Yearly Archives: 2026

Iran threatens to block exports, imports in Gulf if US blockade continues

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A view shows a large billboard displayed at Vanak Square in Tehran, Iran, on April 12, 2026.[Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency]

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters threatened Wednesday to block exports and imports through the Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea in response to the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.

If the “aggressive and terrorist US” continues “illegal maritime blockade actions and creates insecurity for Iranian commercial vessels and oil tankers,” such moves would be seen as “a prelude to violating the ceasefire,” Major General Ali Abdollahi, the commander of the Central Headquarters, said in a statement carried by Fars News Agency.

He warned that if the blockade persists, Iran’s armed forces “will not allow any exports or imports to continue” in strategic waterways, including the Gulf, Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea.

The US has imposed a naval blockade around Iranian ports following their rare direct talks in Pakistan, which ended without an agreement this weekend.

More than 3,300 people have been killed in US-Israeli airstrikes in Iran since Feb. 28, according to Iranian authorities.

Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel, Iraq, Jordan, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets before a two-week ceasefire was announced last week.

READ: Iran interior minister dismisses impact of blockade threats

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
Continue ReadingIran threatens to block exports, imports in Gulf if US blockade continues

Gaza flooded with sweets as fuel and medicine withheld, health official warns

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While preventing the entry of basic construction materials, the occupying force allows a flow of luxury goods into the Gaza market. [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The director-general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir Al-Barsh, has described a catastrophic situation in the besieged enclave, saying that it is being flooded with chocolate and soft drinks while fuel, medicine and basic food are withheld, leaving infants in incubators at constant risk of death.

Al-Barsh said that the situation is not a temporary shortage but a deliberate manipulation of aid, masking ongoing starvation and continued killings despite claims of a ceasefire.

Inside the corridors of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, where the sounds of medical devices mix with the cries of the wounded, doctors are struggling with a harsh reality: babies in incubators need electricity to survive, yet fuel is unavailable and the aid that arrives does not save them.

READ: Newborns in Gaza face death due to famine caused by Israeli blockade

Al-Barsh summed up the scene, saying that what enters Gaza “is not aid so much as it is a cruel mockery of death”.

He added: “Trucks carrying jelly arrive, others bring chocolate and soft drinks flow in as if they are a lifeline… but the fuel needed to keep incubators running is still banned.”

At such moments, he said, chocolate means nothing to a child struggling to breathe inside an incubator at risk of shutting down. “Calories” mean nothing to a mother watching a monitor that could switch off at any moment, taking her baby’s life with it.

Al-Barsh stressed that the situation is not random but a “systematic design” creating a compounded disaster. “Flooding Gaza with non-essential goods while denying the essentials of life… this is not relief, it is silent extermination,” he said.

READ: Israeli strike on police vehicle in Gaza kills 4, including child

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
Continue ReadingGaza flooded with sweets as fuel and medicine withheld, health official warns

8 more Gazans killed by Israeli fire despite ceasefire, death toll nears 72,350

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Palestinians who lost their relatives in an Israeli attack grieve during the funeral held outside their homes at Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine on April 15, 2026. [Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency]

Eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement in effect since last October, the Health Ministry said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

Hospitals in Gaza also received 29 wounded in attacks by Israeli forces, the ministry added in a statement.

The ministry did not give details on the circumstances of the casualties, but said Israel continues daily strikes despite the Oct. 10 ceasefire.

According to the ministry, the death toll from Israeli attacks since Oct. 8, 2023 rose to 72,344, while 172,242 people have been injured.

Since the ceasefire began, a total of 765 Palestinians have been killed, 2,140 injured and 760 bodies recovered, the ministry said.

Many victims remain trapped under rubble or on the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews are still unable to reach them, the ministry said.

The ceasefire agreement was meant to end a two-year Israeli offensive on Gaza, which has destroyed 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the enclave. The UN estimates reconstruction costs at around $70 billion.

READ: Israeli strike on police vehicle in Gaza kills 4, including child

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.

Continue Reading8 more Gazans killed by Israeli fire despite ceasefire, death toll nears 72,350

Morning Star Editorial: Suppressing protest won’t save the government or Labour Party

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/suppressing-protest-wont-save-government-or-labour-party

 People take part in a march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, from Russell Square to Whitehall in central London, June 21, 2025

…

We live in a country now where the police round up hundreds at peaceful sit-ins for the slogans on their placards, where they inspect the books and flyers on political stalls, where peace movement leaders get convicted of public order offences for leading a march to lay flowers on the road in memory of dead children.

Suppressing these movements does nothing to address their grievances and Labour’s support is in freefall. Arrests such as those at Lakenheath air base, protesting at the US using British territory as a launchpad to bomb Iran, are not even made to shield our government but a Donald Trump regime that humiliates and undermines it at every turn, while dragging our country into illegal wars.

Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan, demanding an end to military co-operation with the United States on a military radar project in Pembrokeshire, sees how toxic and dangerous the US alliance has become.

There is little Labour can do to turn things around by May: doing so at all will require a complete overhaul of government policy, and the ejection of Starmer himself.

But Morgan’s intervention does point to an immediate step needed to show Labour intends to change: dump Trump, and Netanyahu. Stop arresting people to shield them.

Stop the slide into repression and war.

See the original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/suppressing-protest-wont-save-government-or-labour-party

Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Suppressing protest won’t save the government or Labour Party

BP sees ‘exceptional’ results as a result of war-driven oil market shock

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bp-sees-exceptional-results-result-war-driven-oil-market-shock

…

The price of oil has surged as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran, up 60 per cent since it started on February 28.

BP said Brent crude prices averaged $81.13 (£60) a barrel over the first quarter as a whole, up from $63.73 (£47) a barrel in the previous three months.

The oil giant said that for every dollar increase in the price per barrel of oil results in a $340 million (£250m) rise in pre-tax operating profits.

Uplift deputy director Robert Palmer told the Star: “While millions of people are worrying over their energy bills, oil companies like BP are raking in billions of profits.

“It’s clear that the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels is making all of us poorer – all except for the oil and gas bosses and their shareholders who once again will cash in at our expense.

“The only way to insulate ourselves from energy shocks and protect the climate is to ramp up on renewables, and upgrade homes with solar power, batteries and heat pumps. We also need to support those who need it most with financial help.”

Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/bp-sees-exceptional-results-result-war-driven-oil-market-shock

dizzy: It’s worth reflecting on whether the overarching intention is to inflate oil prices: Trump is hugely financially supported by the oil companies of course, they financed his second successful election campaign. The oil price is kept high and the Trump administration make some extremely dubious and unsubstantiated announcements to prevent it getting much above a hundred dollars a barrel. There’s the lies that Trump & Co are imposing a blockade on Iran or that there are negotiations going to happen soon for example. Unsubstantiated and extremely likely untrue but it appears adequate for oil traders to play along.

Greenpeace activists display a billboard during a protest outside Shell headquarters on July 27, 2023 in London.
Greenpeace activists display a billboard during a protest outside Shell headquarters on July 27, 2023 in London. (Photo: Handout/Chris J. Ratcliffe for Greenpeace via Getty Images)
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Continue ReadingBP sees ‘exceptional’ results as a result of war-driven oil market shock