live Some Shipping Traffic Resuming Through Strait Of Hormuz

Reuters and Iran's Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported on April 4 that Iran has allowed vessels carrying essential goods through the Strait of Hormuz, including humanitarian aid and basic supplies, to reach its ports, provided they coordinate with local authorities.

The strait has been blocked by Iran since February 28.

Since April 3, ships from Oman, Pakistan, Turkey, India, France, and Japan have passed through the strait, according to MarineTraffic and LSEG. Among them, the Sohar LNG, which is Panama-flagged and co-owned by Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, became the first Japan-linked vessel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier to transit through the strait since the conflict began. Other successful passages included an Indian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker and a French container ship.

Despite this, Japan's Transport Ministry has said that about 45 Japanese-operated ships remain stranded in the region, primarily in the Persian Gulf. Based on vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic and LSEG, overall traffic is estimated at around 5–12 percent of prewar levels.

As of April, reports from maritime intelligence firms, news agencies, and government ministries show 2,190 vessels stranded in the region, including 400 oil tankers.

US intelligence sources, cited by Reuters on April 3, warn that Iran is unlikely to fully reopen the strait soon, using control of the waterway as leverage over the United States. US President Donald Trump has suggested US forces could act to reopen the passage if necessary.

The UN Security Council plans to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to protect shipping. China and Russia have opposed authorizing force, while the draft, backed by the Gulf states and Washington, would allow defensive measures for at least six months.

Iran executed two men on April 4 convicted of carrying out terrorist acts and links to the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), according to the Mizan News Agency, which is close to the country's judiciary.

The two men were the remaining defendants in a six-person case. The other four men were executed earlier this week.

MEK is an exiled opposition group that seeks to overthrow the Islamic republic and is regarded by Tehran as a terrorist organization. In recent weeks, there has been a surge in executions, particularly targeting members of the MEK.

The two men, Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amerian, were reportedly executed "on charges of rebellion through involvement in numerous terrorist acts and explosions led by the terrorist group of the MEK, membership in a rebel group, gathering and colluding to commit a crime against the internal security of the country."

Iran's Supreme Court upheld the verdict, Mizan reported.

Earlier this week, Hamed Bani-Amerian, the brother of Vahid Bani-Amerian, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that "The Supreme Court had raised objections to the verdict and the case and returned the case to the court of first instance to resolve the objections."

But then, he said -- speaking before his brother's execution -- "suddenly we were faced with the news of the execution of four of my brother's co-defendants."

Bani-Amerian was referring to the other four men being tried -- Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, and Akbar Daneshvarkar -- who were executed by Iranian authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison in the city of Karaj, about 20 kilometers northwest of Tehran. Sangdehi and Daneshvarkar were executed by hanging on March 30; Alipour and Ghobadi were executed a day later.

In recent weeks, Iranian state media have reported increasing numbers of people arrested for being "spies" and "mercenaries."

Iran has maintained one of the world's highest execution rates for years, with the number estimated to have more than doubled in 2025 compared to 2024.

UN human rights experts and the UN High Commissioner have expressed grave concern over the recent surge in executions in Iran.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

WASHINGTON -- Rescue teams continue to search early on April 4 for a US crew member missing after their fighter jet was brought down over Iran, one of two American forces planes reportedly knocked out of the sky in the region a day earlier.

A US official told RFE/RL one crew member was recovered while the search is ongoing for the second in the first known loss of an American plane, a two-seat F-15E jet, to hostile fire since the war began.

Separately, a US official later said another US Air Force warplane, an A-10 attack aircraft, crashed in the Persian Gulf and that the lone pilot in that incident was safely recovered. Full details were not immediately available.

Iranian state media also reported the downing of both planes. Iranian officials said they also were searching for the missing crew member of the first plane and urged citizens to report to the authorities any information that could lead to the airman's capture.

Specifics of the Iran rescue mission were not provided by the US official who spoke to RFE/RL.

To read the full story, click here.

The US Embassy in Lebanon on April 3 warned that Iran and its allied groups could attempt to target universities in the country.

"Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon," a security alert said on the embassy website.

"The security situation in Lebanon is volatile and unpredictable. Air strikes, drones and rocket attacks occur throughout the country, especially in the south, the Beqaa, and parts of Beirut," the security alert also said.

"If you are in the country, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial flight options remain available," it added.

It did not identify any specific institutions, but it comes days after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to target US universities in the Middle East, claiming that US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.

Lebanon is home to the American University of Beirut, one of the most prominent US institutions in the region, whose campus and hospital are in central Beirut.

The Israeli military has been blasting sites in Beirut and southern Lebanon known to house assets of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, deemed a terrorist organization by the United States.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on April 4 on a revised resolution aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as global powers remain divided over how far to go in confronting Iran’s blockade of the critical waterway.

The latest draft, put forward by Bahrain, has reportedly been scaled back after opposition from veto-wielding members China, Russia, and France, who objected to earlier language that would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” to secure the waterway. That led to a delay in holding the vote, which was originally scheduled for April 3.

The Associated Press reported that a revised version of the text now allows only for “defensive measures” to ensure safe passage through the strait and adjacent waters, marking a compromise aimed at avoiding a veto while still enabling some form of coordinated response.

The vote comes at a pivotal moment in the war that began with joint US-Israeli strikes in late February, with Iran’s effective closure of the strait roiling global energy markets and sparking longer-term fears of fallout from blocked fertilizer and supply chain shipments.

China has remained publicly opposed to any resolution that could legitimize the use of force, with Fu Cong, Beijing ambassador to the UN, saying that "any such authorization would inevitably lead to further escalation and serious consequences" as he urged members to prioritize a political settlement.

Read more here.

A citizen of Egypt ⁠was killed ‌and four people suffered minor ⁠injuries after debris from an intercepted Iranian missile fell on Abu ⁠Dhabi's Habshan ‌gas facilities on April 3, the emirate's media office reported.

The Egyptian was killed during ‌the evacuation of the site, the office said. Four others -- two Egyptians and two Pakistanis -- sustained minor injuries, it added.

"Significant damage ⁠has occurred ‌at the facilities and an assessment is ongoing," it said.

With reporting by Reuters

Earlier, authorities in Abu Dhabi -- a part of the United Arab Emirates -- said 12 people were injured by falling debris in the Ajban area. The injured were Nepalese and Indian nationals, authorities said.

Tehran has targeted US Gulf Arab allies in retaliation for the US-Israeli air strikes against Iran that began on February 28.

Italian ⁠Prime ‌Minister Giorgia Meloni has flown to Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced trip that will also include ⁠meetings with officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, a government official said on April 3.

Meloni's two-day visit is aimed at showing support for Gulf partners that are in the Iranian line of fire and to protect Italy's own energy ⁠supplies, the official said.

Italy is highly dependent on energy imports and has been struck by rising energy prices.

Reuters reported that before ‌the war, about 10 percent of Italy's total gas consumption was covered by Qatari liquefied natural gas and that Middle East oil accounted for 12 percent of Italy's total oil imports last year.

It wasn't immediately clear if Meloni would visit Qatar and the UAE or meet with officials while in Saudi Arabia.

It ‌is the first trip by a European Union leader to Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their air campaign against Iran at the end of February.

Tehran has retaliated for the air strikes by launching missile a drone attacks against Israel and most Gulf Arab states.

France has demanded that Iran release prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested on April 1 at her residence in Tehran.

"France calls for the immediate release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and all those arbitrarily detained in Iran," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Mehraveh Khandan, the attorney's daughter who is living outside Iran, said security forces also confiscated Sotoudeh's personal electronic devices, including her mobile phone and laptop.

Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband, has been in prison since December 2024.

Sotoudeh, who won awards including the 2012 Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament and the 2020 Right Livelihood award, has been arrested several times since 2010.

She has campaigned for a variety of human rights-related issues in the repressive state, including working to prevent the execution of people convicted of crimes committed while minors.

Her detention has included periods of solitary confinement, highlighting the challenges faced by human rights defenders in Iran. Tehran has further cracked down on dissent during its current war with the United States and Israel.

"This arrest is yet another illustration of the Iranian regime's systematic policy of persecuting and intimidating human rights defenders, which must stop," the French ministry spokesman said.

Britain is deploying its air defense system to Kuwait, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office announced on April 3, following an overnight Iranian drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil ‌facility.

Starmer discussed the deployment of the UK’s Rapid Sentry air defense system to the Gulf country, during a call with the crown prince of Kuwait. The conversation occurred just hours after a drone attack hit the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the most important in Kuwait and the wider region.

According to a press release from Starmer's office, the Rapid Sentry system, which is designed primarily to shoot down drones and other low-flying aerial threats, will protect Kuwaiti and British personnel and interests in the region.

The British prime minister condemned the "reckless" overnight drone attack on the Kuwaiti oil refinery and reiterated that the UK stands with Kuwait and all its allies in the Gulf.