Live: Israel pounds south Lebanon with air attacks, gunfire
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump met his national security team to discuss Iran's latest proposal to open the Hormuz Strait
Here is the top, trending news of Tuesday, April 28, 2026, including the Iran war, Indian politics, states' politics, geopolitics, federal issues, economics, development issues, sports, entertainment, and so on.
Read updates below.
Live Updates
- 28 April 2026 4:25 PM IST
Iran FM Araghchi heads to Islamabad as US-Iran talks eyed
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is set to land in Islamabad late Friday as Pakistan positions itself for what could become a second round of peace negotiations between Tehran and Washington, Bloomberg reported.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions have not been made public, said a US logistics and security team has already arrived in the Pakistani capital to lay the groundwork. A follow-up round of talks is being considered, though no schedule has been fixed.
Earlier plans had pointed to meetings in Islamabad this week. Those shifted after Donald Trump withdrew plans to dispatch Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, following his decision to extend a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely.
- 28 April 2026 4:24 PM IST
LNG tanker crosses Hormuz for first time since March disruption
A liquefied natural gas carrier has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first such transit since fighting in the Middle East disrupted traffic through the channel in early March, according to Kpler, AFP reported.
The vessel, Mubaraz, run by ADNOC, left the Gulf in April with 132,890 cubic metres of LNG on board. It had taken on the shipment at Das Island in the United Arab Emirates on March 2, the report said.
The ship stopped transmitting its AIS signal toward the end of March for roughly a month, before reappearing off India’s coast on Monday.
- 28 April 2026 4:22 PM IST
Iran-linked tankers reverse course after US interception
Two oil supertankers linked to Iran, intercepted by US forces off Sri Lanka last week, have since altered course in the Indian Ocean, abandoning their westward route and heading back east, according to vessel tracking data.
The Pentagon said its personnel carried out “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” operations on the ships, the Tifani on April 21 and the Phonix on April 23, but did not provide further detail on what followed or the vessels’ current status, reported the Hindustan Times.
The Phonix is also known as the Majestic X.
Tracking signals indicate that after travelling west in close proximity, both tankers reversed course late Monday and began moving eastward.
- 28 April 2026 4:21 PM IST
Iran says US can no longer dictate terms to other nations
Iran’s defence ministry signalled a sharper tone toward Washington as the United States weighs Tehran’s latest offer, with spokesperson Reza Talaei-Nik rejecting any notion of American authority over other states.
Speaking to state television, Talaei-Nik said the United States can no longer “dictate” the actions of sovereign countries. “The US is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations,” he said.
He went further, suggesting a shift would be unavoidable in Washington’s approach. The United States, he added, would “accept that it must abandon its illegal and irrational demands”.
- 28 April 2026 1:10 PM IST
Asian shares fall, oil prices gain as talks stall on ending the Iran war
Shares retreated in Asia and oil prices gained on Tuesday (April 28) as diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war once again appeared to stall.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Much of Asia, including resource-poor Japan, relies on that route for its oil shipments.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 per cent to 59,884.12 after the central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75 per cent.
The Bank of Japan said that while the economy was still growing moderately, it was expected to slow as the war pushes crude oil and other products higher. The vote by its monetary policy board at 6-3 was not unanimous. Pressures have been growing for Japan to gradually raise interest rates after keeping them near or below zero for years to combat deflation.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.7 per cent to 25,751.04, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.2 per cent to 4,078.77.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 per cent to 8,717.80.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June climbed USD 1.11 to USD 109.34. Brent to be delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in the oil market, rose USD 1.08 to USD 102.77 per barrel.
Brent prices were at about USD 70 per barrel before the war and have briefly shot to nearly USD 120. Benchmark US crude added 96 cents to USD 97.33 a barrel.
- 28 April 2026 12:54 PM IST
US appears cold to Iranian proposal to end the war without a nuclear deal
The Trump administration seemed unlikely on Tuesday (April 28) to accept Iran's offer to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade on the country.
The proposal would postpone discussions on Iran's nuclear program, something that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out in a Fox News interview on Monday (April 27).
“We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point,” he said of the proposal, which was delivered to the US by Pakistan.
The White House said US President Donald Trump's national security team discussed the offer and Trump would address it later. The offer emerged on Monday (April 28) as Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Russia, which has long been a key backer of Tehran. It was unclear what, if any, assistance Moscow might offer now.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,521 people in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group resumed two days after the Iran war started.
Another 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Sixteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 US service members in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
- 28 April 2026 12:33 PM IST
Marco Rubio says preventing Iranian nuclear weapons remains 'core issue'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked in a Fox News interview about Iran's latest proposal, which would postpone discussions on its nuclear programme but end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade and ends the war.
“There's no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future, if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.
“That fundamental issue still has to be confronted,” he said. “That remains the core issue here.” Asked if he thinks the Iranians are serious about a deal, Rubio said they are skilled negotiators looking to buy time.
“We can't let them get away with it,” Rubio said. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”
- 28 April 2026 11:54 AM IST
Israel pounds south Lebanon with air attacks, gunfire
Israeli forces were firing heavy machine guns towards the al-Mihniya neighbourhood in the city of Bint Jbeil, south Lebanon on Tuesday (April 28), according to the National News Agency (NNA).
The news agency also reported that Israeli jets had carried out three air attacks against the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya since 6 am local time on Tuesday.
- 28 April 2026 8:44 AM IST
'We welcome Russia’s support for diplomacy': Iran’s FM Araghchi in Moscow
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Moscow on Monday (April 28), said recent events have witnessed to the “depth and strength of our strategic partnership”, and expressed gratitude for Russia’s support for diplomacy.
- 28 April 2026 7:15 AM IST
US, Iran clash over Tehran's nuclear programme as review of atomic treaty begins at UN
The United States and Iran clashed over Tehran's nuclear programme as a review of the treaty meant to prevent the spread of atomic weapons got underway Monday at the United Nations, a confrontation almost certain to be repeated during the monthlong meeting.
At issue was the election of Iran as one of 34 vice presidents of the conference, where 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty are reviewing its implementation as they have done every five years since it took effect in 1970.
Iran was a candidate of what has been dubbed the “nonaligned movement,” made up of 121 mainly developing countries.
Tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme escalated ahead of the Iran war, with President Donald Trump vowing to ensure the country cannot build an atomic weapon.
Iran has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, but Tehran insists its programme is only for civilian purposes.
The meeting began as Iran offered to reopen the Strait if Hormuz if the US lifted its blockade of Iranian shipping and ended the war, while delaying talks about the nuclear programme.
