Iran leadership 'gone and US winning in conflict,' Trump says

The One Free Press Coalition on Friday named imprisoned Iranian journalist Reza Valizadeh as the world’s most urgent press freedom case ahead of World Press Freedom Day.

Valizadeh, a former Radio Farda correspondent traveled to Iran in November 2022 after leaving the outlet to visit his family. He was arrested in October 2024 and remained in prison since.

The coalition’s annual “10 Most Urgent” list names journalists detained or threatened worldwide, many of whom face security-related or anti-state charges.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday the United States has “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz and that the blockade on Iran will remain in place until freedom of navigation is restored.

“The BLOCKADE will continue, until there is pre-February 27 Freedom of Navigation,” Bessent wrote on X.

In the post, Bessent mocked Iranian leaders as “rats in a sewer pipe,” saying they were unable to understand “what’s going on in the outside world as they literally sit in the dark.”

He said Iran was facing a shortage of hard currency, including US dollars, as well as food and gasoline rationing.

“The entire international community has turned against you,” Bessent added.

The Narges Foundation said in a statement Mohammadi was moved by ambulance to a local hospital in Zanjan in northwestern Iran after prison doctors concluded her condition could no longer be managed inside the prison.

She was admitted to the coronary care unit, according to her lawyer Mostafa Nili.

Nili said Mohammadi had experienced extreme blood pressure fluctuations, acute chest pain and repeated episodes of severe distress in recent days. He said she first fainted after a sudden drop in blood pressure and was given IV fluids and anti-nausea medication in the prison clinic.

After emergency services arrived, Mohammadi initially declined transfer to a Zanjan hospital, citing warnings from two cardiologists that her history of three angiographies and stent placement made treatment in Zanjan dangerous and required care by her own medical team, Nili said.

A few hours later, she lost consciousness again. A neurologist then ordered urgent hospitalization, saying her neurological condition had become the immediate clinical priority despite her serious cardiac issues.

The foundation said Mohammadi’s family had sought proper medical care for weeks and described the hospital transfer as a “last-minute” step that may have come too late.

It said specialists had recommended her transfer to Pars Hospital in Tehran, where her own medical team could treat her.

According to the foundation, Zanjan’s forensic medical commission had already recommended a one-month suspension of her sentence for medical treatment, but prosecutors made it contingent on approval from Tehran.

Mohammadi was re-arrested on December 12, 2025, and sentenced on February 8, 2026, to an additional seven and a half years in prison, bringing her cumulative sentence to more than 18 years.

The report said Iran’s proposal softens some of Tehran’s earlier conditions for resuming negotiations, including by dropping its demand for an upfront end to the US blockade of Iranian ports before talks begin.

Instead, Iran is offering to discuss conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz at the same time as US guarantees to end attacks and unwind the blockade, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the proposal.

Under the new plan, the nuclear file would be discussed later in exchange for US sanctions relief, according to the Journal. The missile program is still not included in the reported sequencing.

Iran has indicated to mediators that it would be ready to sit down for talks in Pakistan by early next week if Washington is open to the new proposal, the Journal reported.

In letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, Trump argued that the fighting had ended because the United States and Iran have observed a ceasefire since April 7.

“On April 7, 2026, I ordered a 2-week ceasefire. The ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026 have terminated,” Trump wrote.

The letters put in writing a claim War Secretary Pete Hegseth made during a Senate hearing on Thursday, as lawmakers questioned whether the administration must seek congressional approval under war powers rules.

Trump said the threat Iran poses to the United States and its military “remains significant,” but added that he would continue to direct US forces “consistent with my responsibilities and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations” as president and commander in chief.