Former Iran top diplomat suggests terms to end war
Iran’s former top diplomat offered terms to see a ceasefire in the war with the US and Israel.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped reach the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, made the proposal in Foreign Affairs magazine in a piece published today.
While Zarif has no official position now in Iran’s theocracy, he helped get reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian elected.
He also would not have been able to publish such a piece without at least running the positions past senior members of the country’s theocracy.
While insisting Iran “is clearly winning” the war, Zarif wrote that Tehran “should offer to place limits on its nuclear program and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to all sanctions — a deal Washington wouldn’t take before but might accept now.”
It remains unclear how US president Donald Trump would respond to such a pitch, particularly as Zarif referred to Trump’s close friend Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner as “completely illiterate on both geopolitics and nuclear technicalities”.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 08:05
UAE responding to missile and drone attacks
The defence ministry of the United Arab Emirates said it is battling a wave of new missile and drone attacks from Iran.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:58
China Eastern Airlines to raise domestic fuel charges
China Eastern Airlines said this morning it will raise fuel surcharges for domestic flights from 5 April, adding to a list of Chinese airlines hiking fuel fees as the Iran war drags on.
The carrier will increase fuel surcharges for flights of 800km and below to 60 yuan ($8.72) and 120 yuan for those over 800 km, it said on its website.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:49
Australia urges weekend motorists to refuel in cities
Australian energy minister Chris Bowen today urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.
Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.
In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.
“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.
The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:10
Oil prices surge to $111 a barrel
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but the Asian markets that were open today rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
Benchmark US crude rose 11.4 per cent to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8 per cent to $109.03 per barrel.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:00
Leading Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh detained
Leading Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was detained by Iranian intelligence agents at her house in Tehran overnight, her daughter said Thursday.
Prize-winning Nasrin Sotoudeh, 64, is renowned for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves. She has been imprisoned multiple times and is currently out on bail for health reasons.
Her husband, Reza Khandan, also a well-known activist, is currently imprisoned in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 06:50
Trump mocks ‘weak’ Starmer as UK leads push to reopen strait
Donald Trump has mocked Sir Keir Starmer as weak and had a fresh dig at the UK’s navy as Britain led diplomatic efforts to try and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, closed by the Iran war.
The US president impersonated the prime minister as he recounted Sir Keir saying he had to ask his team about sending “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the Middle East.
Trump said Britain “should be our best” ally, but had not been in his latest sideswipe over the UK’s refusal to be drawn into the conflict with Tehran.
Earlier this week, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth rounded on Britain for failing to send warships to the region, saying “last time I checked there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well”.
Their disparaging remarks come as the King, who is head of the armed forces, is due to travel to Washington later this month for a state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 06:40
Susie Wiles says Trump’s aides are giving him ‘rose-colored view’ of Iran war
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has expressed concerns that aides are giving President Donald Trump “a rose-colored view” of the Iran war and its domestic impacts, according to a new report.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 06:30
Fire at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by drones early on Friday, setting off fires at operating units, according to the state news agency, but no injuries were reported.
Kuwait reported that its air defences were working to intercept missiles and drones twice this morning.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 06:20
Iran says a US F-35 fighter jet has been shot down over central Iran, according to state media.
It reported that the pilot was unlikely to survive.
(UK MOD/Crown copyright)
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 06:10