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\n This handout photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on April 25, 2026 shows Pakistan\u2019s Army chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (3rd R) meeting with Iran\u2019s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (3rd L) upon his arrival in Islamabad. | AFP file photo.
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The White House said on Monday that it was examining Iran\u2019s latest proposal to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, two months after a United States and Israeli offensive sent shockwaves through the global economy.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Trump met with top security advisors on Monday to discuss an Iranian proposal after Tehran passed \u2018written messages\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
The proposal was \u2018being discussed,\u2019 spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a White House briefing.<\/p>\n
Asked about the terms of Iran\u2019s proposal, secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News \u2018it\u2019s better than what we thought they were going to submit,\u2019 but questioned whether it was genuine.<\/p>\n
\u2018We 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,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s top diplomat blamed Washington on Monday for the failure of peace talks during a visit to Russia, where president Vladimir Putin promised him Moscow\u2019s support in ending the war.<\/p>\n
\u2018The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands,\u2019 Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said.<\/p>\n
Araghchi was in Saint Petersburg after visiting Oman and Pakistan, the main mediator in the Middle East war.<\/p>\n
Islamabad had hosted a first, unsuccessful round of US-Iran talks, and Araghchi\u2019s visit had raised hopes for more negotiations over the weekend.<\/p>\n
But US president Donald Trump scrapped a planned trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n
Trump told Fox News if Iran wanted talks, \u2018they can call us\u2019 \u2014 adding the cancellation does not signal a return to hostilities.<\/p>\n
Tehran would first need guarantees Washington and Israel would not attack again if it was to offer security assurances in the Gulf, Iran\u2019s envoy to the UN said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Saint Petersburg, Putin and Araghchi both voiced their commitment to their countries\u2019 \u2018strategic relationship\u2019 following their meeting.<\/p>\n
Araghchi said the war, which began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, showed \u2018Iran\u2019s true power\u2019 and stability.<\/p>\n
But back home in Tehran, the mood was more sober.<\/p>\n
\u2018Everything in the country is up in the air right now. I have not worked for a long time,\u2019 small business owner Farshad told Paris-based AFP journalists.<\/p>\n
\u2018The country is in complete economic collapse.\u2019<\/p>\n
Though the US-Iranian ceasefire holds, the war\u2019s economic shock waves continue to reverberate.<\/p>\n
Tehran resident Shervin, a photographer, said he was feeling the pinch.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is the first time that I have reached a point where I was late on my rent. I still don\u2019t have any projects,\u2019 said Shervin, 42.<\/p>\n
Iran has blockaded Hormuz, cutting off flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring.<\/p>\n
In response, the United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards say they have no intention of easing their market-rattling chokehold of the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran\u2019s parliament, said a proposed law for managing the strait would make the Islamic republic\u2019s armed forces the overseeing authority, with levies to be paid in Iranian rial.<\/p>\n
The head of the UN\u2019s maritime agency, Arsenio Dominguez, said there was \u2018no legal basis\u2019 for imposing transit fees.<\/p>\n
Rubio also rejected the idea.<\/p>\n
\u2018They cannot normalise \u2014 nor can we tolerate them trying to normalise \u2014 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,\u2019 he told Fox News Channel\u2019s \u2018America\u2019s Newsroom.\u2019<\/p>\n
Violence has continued on the war\u2019s Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Beirut\u2019s health ministry reporting Israel killed four people in the south.<\/p>\n
Fifty-one others were wounded, including three children, the ministry added.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes and a ground invasion.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected planned direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel as a \u2018grave sin,\u2019 vowing to \u2018not back down.\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah\u2019s rockets and drones remained a threat meriting military action.<\/p>\n
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz warned that \u2018Qassem is playing with fire.\u2019<\/p>\n
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, responding to Qassem, said his \u2018goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel.\u2019<\/p>\n
But Israeli army chief of staff Eyal Zamir said 2026 was \u2018likely to be another year of fighting\u2019 for Israel on all fronts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This handout photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on April 25, 2026 shows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[24953,24952,24950,24947,24949,24946,24951,24948,24944,24945,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-923420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-bangla-online-news","9":"tag-bangladesh-latest-news","10":"tag-bangladesh-news","11":"tag-bangladesh-newspaper","12":"tag-bangladeshi-newspapers","13":"tag-daily-new-age","14":"tag-latest-bangladesh-news","15":"tag-most-popular-outspoken-english-daily-newpaper-in-bangladesh","16":"tag-new-age","17":"tag-the-new-age","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116480767901013371","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}