mideast war

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a review meeting on Monday on Pakistan&rsquo;s petroleum reserves amid regional tensions, noting that there have been no oil shortages in the country despite the situation in the Middle East, according to a statement from the Prime Minister&#39;s Office (PMO).&nbsp;&ldquo;The Prime Minister directed to continue constant monitoring of oil consumption in the country,&rdquo; the PMO said.&nbsp;During the meeting, PM Sharif said that due to constant monitoring of oil consumption and reserves and a better strategy, the steps taken to provide relief to the people will continue. PM Sharif was briefed about the arrangements made for the import of oil in view of future requirements.&nbsp;&ldquo;The briefing stated that there is an adequate quantity of petroleum products in the country, but it is necessary to maintain thriftiness for savings,&rdquo; it added.&nbsp;Earlier, the remarks come as tensions across the Middle East continue to surge following US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the region, raising fears of a wider conflict involving multiple countries and key global energy routes.&nbsp;The meeting was attended by Pakistan&rsquo;s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, and other senior officials.

Economy

Supplies are adequate with continued monitoring and import planning.

PM Sharif reviews country’s petroleum reserves, says no shortage

US President Donald Trump says Iranian representatives have called to make a peace deal after talks in Pakistan, stating, 'they’d like to make a deal very badly'; however, there has been no response from the Iranian side yet.

Day 45: All you need to know about US-Israel war on Iran

ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Pakistan has formally relaunched land trade with Iran under a revived transit arrangement through the newly established Jeerak Customs Station at the Pakistan-Iran border in District Panjgur, according to a Customs notification. Pakistan dispatched its first refrigerated sealed cargo under Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) from Karachi&#39;s Burma Oil Mills Limited Container Freight Station. The TIR is an international customs transit system that simplifies and accelerates the movement of goods across borders by allowing sealed vehicles to transit countries without costly, time-consuming inspections. The relaunch ends a suspension that began June 15, 2025, when Pakistan closed border crossings across five Balochistan districts, Chaghi, Washuk, Panjgur, Kech, and Gwadar, following Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, according to AFP. The Pakistan Foreign Office had clarified on June 18, 2025, that key routes, including Taftan, remained operational despite the closures. The revival builds on sustained bilateral engagement. Pakistan and Iran signed trade facilitation MoUs in January 2023, and during then-President Ebrahim Raisi&#39;s April 2024 visit, both countries set a target of raising bilateral trade to $10 billion within five years. The formal groundwork for the current relaunch was laid during ministerial talks on the sidelines of the OIC Transport Ministers&#39; Conference in Istanbul, where Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan met Iran&#39;s Minister for Roads and Infrastructure, Farzaneh Sadegh, according to a Ministry of Communications press release dated Feb. 13. Both ministers addressed bottlenecks at the Pak-Iran border, where the daily crossing capacity currently stands at 200 trucks, according to the press release. Both sides agreed it could be raised to between 800 and 1,000 trailers.&nbsp; Discussions covered border parking infrastructure, bilateral arrangements, and coordination between the Federal Bureau of Revenue, the Ministry of Commerce, and customs authorities.

Iranian cargo trucks cross into the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, Balochistan province on June 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pakistan has resumed land trade with Iran, sending its first refrigerated cargo via the Jeerak customs station after a suspension in June 2025. It is restoring transit routes and planning border capacity expansion.

Pakistan, Iran relaunch land trade after months-long suspension

LONDON: Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained virtually paralyzed Monday by weeks of war, with little sign of relief as Washington&#39;s deadline for US forces to blockade Iranian ports passed. The crucial waterway normally handles about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) but has been heavily disrupted since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 sparked the Middle East Ear. Here is what we know about the situation in the strait: Limited traffic Just 58 commodities carriers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since a US-Iran ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, according to maritime data provider Kpler. Crossings remain approximately 90% below peacetime levels, with no significant increase observed since the ceasefire. The overwhelming majority of ships crossing were either coming from or going to Iran, or displayed ties with countries not hostile to the country. Of the 376 passages by commodity carriers from March 1 to April 13, 244 were by oil and gas tankers, and most were heading east away from the Gulf, Kpler data showed. Vessels stuck Around 670 commodity vessels sent signals from west of the strait on Sunday, having apparently been stuck there since the end of February, according to data from maritime companies collated by Bloomberg. Of those, 329 were oil or gas tankers. Kpler said last week that 172 million barrels of crude and refined products were at sea in the Gulf as of April 7. The latest vessels to leave the Gulf on Monday were the Auroura, owned by an India-based company and carrying 38,287 tons of naptha from Iran, and the New Future, owned by a China-based firm and carrying 44,424 tons of gas oil from the UAE, according to Kpler. The Auroura is under US sanctions for transporting Iranian petroleum products. More than 50 very large crude carriers are stuck in the Gulf &ndash; including nine owned by Japanese companies and five each by companies from China, Greece and South Korea, according to Bloomberg data and other maritime companies. Just one empty LNG tanker has crossed the strait during the war. A third of the world&#39;s fertilizers usually transit the strait, and the disruption has prompted multiple warnings about the impact on food production. Iran toll Iran announced on Thursday alternative routes near the country&#39;s Larak Island to cross the strait, citing the risk of sea mines in the waterway&#39;s main zone. The country&#39;s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also said ships could only use the strait in collaboration with the Iranian navy, according to intelligence firm Vanguard Tech. Recent transits have almost all used this Iranian-approved route, with some ships reportedly paying a toll, prompting criticism from US President Donald Trump and the European Union. The announcement of a ceasefire had sent oil prices plunging, but the failure of peace talks and the US announcement that it would blockade boats from entering or leaving Iranian ports from 1400 GMT Monday has seen them once again rise above $100. Dozens of vessels targeted No new attacks on ships have been reported since the ceasefire started. The IRGC claimed three attacks on ships between Saturday and Tuesday, and one has been confirmed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Some 29 commercial ships, including 13 tankers, have been attacked or have reported incidents in the region since March 1, according to the IMO, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre and Vanguard Tech.

An aerial view of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, collected on 16 October 2019. (NASA)

The crucial waterway normally handles about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) but has been heavily disrupted since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 sparked the Middle East Ear.

Facts about Strait of Hormuz as US vows blockade

ISLAMABAD: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday thanked Pakistan for playing an &quot;important role&quot; in facilitating direct talks between the United States and Iran. Speaking after a European Commission college meeting on the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/oil-surges-stocks-fall-as-trump-says-to-blockade-strait-of-hormuz" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic fallout</a> of the conflict, von der Leyen offered a public acknowledgment of Islamabad&#39;s diplomatic contribution. &quot;Allow me to say a word of gratitude to Pakistan for the important role they have played to get to this point,&quot; she said. The remarks came as von der Leyen outlined the severe financial cost of the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/usisrael-war-on-iran-day-45" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Middle East War</a> for the European Union: 22 billion euros ($25.76 billion) in additional fossil fuel import costs in just 44 days. She called for urgent structural reforms to reduce European dependence on Gulf energy. &quot;We also know that negotiations have been stalled now, and we have to see how things go on,&quot;&nbsp;von der Leyen said. The Islamabad Talks The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-briefs-allies-on-islamabad-talks-urges-ceasefire-adherence" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Islamabad Talks</a> were 21-hour discussions between the United States and Iran that ended inconclusively on April 12, marking the two countries&#39; first direct, high-level meeting since 1979. Pakistan&#39;s role as host drew broad international acclaim. US Vice President Vance said Pakistan had done an &quot;amazing job&quot; bridging the gap and facilitating the historic session. Both delegations met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, during the summit. The United Nations expressed &quot;sincere appreciation&quot; for Pakistan&#39;s role in managing the ceasefire and facilitating what it called the &quot;Islamabad Process.&quot;&nbsp; China hailed the talks as a &quot;window of opportunity&quot; for regional stability.&nbsp; British High Commissioner Jane Marriott credited Pakistan&#39;s &quot;quiet, effective&quot; role in securing the initial ceasefire, while Australian envoy Timothy Kane cited Islamabad&#39;s &quot;tireless efforts&quot; to bring both sides to the table. The European Union &quot;saluted&quot; Pakistan&#39;s leadership in creating a neutral ground for dialogue, and the chancellors of Germany, Italy, and Austria each called Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directly to offer congratulations.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/japanese-pm-appreciates-pakistans-role-in-usiran-ceasefire-talks" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi</a>&nbsp;held a telephonic meeting with Sharif to express Tokyo&#39;s gratitude for Pakistan&#39;s peace-making efforts. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper appreciated Pakistan&rsquo;s constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the region during a telephone call with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. A fragile two-week ceasefire remains in place but is set to expire around April 22. The United States has already announced contingency plans for a naval blockade of Iranian ports should the ceasefire collapse.

College meeting by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the impact of the situation in the Middle East on the European Union on April 13, 2026. (European Commission)

Foreign Affairs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Pakistan for facilitating talks between the United States and Iran, marking their first direct, high-level engagement since 1979

Articles tagged with "Middle East war"

Iran says reviewing 'new proposals' from United States

Iran participating in World Cup, FIFA president confirms

US 'interdicts' 2 oil tankers in Hormuz, Iran slams blockade

UN chief says 'no military solution' for Mideast crisis

IMF cuts 2026 global growth forecast on Mideast war

PM Sharif reviews country’s petroleum reserves, says no shortage

Day 45: All you need to know about US-Israel war on Iran

Pakistan, Iran relaunch land trade after months-long suspension

Facts about Strait of Hormuz as US vows blockade

EC president thanks Pakistan for facilitating US-Iran talks

Iran says reviewing 'new proposals' from United States