<\/p>\nAdd Preferred Source<\/p>\n
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IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin that what \u201dwe lost in the this war is much bigger than all the crises put together in terms of oil and gas. Plus, plus, there are vital commodities that we are losing \u2014 petrochemicals, fertilizers, helium, sulfur.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Birol also pointed out that \u201cthere will be a major response to this crisis as well\u201d and that \u201cit is now the job of the governments to design their energy policies in terms of industrial sector, while keeping the competitiveness of the existing industries, preparing the next steps for the tomorrow\u2019s industries.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he also expects that \u201cthere will be a similar response in all parts of the economy, car manufacturing industry, electric industry and in the industry sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd this is a wonderful opportunity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Dozens of Israeli civilians attempt to enter Syria<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said it intercepted around 40 Israeli civilians that attempted to enter Syria on Wednesday afternoon. The military said the civilians gathered at the border and then were able to infiltrate several hundred meters into the Israeli-military controlled buffer zone in Syria before being returned to Israel and taken into police custody.<\/p>\n
The Israeli media identified the infiltrators as part of the right-wing group \u201cPioneers of Bashan,\u201d which calls for establishing Jewish settlements in Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n
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Hezbollah says it fired a drone at Israeli post in southern Lebanon<\/p>\n
The group added in a statement that its attack on the post in the southern village of Bayada on Wednesday came in retaliation for Israeli violations of the 10-day ceasefire that went into effect Friday.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said Hezbollah is violating the ceasefire adding that the Iran-backed group launched \u201ca hostile aircraft\u201d toward Israeli soldiers operating in the area of southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
The military said the aircraft was intercepted by Israel\u2019s air force and did not cross into Israel.<\/p>\n
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The Iran war could drive up costs for petroleum-derived products like clothes and crayons<\/p>\n
It might be hard to imagine the Iran war weighing on stuffed toys with names like Snuggle Glove, Bizzikins and Wobblies, but even plush playthings aren\u2019t immune when oil shipments from the Middle East are constrained.<\/p>\n
Like many soft toys, the creatures developed by a manufacturer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are made with polyester and acrylic, synthetic fibers derived from petroleum. Three weeks after the war started, suppliers in China notified Aleni Brands that getting the materials already was costing them 10% to 15% more, CEO Ricardo Venegas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this situation demonstrates how much oil permeates throughout our system, and we can\u2019t get away from it,\u201d said Venegas, who founded Aleni Brands last year and is in the process of adding product lines. \u201cWho would have thought that the price of a toy would have a direct relationship with oil?\u201d<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s not just toys. Petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas go into making more than 6,000 consumer products, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s president says contacts ongoing to extend ceasefire<\/p>\n
President Joseph Aoun\u2019s comments on Wednesday came a day before a second meeting is scheduled to take place in Washington between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors.<\/p>\n
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Aoun said in comments released by his office that preparations are ongoing for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.<\/p>\n
He said the aim of the future talks is to \u201cfully\u201d stop Israeli attacks, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners in Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the reconstruction process.<\/p>\n
Aoun said the support to Lebanon that was promised by U.S. President Donald Trump and other countries \u201cprovided us with an opportunity that we must not miss, as it may not come again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war was halted by a 10-day ceasefire that went into effect Friday.<\/p>\n
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Iranian news agency suggests undersea cables vulnerable in Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n
A semiofficial news agency close to Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard again raised the idea Wednesday that Gulf Arab states remained vulnerable to having their undersea data cables being cut in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The report by the Tasnim news agency suggested that \u201csimultaneous damage to several major cables \u2014 whether through accidents or deliberate action \u2014 could trigger severe outages across the Persian Gulf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multiple cables run through the strait. Already, the region has faced outages after undersea cables were cut multiple times in the Red Sea. Yemen\u2019s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had threatened cables in the past.<\/p>\n
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Iranians waited tensely overnight to learn if ceasefire would continue<\/p>\n
With uncertainty over whether the ceasefire lasts, residents of Tehran say they are anxious about what comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night my family all stayed awake, waiting for the clock to show 3:30 a.m. and see who really has the upper hand,\u201d said Reza Tehrani, a 34-year-old resident of Tehran.<\/p>\n
Tehrani said Trump is making a series of false claims, including that Iran will give up its enriched uranium. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious that he will eventually take his warships back and nothing will happen. We will win, rest assured,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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One resident voiced frustration with the uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should know where we stand. Is it going to be a ceasefire, peace or the war is going to continue?\u201d said Tehran resident Mashallah Mohammad Sadegh, 59. \u201cThe way things currently are, one doesn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
EU energy chief warns war could hit prices for years to come<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s top energy official is warning that the massive energy crisis sparked by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is set to hit prices for months, even years, to come.<\/p>\n
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EU Energy Commissioner Dan J\u00f8rgensen said Wednesday that \u201cthis is not a short-term, small increase in prices. This is a crisis that is probably as serious as the 1973 and the 2022 crises combined.\u201d<\/p>\n
J\u00f8rgensen says the war is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600 million) each day and that \u201cwe are looking into some very difficult months, or maybe even years\u201d ahead. \u201cEven in a best-case scenario, it\u2019s still bad,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Iran acknowledges ceasefire extension<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei acknowledged the ceasefire extension in comments reported Wednesday by Iranian state television.<\/p>\n
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Baghaei did not specifically say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks with the United States in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiplomacy is a tool for securing national interests and security, and whenever we reach the conclusion that the necessary and reasonable conditions exist to use this tool to achieve national interests and to consolidate the achievements of the Iranian nation in thwarting the enemies\u2019 malicious objectives, we will take action,\u201d he reportedly said.<\/p>\n
2 of 8 Iranian women whose release Donald Trump called for are already out on bail, rights center says<\/p>\n
The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights said an emergency doctor, Golnar Naraqi, and an Iranian citizen of the Bahai faith, Venus Hossein Nejad, have been out on bail since late March.<\/p>\n
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The two women were arrested separately during the January anti-government protests. The protests across Iran were met with a bloody crackdown that left thousands killed and arrested.<\/p>\n
In a social media post Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump reposted a photo of six women and two teen girls that a conservative activist said are facing prosecution by the Iranian government.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s judiciary swiftly responded, saying some of the women have already been released without naming them. It said none of them face the death sentence. Internet restrictions have limited the flow of information out of Iran.<\/p>\n
Rights groups say at least two of the other women still in detention are facing charges that carry the death sentence. There have been multiple executions during the war against alleged spies and protesters, mostly accused of links to Israel.<\/p>\n
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Revolutionary Guard attacks a third ship in the Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has attacked a third ship Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported.<\/p>\n
Nour News, Fars and Mehr all reported the attack by the Guard on a vessel called the Euphoria. They said the vessel had become \u201cstranded\u201d on the Iranian coast, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
The Guard has seized the other two ships that were attacked, Iranian state television separately reported.<\/p>\n
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Iranian state TV says 2 vessels attacked by Revolutionary Guard are in the force\u2019s custody<\/p>\n
Two ships earlier attacked Wednesday by Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard now are in the force\u2019s custody and are being taken to Iran, Iranian state television reported.<\/p>\n
It identified the vessels as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas. The ship\u2019s owners could not be immediately reached for comment.<\/p>\n
The seizures represent an Iranian escalation after the U.S. earlier seized two Iranian vessels as ceasefire talks were due to take place in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
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The Guard said in a statement the ships \u201callegedly operated without authorization, repeatedly violated regulations, manipulated navigational aid systems and sought to covertly exit the Strait of Hormuz, endangering maritime security.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strait had been considered an international waterway open to all before the war, even though it sits in Iranian and Omani territorial waters.<\/p>\n
Israel urges Lebanon to cooperate in order to dismantle Iran-backed Hezbollah<\/p>\n
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah ahead of negotiations in Washington on Thursday.<\/p>\n
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The meeting follows a similar gathering last week in Washington, and is the first time in decades the two countries are speaking directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,\u201d Saar said during Independence Day remarks to Israel\u2019s diplomatic corps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah,\u201d he said, adding that Lebanon could have \u201ca future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military has currently established a buffer zone stretching around 10 kilometers (6 miles) into southern Lebanon to remove the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles toward northern Israel.<\/p>\n
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Pakistani analyst says Trump likely views Iran port blockade as more effective than force<\/p>\n
An independent Islamabad-based analyst, Syed Mohammad Ali, says U.S. President Donald Trump has apparently concluded that a blockade of Iranian ports is a more effective way to pressure Iran\u2019s already fragile economy than the continued use of force.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as Trump\u2019s war strategy is concerned, this blockade appears to be less expensive and more effective,\u201d he said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ali said prospects for a second round of talks between the United States and Iran have not faded, as Pakistan, with support from regional countries, continues efforts to prevent the collapse of negotiations.<\/p>\n
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He said securing an extension of the ceasefire for an indefinite period from Trump is an achievement for Pakistan.<\/p>\n
China says it\u2019s \u2018imperative\u2019 to prevent conflict from reigniting<\/p>\n
China said after the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire that it is \u201cimperative\u201d to keep the conflict from reigniting.<\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Wednesday that the current situation in the Middle East is at \u201ca critical stage.\u201d He said China \u201cis ready\u201d to work with the international community to maintain peace, following four principles President Xi Jinping proposed a few days earlier, including peaceful coexistence and adherence to international law.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s imperative to prevent the recurrence of the conflict with utmost efforts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Iranian diplomat says country \u2018won\u2019t negotiate under threat\u2019<\/p>\n
The United States must end its blockade on Iran as a prerequisite for any further ceasefire talks in Islamabad, an Iranian diplomat said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told The Associated Press that communications with Pakistani mediators are underway \u201cto implement Iran\u2019s conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe won\u2019t negotiate under threat,\u201d he said. \u201cWe won\u2019t go to Islamabad before the lifting of the blockade.\u201d<\/p>\n
He accused the U.S. of using the ceasefire to build up more forces for a possible resumption of military action against the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind the scenes, they say something, but in public, they say and do something else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pakistan focuses on keeping talks alive<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s top political and military leadership has worked to prevent talks from collapsing and to persuade the U.S. to extend the ceasefire over the past 24 hours, officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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Two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that authorities will keep security arrangements in place in Islamabad in case U.S. and Iranian delegations ultimately arrive.<\/p>\n
Pakistan is also still waiting to hear from Tehran on when it will send a delegation for a second round, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.<\/p>\n
In Islamabad, police and troops remained on alert along key roads, manning checkpoints.<\/p>\n
Residents were forced to take longer routes as authorities restricted access to parts of the city.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe have not received any instructions to remove these barricades,\u201d said police officer Mohammad Aslam as he directed commuters to turn back and use alternative routes.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s top diplomat meets British high commissioner in Islamabad<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott on Wednesday in the capital, Islamabad, to discuss the evolving regional situation.<\/p>\n
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According to the Foreign Ministry, Dar underscored Pakistan\u2019s ongoing efforts to facilitate diplomatic engagement and stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in the peaceful resolution of disputes.<\/p>\n
Marriott appreciated Pakistan\u2019s facilitative role in bringing the United States and Iran to the negotiating table, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
Second ship comes under attack in Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n
A second ship came under attack Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the British military said, just a short time after Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a container ship.<\/p>\n
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The British military\u2019s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center did not immediately identify who shot at the second ship.<\/p>\n
However, suspicion immediately fell on Iran, whose paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier opened fire on the container ship.<\/p>\n
In the second attack, the cargo ship said it had been fired upon and was stopped in the water.<\/p>\n
It said there was no reported damage to the vessel.<\/p>\n
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The attacks come days after the U.S. seized an Iranian container ship after shooting it this past weekend, and boarded an oil tanker associated with Iran\u2019s oil trade Tuesday in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n
Iranian missile rallies seen across country<\/p>\n
Hard-line supporters of Iran\u2019s government held rallies across the country late Tuesday that included the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard bringing missiles and their launchers into public places for the first time since the ceasefire in the war with Israel and the United States.<\/p>\n
The scale of the demonstrations served as a sign of defiance to Israel and the U.S., which devoted a lot of their airstrike campaign to decimating Iran\u2019s ballistic missile arsenal.<\/p>\n
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Iranian state media showed pictures, videos and wrote about missile demonstrations in Ahvaz, Arak, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Kerman, Tabriz, Tehran, Qom and Zanjan.<\/p>\n
The missiles included the Faheh, the Kheibar Shekan, the Khorramshahr-4 and the Qadr.<\/p>\n
Some of those include the cluster munitions used repeatedly against Israel during the war as a means to get around the country\u2019s air defenses.<\/p>\n
Drone strike on eastern Lebanon kills 1<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s state-run National News Agency said the drone strike on the village of Jabbour early Wednesday also wounded two people.<\/p>\n
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The Israeli military denied that it had struck in that area.<\/p>\n
Since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect Friday, there have been several Israeli strikes while Hezbollah claimed its first attack Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Military planners meet on Hormuz mission<\/p>\n
Britain and France are gathering military planners from about 30 countries to flesh out details of a mission to provide security in the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 if and when the key shipping route reopens.<\/p>\n
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Britain\u2019s Defense Ministry said the two-day meeting at a U.K. command-and-control center in London aims to \u201cturn diplomatic consensus into a detailed military plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan is for an international mission to protect merchant vessels, clear mines and provide reassurance, and is dependent on a \u201csustainable\u201d ceasefire being reached in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n
Countries, including France and the U.K., have pledged to send ships and mine-clearing drones.<\/p>\n
Despite skepticism that the plan will ever be put into action, British Defense Secretary John Healey said Wednesday he is \u201cconfident that, over the next two days, real progress can be made.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Iran hangs another man over alleged ties to Mossad<\/p>\n
Iran hanged another man Wednesday over alleged ties to Israel\u2019s Mossad intelligence agency as Tehran continues a series of executions during the war, and after nationwide protests in January.<\/p>\n
The Mizan news agency of Iran\u2019s judiciary announced the execution of Mehdi Farid.<\/p>\n
It described Farid as working for a \u201csensitive state organization\u201d and passing information to the Israeli spy agency.<\/p>\n
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It said Farid was convicted in Iran\u2019s Qom province.<\/p>\n
Human rights activists have long said Iran convicts people in closed-door trials without allowing defendants to properly defend themselves.<\/p>\n
There have been multiple executions of alleged spies recently, as well as protesters and those affiliated with an Iranian exiled opposition group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man rides his motorbike that is adorned with an Iranian national flag, in southern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2029,38,6433,34,28402,15018,1096,6615,849,28403,1496,3284,3285,650,14766,12510,3282,12511,3281,3283,12512,3286,28341,101,16817,986],"class_list":{"0":"post-78258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-dan-jorgensen","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-esmail-baghaei","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-iran-israel-us-lebanon-latest-april-22-2026","13":"tag-islamabad","14":"tag-jd-vance","15":"tag-john-healey","16":"tag-joseph-aoun","17":"tag-mohammad-aslam","18":"tag-munir-ahmed","19":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","20":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","21":"tag-pakistan","22":"tag-product-30119-ap-washington-state-news-no-weather","23":"tag-product-30597-ap-business-news-f-wire","24":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","25":"tag-product-31995-ap-online-general-financial-business-news","26":"tag-product-31998-ap-online-national-news","27":"tag-product-32505-ap-online-middle-east-news","28":"tag-product-32509-ap-online-religion-columns","29":"tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","30":"tag-ricardo-venegas","31":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","32":"tag-syed-mohammad-ali","33":"tag-xi-jinping"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}