Regional
Bangladesh’s Hasina plans December return with party colleagues to surrender
Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, facing a death sentence back home where her party is banned, told Reuters she and senior party colleagues plan to return from exile in India around December and surrender.
The South Asian nation’s longest-serving leader said she and members of her Awami League aim to return voluntarily to the country they fled two years ago and present themselves in court, testing Bangladesh’s handling of its most prominent political opponent.
“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Hasina, 78, said in the nearly hour-long telephone interview late on Thursday and into Friday.
“Still, I have to go,” she said. “My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed.”
BANGLADESH-INDIA TIES STRAINED BY EXILE
Hasina fled Bangladesh in 2024 after protests ended her 20 years as prime minister across multiple terms. The country’s war-crimes court sentenced her in November to death in her absence for ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has denied the charges from exile.
A return could sharpen political divisions in the garment-export powerhouse as the government in Dhaka seeks to restore stability after two years of upheaval. On the other hand, it could improve strained ties with India, which deteriorated sharply after New Delhi gave her refuge.
Bangladesh has repeatedly urged India to extradite her.
Hasina, who has fielded written questions from news outlets but not previously given an interview during her exile, said she has not consulted with any foreign government on whether or when to return.
This is the first time she has set out a timetable for her return, said she plans to surrender or said other exiled Awami League leaders would do so. Among them, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal also faces a death sentence. Reuters could not contact the other party members or establish where they were.
The authorities in Dhaka “want to take me back, they are repeatedly sending letters to India seeking to have me sent back”, she said. “I will go myself.”
Spokespeople for the Bangladesh government did not respond to requests for comment on Hasina’s remarks.
India’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. In April, the ministry said it was examining Bangladesh’s request to extradite her and that it wanted to “engage constructively with the new government and further strengthen bilateral ties”.
ONETIME DEMOCRACY CHAMPION ACCUSED OF CRUSHING DISSENT
Hasina was a dominant figure in Bangladesh for half a century after being thrust into the spotlight by the assassination of her father, an independence leader, and much of her family in a military coup.
She fought for democracy early on and was credited with turning around the economy of the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million, but her long rule generated accusations that her government had crushed dissent and dismantled democratic checks and balances — allegations she denies.
The crackdown that led to her downfall killed as many as 1,400 people, according to a U.N. report.
“Cases have been filed against almost all of our leaders and workers, and many of them are in hiding,” Hasina told Reuters from her exile home in Delhi. “So I said that this time I am returning home, and one day, all of you should come. All together, we will all surrender in court.”
She declined to give a date for her return or say exactly when she would surrender or to what court.
“I believe in justice and I feel that once proceedings start, it will be clear to the people how farcical the court is — and that I want to prove it.”
‘LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE,’ HASINA SAYS
Many Awami League workers have faced arrest, legal cases and physical attacks since her government was toppled, according to media reports and government officials.
Hasina said she had not been in touch with Dhaka over her plans to return. “Democracy, voting rights, the political rights of the Awami League and justice are not subjects for secret talks.”
She said she was not worried about jail time, noting that she had been arrested several times before.
After returning from exile in 1981 following her father’s assassination, she was detained repeatedly during campaigns against military rule. She was jailed again in 2007 by a military-backed caretaker government on corruption charges before being freed and winning elections in 2008.
Leading her to flee this time, she said, were threats on her life as crowds advanced towards her residence.
“When a government works for a long time, mistakes can happen — no government is above error,” she said. “But the right to judge the good and bad, the right and wrong of a government belongs to the people. I leave that judgment to the people.”
Hasina said she has held online meetings covering 125 of Bangladesh’s 300 parliamentary constituencies as part of efforts to reorganise the Awami League.
“They may have convicted me, and I may not be able to contest elections,” she said. “But why should they suspend the Awami League? If we have done badly, let the people decide.”
Regional
Iran says new sanctions threatened by ‘desperate’ US will fail
While Iran remains defiant, President Masoud Pezeshkian has also called for a diplomatic solution.
Iran’s foreign minister dismissed the threat of new US sanctions as a sign of desperation on Sunday and said the expected new measures would fail to defeat Tehran, Reuters reported.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, has threatened to impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Iran’s economy is already under huge pressure from international sanctions, its infrastructure has been hit repeatedly and thousands of people have been killed in airstrikes on the Islamic Republic since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
But Tehran remains defiant after nearly six months of war and has brought shipping to a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, refusing to allow unauthorized oil tankers to transit a waterway that is vital for global oil shipments. The effective blockade of the strait has pushed up global oil prices.
Describing what he said were “repetitive scenarios”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a video posted on Telegram: “The fact that they (US leaders) have moved on from military operations … to bring up the same old plans shows that they are desperate.”
He said Washington must speak to Iran respectfully to find “a solution based on justice and honour.”
“We have never been afraid. All of their actions – whether blockades or other military moves they have made – have failed, and this new issue of theirs will fail as well,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides “any type of lifeline to Iran” and Bessent has urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. China has urged diplomacy.
Iran said Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, would visit Tehran on Monday as part of efforts to restore peace and security in the region, but gave few details.
Pakistan has been mediating in the conflict and a Pakistani government source said Munir would touch on recent developments including the U.S. threat of new sanctions.
Trump said on Friday that Washington was observing “what happens” in the conflict, read the report.
“They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump said of Iran.
US attacks have severely diminished Iran’s economy and devastated its navy and air force, but Tehran maintains enough missile and drone capability to impede oil tanker traffic and attack regional rivals.
Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Saturday that Tehran had received “numerous messages” from neighbouring countries about establishing new regional security arrangements and economic cooperation.
Qalibaf did not say which countries he was referring to. He accused the US of endangering the security of its allies in the region for the sake of Israel, adding that an independent, “homegrown” regional order would deliver peace and security.
Trump has yet to achieve objectives he set at the start of the war such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme — the state of which remains uncertain given that U.N. inspectors have been shut out since 2025 — and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
While Iran remains defiant, President Masoud Pezeshkian has also called for a diplomatic solution.
“It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America, contrary to all regulations, attacked our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and is hated in the world,” the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying on Friday.
Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir will visit Tehran on Monday to continue efforts to bring peace and security to the region, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday, according to a statement by the ministry.
Pakistan has taken on a mediator role in negotiations between Iran and the U.S. aimed at ending the war which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Two Pakistani government sources confirmed Munir’s visit to Reuters. The first source said that Iran and Pakistan were in direct contact.
A second source said the talks would also address recent developments in the conflict, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tougher sanctions on Iran.
“He (Munir) will discuss peace under Islamabad’s MoU, Trump’s warning and the situation after the Pakistan-Turkey-Saudi Arab Agreement and Houthi issues with Iranian leaders,” the source said.
The visit comes amid heightened tensions as Iran threatens a military response to U.S. plans for sanctions that could further put a strain on the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy.
It will coincide with a Monday announcement on details related to the planned sanctions which U.S. officials have said would be “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Trump had warned of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran” as he seeks to isolate the Islamic Republic.
Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions.
Regional
Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz
Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.
Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.
Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials.
The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference.
Iraq has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area.
Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.
Baghdad is working to expand its exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and also to begin exporting oil through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.
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