For now, links to EIGHT reports, analyses and commentaries: from or via Middle East Monitor, the Associated Press, the Cradle, Reuters, and Middle East Eye; other published material is accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for IRAN 4-28-26 and today’s GAZA, LEBANON and MEDIA so far.) — MCM

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Trump tells aides to prepare for extended blockade of Iran: WSJ. From Middle East Monitor. Citing U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal report said that in recent meetings, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from the Cradle.

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Iran’s currency hits record low as ceasefire holds, by Amir Vahdat | AP  TEHRAN — Iran’s national rial currency hit a record low today of 1.8 million to the dollar as a shaky ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel holds. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same report in Spanish.  Click HERE for report from the Cradle. 

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Iran’s Guards seize wartime power, weakening Supreme Leader’s role, by Samia Nakhoul, Parisa Hafezi and Asif Shahzad | Reuters  DUBAI — Two months into a war with the U.S. and Israel, Iran no longer has a single, undisputed clerical arbiter at the pinnacle of power — an abrupt break with the past that may be hardening Tehran’s stance as it weighs renewed talks with Washington. READ MORE . . .

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Report: 52 Iranian ships breach U.S. blockade within 72 hours. From Middle East Monitor. Iran’s Fars News Agency cited satellite tracking data covering the three days leading up to 10 p.m. local time on Monday, saying the vessels included 31 oil tankers and 21 cargo ships. READ MORE . . .

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How St. Petersburg became Tehran’s last strategic lifeline, by Jannus TH Siahaan | Middle East Monitor  The Iran crisis of 2026 has become a high-stakes geopolitical marketplace where sovereignty is collateral, alliances are transactional, and survival depends less on ideology than on access to patrons with leverage. READ MORE . . .

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FROM APRIL 28  Trump’s threats to steal Iran’s oil continue a long history of U.S. pillage, by Joseph Massad | Middle East Eye  The U.S. pillage of Third World resources is hardly a new development. It has continued U.S. imperialist policies since the Second World War, and long predates it in the case of U.S. theft of Latin America‘s resources, let alone . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED