Trump Urges Iran To Free 8 Women, Says It Would Be A ‘Good Start’ For Talks
US President Donald Trump has called on Iran to release eight women whom a US-based activist claimed the Iranian regime is “preparing to hang” -- an assertion that could not immediately be verified and was denied by an Iranian media outlet.
“To the Iranian leaders, who will soon be in negotiations with my representatives: I would be very grateful if these women are released, Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on April 21.
“I am sure they will appreciate this action of yours,” Trump added. “Please do not harm them! This could be a very good start for our negotiations!!!"
The post came with prospects for a second round of US-Iran talks in Islamabad uncertain amid a two-week cease-fire that Trump has said will expire late on April 22.
Trump’s post included an X post from earlier in the day in which pro-Israel activist Eyal Yakoby wrote that Iran “is preparing to hang eight women.”
Yakoby’s post featured photographs of eight girls and women.
It did not name them, but RFE/RL’s Radio Farda has determined that they are Bita Hemmati, Ghazal Ghalandari, Golnaz Naraghi, Panah Movahedi, Ensieh Nejati, Mahboubeh Shabani, Venus Hosseinnejad, and Diana Taherabadi.
Rights groups have said that Hemmati has been sentenced to death in connection with mass demonstrations in January.
The Iran-focused human rights group Hengaw said earlier this month that Shabani, who is 33 and was also detained during the protests, faces a charge of “waging war against God,” which "can result in the death penalty."
RFE/RL could not immediately confirm the status of the others and whether any of them have been sentenced to death.
Iran’s Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, reported that “a number of them have been released, some are facing charges that, if confirmed by the court, will ultimately result in imprisonment, and finally, none of these individuals has a definitive sentence that would put them at risk of execution."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior US officials said releasing the women was not a precondition for talks but that the US believes it would be a constructive gesture to help set the stage for genuine discussions.
Trump said on April 21 that he does not want to extend the cease-fire, which has halted most hostilities in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28.
With reporting by RFE/RL Washington correspondent Alex Raufoglu
Pakistan Says It Is Still Waiting For Iranian Response On Attending Peace Talks
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says Islamabad is still awaiting a “formal response” from Iran confirming attendance at peace talks with the US, which Pakistan is mediating, while remaining in “constant touch” with Tehran.
Tarar said in an X post on April 21 that the cease-fire ends at 4:50 a.m. Pakistan Standard Time on April 22 (7:50 p.m. US Eastern Standard Time on April 21) and that Iran’s decision was “critical.”
Iranian state TV later said the cease-fire would expire at 3:30 a.m. Tehran time on April 22 (8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 21), according to AFP.
US President Donald Trump has indicated that the cease-fire will end on April 22 and that he does not want to extend it.
Iran Condemns UAE Arrest Of Alleged Tehran-Linked Suspects
Iran has condemned the United Arab Emirate’s arrest of alleged Iran-linked suspects accused by Abu Dhabi of plotting terrorist acts.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the detentions had been carried out on “baseless pretexts” and he urged the UAE to respect detainees’ rights and avoid retaliation.
UAE authorities said those being held had sought to recruit Emiratis and channel funds to suspicious foreign entities.
The dispute reflects worsening Iran-UAE relations since regional conflict conflict in the Middle East began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Iran accuses Persian Gulf states of aiding US attacks, claims they deny, while Gulf governments have been intensifying crackdowns on cells with alleged links to Iran and Hezbollah -- an Tehran-backed militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon and which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing.
With reporting by AFP
Trump Says He Does Not Want To Extend Cease-Fire
- By RFE/RL
US President Donald Trump said he does not want to extend a temporary cease-fire with Iran, which is due to expire on April 22, as Washington waits to see if talks with Tehran will proceed.
Speaking in a live phone interview with CNBC on April 21, Trump said the United States was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a "great deal" when the two sides finally meet.
Talks were expected to be held on April 21 but Iran has yet to say officially it would participate. US Vice President JD Vance is said to be ready to depart Washington "soon," according to officials, though there was no exact timing for his departure. When asked by CNBC if he would extend the current two-week cease-fire that is about to end, Trump said: "I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time."
He also warned that "I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with."
Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator in the peace process, urged both the United States and Iran to extend their truce, but reports from several media outlets say Tehran is weighing its options while waiting to see if its conditions, including an end to the US military's blockade of Iranian ports, and a recognition of its right to enrich uranium, would be met.
Read more here.
US Seizes Another Ship For Carrying 'Material Support' To Iran
The US Department of Defense announced that its military forces had boarded a sanctioned ship called the M/T Tifani without incident in South Asian waters on the night of April 20.
"We will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran -- anywhere they operate," the Pentagon statement said. "International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels," it added, saying the defense department "will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain."
Along with this statement, the US Department of Defense released images of military helicopters flying over an oil tanker and military helicopters landing onboard.
This is the second ship the United States has seized and taken control of since imposing a naval blockade on Iran on April 19.
The Islamic republic has called the naval blockade and ship seizure a "violation of the cease-fire."
UN Maritime Agency Urges Support For Sailors Stranded By Hormuz Crisis
Arsenio Dominguez, head of the United Nations' maritime agency, warned on April 21 of the plight of thousands of sailors stranded due to the severe disruption in the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) reported that around 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships are stranded after shipping was disrupted in the strategic waterway, through which around one-fifth of the world's crude and liquefied natural gas normally transits.
Addressing a maritime conference in Singapore on April 21, Dominguez said stranded sailors are suffering from stress and fatigue.
"We need to know everything that they're going through," he said, urging shipping companies to find a way to provide mental health and other support to the stranded crews.
He said some countries have set up helplines for sailors, while others have been providing them with provisions.
Shipping remains mostly blocked in the strait as the United States and Iran both warned they were ready for war, as the deadline on a cease-fire was set to expire on April 22.
With reporting by AFP
More than 3,600 Arrested In Iran Since War Began, Says Rights Group
The Iran Human Rights Organization (IHRNGO) has reported widespread arrests of Iranian citizens during the war with the United States and Israel, stating that at least 3,646 people have been arrested across the country since the start of the conflict.
According to the Norway-based human rights organization, "Since the start of the war on 28 February, Islamic Republic authorities have announced the arrests of over 2,000 people."
According to this report, at least 767 of these arrests occurred after a temporary cease-fire began between Iran and the United States on April 8, and among those arrested are at least 111 civil and political activists, including human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh.
The report also notes that in many cases, the status and location of detainees remain unclear and families are unaware of their fate. This echoes broader concerns from rights groups about enforced disappearances during wartime repression.
"IHRNGO expresses deep concern regarding the safety of detainees under wartime conditions and warns of a further intensification of repression in the coming weeks," the organization said.
The report also states that, given the widespread Internet outage, the actual number of arrests could be higher.
According to the report, the highest number of verified arrests was reported in the provinces of West Azerbaijan with 25 cases, Tehran with 17 cases, and Kurdistan with 15 cases, respectively.
Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, director of IHRNGO, stated: "The widespread wave of arrests in recent weeks, particularly the detention of civil activists during wartime, once again demonstrates that the Islamic republic views the Iranian people as the primary threat to its survival."
He has also previously emphasized that "the immediate release of all political, civil society, and human rights activists …should be one of the main conditions of any agreement with the Islamic republic."
Grossi: No Iran-US Agreement Can Succeed Without IAEA Role
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said any potential agreement signed by Iran and the United States will not be successful without the involvement of the UN nuclear watchdog.
"Without verification, any agreement is not an agreement, but rather an illusion of agreement or a promise that you don't know whether it will be kept," Grossi said in an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph.
Stating that the IAEA knows Iran's nuclear facilities "very well," he added: "We are the only ones who can guarantee absolute impartiality in our work."
Regarding a possible US–Iran agreement, Grossi said it could involve "diluting some of Iran's enriched uranium and sending the rest to a third country."
He also described any potential US operation to enter Iran and collect remaining uranium as highly complex.
"I don't doubt for a moment that the United States has the military capabilities to do this, but I'm just saying that it's a very delicate thing to manage, to master, to maneuver," he said.
US President Donald Trump has recently spoken about US forces removing "nuclear dust" from Iran, saying such an operation could be carried out in cooperation with the Iranian government.
Since the bombing of nuclear facilities during the 12-day war between in Israel and Iran in July 2025, Iran has restricted full access for IAEA inspectors and reduced cooperation with the watchdog.
Grossi also warned that ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East could spark a broader nuclear arms race involving up to 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Poland, Turkey, South Korea, and Japan.
"There's talk of friendly proliferation," he said. "All of this worries me because I believe a world with 20 nuclear-armed states would be very dangerous."
Seized Iranian Ship May Have Had Dual-Use Cargo
The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was seized by US forces on April 19, was likely carrying items Washington considers dual-use, meaning goods with possible civilian and military applications, maritime security sources told Reuters on April 20.
The vessel, part of the sanctioned company Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), was boarded off Iran's Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command said the crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over six hours and that the vessel was violating a US maritime blockade.
Sources said initial assessments suggested the ship was carrying dual-use cargo after a voyage from Asia. They did not specify the items involved. One source said the vessel had previously transported similar goods.
Qalibaf Says Iran Has 'New Cards' In War With US, Israel
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who is also Iran's lead negotiator, said that Iran is "prepared to reveal new cards" in the war with the United States and Israel.
"[US President Donald] Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table -- in his own imagination -- into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering," Qalibaf wrote on X late on April 20.
"We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield," he added.