The late Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist working for the pro-Hezbollah daily Al Akhbar newspaper, reports near a destroyed bridge in Qasmiyeh, Lebanon, on March 22, 2026 [Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo]
- Senior Iranian officials have blamed Washington for stalled peace negotiations due to the United States naval blockade of the country’s ports, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it captured two foreign vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on a third ship for violating maritime regulations.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran wants “dialogue and agreement” but “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations”.
- Trump believes blockade is putting economic pressure on Iran– There has been reporting that Trump had effectively set a three- to five-day deadline for the Iranians to come up with a unified proposal about getting back to talks.
- Israeli targeting of journalists and medics in southern Lebanon
- Amal Khalil was a well-known and respected journalist here in Lebanon. She had actually received direct threats during the last war from an Israeli phone number on WhatsApp, asking her to cease her reporting, in fact, telling her that she should leave Lebanon if she wanted her head to remain on her shoulders.
- The Israeli military, in a statement, denied reports that it had been preventing rescue teams from reaching the scene, and additionally, said that they do not target journalists.
- But it was less than a month ago that three journalists here in southern Lebanon were killed in a double-tap attack.
- Behind the scenes, US-Iran are ‘negotiating on returning to negotiations.’ Former US General Mark Kimmitt told Al Jazeera earlier that “back channel” talks are taking place between the US and Iran, which are likely focused on “negotiating on returning to negotiations”.
- “There are front channel messages coming from all sides. Different elements inside of Iran have different views and are not shy about announcing them, which we haven’t seen in the past with Iran because there was always message discipline,” Kimmitt said.
- AL JAZEERA
