IMO says no safe passage through Hormuz amid volatility

Britain said on Tuesday that a new law to crack down on proxies acting for hostile states such as Iran is expected to come into force next month.

The law would target state-linked organizations accused of paying criminal groups or low-level offenders to carry out activities such as surveillance and sabotage.

The legislation would make it illegal to express support for designated proxies or take money from them, with prison terms of up to 14 years.

"Where foreign states are found to be engaging in activity that threatens lives or undermines our democratic institutions, we must ensure that such actions have consequences," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "We will not tolerate hostile actors paying petty criminals to do their dirty work."

Britain has accused China and Russia, as well as Iran, of using proxies.

MI5 has warned that state-threat investigations rose 35% last year, including 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots.

Many British lawmakers have called for Iran's Revolutionary Guards to be banned, but there was no indication whether the force would be included under the new legislation.

An Iranian official on Tuesday blasted an IAEA resolution drafted by the United States and three European countries as an attempt to shift blame for attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities onto the Islamic Republic itself.

"This is a reversal of responsibility," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X, accusing the US and Israel of attacking safeguarded nuclear facilities, disrupting verification and now using the Board of Governors to pressure Iran.

"The Board of Governors should not become a venue for whitewashing military aggression and shifting its costs onto the victim country," he added.

Three Iranian filmmakers and an actor have been summoned to the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office over comments about the January 2026 protests and on charges of “collaboration with hostile states against the Islamic Republic,” the Emtedad news website reported.

The artists named in the report are Tahmineh Milani, a writer and director; Mohsen Amiryousefi, a director and vice president of the Iranian House of Cinema; Mostafa Kiayee, a director and producer; and Mohsen Kiayee, an actor.

Emtedad said several other filmmakers, including Houman Seyyedi and Saeed Roustayi, had previously been summoned to the same prosecutor’s office.

Iran’s judiciary later rejected Emtedad’s report, saying no filmmaker has been summoned since March.

Israel is prepared to return to fighting in Iran and deliver a harder strike, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Tuesday.

“The Iranian attempt to dictate equations and change reality will fail,” Zamir said. “We will continue to operate and deepen the damage to the Hezbollah terror organization and defend the northern communities.”

“The IDF maintained and continues to maintain immediate readiness and preparedness for a return to fighting in Iran,” he added.

Zamir said Israel had intercepted threats launched at it and struck Iran “quickly and forcefully,” adding that the strike was “preparation for a much more significant and severe blow.”

“We are prepared to return and deliver another hard and deep strike against Iran,” he said.

Britain wants ongoing US-Iran talks to produce a swift agreement that fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz without tolls or charges, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament on Tuesday.

"We want to see a swift and successful conclusion to the ongoing talks between the US and Iran," Cooper said. "We need an agreement that gets the Strait fully open with no tolls or charges."

"Every country has a stake in freedom of navigation," she said, adding that Britain, "in partnership with France and other countries," stood ready "to support demining and provide reassurance to shipping through a multilateral maritime mission" once an agreement is reached.

Cooper called for urgent de-escalation between Iran and Israel, saying a return to conflict was in no one's interest.

She said she spoke to Iran's foreign minister on Sunday evening to convey the message directly, adding: "Both Israel and Iran have indicated that they have ended their strikes and that is welcome."

"It's vital that we have a diplomatic way forward, both to end the conflict in Lebanon, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, to restore regional stability and prevent Iran ever developing or obtaining a nuclear weapon," she said.