US Strategic Decline Exposed in War Against Iran

A two-week cessation of hostilities agreed upon by Tehran and Washington indicates the failure of imperialism to destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran. The stability of the ceasefire remains in question due to the violations already by Tel Aviv in Lebanon where massive bombings continued.

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday April 8, 2026

Geostrategic Analysis

On April 7 an announcement was made that a mediated agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States would result in a two-week ceasefire.

This agreement was made after Washington and Israel launched offensive operations against Iran on February 28 resulting in the killing of Islamic Republic of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei along with numerous officials of the government.

During the course of 38 days, Iran alongside its allies in Lebanon, fired thousands of drones and ballistic missiles into the Palestinian Occupied Territories striking military and settler forces. In addition, the Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC) struck hundreds of the Pentagon and corporate targets inside the Persian Gulf Arab Monarchies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdoms of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan. 

There were attacks as well from resistance forces in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. However, the full force of the Ansur Allah in Yemen and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq were not made operational. These forces could very well be unleashed if there are violations of the ceasefire.

The US and its allies in Tel Aviv failed in their efforts to effectively neutralize the military capacity of the Islamic Republic. Several Pentagon warplanes were brought down by the IRGC during the course of the latest round of fighting. 

In a press briefing given by the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Airforce General Dan Caine, the US declared victory in the 38-day war. Hegseth cited the targeted assassinations of Iranian leaders and the destruction of infrastructural sites as a military victory. 

Nonetheless, it is quite clear that Iran remains quite capable of launching defensive and offensive operations against Pentagon bases, corporate outlets and military sites inside the Occupied Territories. These events have further shattered the notions of invincibility related to both Washington and Tel Aviv. 

Whether the ceasefire holds is largely dependent upon the role of Washington and Tel Aviv. The US and Iran have expressed separate interpretations of the agreement. Iran maintains that it will remain in control of the Strait of Hormuz and that reparations will be paid for the damage exacted upon its civilian population and infrastructure. 

What remains evident is that imperialism is incapable of imposing the terms for a ceasefire. Iran and its allies have proven their ability to destroy the status-quo in West Asia with the disruption of the Pentagon military bases in the Persian Gulf along with business and tourist operations which garner enormous profits for the world capitalist system. 

Moreover, the continued existence of the Israeli regime which acts with impunity against the Arab population in Palestine, Lebanon and throughout the West Asia region will subvert any attempt to build regional stability and security. The liberation of Palestine and the guarantees for sovereignty and genuine independence of the region are the only solutions for the geo-political crisis. 

Iran Claims Victory Against Imperialism and Zionism

There was a ten-point plan submitted by Iran which was agreed upon by the Trump administration which led to the two-week ceasefire. These ten points are: “No new aggression against Iran; Continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz; Acceptance of enrichment; Removal of all primary sanctions; Removal of all secondary sanctions; Termination of all UN Security Council resolutions; Termination of all Board of Governors resolutions; Payment of compensation to Iran; Withdrawal of US combat forces from the region; Cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic Resistance of Lebanon.” (https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/04/07/766472/iran-declares-historic-victory-enemy-forced-accept-its-proposal)

This agreement was announced less than 24-hours after Trump’s social media post on April 7 saying that his intention was to destroy Iran as a civilization. There had been the bombing of civilian infrastructure for weeks. 

In recent days residential complexes in Iran have been hit by Israeli and US bombs. The Pasteur Institute, in operation for more than a century, was heavily damaged in the attacks. 

Sharif University in Tehran, a technical higher educational institution, was bombed just days before the ceasefire. Other civilian infrastructure such as bridges, railroad lines and religious facilities was destroyed including a Jewish synagogue in Tehran. 

In a report published by Press TV on April 8, it notes that:

“In line with the directive of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei and the approval of the Supreme National Security Council, and given Iran and the resistance's upper hand on the battlefield, the enemy's inability to carry out its threats despite all its claims, and the official acceptance of all the legitimate demands of the Iranian people, it has been decided that negotiations will be held in Islamabad to finalize the details. This will take place within a maximum of 15 days, so that the details of Iran's victory on the battlefield may also be solidified in political negotiations. The negotiations will begin on Friday (April 10) in Islamabad. Iran will allocate two weeks for these negotiations, and the timeframe may be extended by mutual agreement of the two sides.” 

Nonetheless, Tehran is saying the government will resume its military operations if any violations of the ceasefire are carried out. Access to the Strait of Hormuz will once again become restricted if the US and Israel refuse to abide by the ten-point agreement. 

Bombing by the IOF Escalates in Lebanon

Despite the announcement that a ceasefire had been reached which includes Iran as well as Lebanon, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their bombings against Beirut and other areas. Residential districts are being targeted while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government denies that the ceasefire agreement encompasses Lebanon.

These intensified attacks against Lebanon coincide with some violations of the ceasefire with reports of strikes in the Gulf states. With the ceasefire, stock markets have risen again while the price of oil has dropped sharply.

A report published by Al Mayadeen says of the situation on April 8 in Lebanon:

“A massive wave of Israeli airstrikes hit large parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, including Beirut, the south, and the eastern Bekaa, in a continued brutal Israeli aggression that has left growing numbers of civilian casualties and strained medical services. Approximately 150 airstrikes were carried out across Lebanon within two hours, underscoring the scale of the Israeli aggression.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that Israeli occupation forces carried out heavy fire belt strikes on Beirut’s Southern Suburb, targeting densely populated neighborhoods including Bir Hassan, Haret Hreik, Chiah, Hay al-Sellom, and al-Rihab. At least three Lebanese people were martyred and dozens more wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Burj Abi Haidar, Beirut. Elsewhere, in Mount Lebanon, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that an Israeli aggression hit the town of Kaifun, resulting in a massacre. 12 were killed in the attack, and search operations continue for missing individuals under the rubble.” (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-commit-harrowing-massacres-across-lebanon--kill--injure)

These bombing operations by the IOF in Lebanon will complicate the ceasefire. Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance organization, remains close allies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The apartheid Israeli state has utilized the continued existence of Hezbollah as its rationale for the bombings and the limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon. 

Reports indicate that approximately 1500 people have been killed in Lebanon due to direct attacks by the IOF. With respect to Iran, the estimated death toll exceeds 3000. 

On April 7, hundreds of thousands of people formed human shields at schools, bridges, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure which Trump had pledged to destroy as part of the genocidal assault on this civilization. As these violations of the ceasefire accelerate, international opposition and outrage against imperialism and Zionism will only escalate. 

In the attacks on April 8, Lebanese authorities say that 90 people were killed in Israeli strikes on more than 100 locations. The international solidarity movements with Palestine and the people of West Asia will continue to work towards a lasting solution for the region.

Interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, from Fighting Words (USA)

04/04/2026

Supernova: The brutality of the Trump administration is a response to the crisis that imperialism is going through today. In your opinion, what is the link between its security policies, its anti-immigration campaign and the war policies it is pursuing?

Abayomi Azikiwe: There is a close connection between these three aspects of the crisis of US imperialism. The demographic shift to a majority minority population within two decades is a frightening prospect for many white Americans. The Trump administration has built its political reputation on the perceived need to maintain the United States as a "white man's country." The combined population of African Americans, Latin Americans, Asians, and Indigenous peoples could pose a serious threat to maintaining the status quo. Moreover, working- and middle-class whites, alienated by the capitalist system, could combine their political clout with that of oppressed minorities at the national level to create a progressive majority and thus pave the way for a transformation to a socialist society. In order to implement this racist process, mass deportations of people from the Global South who are not yet naturalized or have permanent resident status reduce the number of people of color in the United States. The abusive criminalization of immigrants and migrants provides a justification for large-scale repression through the occupation of municipalities, suburban and rural areas. This has already been done against African Americans and Latin Americans. These two population groups constitute the majority of those currently detained in U.S. prisons, detention centers, and other penal institutions. Therefore, the domestic policies of the United States are a reflection of its foreign policy. The perceived threat posed by the rise of the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the leftward trend in some Latin American countries, and the increasingly virulent rhetoric of some African Union (AU) member states pose a direct threat to US hegemony on the international stage.

Supernova: In Europe, there is always talk of a huge difference between the Republican Party and the Democrats; However, if we analyze the domestic and foreign policies of previous governments, we see that the domination of the monopolistic classes remains the same. What are the main differences between the current government and the previous administration led by the Democratic Party?

Abayomi Azikiwe: These parties have different electorates in the sense that the Democrats have the support of the majority of African American voters. This is also true for many people of Latin American descent, with a few exceptions, such as anti-communist elements from Cuba and Venezuela who have emigrated to the United States. Interestingly, these people from Cuba and Venezuela have also been victims of racial profiling and deportations under Trump. Republicans have in the past retained the support of the majority of whites from the middle class, the upper class, and even some elements of the working class motivated by racism, sexism, and other prejudices. Domestically, the Democrats remain controlled by elements of the ruling class, such as the banks and big business. What is needed is a mass party of the working class and the national oppressed, capable of speaking in its own name. This has been a major failure in the United States over the past half-century, where workers and the oppressed have either been captured by Democrats and Republicans or have remained on the margins of political debates and struggles that could lead to a new order.

Supernova: What do you think are the real effects of immigration law enforcement brutality, and what role do they play in the United States? In Europe, the use of these services serves a "political" rather than a "practical" objective; it aims to intimidate and sow fear.

Abayomi Azikiwe: This same fear is also a major component of the repressive apparatus in the United States. The deployment of thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents, as well as federalized National Guard units, is intended to create an atmosphere of total control over certain municipalities, many of which have a large population of Latin American and other groups from the Global South.

In Los Angeles, the population fought fierce battles against ICE, CBP, National Guard soldiers, and even the Marines. Marines and National Guard units were withdrawn after numerous mass mobilizations and legal challenges. Nevertheless, ICE and CBP agents continue to harass, detain, and deport those they deem undocumented. Many of these detentions and deportations are in fact illegal. Some groups enjoy protected status under various U.S. laws. Deportations to third countries violate U.S. law, but they continue, particularly to several African countries whose governments collaborate with the U.S. in exchange for minor concessions on visa fees, trade agreements, and tariffs. Minneapolis has set the standard for resistance against ICE and CBP. High-level state political figures, such as Governor Walz and the mayors of Minneapolis-St. Paul, have vigorously opposed the large-scale deployment of ICE and CBP. The deployment of the National Guard to Minneapolis was carried out under the aegis of the governor after the shooting deaths of Rene Good and then Alex Pretti, both white Americans who opposed the excesses of federal agents deployed in the city by the Trump administration. Across the United States, citizen initiatives have sprung up to monitor and block ICE and CBP raids using mass pressure and civil disobedience.

Supernova: The labor and social protest movements in the United States in recent years are significant, even if they remain largely controlled by the reformist left and liberal factions. In your opinion, what are the most important radical labor and social movements that have emerged in the United States?

Abayomi Azikiwe: There is the Palestine solidarity movement on campuses, which emerged with force in late 2023 and into 2024, in the aftermath of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" and the escalation of genocidal repression carried out by the State of Israel, funded by American taxpayers. Students, teachers and staff demanded full transparency and divestment from companies doing business with the apartheid Zionist state. Those efforts were crushed by the administration of former President Joe Biden. The labour movement has carried out high-profile strikes in 2023 in the automotive and entertainment sectors. The municipal strike in Philadelphia in 2025 showed that workers still have the capacity to carry out militant actions. Yet, these efforts failed to avert the burgeoning economic crisis, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs due to downsizing in the federal government as well as the restructuring of the manufacturing sector, which is returning to polluting industries through the reduction of electric vehicle production and the expansion of internal combustion engines for automobiles. The fight against racism continues, as evidenced by corporate boycotts that reduce the implementation of civil rights legislation.

Supernova: Imperialism is in crisis, and in this context, the development of new anti-imperialist and socialist movements is necessary. What is the state of the communist and anti-imperialist movement in the United States today?

Abayomi Azikiwe: Although the attacks on Venezuela, Cuba, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the Russian Federation, South Africa and China, etc. continue, the so-called left has not been able to form a united front against fascism and imperialism. This is a major subjective weakness in the United States. We must continue to organize ourselves around these issues. There can be no progress for workers and oppressed peoples in the United States without a weakening of the ruling class in its efforts to reconfigure the imperialist world system. The Trump administration is even attacking its closest imperialist allies in Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union. After unleashing an unprovoked war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the administration is frustrated that other imperialist centers have not joined the bombing of Iran, Lebanon and Yemen.

The United Kingdom, France and other countries have so far refused to deploy ground troops in an inevitably disastrous attempt to take control of the Strait of Hormuz. These developments provide an opportunity to advance the anti-imperialist struggle in the United States. By exposing the divisions within the imperialist camp and the irrational approach of the Republican MAGA administration and Congress, the ruling class can be further exposed for its policies that will only further impoverish and exploit workers and the national oppressed.

Fighting Words, journal of the Communist Workers League (USA)

Leader Offers Condolences on Martyrdom of Veteran Diplomat Kamal Kharrazi

Friday, 10 April 2026 7:19 PM

People start funeral procession for martyr Kamal Kharrazi at Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in Tehran after Friday prayers on April 10, 2026. (Photo by IQNA)

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has offered condolences on the martyrdom of Kamal Kharrazi, head of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and a former top diplomat, in a terrorist US-Israeli strike.

In a message on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei offered condolences to the Iranian nation, the academic community and students of Kharrazi as well as his family on the martyrdom of the diplomat and his wife.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed Kharrazi as "a distinguished professor in the field of science and culture and an experienced figure in the field of foreign policy”.

He added that Kharrazi’s martyrdom is a badge of honor for “the academic community, university professors, and political officials of Iran”, and at the same time is a "shameful testament to the villainy of the American-Zionist arrogant powers and the enemies of the science, culture, and civilization of Iran."

The Leader noted that Kharrazi “spent many years of his life” serving in various arenas, including culture and information, as well as at the Foreign Ministry.

Ayatollah Khamenei praised the activities of Kharrazi in the new fields of cognitive sciences as well as his role in the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations.

Kharrazi, the head of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and a former foreign minister and an adviser to the Islamic Revolution Leader, attained martyrdom on Thursday night. He had been severely wounded in a US-Israeli terrorist attack targeting his Tehran residence on April 1, a strike that also claimed the life of his spouse.

His assassination occurred amid a widespread US-Israeli war of terrorism against the Islamic Republic that began on February 28. The invading coalition also assassinated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, alongside other senior government officials and military commanders.

Earlier, Iran’s highest-ranking officials issued messages of condolence following the martyrdom of Kharrazi.

President Masoud Pezeshkian mourned the loss of a "prominent, committed, and influential figure" in the country's diplomatic apparatus, highlighting his decades of service following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf strongly condemned the act of terrorism, describing it as the "cowardly assassination of the tireless soldier of diplomacy."

Qalibaf stated that the attack on the "committed scientist and self-sacrificing warrior" was a clear demonstration of the "baseness and weakness" of the US-Israeli coalition.

Highlighting Kharrazi's unwavering ideological loyalty, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei noted that the late veteran diplomat was an "influential weight" across various political arenas.

Current Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also paid tribute to Kharrazi, saying he represented rationality, contemplation, and adherence to national interests.

The criminal US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.

Iran’s highest-ranking officials have issued profound messages of condolence following the martyrdom of veteran diplomat Kamal Kharrazi.

Iranian armed forces responded by launching almost daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

On April 8, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced that there was an agreement to a Pakistan-brokered temporary ceasefire after the US accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal.

Sheikh Naim Qassem Says Israeli Regime Failed in Lebanon War Goals

By Al Mayadeen English

10 Apr 2026 16:20

Hezbollah’s Sheikh Naim Qassem says the Israeli occupation failed to achieve its military goals in Lebanon, citing resistance gains, civilian strikes, and continued cross-border attacks.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a letter sent to the Lebanese people that the Israeli occupation has failed to achieve its battlefield objectives in Lebanon, stressing that the Israeli forces have been unable to carry out the ground invasion they repeatedly announced while facing ongoing resistance operations across multiple fronts.

He stated that “the enemy, Israel, has failed on the battlefield against the heroes of the resistance and has not been able to carry out the ground invasion it repeatedly announced,” adding that this reflects a widening gap between Israeli military plans and developments on the ground.

Sheikh Qassem said the Israeli regime has repeatedly changed its war objectives, shifting between broader and more limited military aims during the course of its campaign, stressing that the Israeli regime has a lack of strategic stability in terms of planning.

“The enemy was taken by surprise by the resistance’s tactics, the flexibility of the mujahideen’s movements, and their defensive capabilities,” he stated.

“No return to the previous status-quo”

The Hezbollah leader rejected any political or field arrangements that would restore the pre-war status quo, urging Lebanese officials to avoid concessions. 

He also accused the Israeli regime of escalating attacks against civilians across Lebanon. “The enemy resorted to bloody crimes in Beirut, the southern suburb, the south, the Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, and everywhere by targeting civilians,” he said.

Sheikh Qassem said that despite weeks of escalation,  the Israeli regime had failed to stop cross-border fire and drone activity. “The occupation has failed in all its aggression for more than 40 days to stop rockets, shells, and drones from reaching its nearby and distant settlements,” he said.

He further stressed that even large-scale military mobilization would not change the outcome on the battlefield. “Mobilizing 100,000 soldiers will not help the Israeli enemy achieve occupation; instead, they will turn into corpses and body parts, and those who remain on the battlefield will live in fear,” he said.

Displacement and resilience in Lebanon

He added that the Israeli occupation was accumulating failures while facing growing insecurity within its settlements. “For 40 days, the enemy has been accumulating failure; its settlements are filled with fear, its plans are confused, and its officials issue daily threats in an increasingly ineffective tone,” he said.

Sheikh Qassem also praised Lebanese societal resilience during the ongoing conflict, highlighting solidarity with displaced communities.

“The Lebanese people are far more resilient than the enemy believes. The displaced have set an example of pride, and those who hosted them have demonstrated the noblest form of citizenship and humanity,” he said.

Resistance operations and continued confrontation

He described fighters on the ground as a central defensive force, saying they had blocked Israeli strategic ambitions. “The fighters on the frontlines are an impenetrable barrier that has shattered the dreams and aspirations of the Zionists,” he said.

He added that resistance operations would continue without pause. “The resistance will continue until the very last breath, and the way the youth race for the battlefield sparks hope and dignity,” he said.

He concluded by linking ongoing sacrifices a long-term commitment to national goals. “The sacrifices make us even more determined to liberate our homeland and uphold our dignity,” he said.

'Israel' unleashes rampage on Lebanon, kills hundreds

A massive wave of Israeli airstrikes hit large parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, including Beirut, the South, the Bekaa, and Mount Lebanon, in a continued brutal aggression that has caused mounting civilian casualties and put immense pressure on medical services. Approximately 150 airstrikes were carried out across Lebanon within just two hours, highlighting the scale and intensity of the attacks.

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that Israeli forces carried out heavy bombardment on Beirut’s Southern Suburb, targeting densely populated neighborhoods such as Bir Hassan, Haret Hreik, Chiah, Hay al-Sellom, and al-Rihab. The strikes came mere minutes apart, leaving widespread destruction and overwhelming emergency responders.

The Lebanese Civil Defense announced that a total of 254 people were martyred and 1,165 others were injured in Wednesday’s attacks. In Beirut alone, 92 people were killed and 742 wounded, while the Southern Suburb accounted for 61 deaths and 200 injuries.

In the Baalbek and Hermel regions, 18 and 9 people were killed, respectively, with dozens more injured. Other areas also suffered heavily, with 28 people killed and 59 wounded in Nabatieh, 17 deaths and 6 injuries in Alay, 12 martyrs and 56 injured in Saida, and 17 dead with 68 wounded in Tyre.

357 Martyred, 1,223 Wounded in Israeli Aggression on Black Wednesday

By Al Mayadeen English

10 Apr 2026 23:36

The overall toll of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon since March 2 has reached 1,953 martyred and 6,303 injured.

Lebanon's Ministry of Health announced on Friday that the death toll from "Israel's" massacres on Black Wednesday has risen to 357 martyred and 1,223 wounded, as the Israeli regime continues its war on Lebanon.

The ministry further revealed that the overall toll of the Israeli aggression since March 2 has reached 1,953 killed and 6,303 injured.

Women, children, and elderly among the victims

Earlier ministry figures, recorded when the toll still stood at 303 martyred and 1,150 wounded, showed that at least 30 children and 71 women were among those martyred, with 142 children and 358 women wounded. Nine individuals over the age of 65 were also killed, and 47 were injured.

Wednesday's assault saw approximately 150 airstrikes carried out across Lebanon within minutes, targeting Beirut and its surroundings, the South, the Bekaa, and Mount Lebanon.

Israeli attacks continue on Friday

On Friday, an Israeli attack targeted the vicinity of the government serail in Nabatieh, killing 13 members of Lebanon's State Security apparatus, in a direct aggression against Lebanese state institutions, the same Lebanese state seeking to normalize relations with the entity.

Israeli occupation forces also carried out demolitions in multiple southern villages as part of their ethnic cleansing operations, alongside airstrikes and artillery shelling across the south.

A newly established Civil Defense point in Siddiqin was bombed, as were the roads linking Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain, the al-Housh area in the Tyre district, and towns including Deir al-Zahrani, Kfar Reman, Qaqaiyat al-Jisr, and Srifa. The southern city of Bint Jbeil was also targeted. In the Bekaa, attacks on Douris and Sohmar led to the martyrdom of three individuals.

The ongoing attacks represent a continued Israeli violation of the ceasefire agreement announced between Iran and the United States, which explicitly stipulated the inclusion of Lebanon and all fronts retaliating against US and Israeli aggressions, terms affirmed by Tehran and outlined in the Pakistani-mediated announcement. 

US-Israeli Strikes Ravage 125,000 Civilian Units Across Iran: Red Crescent Society

Friday, 10 April 2026 2:20 PM

Rescue workers are seen at the site of a US-Israeli airstrike on a residential area in Shahr-e Rey, Tehran, March 29, 2026. (Photo by IQNA)

The president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) says more than 125,000 civilian structures were either destroyed or severely damaged by US-Israeli airstrikes on residential areas across the country.

Pir-Hossein Koulivand detailed the extent of the devastation caused by the five-week military aggression against the country during a televised speech on Friday.

According to him, 125,630 civilian units were damaged across the country, 100,000 of which were residential properties.

While some structures have been completely destroyed, others have sustained significant damage. He added that commercial centers account for 23,500 of the total impacted structures.

The IRCS head also stated that 339 medical centers—including hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, health clinics, and emergency stations—were struck.

While some facilities were temporarily forced out of service, others managed to resume operations immediately.

Among these facilities, he said, Tehran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital was reactivated and resumed services to patients in less than 24 hours after being targeted.

Koulivand further said that after documenting all evidence, the organization will submit reports to international organizations to ensure legal accountability for these atrocities by the enemies of the Islamic Republic.

He said that extensive follow-ups have already been conducted through the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"All documentation regarding violations of International Humanitarian Law has been submitted to the relevant international bodies," Koulivand said.

The United States launched a large-scale, unprovoked war against Iran on February 28, assassinating former Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and a host of senior commanders.

Subsequent terrorist strikes on civilian targets have killed hundreds of civilians including more than 200 children.

Among the most tragic losses are over 181 schoolchildren and teachers in the southern city of Minab.

The school massacre occurred on the first day of the illegal war on Iran, when a US military attack using Tomahawk missiles struck Shajare Tayyebe Elementary school in the city.

In an earlier address to the UN Human Rights Council, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the massacre as “the tip of the iceberg” of the systematic war crimes committed with audacity and impunity by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran.

Yemenis Celebrate Iran’s Victory Against US-Israeli Coalition

Friday, 10 April 2026 6:06 PM

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis gather in Sana'a on April 10, 2026, to voice support for Iran and resistance front against the US-Israeli acts of aggression. (Photo by Saba)

Yemenis have taken to the streets to celebrate the “historic victory” achieved by Iran in the war with the US-Israeli coalition, reiterating their support for the axis of resistance.

On Friday, Yemenis staged a million-strong march in the capital Sana’a under the slogan "Thanks be to God and in Celebration of Victory... Our Fronts Are United Against Zionism", waving the flags of Yemen, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq.

The demonstrators congratulated Iran’s leadership and the Iranian people on the Islamic Republic’s “great victory” against the US and Israel.

They stressed this victory represents a triumph for the entire Muslim world against the forces of tyranny and hegemony, and marks a turning point in the fight against the Zionist enemy in the region.

The participants in the rally also reaffirmed their unwavering support for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine.

Meanwhile, they reiterated their commitment to maintaining the deterrence equation and the unity of the resistance fronts in the face of the American and Zionist enemy.

Similar demonstrations were also held in other cities across Yemen, including Sa’ada.

Tehran declared a “victory” following the war of aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime that lasted 40 days, announcing that Washington had been forced to accept an Iranian proposal.

On Wednesday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire after Washington received a 10-point proposal from Tehran.

Israel's Maariv newspaper admitted that the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic has ended in a "decisive victory for Iran," with both the US and Israel conceding to a "strategic surrender" and retreating from the battlefield.

The Israeli newspaper emphasized that Iran has imposed a deal largely of its own design on the US, rejecting Washington's proposal.

Iranian Delegation Arrives in Islamabad for Truce Talks, Insists on Preconditions Being Met

Friday, 10 April 2026 10:16 PM

Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf arrives in Islamabad for ceasefire talks with the American side.

A high-ranking Iranian delegation has arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad for talks with US representatives, as Tehran warns that any failure to meet its preconditions will derail the process.

Headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, the delegation, which includes security, political, military, economic, and legal committees, arrived in Islamabad on Friday night.

Other Iranian officials on the delegation include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Secretary of the Supreme National Defense Council Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, as well as several members of parliament.

US Vice President JD Vance, Washington's regional envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner have also reached Islamabad.

Trump announced a two-week lull in US attacks on Iran on Tuesday, 40 days after the country joined the Israeli regime in the duo's latest bout of unprovoked aggression towards Iran.

The announcement came after Iran's Armed Forces unleashed at least 99 waves of determined and successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.

Earlier on Friday, Qalibaf said a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets were the prerequisites to be met before the commencement of negotiations with the United States.

A 10-point proposal forwarded by Iran, which Trump has referred to as a "workable basis on which to negotiate and the main framework for these talks," explicitly conditions a ceasefire on the cessation of aggression on all fronts, including against Lebanon.

Since Trump's announcement, however, the Israeli regime has markedly escalated its attacks on Lebanon, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, including women and children.

'Iran has good will, but distrusts US'

Upon deplaning, Qalibaf reminded Iran's past experience of invariable American betrayal, including twice during diplomatic procedures.

"Twice within less than a year, in the middle of negotiations, and despite the Iranian side’s good faith, they attacked us and committed numerous war crimes," he said.

Both the latest aggression and the previous imposed American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic in June took place after Washington had begun engaging in diplomatic processes with Tehran.

"We have goodwill, but we do not have trust [in the opposite party]," the top legislator added.

He noted that the American side would only witness readiness on the part of the Islamic Republic towards arriving at an agreement "if it is ready for a genuine agreement and to grant the rights of the Iranian nation."

'US warned against renewed deception'

However, should Washington seek to use negotiation as "futile performance" and a "deception operation," Tehran is prepared to secure the Iranian nation's rights by relying on its own capabilities, Qalibaf said.

He cited the country's successful and determined defensive and retaliatory strikes throughout the latest aggression as proof of its preparedness to resolutely secure its national interests and protect its sovereignty.

Analysis: Why No Power Can Undermine Iran's Eternal Dominance Over the Strait of Hormuz

Friday, 10 April 2026 12:30 PM

By Mohammad Molaei

The Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway nestled between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is not merely a geographical passageway or a shipping lane on the world map to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It is a strategically vital waterway that forms the pulse of the global energy economy and, simultaneously, a potent asset for the Islamic Republic to fundamentally reshape the balance of power in the Persian Gulf and around the world.  

Iran seeks not merely to protect or monitor this strait but to exercise absolute, intelligent and legitimate control that, in the short term, applies economic pressure on any adversary to force it into retreat, negotiation, or acceptance of Iranian terms, and in the long term, to convert this control into permanent and inexhaustible strategic advantage.

This unchallenged authority on the strategic chokepoint, which carries around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade, includes regulating maritime traffic, collecting passage tolls, influencing global supply chains, and reconfiguring power dynamics in the region in alignment with the Axis of Resistance.

Backed by immutable geographical realities, international legal frameworks, precise economic data, and Iran's asymmetric military capabilities, we examine how no military threats nor diplomatic pressure can alter this fundamental and unalterable reality.

Geographically, the narrowest point of the Strait of Hormuz measures just 21 nautical miles — roughly 39 kilometers — in width. This extremely narrow gap places all key shipping routes, including two two-mile-wide carriageways and a two-mile buffer strip, entirely within Iranian and Omani exclusive territorial economic waters.

Iran is uniquely positioned to exert absolute control over the northern and most critical part of the strait, with its coastline stretching more than 1,600 kilometers along the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. This extensive coastline includes not only mainland shores but also numerous strategic islands that serve as natural strongpoints.

Unlike the Suez Canal or Panama Canal — artificial waterways that can be circumnavigated — the Strait of Hormuz is the only natural, mandatory route for crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and chemical products exiting the Persian Gulf en route to the Indian Ocean and global markets.

No viable alternative to bypass Iran’s control

There is no economically viable or practically feasible alternative to bypass it.

The geography is also immutable: the mountains, rocky coasts, and shallow water depths in key formations make it impossible or prohibitively expensive to open parallel routes or construct new canals. No power on earth, irrespective of its military prowess, can overcome this geographical reality through insignificant actions, the occupation of tiny islands, or even the deployment of naval forces.

Iran's long and impenetrable coastline is a natural wall that would require manpower and logistical support far beyond the capacity of the world's largest armies to capture or hold.

Legally, the Strait of Hormuz falls under the purview of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), though its interpretation has consistently and appropriately followed the line advanced by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Because the strait's width is less than 24 nautical miles, the entire waterway is not considered part of international waters or an international shipping route. The governing legal regime is not free and compulsory transit passage, but rather innocent passage.

Iran, having signed but not fully ratified the 1982 Convention, has always maintained that vessel passage must not prejudice the sovereignty of coastal states in any way, and that any passage threatening Iran's national security is invalid.

This unique legal status grants Tehran the option of selective and conditional control over vessel traffic without necessarily infringing upon international law as interpreted by Western powers.

This is why the Strait of Hormuz is Iran's real unsinkable aircraft carrier: an inseparable asset that costs virtually nothing to maintain daily, yet offers strategic and deterrent value inestimable to the global economy.

This legal position, combined with its geographical reality, has placed Iran in a situation where it can exercise practical dominance and unquestionable authority over the waterway without maintaining a permanent surface force presence.

Economically, the Strait of Hormuz is rightly called the true chokepoint of the world economy.

According to the most recent data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately 20.9 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products transit through the strait daily — equivalent to 20 percent of all oil consumed worldwide and 25 to 27 percent of global oil imports and exports.

Moreover, over 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade — roughly 11.4 billion cubic feet per day, mostly from Qatari fields — also passes through this route.

Influence of the Strait of Hormuz beyond oil

But the waterway’s influence extends far beyond the oil industry. Iran is the world's largest source of urea — a nitrogen fertilizer vital to agriculture — and the broader Persian Gulf region dominates this trade.

Iran alone ranks among the top five urea exporters globally, and any disruption in transit automatically drives international urea prices up by 25 to 30 percent.

This price surge directly disrupts fertilizer supply chains for major importing countries such as India, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and most African countries. The consequence is a large-scale food crisis: soaring wheat, rice, and other agricultural commodity prices, worldwide food inflation, and a direct threat to the food security of billions of people.

Thus, the Strait of Hormuz is the chokepoint of the global food supply — a weapon Iran can use to influence the currents of the global economy and generate unprecedented pressure by seizing control of food and energy chains without launching a single missile or drone.

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Strait of Hormuz serves as an asymmetric weapon or economic nuclear. It can hold the world economy at ransom by the implementation of selective but intelligent control of the waterway, without the requirement that involves direct war, without incurring huge costs of armaments and even the use of advanced nuclear weapons.

This strategy can be used to impose colossal and rapid economic strain that compels the opposing side to either flee in haste, bargain, or accept Iran's terms, with no other options.

The long-term goal could be to transform this temporary control into a structural and permanent arrangement: collecting passage tolls from vessels, selectively regulating traffic (free passage for friendly ships in the Persian Gulf, restrictions and bans on hostile ones), and completely redefining the rules of engagement in the Persian Gulf in alignment with the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance.

During periods of tension, Iran implements a calculated approach by raising the threat to the point of execution without necessarily ever closing the waterway completely, as was seen in operations True Promise 1, True Promise 2, and True Promise 3.  

This strategy imposes continuous economic costs on the enemy without inflicting any harm on Iran. Even though Iranian oil exports and its own products are indirectly affected in the short term, selective transit management and toll collection create new revenue streams, ultimately swinging the economic war in Tehran's favor.

Iran's balance of action closely mirrors that of Gamal Abdel Nasser when he nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956. Nasser dared to seize the canal, scuttled ships at its entrance, and effectively closed the oil lifeline to Europe.

That action brought the British and French empires to their knees, triggered the Suez Crisis, and symbolized the fall of British colonial rule in the West Asia region.

Just as Nasser, with a single strategic stroke, turned a major energy canal into an instrument of influence and power shift, Iran has now moved to nationalize the Strait of Hormuz through actual action, asymmetric military strength, and unyielding political determination.

This nationalization of the Strait of Hormuz can be seen as the beginning of the de facto demise of American power in the Persian Gulf region, just as the nationalization of Suez heralded the end of the British Empire. The only difference is that Iran employs less advanced, less costly, and more efficient means to enforce this power and authority.

Iran's efforts to implement a passage toll system in the operational and executive spheres have been intelligent and multifaceted. Enemies or vessels lacking the required permission face direct threats, while friendly vessels — particularly those from Eastern countries and key allies like China, Russia or Pakistan — pay tolls in Chinese yuan, Russian rubles, or cryptocurrencies such as USDT or Bitcoin, securing safe and uninterrupted passage.

This policy not only provides a direct and permanent revenue stream for the Iranian economy but also significantly reduces Iran's reliance on the US dollar, which is dying a slow death.

Through the comprehensive use of China's international payment system (CIPS), other banking networks, and digital payment systems, Tehran has successfully moved to eliminate the dollar from the commercial equations of the Strait of Hormuz and is working toward currency multipolarity and the dismantling of Western financial supremacy.

Iran’s legitimate control over Strait of Hormuz

This initiative is part of a broader economic warfare strategy that renders further struggle or pressure on Iran far more expensive and burdensome for the opponent than capitulating to Tehran's demands. Iran's intelligent and legitimate control over the Strait of Hormuz is thus absolute and enduring, resting on three unchangeable foundations.

First is the irrevocable nature of geography and the impossible cost of seizing it by force. Iran is literally impregnable with its 1,600-kilometer coastline. Any invading force attempting to assert control over a 100-kilometer front and fully reopen the strait would require over one million men, a vast naval fleet, and unparalleled logistical support — a force that even the world's strongest military would struggle to assemble.

Moreover, Iran's control over the strait does not depend on fixed ground positions surrounding the waterway; complete control can be exercised through anti-ship missiles, long-range drones with a range of nearly 2,000 kilometers, and integrated radar command systems.

The second justification is Iran's absolute superiority in both low-intensity and high-intensity asymmetric warfare. Large-scale mining of the Strait — not using surface ships but rather Fajr-5 rockets fired from a range of 70 kilometers — is entirely within Iran's capabilities.

These rockets can deploy magnetic, intelligent, and advanced mines along the entire length of the strait, rendering shipping traffic completely uneconomical. Clearing such mines from this waterway would require no less than six months, during which the global economy would be crippled in terms of energy supply and food security.

The ancillary cost of such warfare to Iran is minimal — thousands of dollars per mine — while the enemy suffers billions of dollars in daily losses, not to mention the devastating disruption to global supply chains.

The third foundation is Iran's long history and precise strategic calculus. Iran has on many occasions in the past spoken of shutting down the Strait but has not acted on it, as demonstrated during the crises of the 1980s, in 2011-2012, and the last few years.

The threat itself is an effective deterrent. Any force that attempts to respond to Iran's language of direct threat with its own language of direct threat instantly faces the prospect of a global energy shock, extreme inflation, economic downturn, and domestic opposition.

Records in the contemporary world have revealed that Iran will push the threat to the final stage of execution and will ultimately compel the opponent to withdraw and accept new realities, and it has been clearly and unquestionably demonstrated in the past 40 days.

Finally, Iran does not insist on a permanent and destructive closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but rather on intelligent and selective control. This domination includes non-dollar toll collection, selective passage management of vessels, and the transformation of all external threats into opportunities to reformulate the rules of engagement in the Persian Gulf.]

Iran soars above this waterway because its permanence — rooted in immutable natural geography, low-cost and effective asymmetric technology, and most importantly, its unshakable determination — has secured it forever.

This fact cannot be altered by any power on earth, regardless of massive military pressure or international coercion. Any attempt to counter Iran in the Strait of Hormuz would simply cost the global economy far more and ultimately force adversaries to accept the new reality in the Persian Gulf: this waterway will no longer be anyone's backyard, but rather the territory of the established, solid, and indestructible deterrent power of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran’s 10-point Proposal to Form Basis of Talks with US in Islamabad: Senior Diplomat

Friday, 10 April 2026 1:25 PM

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi speaks in a meeting with ambassadors and heads of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations based in Tehran on April 10, 2026.

A senior Iranian diplomat says the upcoming negotiations with the United States in Pakistan will be based on the 10-point ceasefire plan proposed by Iran.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi made the remarks in a meeting with ambassadors and heads of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations based in Tehran on Friday as he outlined the dimensions of the crimes committed by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Iranian people during 40 days of imposed war.

The United States and Israel launched their unprovoked war of aggression against Iran on February 28. They assassinated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and struck nuclear sites, schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced on Wednesday that there was an agreement to a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire after the US accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal, potentially followed by negotiations to effectively end the war.

The Iranian and American delegations are scheduled to hold the first round of talks after the truce agreement in Islamabad on Saturday.

Takht Ravanchi said Iran pursues a “responsible” approach to the declaration of the ceasefire, adding, “It has been agreed that Iran’s 10-article plan will be the basis for negotiations.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always welcomed diplomacy and dialogue, but not a dialogue based on false information with the purpose of deceiving and paving the way for renewed military aggression against Iran,” he added.

“We do not want a ceasefire that will allow the aggressive enemy to rearm and launch another attack, and we have explicitly told our friends that this situation will not recur without guarantees,” he emphasized.

He noted that the US-Israeli military aggression constitutes an “illegal war and an instance of a war crime” against the Iranian people, saying it was the second time that the United States carried out attacks against Iran as Tehran was in the midst of diplomatic talks with Washington in Geneva over its peaceful nuclear program.

The diplomat further warned against the US and Israel’s goals to dominate the West Asia region and pursue the “Greater Israel” plot and reiterated that Iran’s approach to neighboring countries is based on good neighborliness.

“Iran’s defensive operation should not be viewed as attacks against these countries, but rather, Iran’s defensive operation targeted American bases and facilities within these countries’ territories that were used in the military aggression against Iran,” Takht Ravanchi emphasized.

He hailed the countries that “stood on the right side of history” and condemned the US-Israeli aggression against Iran. He strongly criticized the stance of some European countries, which stood on the wrong side of history and not only refrained from condemning the acts of aggression and crime against the Iranian people but even supported them.

Iran has repeatedly stated its commitment to respecting the territorial integrity of all its neighbors under its policy of good neighborliness. However, it warns that if American terrorists utilize the soil, airspace, or facilities of neighboring countries to launch attacks against Iran, those countries will be considered legitimate targets for Iran.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister recognized the Islamic Republic’s right to legitimate self-defense in the face of the aggressors as per the United Nations Charter and international law and norms.

“We fought against two major nuclear powers and a vast global army. We lost great figures, Innocent people and innocent children were martyred in the criminal attacks of the aggressors,” he said.

“However, the Iranian people resisted and this resistance is not only for the defense of Iran’s existence but also for defending the interests and benefits of all the countries in the region against Israel’s expansionism and warmongering and this regime’s threat is not limited to Iran but it poses a threat to the stability and security of the entire region,” Takht Ravanchi pointed out.

Pope’s Africa Trip Takes Him to a Source of Growth for the Church, and Critical Challenges

By NICOLE WINFIELD

1:03 AM EDT, April 10, 2026

VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Leo XIV pronounced himself a “son of St. Augustine” the night of his election, some Algerians took that to mean his ancestors hailed from the North African country where the 5th century saint lived and died.

Leo’s line, of course, referred to his Augustinian spirituality. But his connection to the Algerian-born St. Augustine, the towering figure of Christianity who is known well to Algeria’s Sunni Muslim majority, served at the very least to favorably introduce Leo to a country that will welcome him Monday for the first-ever papal visit.

Leo’s two-day stay kicks off an ambitious odyssey across four African countries — Algeria, Angola, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea — that is so dizzying in its logistical complexity that it recalls the globe-trotting journeys of St. John Paul II in his early years.

The 70-year-old Leo will cover more than 17,700 kilometers (about 11,000 miles) on 18 flights over 11 days starting Monday and will deliver speeches and homilies in French, Spanish, Portuguese and English. He’s prioritizing a part of the world that is crucial for the continued growth of the Catholic Church, but poses unique challenges as well.

With such a variety of cultures and histories, the themes he’ll raise run the gamut, including migration and the exploitation of natural and human resources in a region that produces much of the world’s oil, but where significant proportions of the population live in poverty. The Vatican says Leo will also speak about corruption in oftentimes authoritarian regimes and the role of political leaders in countries where two of the presidents have been in power for decades.

Huge crowds are expected in Cameroon, where 29% of the population is Catholic and 600,000 people are due to attend one of Leo’s Masses. Leo will preside over a “peace meeting” in Cameroon’s north-west city of Bamenda, which has has been plagued by separatist violence.

“To see His Holiness Pope Leo XIV arrive in Cameroon, for us who are Catholic Christians, it further strengthens our faith, it further strengthens our ties with our God,” said Simon Pierre Ngombo, a Catholic Cameroonian. “It is a perfect moment to touch each other’s hearts.”

A message of peaceful coexistence

Algeria will give the American pope a chance to promote peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, at a time of global tensions over the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. Despite the war, no extra security measures are planned, the Vatican said.

Leo, who has already positioned himself as an American counterweight to U.S. President Donald Trump, will visit the Great Mosque in Algiers, and interfaith dialogue is expected to be raised, said the archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco.

On Africa’s northern coast, Algeria fought a brutal civil war in the 1990s that is known locally as the “black decade,” when some 250,000 people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency. As recently as last year, Algeria was still addressing the wounds of its colonial legacy, with legislators voting to declare France’s colonization of the North African country a crime and calling for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule.

The visit “acts as a bridge between the Christian and Muslim worlds, while reflecting the richness of the country’s history,” Vesco told the official Algerian news agency, APS.

However, Algerian authorities turned down the Vatican request for Leo to visit to Médéa (50 kilometers/30 miles south of Algiers) to pray at the Tibhirine monastery, where seven French Trappist monks were kidnapped and killed May 21, 1996, by Islamic fighters during the civil war.

“Algeria has no intention of reopening a painful chapter of its history,” the government daily El Moudjahid wrote in support of the government’s decision.

Leo is expected to refer to the sacrifice of the monks, who were among 19 priests, nuns and other Catholics killed during the war. They were beatified in 2018 as martyrs for the faith in what was then the first such beatification ceremony in the Muslim world.

A growing church, with growing challenges

Africa as a whole contributed more than half of the 15.8 million new Catholics who were baptized in 2023, or 8.3 million new African Catholics, according to the latest Vatican statistics.

The continent also contributes thousands of men to the priesthood and women to religious orders each year, turning a continent that was long on the receiving end of Western missionaries into one that exports its priests and nuns abroad.

According to Vatican statistics, Angola and Cameroon consistently produce some of the largest number of seminarians on the continent each year. As of December 2024, for example, Angola had 2,366 priestly candidates in major seminaries and Cameroon had 2,218, just behind the African vocation powerhouses of Nigeria, Congo and Tanzania.

But the exponential growth has brought challenges, as well. When past popes addressed African clergy, they often reminded them of the need to adhere to vows of celibacy. When Pope Benedict XVI visited Angola and Cameroon in 2009, his trip was overshadowed by his comments en route that condoms could make the AIDS crisis worse, drawing condemnation from a host of public health experts.

A big issue confronting the Holy See now is the ethnic rivalries that permeate church life. That is especially true in the nomination of bishops, who oftentimes are responsible for swaths of territory covering various ethnic groups, and find themselves rejected by priests or faithful, said the Rev. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, No. 2 in the Vatican’s missionary evangelization office.

The problem is known as the “son of the soil syndrome,” when the Holy See insists “the church should speak of the ‘son of the church,’” he said.

Another question facing the African church is the practice of polygamy, which has been raised so insistently by African bishops as a critical issue over the years that the Holy See last year published an entire doctrinal document on the value of monogamy and created a special study group on it.

Catholic doctrine holds that marriage is a monogamous, lifelong union between one man and one woman. That position creates tension and incompatibility with cultural norms in parts of Africa, especially in agrarian and nomadic societies where multiple wives who can produce numerous children are considered a necessity for survival.

Leo will have plenty of meetings with Catholic clergy, bishops and ordinary faithful in which he can emphasize the value of the Catholic family, said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

Extraction industries and corruption

Some of the countries Leo will visit, all former European colonies, are among the world’s biggest producers of oil and minerals, including gold, diamonds and iron, the extraction of which has transformed their economies in recent years.

But Leo is expected to highlight negative effects of exploitation of Africa’s natural and human resources that have benefitted only a few while harming the environment.

That’s especially true in Equatorial Guinea, where President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been in power since 1979 and, along with his family, is accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism.

It’s an issue that Pope Francis prioritized during his pontificate and articulated in his 2015 environmental encyclical, “Praised Be,” which Leo has strongly endorsed and promoted.

A Country-by-country Glance at Pope Leo XIV’s Trip to Africa

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:08 AM EDT, April 10, 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s four-nation, 11-day trip to Africa is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globetrotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years.

Themes Leo is expected to raise include Christian-Muslim coexistence, the over-exploitation of the region’s natural and human resources, corruption and migration.

Here’s a country-by-country look at each destination and highlights of the itinerary:

ALGERIA: April 13-15

The Algeria stop clearly carries the most personal importance for Leo, given his ties to St. Augustine, the inspiration of his religious order who lived and died there. Leo will visit Annaba, the modern-day Hippo where the 5th century saint was a bishop.

Migration and Christian-Muslim coexistence are expected to be other top themes in Algeria, a former French colony which is a majority Sunni Muslim nation on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Leo will pay homage to migrants killed in shipwrecks trying to reach Europe and will visit the Great Mosque in Algiers.

Last year, Algerian legislators voted to declare France’s colonization of the North African country a crime, approving a law that calls for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to redress historical wrongs.

CAMEROON: April 15-18

One of the highlights of Leo’s visit to Cameroon will be a “peace meeting” he will lead in the north-west city of Bamenda on April 16, featuring testimony of a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun.

Cameroon’s western regions have been plagued by fighting since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017 with the stated goal of breaking away from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent English-speaking state. The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group, a think tank.

The country is also plagued by fighting involving Boko Haram militants in the north, as the Islamic extremist group’s insurgency in neighboring Nigeria has spilled over into Cameroon.

Cameroon sits atop significant reserves of oil, natural gas, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds. The extractive sector accounts for nearly a third of the country’s exports, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

But rights groups and the Catholic Church have raised alarms that revenues from extraction rarely reach the rural and indigenous communities that live closest to mining and drilling operations, while foreign companies and a small national elite capture most of the profits.

While French and English companies have long dominated the extraction industry in Cameroon, Chinese companies have moved heavily into the country in recent years, particularly in the gold mining regions of the east.

Last year, United Nations experts reported severe human rights and environmental harms resulting from mercury use in gold mining operations in eastern Cameroon.

The gold mining rush in eastern Cameroon has also led hundreds of children to abandon school to dig for gold, risking their lives at makeshift mines for a dollar’s worth of ore sold on the local black market, according to UNICEF.

ANGOLA: April 18-21

In Angola, where around 58% of the population is Catholic, Leo will pray at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, a Marian shrine that has become one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in Angola.

The church was first built around the end of the 16th century by the Portuguese after they established a fortress at Muxima. It became a key point in the Portuguese trans-Atlantic human trade as a place where enslaved people were baptized before they were sent on ships to the Americas.

Angola today is the fourth largest oil producer in Africa and among the world’s top 20 producers, according to the International Energy Agency. It’s also the world’s third biggest diamond producer and has significant deposits of gold and highly sought after critical minerals.

But despite its varied natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day.

The country of around 38 million gained independence from Portugal in 1975, but still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began straight after independence and raged on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than half a million people are believed to have been killed.

In Angola, Leo will address young people especially to offer a message of hope and healing, the Vatican said.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: April 21-23

The discovery of offshore oil in the mid-1990s transformed Equatorial Guinea’s economy virtually overnight, with oil now accounting for almost half of its GDP and more than 90% of exports, according to the African Development Bank.

Yet more than half of the authoritarian petrostate’s population still live in poverty, the World Bank reported last year.

The former Spanish colony is run by Africa’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979 and is accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism.

Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have documented how revenues have enriched the ruling Obiang family rather than the broader population, where at least 70% of the country’s nearly 2 million people live in poverty.

The country’s government also faces rampant accusations of harassment, arrest and intimidation of political opponents, critics and journalists.

In addition to the negative impacts of the extraction industries, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Leo would raise issues of corruption and the proper role of governing authorities during the trip.

Eswatini Supreme Court Rules in Favor of 4 Men Deported by the US to Africa and Denied Lawyer Meetings for 9 Months

FILE -Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)

By GERALD IMRAY

9:44 AM EDT, April 10, 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Supreme Court in the African kingdom of Eswatini has ruled that four men sent there by the United States last July under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program can finally meet with a lawyer after they were denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while held at a maximum-security prison.

A lower court had previously ruled that local lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, who is working on behalf of the men’s U.S.-based lawyers, could meet with them, but the Eswatini government immediately appealed that decision.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed arguments by Eswatini authorities that the deportees didn’t want to meet with Nhlabatsi, and that they had no right to legal counsel anyway because they had not been arrested or charged with a crime in Eswatini.

Eswatini is ruled by a king as Africa’s last absolute monarchy, and authorities have been accused of clamping down on pro-democracy movements, sometimes violently.

U.S.-based lawyer Alma David of Novo Legal Group, who represents two of the four deported men, said in a statement Friday that the fact that it took nine months of litigation to allow the men to meet with a lawyer “speaks volumes about how hard the government of Eswatini is fighting to deny these men the most basic of rights.”

The four men from Cuba, Yemen, Laos and Vietnam have been allowed to speak by phone with their U.S.-based lawyers.

Eswatini is one of at least eight African nations to have struck deals with the U.S. government to take deported migrants who are originally from other countries. The Trump administration has used the program in its immigration crackdown as a means of quickly removing migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and who can’t easily be sent to their home countries.

Criticism that deportees are denied their rights

Critics have said the program allows the deportees’ legal rights to be violated in countries that have questionable rights records and where the deportees have no ties.

U.S. authorities have insisted they followed due process with the deportations but have largely handed over responsibility for the treatment of the deportees to the countries receiving them.

Eswatini government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said in a cell phone message to The Associated Press that “the judgment is still new, and the Government has not yet convened to consider any potential future actions, if necessary.”

The four men sent to Eswatini were convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. and had deportation orders, the U.S. government has said. Their lawyers say they completed their prison sentences in the U.S. and their detention at Eswatini’s maximum-security Matsapha Correctional Complex is illegal because they have not been charged with any crime in the African nation.

The US is paying African governments millions

The U.S. agreed to pay Eswatini’s government $5.1 million to take deportees, according to documents released by the U.S. State Department. Eswatini has received at least 19 deportees from the U.S. in separate batches since July and said it could hold them in prison for up to a year. Two of them have been repatriated to their home countries.

The seven other African nations known to have agreed on deals to take deported migrants are South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo.

Details of only some of the deals have been published by the State Department, including that the U.S. would pay Rwanda $7.5 million. South Sudan’s government asked the U.S. to drop sanctions against a senior official accused of corruption and help it prosecute an opposition leader in return for taking deportees, according to documents related to that deal. There is no indication the U.S. considered those requests.

Senate Democrats have questioned a $7.5 million payment made to Equatorial Guinea, where the president and his family are accused of systemic corruption, embezzlement and repression. Many elements of the deals have been cloaked in secrecy, including where some of the deportees sent to Africa are being held and how long they will be detained.

More deals are being negotiated

A report in February by Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the Trump administration had spent at least $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to countries other than their own, including in Africa, Central America and elsewhere.

At the time, internal documents reviewed by The AP showed 47 deportation deals between the U.S. and third countries had been agreed or were being negotiated.

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AP writer Nokukhanya Musi in Manzini, Eswatini, contributed to this report.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Djibouti Holds Presidential Election with Longtime Ruler Favored for a Sixth Term

By OMAR FARUK

7:15 AM EDT, April 10, 2026

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Voters in the small Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti cast ballots to elect their president on Friday, with longtime leader Ismaïl Omar Guelleh expected to secure a sixth term in office after lawmakers scrapped presidential age limits last year.

Guelleh, 78, has ruled the country of about 1 million for more than two decades. The results of the 2021 election showed him winning nearly 99% of the vote.

He faces a single challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former ruling party member, in a race analysts say offers little genuine competition. Opposition groups frequently boycott elections, citing restrictions on political freedoms.

Guelleh succeeded his uncle, former President Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999, extending a family-led system that has shaped the country’s politics for decades.

Regional observers from the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development monitored the vote.

“The scrapping of term limits in Djibouti is less about electoral competition and more about preserving regime continuity in a highly strategic state,” Mohamed Husein Gaas of the Raad Peace Research Institute told The Associated Press.

“While it raises concerns about democratic backsliding, external actors are likely to prioritize stability given Djibouti’s critical role in Red Sea security and global trade routes, especially amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” he said.

Djibouti hosts multiple foreign military bases, including those of the U.S., China, France and Japan, underscoring its strategic importance along a key global shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Revenues from these arrangements, along with port services for neighboring Ethiopia, underpin the economy.

But that model leaves Djibouti exposed to external shocks. It depends heavily on Ethiopia’s use of its ports, while global disruptions — including Red Sea shipping insecurity — pose risks to revenue.

In Congo, an Unconventional Christian Movement Has Existential Lessons for the Troubled Nation

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA

7:03 AM EDT, April 10, 2026

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The founder of one of Africa’s largest independent churches spent 30 years in jail and died a prisoner, banished far from his home by Belgian colonial authorities who judged his activities to be dangerous.

Unexpectedly, Simon Kimbangu’s religious movement spread across Congo and prospered enough that it now has followers even in Belgium, with pilgrims visiting a quaint village south of the Congolese capital of Kinshasa to pay homage to him.

April 6 has been marked in Congo as Kimbangu Day since 2023, a holiday to celebrate the “struggle of Simon Kimbangu and African consciousness.” Some see him as the Nelson Mandela of Central Africa, with comparable suffering but not nearly the fame.

If Kimbangu’s articulation of a home-grown theology of Black liberation appealed to many Congolese in violent colonial times, now his message resonates differently as Congo faces instability stemming from a violent rebellion in the east.

Some Congolese say Kimbangu’s movement — nonviolent, independent, well-organized and resilient — can be a positive example for a nation facing perhaps its worst territorial crisis since independence in 1960. Others say the spirit of sacrifice that Kimbangu embodied should be emulated by Congo’s leaders.

“The first challenge for African leaders, or Congolese leaders, is that they are not free,” said Bwatshia Kambayi, a historian of Congo who sees similarities in the struggles of Mandela and Kimbangu. “African leaders, they do not realize that they have a slavery mindset. We are independent, but we are not free.”

A far-flung, multi-million-member movement

The Kimbanguist Church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth Through the Prophet Simon Kimbangu, is a revival movement. It is believed to have anywhere between 6 and 17 million members, most of them Congolese. Its spiritual seat is Nkamba, a town southwest of Kinshasa that believers call the New Jerusalem.

Although its primary teachings refer to the Bible, the Kimbanguist Church is distinguished by its veneration of Kimbangu as the Black embodiment of the Holy Spirit. Fiercely independent, the church maintains a hierarchical structure and is currently in its third generation of leadership.

The Kimbanguist Church prohibits polygamy, which is socially accepted in Congo. It encourages peaceful ways of resolving conflict among members. A sense of good neighborliness is witnessed in the sharing of foodstuffs for communal events, and the church has invested widely in schools and other social enterprises. Women can rise to positions of authority.

“Women are ministering in the church. They have a key role to play because the church is so thankful for what the wife of Simon Kimbangu did when her husband was in prison,” said André Kibangudi, a church elder. “We should have more female leadership.”

Congo in 1921 was a Belgian colony, the source of raw materials like rubber, timber and minerals that paid for the reconstruction of Belgium after World War I. Kimbangu, a lay Baptist catechist, was an unlikely candidate for leadership. Even though he urged his followers to pay taxes, his religious idea proved too provocative for authorities.

Kimbangu identified God with Nzambi, the deity in the Kikongo language, and presented himself as God’s envoy on Earth. This implied the Blackness of God, subverting cultural representations of the deity as white and possibly European. All the trembling, as Kimbangu touched the sick, alarmed European settlers and reassured the plantation workers who trekked to Nkamba in search of healing.

But he led his ministry for only five months. Facing insurrection charges, Kimbangu was sentenced to death. King Albert I of Belgium commuted the punishment to life imprisonment, and the prophet was exiled to present-day Lubumbashi, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away.

Few photos were taken of Kimbangu, who was 64 when he died in 1951. In the stylized photo of him presented in official files, he wears the austere garb of a prisoner, baldheaded and looking quizzical. Sometimes he is painted next to his wife, Marie Muilu, who led the movement until her youngest son, Joseph Diangienda Kuntima, took over in 1959. Kuntima was succeeded by his brother in 1992. The group’s leader since 2001 is Simon Kimbangu Kiangani, a grandson of the founder.

On Easter Sunday, as Kimbanguists prepared for the next day’s holiday, church members at the Kinshasa branch chanted “Simon Kimbangu Kiangani oyee,” praising the leader who was not among them. The group composes its own sacred music, lilting songs that prompt women in green-and-white wraparounds to vigorously shake their bodies. Some in the group were boarding church-owned buses that would take them to Nkamba.

The church’s rules forbid “dating a married man,” said Chantal Makanga, a widow, citing what she considered a striking example of Kimbanguism’s values. “It’s not bad to fall in love or to date me, if the final goal is to get married.”

Border tensions fueling Congo’s crisis

President Félix Tshisekedi’s major challenge is the armed conflict in eastern Congo, where the largest city, Goma, has been controlled by rebels since January 2025. Those rebels, the Rwanda-backed M23, have effectively carved off the mineral-rich North Kivu province and caused the flight of hundreds of thousands, provoking fear of secession and forcing the president to seek drastic measures.

Notably, Tshisekedi has offered U.S. companies access to eastern Congo’s minerals — mostly untapped and estimated to be worth $24 trillion — as a bargaining chip for U.S. support to secure eastern Congo.

But some critics predict an intensification of the problem with the entry of a big new rival for resources into eastern Congo, where the Chinese have long been active in mineral extraction. Some lawyers and activists have filed a petition arguing that a mineral partnership with the U.S. threatens Congo’s sovereignty, and the leader of the National Episcopal Conference likened such a partnership to “selling off the minerals of an entire nation to save a regime or a political system.”

Tshisekedi has embraced Kimbanguists; his prime minister, Judith Suminwa, is one of them. That’s an indicator of the government’s respect for Kimbangu as a champion of Black emancipation and highlights the Kimbanguist movement’s importance as a source of votes.

“The church today is very dynamic, very influential,” said Paul Kasonga, a Kimbanguist pastor of millions in Mongala province.

What Congo’s leaders can learn from Kimbangu “is that the guy didn’t work for himself. He sacrificed himself to free people who had been in slavery, who had been suffering,” Kasonga said.

Kambayi, the scholar and former minister of higher education, said the elite running Congo “are poor men who want to live as rich people.”

“This is not the fight of Simon Kimbangu,” he said. “None of them has reached the level of fighting for people’s freedom, for people’s liberty.”

Toussaint Mungwala, pastor of Kimbanguists in Kwilu province, said he felt the force of Kimbangu’s legacy back in 1981 when he saw a German priest praying while holding a picture of Kimbangu and Muilu. The sight intrigued him and drew him to the Kimbanguist Church.

Five years later, Mungwala converted from Catholicism, convinced that Kimbangu was on the side of the people.

“The lesson that people can learn from the church is that the prophet, the founding prophet, fought for people’s rights,” he said.