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A view of the vessels passing through Strait of Hormuz following the two-week temporary ceasefire reached between the United States and Iran on the condition that the strait be reopened, seen in Oman on April 08, 2026. [Shadi J. H. Alassar – Anadolu Agency]
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy detained two commercial cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, citing unauthorized operations and alleged ties to Israel, according to a report Friday.
The IRGC identified the vessels as the “MSC-Francesca” and the “Epaminondas,” both operating under the MSC shipping line, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
Tehran accused the ships of breaching maritime regulations, interfering with navigation systems, and endangering other vessels in the waterway.
The report said Iranian authorities said the ships were allegedly attempting to pass through the strait undetected before being intercepted and escorted into Iranian territorial waters.
Since the war initiated by the US and Israel against Iran began Feb. 28, Tehran has maintained control of the Strait of Hormuz, followed by an American naval blockade on April 13, hitting global energy supplies, mostly across Asia.
Nigel Farage 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/Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait 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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Missiles launched by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks are seen over the skies of Jerusalem, on March 24, 2026. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]
A Defense Ministry’s spokesperson said most of Iran’s missile capabilities have been “unused” on the war with the US, Tasnim News reported Saturday.
Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik said Iran’s “significant portion of the missile capabilities remains unused,” according to the report by the semi-official news agency.
Arguing that Iranian forces maintained the upper hand throughout the conflict, he said, “Our forces maintained complete air superiority over the occupied territories of the Zionist (Israeli) territory, and a portion of our missile capabilities were utilized during the 40-day war.”
Regarding naval confrontations, he claimed that hostile warships repeatedly retreated hundreds of kilometers from the Sea of Oman in response to decisive actions by Iranian forces.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted since the US and Israel initiated a war against Iran beginning Feb. 28, rattling global energy markets and raising fears of prolonged economic damage.
Nigel Farage 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/Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait 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.
Reform UK Party leader Nigel Farage at a 2024 press conference (Photo: Alamy)
Jason Pearlman is among several pro-Israel figures behind the party predicted to win big in May elections
Israel has not committed a single war crime in Gaza, the head of the newly-formed Reform Friends of Israel has claimed.
Speaking to Declassified, Jason Pearlman also described the torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons as “the minutiae of individual claims”.
Until December, Pearlman was a media adviser to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, who a UN commission found to have incited genocide.
Speaking from Israel, where he still lives, he told Declassified that he started a conversation with Reform about turning the party’s ‘Friends of Israel’ group into a “full-time” organisation while he was still working for Herzog.
…
When Declassified asked Pearlman if he believed Israel had committed any war crimes since 7 October 2023, he said: “No, of course not.”
He added: “The tragedy is that there is no nuance when it comes to discussing this conflict.”
Declassified asked if he could think of a single specific case where he would condemn IDF soldiers in Gaza. Pearlman replied: “Probably… [but] I can’t think of anything specifically off-hand.”
And when asked about the well-documented abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners, Pearlman said: “I am sure there is some truth to all of these things…” But he appeared to dismiss such cases in favour of focusing on “the wider perspective of ‘how do we solve these issues?’”.
Nigel Farage 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.
Greenpeace Spain activists displayed a giant image of US President Donald Trump vomiting oil into a black-stained fountain in Madrid’s Plaza de Colón, alongside the message in English, “No oil, no war,” on April 23, 2026. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez/Greenpeace)
“Current conflicts prove that moving away from fossil fuels is an urgent necessity for security, well-being, and the climate,” said Greenpeace campaigner.
“We are saying no to oil and war!” said Greenpeace Spain climate and energy campaigner Pedro Zorrilla Miras in a Thursday statement. “Current conflicts prove that moving away from fossil fuels is an urgent necessity for security, well-being, and the climate.”
Since returning to power last year with help from the fossil fuel industry, Trump has spent his second term attacking already inadequate US climate policies and trying to deliver on his promise to “drill, baby, drill,” despite the harm that causes to the planet and its inhabitants.
After sending in US troops to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as part of an effort to take over the country’s nationalized oil industry in January, Trump, alongside Israeli forces, began bombing Iran in February. Although there is now a fragile ceasefire in place, Iran responded to the US-Israeli attack by restricting ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route, including for fertilizer and fossil fuels.
As fuel prices have soared, green groups—including Greenpeace—have called for a permanent end to the US and Israel’s assault on Iran, a windfall profits tax for fossil fuel giants that have cashed in on the conflict, and making “food and energy secure for all.” They have also argued that the war highlights the need for a just shift away from oil and gas.
“Instead of war, ending our reliance on fossil fuels is our best possible defense,” said Zorrilla Miras. “That is why governments must show leadership at the Santa Marta conference to accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels. We are calling for clear and ambitious action from Spain that matches its rhetoric and embraces pathways that show Spain can achieve a 99% decarbonization rate by 2040.”
“Fossil fuel dependence is exposing countries to volatile global markets, where conflict, disruption, and political tensions rapidly translate into higher energy, food, and transport prices,” the campaigner continued. “The Santa Marta summit is therefore a key political moment for leaders to progress the delivery of energy systems that are affordable, stable, and resilient in an increasingly uncertain world.”
Colombia and the Netherlands are co-hosting the summit, which is set to run from Friday to Wednesday and is “intended to support practical action by those already prepared to move forward,” according to organizers. “It does not seek to deliver a negotiated outcome, but rather to generate shared understanding and actionable guidance that can help accelerate a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.”
Standing on top of and around the visual of puking Trump in Madrid, Greenpeace activists carried signs calling for such a transition. The messages included: “Renewables, Power, Peace” in English, “No Oil, No War” in Portuguese, and “For a world free of fossil fuels” in Spanish.
A Greenpeace Spain activist holds a sign that says “For a world free of fossil fuels” in Spanish during a protest in Madrid on April 23, 2026. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez/Greenpeace)
“In the midst of a fossil fuel-driven energy crisis, the Santa Marta meeting offers light on the horizon,” said Greenpeace International climate politics expert Tracy Carty. “Rather than prolonging exposure to volatile and conflict-prone fossil fuels, governments must use this moment to accelerate a just transition to renewable energy that protects people from price shocks and builds long-term stability.”
“The coalition of committed states coming together in Santa Marta has the potential to spark bolder national action and international cooperation,” she noted. “That requires the development of national roadmaps for transitioning away from fossil fuels, including ambitious renewable energy targets, and to scale up predictable, accessible, and affordable climate finance to support developing countries in delivering a just transition.”
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.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that Reform UK has received millions and millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
President Donald Trump speaks beside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 6, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“They treated us like animals,” said an Ecuadorian fisher who survived an attack on the Don Maca.
President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and US Southern Command have repeatedly taken to social media to brag about deadly boat bombings supposedly targeting drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean for nearly eight months. On Tuesday, survivors of some alleged US strikes on fishing boats accused American forces of torture.
The Ecuadorian fishing boat La Fiorella “went up in smoke” on January 20, and “the eight fishermen aboard have not been seen since,” Camila Lourdes Galarza reported for Drop Site News on Tuesday. “Now, 36 survivors of two Pacific attacks fitting a similar profile alleged that they were abducted and tortured by American forces and taken by boat all the way to El Salvador before being returned to Ecuador.”
The journalist spoke with attorneys, relatives, and survivors, including Hernán Flores, captain of La Negra Francisca Duarte II, which was bombed by a drone with a yellow cylinder on March 17. Flores said: “A lot of us had wounds all over our bodies from the explosion. One young man was bleeding so much he filled the floor of our lifeboat with blood… The drone had flown through our cabin window, torn my nephew’s foot so bad you could see flesh and bone, and made the boat’s roof cave in on the back of my neck. A few seconds later, an explosion shook the boat, causing a terrible ringing in our ears. Out of exasperation, the guys threw themselves into the water, some without life jackets, even the ones who don’t know how to swim.”
The survivors made their way to a blue boat with “spear” on the hull, full of armed, blond, English-speaking men in camouflage uniforms—who drew their guns, handcuffed the fishers, put hoods over their heads, and held them on the vessel’s “scorching metal deck for over 24 hours, blistering their skin,” Galarza reported. They were only given a bottle of water, and “all but one fisherman were denied medical attention, despite the severity of what they had just endured.”
They were eventually returned to Ecuador, where Trump has recently deployed US forces for a joint campaign targeting “narco-terrorists.” However, first, they were turned over to El Salvador’s Coast Guard—which, on April 3, also intercepted 20 more Ecuadorian fishers with “vision and hearing loss, bruised limbs, and perforated arms.”
According to Galarza, those fishers had been aboard the Don Maca, and “they reported a strikingly similar account of an alleged attack by US soldiers: a bombarded boat, a round of bullets, and no due process.” Sebastián Palacios, one of the survivors allegedly held hostage for eight days, said that “they treated us like animals.”
⚡️New from @dropsitenews.com: Rare Survivors of Pacific Boat Strikes Allege US Forces Kidnapped & Tortured ThemAs airstrikes & reports of torture under Ecuador’s US-backed military regime continue to mount, fishermen tell Drop Site…By Camila Lourdes Galarzawww.dropsitenews.com/p/rare-survi…
Galarza noted that US SOUTHCOM directed questions about all three incidents to Ecuador, whose Port Authority hung up after hearing that a phone call requesting comment was from journalists.
Harriet Barber got a similar response from SOUTHCOM for her Tuesday reporting on the Don Maca attack in The Guardian. The journalist spoke with survivors, including Palacios, as well as an attorney representing the crew, Fernando Bastias Robayo of the Human Rights Council.
“A US vessel intercepted them and forced them aboard. Once they were detained, their fishing boat was blown up,” said the lawyer. “They were arbitrarily hooded and later abandoned on the Salvadorian coast. Any apprehension followed by incommunicado detention constitutes an enforced disappearance.”
“It was a form of psychological torture, not knowing what’s really going to happen to your life and having your face covered,” he added.
Palacios told Barber that “I get scared in the middle of the night. I can’t sleep well. My ears still hurt… I think that’s it for me. I’m done with fishing. Going back out there is impossible. I thought they were going to kill us.”
“If there were no drugs aboard those boats, it’s a hugely embarrassing ‘false positive’ for US intelligence at a time when that intelligence is being used to kill people, no questions asked.”
Tuesday’s reporting came just two days after SOUTHCOM announced on social media that “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations… along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean,” killing three alleged “male narco-terrorists.”
Sunday’s strike brought the death toll from Trump’s boat-bombing campaign to at least 180, according to The New York Times. The Intercept’s tally is 181, while the Washington Office on Latin Americabelieves 182 people are dead. Critics of the campaign have accused the US administration of “war crimes, murder, or both.”
Responding to Trump’s latest confirmed attack, Amnesty International USA on Monday condemned “three more murders at sea” and declared that “Congress must act to stop these bombings.”
So far, both chambers of the Republican-controlled Congress have refused to pass war powers resolutions aimed at halting Trump’s boat strikes. Similar measures targeting his aggression toward Venezuela and Iran have also failed to advance.
