OPINION — In the fall of 2021, an FBI informant received a chilling offer: $300,000 to assassinate former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. The would-be hitman posed as a drug cartel enforcer. The client? Shahram Poursafi (a.k.a. Mehdi Rezayi) — a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Two years later, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) uncovered an assassination plot targeting a U.S. citizen of Indian origin on U.S. soil. The plot was orchestrated by an Indian government employee who described himself as a “senior field officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence,” and Nikhil Gupta, an international narcotics trafficker. These plots are not just far-fetched terror schemes, nor a mere aberration. They represent a glimpse into a darker playbook: sovereign states outsourcing political violence, intimidation, and destabilization to criminal intermediaries, cloaking their hands in the deniability of the black-market chaos.
The strategic use of criminals in geopolitics is neither novel nor exclusive to autocracies. From mafia boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano’s entanglements with U.S. Naval Intelligence in World War II to the CIA’s notorious dealings with gangsters in attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, history is replete with pragmatic marriages of convenience of this nature. Yet, what distinguishes the current epoch is that these activities that were once peripheral, episodic, and transactional are increasingly becoming strategically normalized and globally diffused.
What we are witnessing is not a moral shift, but a strategic evolution – an expansion of that logic into a more deliberate practice of outsourcing intelligence and covert operations to non-state actors. In the gray zone — the murky space between peace and war — a growing number of states no longer merely tolerate criminal networks. Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) have become covert instruments of statecraft that states are increasingly weaponizing to coerce, disrupt, and compete in the shadows. Far from incidental allies, TCOs now serve as force multipliers and structural scaffolding upon which these states build their gray zone campaigns, reshaping the global security environment. And their reach is expanding.
To be clear, not every act of violence, sabotage, or criminality is orchestrated by a state sponsor. TCOs often pursue their own agendas, operating autonomously, engaging in coercion, trafficking, and destabilization for profit or power. That is their nature. Relationships between states and such actors are neither transparent nor hierarchical, and the true extent of coordination, delegation, or intent is often difficult to trace. Nevertheless, the overarching trend is undeniable.
Associations between the state and TCOs reflect a more profound transformation in the architecture of power projection, namely the criminalization of statecraft. These alliances allow states to project power cheaply, deniably, and – at times – even effectively, while exploiting the legal and political blind spots of open societies. Operations that were once specifically the domain of state security and intelligence services are increasingly outsourced to cartels, traffickers, cybercriminals, transnational gangs, contract killers, and even unwitting useful idiots. Yet, the very deniability that makes these actors valuable also makes them dangerous. As states increasingly rely on TCOs for sensitive operations, they risk being dragged into confrontations they did not script – with actors they do not fully control.
Further muddying the waters is that states like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela are forming strategic alliances with terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis and Hezbollah. Each, like many other militant actors, engages in a spectrum of criminal activities to finance their operations, disrupt adversaries, and advance ideological or strategic goals.
The consequences of these affiliations are profound. The power, access, knowledge, and infrastructure that TCOs may acquire through these arrangements are not something they would willingly relinquish. Additionally, decades of overt and covert wars in theatres throughout Europe and the Middle East have given a host of violent non-state actors a wealth of lessons and insights into Western weapon systems, intelligence, combat capabilities, and operational vulnerabilities, as well as access to illicit underground infrastructure. Across Africa, Wagner-linked mercenaries provide regime protection and access to critical minerals, while Chinese companies secure infrastructure and market dominance. These lessons are likely to spread across shared networks, benefiting actors hostile to Western interests worldwide.
What emerges are the deepening relationships among authoritarian powers, TCOs, mercenaries, and terrorist organizations, exploiting weak governance, and eroding Western influence. While these may not be formal alliances, they represent a loose, resilient architecture of malign cooperation. The long-term corrosion of norms, institutions, and stability stemming from activities orchestrated by states through TCOs can have irreversible, lasting effects, particularly in instances where states have lost or lack control over actors they empower. In other words, once the genie is out of the bottle, putting it back may not be quite so easy. Therefore, understanding — and countering — the strategic use of criminal networks by states in international relations must become a central pillar of 21st-century Western security thinking.
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Friends with Benefits and Their Tools
It would be an error to view the relationship between states and criminal networks solely as a byproduct of weakness, desperation, or decay. For some regimes, it is a deliberate feature of strategic design. The logic is indeed compelling. TCOs offer states global reach, operational flexibility, built-in revenue streams, and – most critically – an arm’s length deniability that insulates governments from direct blame. Whether the goal is to destabilize a rival, evade sanctions, project influence, or obscure state fingerprints from a brazen operation, these alliances provide scalable, adaptable tools of coercion.
The relationships between states and TCOs are neither hierarchical nor transparent. The mechanics vary widely, from deeply embedded alliances to tactical, one-off collaborations. Yet, across cases, the operational means appear to fall into three overlapping categories: logistical enablers, coercive subcontractors, and deniable disruptors. These roles are not static. They evolve in response to shifting geopolitical pressures and the relative strength or weakness of the state and the actor. Understanding these fluid dynamics is essential to grasping their long-term strategic consequence.
Logistical enablers provide the infrastructure for covert actions – they move cash, weapons, people, and information across borders and sanctioned regimes with speed and deniability and pad the black budget. North Korea, isolated by sanctions and global opprobrium, effectively bankrolls its regime through hacking, cyber heists, and smuggling — so much so that U.S. officials have described it as “a criminal syndicate with a flag.” In 2021, for example, the U.S. indicted three North Koreans affiliated with the military intelligence services, specifically the Reconnaissance General Bureau, in cyber-enabled heists on four continents, targeting over $1.2 billion. China-linked triads have been implicated in intimidating dissidents and journalists abroad while simultaneously laundering cartel proceeds through China.
Russian security services have long relied on mafia-linked facilitators to procure illicit goods, smuggle sanctioned materials, and manage dark-money flows through Europe’s financial hubs. In the UK, law enforcement recently disrupted a Russian TCO connecting Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and UK drug gangs laundering money and reportedly channeling funds to Russian intelligence services. In Spain, law enforcement have documented how Russian mafia syndicates with ties to senior Kremlin figures were involved in arms deals, money laundering operations, and property purchases across Europe.
Coercive subcontractors carry out the dirty work and repression. These are not traditional intelligence agents developed and groomed for extended periods, but rather expendable enforcers with local knowledge or operational reach. Tehran has for decades been honing its coercive use of transnational criminals and terrorist actors to subvert, surveil, harass, abduct, and assassinate dissidents or defectors abroad. Its use of TCOs is more punitive – a blend of deterrence and revenge characterized by persistence and unpredictability. In 2021, U.S. authorities uncovered what they said was an IRGC orchestrated a plot to abduct a U.S.-based Iranian journalist relying on members of an Eastern European crime syndicate with links to Iran. Tehran, according to the British Home Secretary, is “increasingly using proxies, violent thuggish proxies … very elusive, quite sophisticated, very brutal European-wide gangs who don’t obviously have a connection or a sympathy or a natural allegiance to the Iranian regime and those global criminal networks are conducting assassinations around Europe … .”
In 2016, the U.S. intelligence community assessed, with a high confidence level, that the Russian Government would continue to use intelligence services and “other loyal entities” to assassinate suspected terrorists and those deemed threats to the regime abroad. In 2019, for instance, German and U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian-Chechen exile, was assassinated in Berlin by Vadim Krasikov, a contract killer with ties to the Russian FSB. Maksim Kuzminov – a Russian pilot who, to Moscow’s chagrin, defected to Ukraine in 2023 – was assassinated in Spain in February 2024 by two killers the Spanish police believed were professional contractors, possibly organized crime. Kuzminov was shot six times and run over by a car, which was later found torched.
Even India has allegedly adopted the playbook, emulating these revisionist states’ tactics to target dissidents abroad.
Deniable disruptors specialize in chaos. They are agents of confusion, subversion, sabotage, and influence, blurring the line between criminal and intelligence activities and covert action. The Kremlin has been using mobsters, mercenaries, terrorists, and cybercriminals to destabilize governments, sow chaos, and wage war by proxy for decades. A high-profile trial in the UK revealed a web of private spies and an espionage supply chain run by Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former COO of Wirecard and a freelance broker for Russian intelligence services. They bugged vehicles, cloned IDs, surveilled NATO military installations in Germany, and targeted people for assassination.
In the Tri-Border Area of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, Hezbollah, which serves both as a proxy and a service provider, has entrenched itself in lucrative narcotics and contraband markets, according to U.S. and regional authorities. Hezbollah’s presence in the Western hemisphere presents a persistent and underappreciated security risk to the United States and its regional interests.
The IRGC and Hezbollah are also accused of involvement in the production and distribution of narcotics, such as captagon, primarily trafficked across the Levant and into Gulf states. The flooding of the Saudi market with this narcotic serves not just as a lucrative revenue stream but also as a form of irregular pressure – a means to destabilize and weaken a rival through non-military means. History is replete with examples in which a state weaponized narcotics. While the new Syrian leadership may claim to have intensified efforts to stem the captagon production and smuggling, it would be naïve to assume that this estimated annual global trade worth $10 billion will simply perish.
Beijing’s approach is multitiered. Its opaque partnership with triads and money launderers enables economic and social coercion, diaspora surveillance, and synthetic drugs production on a global scale. Speaking about the triad’s role in Hong Kong in the 1990s, a Chinese official explained that Chinese “security organs” had “broad links and ties with different strata in society, including such groups.”In one U.S. Treasury investigation, the notorious 14K triad – whose former leader in Macao, Wan Kuok Koi is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party – was implicated in cartel money laundering and billion-dollar so-called “pig butchering” scams — sophisticated crypto investment frauds. In the Mekong River region, Chinese criminal groups controlling drug trafficking routes have been associated with political influence efforts that align with Beijing’s growing regional ambitions.
Meanwhile, some states focus their efforts more regionally. Serbia, Venezuela, and Turkey, for example, are all accused of relying on criminal organizations to project power, intimidate and attack regime critics, preserve regime control, and undermine rivals. Yet, even regionally confined activities can easily metastasize into broader strategic patterns, with global consequences.
What emerges is not just an opportunistic alignment but a pattern of calculated, strategic synergies. In what might be called a form of strategic parasitism — borrowing from Robert Cox’s notion of “parasitic symbiosis” to describe exploitative relationships between state power structures and illicit actors — states increasingly exploit criminal networks not necessarily through command-and-control, but through informal, deniable, and mutually opportunistic relationships.
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Countering Criminalized Statecraft
The West’s inability to confront the criminalization of statecraft stems not merely from a lack of resources or legal limitations but from conceptual ones. Western governments are equipped to fight conventional wars, prosecute criminals, and sanction rogue states and individuals – but not all at once or in unison. Today’s adversaries exploit this rigidity. The U.S. intelligence community’s declassified 2025 Annual Threat Assessment makes no mention of the synergies between major adversaries – Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea – and transnational criminal networks in international relations, although all are referenced separately. The British Government inquiry into state threats also noted that it was not clear whether the Government’s strategies were aligned or who was responsible in addressing these threats, and that the government was over-complicating its structures and strategies.
TCOs are not simply criminal enterprises. When backed or tolerated by hostile regimes, they become covert instruments of state power – force multipliers that move money, arms, people, and data across borders with deniability, capable of manipulating, subverting, and systematic destabilization. They are harder to detect than proxies and harder to deter than state actors. TCOs are also more volatile. Their motivations – profit, reputation, survival, power – do not always align with those of their sponsors.
Countering this kind of threat requires a new strategic logic. That means rethinking national security architecture, expanding the scope of deterrence, and targeting entire ecosystems rather than just specific criminal actors to blunt the impact of criminalized statecraft.
1. Rethink National Security Architecture
Intelligence, law enforcement, financial regulators, and diplomats must treat TCOs not merely as security nuisances but as vectors of geopolitical competition and foreign influence in the gray zone. This calls for specialized interagency task forces. Post-9/11 counterterrorism fusion centers offer a useful model: real-time intelligence sharing, multi-domain targeting, and a unified strategic mission.
2. Strengthen Attribution and Exposure
Governments should consider lowering the attribution threshold for hybrid attacks involving criminal actors. While courtroom-level evidence remains ideal, waiting for a “smoking gun” in the gray zone is strategically self-defeating. Intelligence-based attribution — acknowledging publicly when criminal operations serve state interests, even absent smoking-gun evidence — should become a norm. Naming, shaming, and strategic leaks can impose reputational costs, disrupt ongoing operations, and shape public awareness. Exposure itself is a deterrent.
3. Disrupt the Enablers
Target state-criminal alliances as continuing criminal enterprises — even when cloaked in diplomatic immunity or sovereign — cover and the financial and logistical infrastructure that sustains the collaboration. Go after arms brokers, crypto facilitators, money launderers, and logistics nodes – accountants, lawyers, real estate facilitators, and shell firm registrars that provide infrastructure – rather than just the gangsters caught red-handed. “Sanctions 2.0” should hit entire ecosystems, making it more disruptive and harder to evade.
4. Develop a Counter-Gray Zone Strategy for Criminalized Statecraft
The fusion of state and criminal power demands a coherent doctrine for gray zone competition — one that addresses the strategic logic behind criminalized statecraft. Such a strategy should include: i) preemptive disruption through offensive cyberspace and counterintelligence operations to infiltrate and degrade the networks that states use to mobilize criminal actors; ii) cognitive deterrence that signals that the use of criminal proxies will trigger asymmetric responses — including economic retaliation, digital sabotage, and exposure campaigns; iii) doctrinal codification that formally acknowledges and outlines how democracies will interpret and respond to covert criminalized aggression.
5. Shift the Strategic Narrative
Autocracies weaponize ambiguity. Democracies must weaponize exposure. Reframing criminal actors as pawns of authoritarian strategy, not isolated actors, delegitimizes them in both political and criminal ecosystems. The narrative shift transforms them from feared villains to manipulated patsies, disrupting networks and diminishing their influence. Elevating this issue at the G7, United Nations, NATO, and other global forums — and building norms around the non-weaponization of crime — can help efforts to stigmatize and delegitimize the practice.
The bottom line is that countering criminalized statecraft is not merely a matter of policing crime or naming villains. It requires a strategic overhaul of how the West conceives of foreign intelligence activities, power projection, and geopolitical rivalry. In this new kind of geopolitical game, crime-as-statecraft must become costly, exposed, and ultimately, strategically self-defeating. If liberal democracies fail to adapt, they risk ceding the gray zone to regimes that have learned to fight wars not with soldiers or diplomats, but with gangsters, fixers, ghosts, and the “little green men.”
Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of The Cipher Brief.
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![Iran war: Tehran vows response to US seizure of cargo shipSkip next section Oil prices up, stocks down amid Strait of Hormuz standoff04/20/2026April 20, 2026Oil prices up, stocks down amid Strait of Hormuz standoffCrude prices jumped and the US dollar rose but equity futures fell in early Asian trading on Monday.
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, soared as much as 7% to .85 a barrel.
The S&P 500 futures, meanwhile, fell about 0.9%, while the US dollar appreciated against several other currencies, including the euro and the Japanese yen.
The market movements signal investor concern over the Middle East situation, with Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz once again amid the continuing US blockade of Iranian ports and ships.
Will the Iran war cause a global recession?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSfxSkip next section Iran ‘will soon respond’ to US seizure of Iranian-flagged ship, military says04/20/2026April 20, 2026Iran ‘will soon respond’ to US seizure of Iranian-flagged ship, military saysIranian authorities have accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement between the two sides by firing at one of Iran’s commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran’s top joint military command, the Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, vowed to respond swiftly to the US actions.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier, US naval forces stationed in the region intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, which they said had tried to sail through the waters of the Gulf of Oman, in violation of the US blockade of Iranian ports and shipping.
Iranian state media quoted a military spokesperson as saying that the vessel was en route from China to Iran.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSfnSkip next section Why is Iran not planning to join new round of talks with US?04/19/2026April 19, 2026Why is Iran not planning to join new round of talks with US?Pakistan said it was ready to host a new round of talks, but Iran appears unwilling to attendImage: Qamar Zaman/dpa/picture allianceHours after Donald Trump announced he was dispatching US negotiators for a fresh round of talks in Islamabad, Iran said it has no intention of joining.
So far, engagement between Washington and Tehran has been limited to a single 21-hour negotiating session in Islamabad on April 11 that ended without any breakthrough.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said afterwards that the US side “ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiation.”
Washington’s hardline stance further complicates matters
A major sticking point is the US blockade of Iranian ports, which continues to overshadow diplomacy just days before the two-week ceasefire is due to expire.
Trump’s announcement that US Marines had seized an Iranian ship attempting to evade the blockade is likely to fuel tensions further.
Although Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire in Lebanon, it quickly reversed course in response to the ongoing US blockade.
Earlier, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, citing anonymous sources, reported that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for any renewed talks.
Another point of contention: Iran’s enrichment program
Trump said on Friday that Iran had agreed to give up its stock of around 440 kilograms of enriched uranium.
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry later said the stockpile was “not going to be transferred anywhere.”
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV that the “transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSf6Skip next section Iran has ‘no plans’ to join talks in Islamabad: state media04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran has ‘no plans’ to join talks in Islamabad: state mediaTehran was not planning to take part in a new round of negotiations with the United States in Islamabad, Iranian state media reported on Sunday
“There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks,” state broadcaster IRIB reported, in English, on X.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the announcement.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSWZSkip next section Trump: US Marines seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship04/19/2026April 19, 2026Trump: US Marines seized Iranian-flagged cargo shipPresident Donald Trump said US forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday. The vessel was trying to evade a US naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom,” Trump wrote.
He added that US Marines had taken custody of the ship, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSMsSkip next section Pakistani PM assures Iranian president of committment as mediator of peace04/19/2026April 19, 2026Pakistani PM assures Iranian president of committment as mediator of peacePakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he discussed the conflict in the Gulf with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday.
Sharif wrote in a post on X that he “shared insights from my recent engagements with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye.”
“I appreciated Iran’s engagement, including its high-level delegation to Islamabad for the historic talks, and recent discussions with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir,” Sharif said.
Sharif told Pezeshkian that Pakistan remains committed to its role as a facilitator of peace and regional stability.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSBlSkip next section Unclear if Iran will join second round of Islamabad talks04/19/2026April 19, 2026Unclear if Iran will join second round of Islamabad talksIt is still unclear whether Iran will ultimately join the second round of talks in Islamabad with the United States.
State-run Iranian news agency Irna reported Sunday that “there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations.”
Irna also pointed to Washington’s “maximalism and unreasonable and unrealistic demands, frequent changes of positions, constant contradictions and the continuation of the so-called naval blockade.”
Meanwhile, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, quoting anonymous sources, said, “The overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive.”
Fars cited one source as saying that the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports was a precondition for continued talks.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CS5vSkip next section IN DEPTH: Mines in the Strait of Hormuz: How dangerous are they?04/19/2026April 19, 2026IN DEPTH: Mines in the Strait of Hormuz: How dangerous are they?Underwater mines can pose a threat in infested areas for decades to come [FILE: Black Sea, Bulgaria on July 1, 2022]Image: BULGARIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Via REUTERSOn Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was prepared to supply mine clearance and maritime reconnaissance to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The same day, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared the critical waterway “completely open” for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, and US President Donald Trump likewise said it was “ready for full passage.”
The following day, Iran reversed its decision, shutting the strait again.
Either way, maritime traffic might still be at risk, given that Iranian authorities had previously indicated there may be underwater mines in the strait.
How dangerous are naval mines, and what can be done to clear them? Find out here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CS5KSkip next section Vance to return to Islamabad for new round of talks04/19/2026April 19, 2026Vance to return to Islamabad for new round of talksThe trio — JD Vance (right), Jared Kushner (left) and Steve Witkoff (middle) — were in Islambad during the first round of talks [FILE: April 12, 2026]Image: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/picture allianceUS Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of talks between the US and Iran last weekend, will return to Islamabad for the negotiations, according to a White House official.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will also be part of the delegation.
Earlier, Trump had said Vance would not go to the Pakistani capital. “It’s only because of security,” Trump told ABC News. “JD’s great.”
Last Sunday, Vance left Islamabad after 21 hours of talks with Iranian officials ended without a breakthrough. Iran war: What’s next after Islamabad talks fail?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRyrSkip next section Two cruise ships pass through Hormuz04/19/2026April 19, 2026Two cruise ships pass through HormuzThe Mein Schiff 4, seen here on the right in 2020, passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday (File photo: July 2020)Image: Petra Nowack/penofoto/imago imagesGermany-based TUI Cruises said that its Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
According to the maritime data service MarineTraffic, only one other cruise ship, the Celestial Discovery, formerly known as the Aida aura, had been able to pass the strait since the start of the Iran war on February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran.
Tui said that all passengers had previously been brought home and both ships were operating with reduced crews, adding that it had obtained approvals from relevant authorities to cross the strait, under careful consideration of the security situation.
It said the ships would now continue on to the Mediterranean Sea.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvSSkip next section Macron to meet with Lebanese PM04/19/2026April 19, 2026Macron to meet with Lebanese PMMacron has demanded that the Lebanese government arrest those responsible for the attack [FILE: April 8, 2026]Image: Tom Nicholson/REUTERSFrench President Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris this week, his office announced.
The meeting comes amid a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The visit was announced a day after France blamed Hezbollah for an ambush on UN peacekeepers that left one French soldier dead and three others wounded.
Macron is expected to urge Lebanese authorities to “shed full light on the incident” and “identify and prosecute those responsible without delay,” his office added.
With the move, the French government will highlight Macron’s commitment to seeing “full and complete respect for the ceasefire in Lebanon” as well as France’s support for Lebanon’s “territorial integrity,” the president’s office said on Sunday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvRSkip next section Iran not sending negotiating delegation to Pakistan, Tasnim reports04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran not sending negotiating delegation to Pakistan, Tasnim reportsIran is not sending a negotiating delegation to Pakistan “as long as there is a naval blockade,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
The development came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, had said his country was working to “bridge” differences between Washington and Tehran.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had announced that US negotiators were due in Islamabad on Monday evening.
Late Saturday, Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as Iran’s main negotiator, said in an interview on state television that “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy.” [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TDeUMPkqbE[/embed]
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvESkip next section Trump accuses Iran of ceasefire violations04/19/2026April 19, 2026Trump accuses Iran of ceasefire violationsTrump has said he won’t let Tehran ‘blackmail us’ over the Strait of Hormuz [April 16, 2026]Image: Mehmet Eser/SOPA Images/ZUMA/picture allianceUS President Donald Trump accused the Iranian regime of violating the current ceasefire agreement and threatened to “to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge,” if Iran does not make a deal with the US.
Tehran said on Saturday it would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. At least two ships reported they had been fired upon while approaching the strait on Saturday.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday on his Truth Social platform. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRlKSkip next section Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire via blockade04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire via blockadeIran has called the US blockade on its ports a “violation” of the ceasefire agreement mediated by Pakistan some 10-days ago, which paused over six weeks of fighting.
“The United States’ so-called ‘blockade’ of Iran’s ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismaeil Baqaei said Sunday on X.
He cited a United Nations General Assembly resolution to argue that the blockade was an “act of aggression” against Iran.
“Moreover, by deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crime against humanity,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman went on to say.
Iran has reverted to shuttering the critical Strait of Hormuz after Trump refused to lift the blockade.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRlfSkip next section US negotiators due in Pakistan early next week, Trump says04/19/2026April 19, 2026US negotiators due in Pakistan early next week, Trump saysUS negotiators are due in the Pakistani capital on Monday evening, US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, as Islamabad mediates efforts aimed at ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.
He then strayed into criticism and threats against Iran, which he accused of violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking ships attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
Iran had briefly reopened the critical waterway on Friday, only to announce closing it again less than 24 hours later after Trump refused to lift a blockade on its ports.
Questioning Iran’s closure of the strait, Trump called it “strange” because “our BLOCKADE has already closed it.”
Without mentioning any of the terms, he also said the US proposed a peace agreement.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Trump went on to say.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRiQ#Iran #war #Tehran #vows #response #seizure #cargo #ship](https://i0.wp.com/static.dw.com/image/76386594_6.jpg?ssl=1 "Iran war: Tehran vows response to US seizure of cargo shipSkip next section Oil prices up, stocks down amid Strait of Hormuz standoff04/20/2026April 20, 2026Oil prices up, stocks down amid Strait of Hormuz standoffCrude prices jumped and the US dollar rose but equity futures fell in early Asian trading on Monday.
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, soared as much as 7% to .85 a barrel.
The S&P 500 futures, meanwhile, fell about 0.9%, while the US dollar appreciated against several other currencies, including the euro and the Japanese yen.
The market movements signal investor concern over the Middle East situation, with Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz once again amid the continuing US blockade of Iranian ports and ships.
Will the Iran war cause a global recession?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSfxSkip next section Iran ‘will soon respond’ to US seizure of Iranian-flagged ship, military says04/20/2026April 20, 2026Iran ‘will soon respond’ to US seizure of Iranian-flagged ship, military saysIranian authorities have accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement between the two sides by firing at one of Iran’s commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran’s top joint military command, the Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, vowed to respond swiftly to the US actions.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier, US naval forces stationed in the region intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, which they said had tried to sail through the waters of the Gulf of Oman, in violation of the US blockade of Iranian ports and shipping.
Iranian state media quoted a military spokesperson as saying that the vessel was en route from China to Iran.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSfnSkip next section Why is Iran not planning to join new round of talks with US?04/19/2026April 19, 2026Why is Iran not planning to join new round of talks with US?Pakistan said it was ready to host a new round of talks, but Iran appears unwilling to attendImage: Qamar Zaman/dpa/picture allianceHours after Donald Trump announced he was dispatching US negotiators for a fresh round of talks in Islamabad, Iran said it has no intention of joining.
So far, engagement between Washington and Tehran has been limited to a single 21-hour negotiating session in Islamabad on April 11 that ended without any breakthrough.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said afterwards that the US side “ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiation.”
Washington’s hardline stance further complicates matters
A major sticking point is the US blockade of Iranian ports, which continues to overshadow diplomacy just days before the two-week ceasefire is due to expire.
Trump’s announcement that US Marines had seized an Iranian ship attempting to evade the blockade is likely to fuel tensions further.
Although Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire in Lebanon, it quickly reversed course in response to the ongoing US blockade.
Earlier, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, citing anonymous sources, reported that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for any renewed talks.
Another point of contention: Iran’s enrichment program
Trump said on Friday that Iran had agreed to give up its stock of around 440 kilograms of enriched uranium.
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry later said the stockpile was “not going to be transferred anywhere.”
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV that the “transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSf6Skip next section Iran has ‘no plans’ to join talks in Islamabad: state media04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran has ‘no plans’ to join talks in Islamabad: state mediaTehran was not planning to take part in a new round of negotiations with the United States in Islamabad, Iranian state media reported on Sunday
“There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks,” state broadcaster IRIB reported, in English, on X.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the announcement.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSWZSkip next section Trump: US Marines seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship04/19/2026April 19, 2026Trump: US Marines seized Iranian-flagged cargo shipPresident Donald Trump said US forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday. The vessel was trying to evade a US naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom,” Trump wrote.
He added that US Marines had taken custody of the ship, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSMsSkip next section Pakistani PM assures Iranian president of committment as mediator of peace04/19/2026April 19, 2026Pakistani PM assures Iranian president of committment as mediator of peacePakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he discussed the conflict in the Gulf with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday.
Sharif wrote in a post on X that he “shared insights from my recent engagements with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye.”
“I appreciated Iran’s engagement, including its high-level delegation to Islamabad for the historic talks, and recent discussions with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir,” Sharif said.
Sharif told Pezeshkian that Pakistan remains committed to its role as a facilitator of peace and regional stability.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CSBlSkip next section Unclear if Iran will join second round of Islamabad talks04/19/2026April 19, 2026Unclear if Iran will join second round of Islamabad talksIt is still unclear whether Iran will ultimately join the second round of talks in Islamabad with the United States.
State-run Iranian news agency Irna reported Sunday that “there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations.”
Irna also pointed to Washington’s “maximalism and unreasonable and unrealistic demands, frequent changes of positions, constant contradictions and the continuation of the so-called naval blockade.”
Meanwhile, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, quoting anonymous sources, said, “The overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive.”
Fars cited one source as saying that the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports was a precondition for continued talks.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CS5vSkip next section IN DEPTH: Mines in the Strait of Hormuz: How dangerous are they?04/19/2026April 19, 2026IN DEPTH: Mines in the Strait of Hormuz: How dangerous are they?Underwater mines can pose a threat in infested areas for decades to come [FILE: Black Sea, Bulgaria on July 1, 2022]Image: BULGARIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Via REUTERSOn Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was prepared to supply mine clearance and maritime reconnaissance to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The same day, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared the critical waterway “completely open” for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, and US President Donald Trump likewise said it was “ready for full passage.”
The following day, Iran reversed its decision, shutting the strait again.
Either way, maritime traffic might still be at risk, given that Iranian authorities had previously indicated there may be underwater mines in the strait.
How dangerous are naval mines, and what can be done to clear them? Find out here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CS5KSkip next section Vance to return to Islamabad for new round of talks04/19/2026April 19, 2026Vance to return to Islamabad for new round of talksThe trio — JD Vance (right), Jared Kushner (left) and Steve Witkoff (middle) — were in Islambad during the first round of talks [FILE: April 12, 2026]Image: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/picture allianceUS Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of talks between the US and Iran last weekend, will return to Islamabad for the negotiations, according to a White House official.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will also be part of the delegation.
Earlier, Trump had said Vance would not go to the Pakistani capital. “It’s only because of security,” Trump told ABC News. “JD’s great.”
Last Sunday, Vance left Islamabad after 21 hours of talks with Iranian officials ended without a breakthrough. Iran war: What’s next after Islamabad talks fail?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRyrSkip next section Two cruise ships pass through Hormuz04/19/2026April 19, 2026Two cruise ships pass through HormuzThe Mein Schiff 4, seen here on the right in 2020, passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday (File photo: July 2020)Image: Petra Nowack/penofoto/imago imagesGermany-based TUI Cruises said that its Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
According to the maritime data service MarineTraffic, only one other cruise ship, the Celestial Discovery, formerly known as the Aida aura, had been able to pass the strait since the start of the Iran war on February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran.
Tui said that all passengers had previously been brought home and both ships were operating with reduced crews, adding that it had obtained approvals from relevant authorities to cross the strait, under careful consideration of the security situation.
It said the ships would now continue on to the Mediterranean Sea.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvSSkip next section Macron to meet with Lebanese PM04/19/2026April 19, 2026Macron to meet with Lebanese PMMacron has demanded that the Lebanese government arrest those responsible for the attack [FILE: April 8, 2026]Image: Tom Nicholson/REUTERSFrench President Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris this week, his office announced.
The meeting comes amid a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The visit was announced a day after France blamed Hezbollah for an ambush on UN peacekeepers that left one French soldier dead and three others wounded.
Macron is expected to urge Lebanese authorities to “shed full light on the incident” and “identify and prosecute those responsible without delay,” his office added.
With the move, the French government will highlight Macron’s commitment to seeing “full and complete respect for the ceasefire in Lebanon” as well as France’s support for Lebanon’s “territorial integrity,” the president’s office said on Sunday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvRSkip next section Iran not sending negotiating delegation to Pakistan, Tasnim reports04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran not sending negotiating delegation to Pakistan, Tasnim reportsIran is not sending a negotiating delegation to Pakistan “as long as there is a naval blockade,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
The development came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, had said his country was working to “bridge” differences between Washington and Tehran.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had announced that US negotiators were due in Islamabad on Monday evening.
Late Saturday, Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as Iran’s main negotiator, said in an interview on state television that “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy.” [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TDeUMPkqbE[/embed]
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRvESkip next section Trump accuses Iran of ceasefire violations04/19/2026April 19, 2026Trump accuses Iran of ceasefire violationsTrump has said he won’t let Tehran ‘blackmail us’ over the Strait of Hormuz [April 16, 2026]Image: Mehmet Eser/SOPA Images/ZUMA/picture allianceUS President Donald Trump accused the Iranian regime of violating the current ceasefire agreement and threatened to “to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge,” if Iran does not make a deal with the US.
Tehran said on Saturday it would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. At least two ships reported they had been fired upon while approaching the strait on Saturday.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday on his Truth Social platform. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRlKSkip next section Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire via blockade04/19/2026April 19, 2026Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire via blockadeIran has called the US blockade on its ports a “violation” of the ceasefire agreement mediated by Pakistan some 10-days ago, which paused over six weeks of fighting.
“The United States’ so-called ‘blockade’ of Iran’s ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismaeil Baqaei said Sunday on X.
He cited a United Nations General Assembly resolution to argue that the blockade was an “act of aggression” against Iran.
“Moreover, by deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crime against humanity,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman went on to say.
Iran has reverted to shuttering the critical Strait of Hormuz after Trump refused to lift the blockade.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRlfSkip next section US negotiators due in Pakistan early next week, Trump says04/19/2026April 19, 2026US negotiators due in Pakistan early next week, Trump saysUS negotiators are due in the Pakistani capital on Monday evening, US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, as Islamabad mediates efforts aimed at ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.
He then strayed into criticism and threats against Iran, which he accused of violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking ships attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
Iran had briefly reopened the critical waterway on Friday, only to announce closing it again less than 24 hours later after Trump refused to lift a blockade on its ports.
Questioning Iran’s closure of the strait, Trump called it “strange” because “our BLOCKADE has already closed it.”
Without mentioning any of the terms, he also said the US proposed a peace agreement.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Trump went on to say.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CRiQ#Iran #war #Tehran #vows #response #seizure #cargo #ship")
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