https://www.rferl.org/z/651 RFE/RL journalists report the news in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We broadcast in 27 languages to 22 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia. https://www.rferl.org/Content/responsive/RFE/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.rferl.org/z/651 en Copyright 2026 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 04:45:30 +0200 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL RFE/RL spoke with Max Meizlish, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former official at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, on the intersection of naval blockades and financial warfare as Washington halts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. https://www.rferl.org/a/33731428.html https://www.rferl.org/a/33731428.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:32:28 +0200 IranFeatures A US blockade on ships entering Iranian ports and coastal areas has taken effect, following failed peace talks between the US and Iran. And it already poses a dilemma: risk attack from Iranian assets near the Strait of Hormuz or hold back and hope to catch vessels breaking out into the open seas. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-naval-blockade-iran/33731316.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-naval-blockade-iran/33731316.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:02:17 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories After nearly six weeks of war, air strikes on Iran have paused, but uncertainty remains. As they brace for what may come next, Tehran residents describe anxiety on the streets of the Iranian capital amid rising prices, job losses, and an ongoing Internet blackout. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-ceasefire-after-war-residents-fear-future/33731253.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-ceasefire-after-war-residents-fear-future/33731253.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:26:32 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Headline Mahmood Shah Habibi’s daughter hasn’t seen her father since she was 11 months old. That was in 2022, when the American was abducted in Kabul and detained by the Taliban’s intelligence agency, US officials say. “We have had no news of his fate for four years,” his mother told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-american-detained-family-search-taliban/33729615.html https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-american-detained-family-search-taliban/33729615.html Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:21:11 +0200 AfghanistanFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Marathon talks aimed at halting the war in Iran ended without a breakthrough, as US Vice President JD Vance flew back to the United States amid major questions what comes next for the 43-day-old conflict. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-vance-iran-peace-talks-pakistan/33730441.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-vance-iran-peace-talks-pakistan/33730441.html Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:14:54 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown HeadlineMiddle East After nearly two years of frozen ties, Washington and Tbilisi are talking again. But the sudden outreach appears driven less by a strategic reset than by competing pressures over trade corridors, China’s growing footprint, and shifting regional priorities, analysts say. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-georgia-black-sea-iran-trump-trade/33727854.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-georgia-black-sea-iran-trump-trade/33727854.html Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:32:21 +0200 GeorgiaFeaturesIranThe Rundown Stories David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Affairs, told Current Time that all options are on the table for President Donald Trump as the US and Iran remain "very far" apart as they head into negotiations in Pakistan. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-cease-fire-negotiations-war/33729595.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-cease-fire-negotiations-war/33729595.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:33:44 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Sailors who survived the 1980s tanker war in the Persian Gulf in which scores of merchant sailors were killed say the current crisis over the Strait of Hormuz risks a descent into another all-out maritime conflict. https://www.rferl.org/a/tanker-war-1980s-survivors-hormuz-strait-iran-us/33729502.html https://www.rferl.org/a/tanker-war-1980s-survivors-hormuz-strait-iran-us/33729502.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:17:16 +0200 IranFeaturesPicks Iran wants any peace deal to include a right for it to collect fees from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. With around 130 ships crossing the strait every day before the war, the toll would be a windfall for Iran. But would it be legal? https://www.rferl.org/a/strait-of-hormuz-tolls-legal-un-law-of-sea/33728583.html https://www.rferl.org/a/strait-of-hormuz-tolls-legal-un-law-of-sea/33728583.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:31:34 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Hungarians vote in elections on April 12 as war rages in neighboring Ukraine and the government’s relationship with Russia is under intense scrutiny. Polls suggest that after 16 years in office, Prime Minister Viktor Orban may lose power to opposition leader Peter Magyar. https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-election-orban-magyar-opposition/33729297.html https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-election-orban-magyar-opposition/33729297.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:13:37 +0200 FeaturesRussiaUkraineHungaryThe Rundown Stories 19 activists in Kazakhstan who organized a protest against China's mass internment camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang are expected to receive their sentencing from a Kazakh court next week. The decision will be a signal of China's growing influence in the Central Asia country. https://www.rferl.org/a/china-kazakhstan-xinjiang-trial-central-asia-atajurt/33729266.html https://www.rferl.org/a/china-kazakhstan-xinjiang-trial-central-asia-atajurt/33729266.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:09:41 +0200 ChinaFeaturesKazakhstanChina In EurasiaThe Rundown Stories RFE/RL spoke with Allison Minor, director of the Atlantic Council’s Project for Middle East Integration, about the shaky US-Iran cease-fire and what could come next for the war and the region. https://www.rferl.org/a/allison-minor-cease-fire-iran-lebanon-hormuz/33728780.html https://www.rferl.org/a/allison-minor-cease-fire-iran-lebanon-hormuz/33728780.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:04:05 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Amid reports Iran and the US are considering charging vessels a “toll” to transit the Strait of Hormuz, maritime insiders says such a move could backfire if other countries decide to charge ships for passing through natural maritime chokepoints. https://www.rferl.org/a/strait-of-hormuz-tolls-maritime-law/33727801.html https://www.rferl.org/a/strait-of-hormuz-tolls-maritime-law/33727801.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:57:12 +0200 FeaturesIranPicksThe Rundown Stories Veteran ambassador Joey Hood, a career diplomat who has served with a focus on the Middle East under multiple US administrations, says the US and Iran have each drawn stark lessons from the violent new chapter in decades of hostility. https://www.rferl.org/a/joey-hood-iran-war-lessons/33727903.html https://www.rferl.org/a/joey-hood-iran-war-lessons/33727903.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:44:05 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories The drop does not signal a political crisis for Putin. But Kremlin officials are sensitive to shifts in public opinion, and the current trend is being scrutinizing internally by the officials charged with managing Russia’s political system. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-approval-ratings-popularity-falling-war-politics/33727746.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-approval-ratings-popularity-falling-war-politics/33727746.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:05:00 +0200 FeaturesRussiaUkraineRussia Invades Ukraine A cease-fire has paused the Iran war but the contradictions are already multiplying. Who foots the bill for Iran’s Hormuz toll? What did Iran and the United States actually agree to on enrichment? And does the deal even cover Lebanon? https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-war-ceasefire-what-know/33727669.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-war-ceasefire-what-know/33727669.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:14:04 +0200 IranNewsFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Pakistan appears to have achieved a significant diplomatic breakthrough by playing a proactive role in brokering a 14-day cease-fire and setting the stage for the US-Iran talks in Islamabad on February 10. https://www.rferl.org/a/how-pakistan-bolstered-its-diplomatic-image-by-brokering-a-cease-fire/33727687.html https://www.rferl.org/a/how-pakistan-bolstered-its-diplomatic-image-by-brokering-a-cease-fire/33727687.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:48:04 +0200 FeaturesNewsIranPakistanThe Rundown Headline The West “must keep Ukraine as a priority” and increase pressure on Russia amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, which is drawing attention away from Europe’s deadliest conflict since 1945, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told RFE/RL. He also said the Iran war “is now also a NATO topic.” https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-ukraine-russia-nato-tsahkna-security/33726914.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-ukraine-russia-nato-tsahkna-security/33726914.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:57:24 +0200 IranFeaturesRussiaUkraineRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown Stories Former White House Iran adviser Nate Swanson warns that US threats of rapid strikes are largely psychological and unlikely to shift Tehran’s calculus, as tensions rise over the Strait of Hormuz and prospects for a near-term deal remain slim. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-iran-deadline-trump-threats-nsc-swanson-analysis/33726573.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-iran-deadline-trump-threats-nsc-swanson-analysis/33726573.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:02:49 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown StoriesMiddle East Days after the film ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ Won an Oscar for best documentary, a Russian court banned it, and prosecutors labeled its director a “foreign agent.” What does he think about it? “You couldn’t dream up a better advertising campaign." https://www.rferl.org/a/pavel-talankin-mr-nobody-film-putin-interview/33723253.html https://www.rferl.org/a/pavel-talankin-mr-nobody-film-putin-interview/33723253.html Sat, 04 Apr 2026 11:32:21 +0200 FeaturesRussiaUkraineRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown Headline