Iran lawmaker says 205,000 seek unemployment benefits since war began

Iran executed Abdoljalil Shahbakhsh on Tuesday on accusations of armed rebellion through attacks on police sites and membership in a militant group in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the judiciary’s Mizan News reported.

The report said Shahbakhsh had been arrested during what it described as counterterrorism operations in eastern Iran.

The judiciary-linked outlet claimed he had left Iran illegally about six years ago to receive military training in a neighboring country.

The US Department of Energy announced the release of 53.3 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to loan energy firms, part of efforts to stabilize prices amid the Iran war.

The release is part of a broader US commitment to add 172 million barrels to the global market.

That pledge was announced in March under an International Energy Agency initiative involving more than 30 countries, aimed at adding about 400 million barrels of oil to the global market.

Pakistan on Tuesday rejected a CBS News report about Iranian aircraft in the country, calling it “misleading and sensationalized.”

CBS News reported earlier that Pakistan allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from American airstrikes, while serving as a diplomatic conduit between Tehran and Washington.

“Pakistan categorically rejects the CBS News report regarding the presence of Iranian aircraft at Nur Khan Airbase as misleading and sensationalized. Such speculative narratives appear aimed at undermining ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added that Iranian and US aircraft had arrived in the country after the ceasefire and during the initial round of Islamabad talks to support the movement of diplomatic personnel, security teams and administrative staff.

The ministry said Iranian aircraft currently parked in Pakistan arrived during the ceasefire period and had “no linkage whatsoever” to any military contingency or preservation arrangement.

Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on seven Iranian individuals and four entities on Tuesday over “the regime’s ongoing brutal oppression of its people and destabilization of the region.”

The Australian government said those sanctioned included officials and entities involved in violence against women and children, mass arrests, torture, forced confessions, internet restrictions and the wrongful detention of foreign nationals.

“In January, the Iranian regime massacred thousands of its own citizens and carried out mass arrests of peaceful protesters, torturing detainees, subjecting them to forced confessions and preventing them from communicating with loved ones,” the government said in a statement.

The sanctions also targeted Iran’s shadow banking system that “allow it to fund terrorist proxies such as Hamas, support its ballistic missile program, and other destabilizing actions.”

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Talks between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz ahead of a major international defense meeting on protecting shipping through the waterway, according to the US State Department.

The discussions come as around 40 defense ministers are expected to meet later Tuesday to discuss future security arrangements for the strait following the end of the war.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin are set to co-chair the session, where coalition partners are expected to outline potential military contributions to a future defensive maritime mission aimed at safeguarding commercial shipping.