Trump says Iran sought ceasefire, ties decision to Hormuz reopening

Panahi entered the country on Tuesday by land via Turkey due to flight restrictions, the sources said.

He had been outside Iran to promote his film It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

Panahi had previously said he would return to Iran after the Oscar campaign despite potential risks. “As soon as the campaign ends, I will return to Iran,” he said in a February interview.

The director has faced years of legal pressure in Iran, including a one-year prison sentence issued in absentia on charges of propaganda against the state, along with a two-year travel ban and other restrictions.

Panahi had faced a long-standing travel ban before being able to travel for the film’s international release. His work, often made despite official restrictions, has focused on social and political issues and drawn on his own experiences of detention and surveillance.

Iran warned Bulgaria not to allow the United States to use its airports for military operations linked to Iran, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Marin Raikov confirmed Sofia received a note from Tehran last month protesting US military aircraft at a Bulgarian airport.

He said Bulgaria is not involved in the conflict and no combat aircraft are being loaded in the country for operations in the region.

NATO is not designed to carry out operations in the Strait of Hormuz, France’s junior army minister said on Wednesday.

“It is a military alliance concerned with the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. It is not designed to carry out operations in the Strait of Hormuz,” Alice Rufo said, adding such action could breach international law.

Her comments come after Donald Trump said he is considering pulling the United States out of NATO after allies did not back US military action against Iran.

Fresh public criticism of remarks by President Masoud Pezeshkian and the defensive response from his inner circle appear to add to signs of a widening rift between the government and the Revolutionary Guards over the conduct of the war and its economic fallout.

In a post on X, Hamidreza Tabatabaei, deputy for communications and information at the president’s office, pushed back at attacks on Pezeshkian and pointedly asked: “How can second-tier figures pontificate on behalf of the political system, but Dr. Pezeshkian has no right to express an opinion?”

His wording appeared to suggest that even the president is being denied room to speak.

Yousef Pezeshkian, the president’s son and adviser, also responded to criticism of the president’s recent remarks.

“I do not understand the meaning of these criticisms; are we not seeking to meet conditions and obtain guarantees? Or are we seeking war until the complete destruction of America and Israel?” he said.

The backlash from hardline pro-government accounts was sharp.

Morteza Rohani wrote that the president’s media team had burned “two main levers against America,” adding: “Oil got cheaper, and the US market turned green. This scale of sabotage is not the result of ignorance alone. Security institutions should be sensitive.”

While limited in themselves, the exchanges support earlier reporting that tensions have deepened between Pezeshkian’s administration and the Guards over war policy, diplomacy and the economy.

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  IRGC takes de facto control of Iran government amid deepening power struggle

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  Rift deepens between Iran’s president and Guards chief over war, economy

Counter Terrorism Policing said the suspects, aged 17 to 20, were detained at separate addresses in east London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

The arrests relate to a March 23 incident in which four ambulances operated by Hatzola were set on fire. Two other men arrested earlier have been released on bail.

Police said the case has not been formally declared terrorism but is being handled by counter-terrorism officers due to the circumstances.