A gathering storm is sweeping across West Asia, where rising tensions between the United States and Iran have spilled from sharp rhetoric into high-stakes confrontation at sea, sending shockwaves through global energy markets and diplomatic corridors alike.

On Thursday, the war of words sharpened further. US President Donald Trump hailed Washington’s sweeping blockade of Iranian ports as “a success”, pressing Tehran to “just give up”. The response from Iran was swift and unyielding. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dismissed the pressure campaign, while military officials warned that Tehran’s restraint thus far had merely been “intended to give diplomacy a chance”.

At the heart of the crisis lies the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow but vital artery of global oil trade — now transformed into a theatre of strategic brinkmanship. Oil prices have surged past $120 per barrel, while petrol costs in the United States have climbed to a four-year high, underscoring the far-reaching economic fallout.

The United States military, tightening its grip, announced it had intercepted 42 vessels attempting to breach the blockade. US Central Commander Brad Cooper described the move as a “significant milestone”, noting that 41 tankers stranded as a result now hold an estimated 69 million barrels of oil — worth over $6 billion — effectively choking a crucial lifeline of Iranian revenue. “The blockade is highly effective,” he said, pledging unwavering enforcement.

Tehran, however, has condemned the actions in stark terms, branding them a “flagrant act of piracy”. The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters revealed that Iranian forces refrained from immediate retaliation due to the presence of civilians aboard the seized vessels. Yet the tone from Iran’s security establishment has grown increasingly ominous, with warnings that such “maritime banditry” will not go unanswered.

State-linked reports suggest that Iran’s patience is wearing thin. Senior security sources have cautioned that continued US “obstinacy” could trigger a “practical and unprecedented military response”, signalling that the fragile restraint could soon give way to escalation.

The blockade itself follows the collapse of Iran-US negotiations held in Islamabad earlier this month, which failed to produce any breakthrough, setting the stage for the current standoff.

Meanwhile, tensions are rippling beyond the Gulf. In the eastern Mediterranean, activists aboard an aid flotilla bound for Gaza reported interceptions by Israeli forces, adding yet another flashpoint to an already volatile landscape.

From the chokepoints of Hormuz to the contested waters off Gaza, the region now stands at a precarious crossroads — where diplomacy flickers uncertainly and the drums of escalation grow louder with each passing hour.

With IANS inputs

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for King Charles to “return” the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s, on the third day of the monarch’s state visit on Wednesday.

Before greeting Charles and Queen Camilla at a 9/11 memorial event, Mamdani was asked what he would discuss with the king if he had the chance.

“If I was to speak to the king, separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” the leftist mayor said, adding that his focus would be honoring those killed in the terror attacks.

It’s unclear whether Mamdani followed through and brought up the contentious subject with Charles when the two met.

The monarch was seen laughing with Mamdani and having a brief conversation after they shook hands.

Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain’s crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The ownership of the jewel has been contested over the centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors, Iranian shahs and Sikh maharajas before the Kingdom of Punjab gave it to Queen Victoria in 1849 as part of a peace treaty.

India has repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought the return of the priceless jewel.

While there is little doubt it was mined in India, its history thereafter is a mixture of myth and fact, with several countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan also laying claim to the gem.

A politician from the anti-immigration Reform UK party was quick to slam the comments as an “insult to our King.” “This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London,” the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in an X post. “That is where it will stay”.

White supremacist killer Brenton Tarrant lost on Thursday an appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence for shooting dead 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019, court documents showed.

The 35-year-old admitted to carrying out New Zealand’s deadliest modern day mass shooting before being sentenced to life in prison in August 2020.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal in February, saying “torturous and inhumane” detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty.

“I did not have the mind frame or mental health required to be making informed decisions at that time,” Tarrant said at the time.

The panel of three judges said the court “does not accept Mr Tarrant’s evidence about his mental state.”

“There were inconsistencies in Mr Tarrant’s own evidence, and his evidence is at odds with the detailed observations of prison authorities and the assessments of mental health professionals at the time of him entering his pleas.”

The judges found Tarrant’s guilty pleas were voluntary and “he was not coerced or pressured in any way to plead guilty”.

“The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that he was not suffering any significant psychological impacts as a result of his prison conditions at the time he pleaded guilty,” the court said.

The court said Tarrant’s “proposed conviction appeal is utterly devoid of merit”.

“The facts concerning Mr Tarrant’s offending are beyond dispute. He has not identified any arguable defence, or indeed any defence known to the law.”

‘Huge relief’

Tarrant’s penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.

Armed with an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons, Tarrant attacked worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.

He published an online manifesto before the attacks and then livestreamed the killings for 17 minutes.

His victims were all Muslim and included children, women and the elderly.

The court’s decision was complicated one week after Tarrant’s February hearing when he sought to abandon his appeal entirely.

The judges said the court received a notice of abandonment of appeal signed by Tarrant using a “self-styled moniker” but the document was thrown out because it was not dated or witnessed.

Tarrant filed a second notice later that week, again using a pseudonym, which was dated and witnessed.

He said he “no longer wishes to have a lawyer” and the appeal should not continue as “it would likely lead to a miscarriage of justice”.

Lawyers acting for the survivors and families of victims told national broadcaster RNZ the decision had been a “huge relief”.

“The law has now done its job,” they said.

“The families, and frankly all of us, will be spared the trauma of reliving the 15th of March all over again in a trial.

“It is a huge relief that the difficult and often unsupported journey families are on will not now be added to by the great burden of a new trial. It would have been unimaginably traumatic. “

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly clashed with Democratic lawmakers over the Iran conflict on Wednesday, in his first testimony to Congress since President Donald Trump launched the war more than two months ago.

Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Heg­seth quickly struck a combative tone, saying in his opening remarks that the main challenge at this point is the “defeatist words of Democrats and some Republicans.”

Representative Adam Smith — the committee’s top Democrat — took aim at the regional fallout from the war and its toll on both US troops as well as civilians, saying he wanted answers on where the conflict is going and “the plan to achieve our objectives.”

He later asked Hegseth how the “lethal, kinetic action” of the war could be turned into an improvement when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington is seeking to eliminate. Hegseth responded by taking aim at the “very bad” nuclear agreement that Trump scrapped during his first term in office.

John Garamendi, another Democrat, accused Hegseth of “lying to the American public about this war from day one” describing what is happening in the Middle East as a “geopolitical calamity, a strategic blunder, resulting in worldwide economic crisis.”

“During the 60 days of Trump’s Iran war, critical munitions have been expended at an alarming rate, depleting magazine levels below what is thought necessary to hold China at bay,” said Garamendi, also describing the conflict as a “quagmire.”

Hegseth pushed back, asking Garamendi “who are you cheering for here?” and saying that calling the war a quagmire was “handing propaganda to our enemies.”

Democratic Representative Seth Moulton asked Hegseth if he advised Trump to attack Iran — a question Hegseth declined to answer, though he later said he thought doing so was “a good idea.”

Asked by Moulton if he had considered the risk of Iran closing the vital Strait of Hormuz if it was attacked, Hegseth said the Pentagon “looked at all aspects of this risk.”

Hegseth was also pressed on the cost of the conflict, which he said was estimated at less than $25 billion so far.

The Pentagon chief then asked the committee: “What is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?”

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026

WASHINGTON: The United States has instructed its diplomatic missions worldwide to refuse visas to applicants who indicate fear of returning to their home country, in a new screening measure that has drawn concern from immigration lawyers and refugee advocates.

According to a State Department cable circulated to all US embassies and consulates and cited by American media outlets, consular officers are now required to ask non-immigrant visa applicants two additional questions during interviews: whether they have experienced harm or mistreatment in their country of nationality or last habitual residence, and whether they fear such harm if they return.

Applicants who answer “yes” to either question are to be denied visas immediately, the directive states. The measure applies to visitor, student, and temporary work visa categories, including B-1/B-2, student, and certain work-related visas.

The instruction is reportedly linked to a 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump and has been attributed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It is part of what the administration describes as efforts to curb “asylum abuse” by preventing the use of temporary visas as a pathway to protection claims once inside the United States.

State Dept calls visa a privilege, not a right; says individuals who do not intend to comply with immigration laws shouldn’t seek entry

The information was initially circulated by commercial visa assistance companies and was later confirmed by US and international media outlets, including The Washington Post and The Guardian.

Previously, fear-of-return assessments were conducted only when individuals applied for asylum after arriving in the United States. The new policy shifts that screening to the visa application stage abroad, effectively requiring applicants to disclose potential protection claims before entry.

The State Department has defended the directive, reiterating that a US visa is a “privilege, not a right”, and that individuals who do not intend to comply with US immigration laws should not seek entry. Officials argue that the measure is aimed at ensuring the integrity of temporary visa categories.

Immigration lawyers and rights groups, however, have warned that the policy could have far-reaching consequences for legitimate travellers, including students, academics, journalists, and business professionals who may have credible fears of persecution in their home countries. They say a truthful response could automatically result in visa refusal, potentially discouraging lawful travel and undermining international protection norms.

Critics cited by The Washington Post, which first reported details of the cable, also raised concerns that the policy could affect future asylum claims made after entry into the US, though the administration has not clarified how such responses will be treated in later immigration proceedings.

Officials at the Pakistan Emb­a­s­­sy in Washington, when asked about the development, said they had not received any country-specific communication from the US government. They indicated that the measure appears to be part of a global policy shift applied uniformly across all nationalities rat­her than a Pakistan-specific action.

They added that procedural changes in US non-immigrant visa processing are typically circulated internally by the State Department to all embassies and consulates simultaneously, rather than communicated through bilateral diplomatic channels.

The directive is expected to take effect immediately, with consular posts already updating interview procedures.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026

• Trump warns Iran to ‘get smart soon’, accept N-curbs; signals months-long extension of naval blockade
• Tehran warns of ‘unprecedented military action’ over shipping curbs
• USS Gerald R. Ford to return after 10-month deployment in ME

TEHRAN/WASHIN­GTON: Amid reports about Iran’s plan to make a fresh proposal, US President Donald Trump on Wedn­esday rejected an Iranian offer to end the conflict, saying that the naval blockade would remain till Tehran agreed to a nuclear deal.

The US president told Axios that the blockade was “somewhat more effective than the bombing” and things would get “worse for them”.

“They want to settle. They don’t want me to keep the blockade. I don’t want to [lift the blockade], because I don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon,” he added during the 15-minute interview with Axios.

The Iranian proposal, passed along by Pakistan, had laid out red lines, including on nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz. The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade while broader negotiations continue, including over the nuclear programme. However, it was rejected and a new offer is on the cards.

However, The Washington Post in a report quoted multiple US officials as saying that the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford would depart the Middle East and begin the sail for home in coming days.

The planned withdrawal comes as an expected relief for roughly 4,500 sailors, who have been deployed there for 10 months, but a loss of significant firepower as peace talks between the United States and Iran stagnate.

Earlier, Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, according to Al Jazeera, said Iran’s supply and distribution of fuel remained stable despite the US blockade on Iranian ports. Iran’s parliament speaker Bagher Ghalibaf said the US wanted to divide Iran using the blockade.

The US president also discussed the Iran war with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, days after the visit of Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to St Petersburg.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump said he talked “a little bit”. “He told me he’d like to be involved with the enrichment, if he can help us get it,” Trump said, referring to retrieving Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. “I said, ‘I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war in Ukraine.’ To me, that’d be more important,” he added.

Ghalibaf calls for unity

“The enemy has entered a new phase and wants to activate economic pressure and internal division through naval blockade and media hype to weaken or even make us collapse from within,” Ghalibaf added, calling for “maintaining unity” as the only solution.

However, the US president told oil executives that the US could extend its naval blockade of Iran for months more. “Iran can’t get their act together… They better get smart soon,” Trump posted on his social media platform, above a mocked-up picture of himself toting a rifle in front of explosions wrecking a desert fortress and the slogan: “No more Mr. Nice Guy!”

According to the administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Trump discussed with the oil executives “steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimise impact on American consumers”.

Brent crude rises to $117

News that peace talks remained stalled pushed oil prices higher one again, with Brent crude for June delivery rising more than five per cent to $117 — its highest level since a fragile US-Iran ceasefire came into effect on April 8.

Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz — a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments from the Gulf — since the US and Israel launched the war two months ago, sending shockwaves through the global economy. But its own economy is also suffering. On Wednesday, the Iranian rial fell to historic lows against the dollar.

Tehran warned on Wednesday of “unprecedented military action” against continued US blockading of Iran-linked vessels. Trump has stressed repeatedly that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, while Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

‘No trust’

During a White House state dinner on Tuesday, Trump told Britain’s King Charles III and other guests that Iran had been “militarily defeated”, and added: “Charles agrees with me even more than I do — we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.”

But an Iranian army spokesman told state TV on Tuesday that “we do not consider the war to be over”, saying Tehran had “no trust in America”.

“We have many cards that we have not yet used… new tools and methods of fighting based on the experiences of the past two wars, which will definitely allow us to respond to the enemy more decisively” should the fighting resume, Amir Akraminia said in an interview.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026