Iran foreign minister to visit China - state media

Counter Terrorism Policing London is investigating an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London, police said.

Officers were called early on Tuesday after a fire at a building in Tower Hamlets. Damage was limited to a gate and lock, and no injuries were reported.

Police said initial CCTV indicated the fire was started deliberately and are treating the case as arson. No arrests have been made.

“This incident follows a number of arsons and attempted arsons targeting Jewish Londoners,” said Helen Flanagan, adding investigators are examining possible links.

Authorities said patrols would increase in the area as inquiries continue.

Iranian security forces arrested a doctor and an anesthesia nurse from a hospital in Najafabad, in central Iran, on Saturday on security-related charges, Iran International has learned.

The arrests of Dr. Pedram Hadipour and nurse Sobhan Nourian took place at the Montazeri Hospital in Najafabad. The specific nature of the security charges against the medical professionals was not immediately disclosed.

The arrests follow the circulation of graphic footage from the same hospital following protests on Jan. 8 and 9. Those images showed the bloodied bodies of dozens of casualties in various sections of the medical facility.

Islamic Revolutionary Guards arrested a man accused of attacking a checkpoint with a vehicle in Iran’s western province of Lorestan, the IRGC commander in Chegeni said on Tuesday.

The commander said the incident happened on April 30 at the entrance to Sarab-e Dowreh and wounded a member of Basij forces at the checkpoint.

He said the suspect was handed over to judicial authorities.

Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 67th day, deepening concerns over access to information during the war, internet monitor NetBlocks said.

“The internet blackout in Iran is now entering its 67th day… a near-total isolation from international networks,” NetBlocks said.

The group added that the shutdown “casts a veil of silence around the growing number of reported executions, denying victims visibility, accountability, and the basic right to be heard.”

Iran has faced one of the longest nationwide internet disruptions on record, with connectivity in some periods dropping to near-zero levels, severely limiting communication and independent reporting.

Iraq is offering steep discounts on crude for May loading, but buyers face the risk of sending tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as hostilities escalate in the region, Bloomberg News reported, citing a notice from state oil marketer State Organization for Marketing of Oil.

SOMO is offering discounts of up to $33.40 a barrel on Basrah Medium crude, with cargoes loading May 1-10 priced at that level and narrowing to $26 later in the month, while Basrah Heavy is offered at $30 below official prices, the May 3 document seen by Bloomberg showed.

The notice said “force majeure shall not be applicable to this offer, given that it has been issued under existing exceptional conditions already known to all parties.”

The Strait of Hormuz has been largely impassable since fighting began in late February, and renewed US-Iran violence has raised doubts over a four-week truce, Bloomberg said, adding that loadings at Basrah fell sharply in April as tankers struggled to enter the Persian Gulf.