For now, links to EIGHT reports, analyses and commentaries: from or via the Associated Press, National Public Radio, the Cradle, Reuters, and Middle East Eye; headlines of others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials as highlighted. (Scroll down for IRAN 4-22-26. Scroll up for today’s GAZA and LEBANON so far.) — MCM
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Peace talks between U.S. and Iran at a standstill as Trump extends ceasefire. Reported by Jane Arraf and Michel Martin | NPR President Trump has extended the ceasefire, but Iran says it’s not enough if the naval blockade is still in place. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Over two-thirds of U.S.-Israeli targets in Tahran ‘not linked to military’: report. From the Cradle. Only about one-third of the infrastructure destroyed in Iran’s capital during the U.S.-Israeli war was military-linked, Bloomberg revealed on Tuesday in an analysis of the damage caused by Washington and Tel Aviv. READ MORE . . .
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Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab: Iran turns maritime choke points into leverage, by Abbas al-Zein | The Cradle The announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz — specifically targeting Iranian ports and vessels entering and leaving them — pushes the confrontation with Tehran into a new phase, effectively layering a U.S. naval blockade over a waterway Iran is already controlling. READ MORE . . .
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U.S. military says it seizes another oil tanker associated with Iran, by Jon Gambrell and David Rising | AP DUBAI — The U.S. Defense Department said today it seized the tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean associated with smuggling Iranian oil. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.
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FROM APRIL 22 U.S. intercepts three Iranian oil tankers in Asian waters, sources say. From Reuters. LONDON / NEW DELHI — The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday. READ MORE . . .
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What the Iran-Iraq war taught today’s Iranian leader — and why it matters, by a Middle East Eye correspondent. The war begun by Iraq in 1980 lasted nearly eight years and killed more than a million people. Beyond the vast destruction, it helped shape the Islamic Republic of Iran into the system it is today. READ MORE . . .
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Iran has a long history of defying bullies. Trump has reaped the whirlwind, by Soumaya Ghannoushi | Middle East Eye The modern history of the Middle East can be read as a single, enduring dialectic: humiliation and the revolutions of dignity it produces. READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED