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Tag: Iran

  • Satellite photos: Damage at Iran military site hit by drone

    Satellite photos: Damage at Iran military site hit by drone

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Friday showed damage done to what Iran describes as a military workshop targeted by Israeli drones, the latest such assault amid a shadow war between the two countries.

    While Iran has offered no explanation yet of what the workshop manufactured, the drone attack threatened to again raise tensions in the region. Already, worries have grown over Tehran enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, with a top United Nations nuclear official warning the Islamic Republic had enough fuel to build “several” atomic bombs if it chooses.

    Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose earlier tenure as premier saw escalating attacks targeting Iran, has returned to office and reiterated that he views Tehran as his country’s top security threat. With State Department spokesperson Ned Price now declaring Iran has “killed” the opportunity to return to its nuclear deal with world powers, it remains unclear what diplomacy immediately could ease tensions between Tehran and the West.

    Cloudy weather had prevented satellite pictures of the site of the workshop since it came under attack by what Iran described as bomb-carrying quadcopters on the night of Jan. 28. Quadcopters, which get their name from having four rotors, typically operate from short ranges by remote control.

    Video taken of the attack showed an explosion at the site after anti-aircraft fire targeted the drones, likely from one of the drones reaching the building’s roof. Iran’s military has claimed shooting down two other drones before they reached the site.

    Images taken Thursday by Planet Labs PBC showed the workshop in Isfahan, a central Iranian city some 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Tehran. An AP analysis of the image, compared to earlier images of the workshop, showed damage to the structure’s roof. That damage corresponded to footage aired by Iranian state television immediately after the attack that showed at least two holes in the building’s roof.

    The Iranian state TV footage, as well as satellite photos, suggest the building’s roof also may have been built with so-called “slat armor.” The structure resembles a cage built around roofs or armored vehicles to stop direct detonation from rockets, missiles or bomb-carrying drones against a target.

    Installation of such protection at the workshop suggests Iran believed it could be a drone target.

    Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in July claimed to have broken up a plot to target sensitive sites around Isfahan. A segment aired on Iranian state TV in October included purported confessions by alleged members of Komala, a Kurdish opposition party that is exiled from Iran and now lives in Iraq, that they planned to target a military aerospace facility in Isfahan after being trained by Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

    It remains unclear whether the military workshop targeted in the drone attack was that aerospace facility. Iran’s mission to the United Nations told the AP on Friday night that “technical information isn’t available” about the workshop.

    “All of Iran’s military and nuclear facilities are protected by air defense because they’ve always been under threat,” the mission added.

    The attack comes Iran’s theocratic government faces challenges both at home and abroad. Nationwide protests have shaken the country since the September death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman detained by the country’s morality police. Its rial currency has plummeted to new lows against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, Iran continues to arm Russia with the bomb-carrying drone that Moscow uses in attacks in Ukraine on power plants and civilian targets.

    Israel is suspected of launching a series of attacks on Iran, including an April 2021 assault on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges. In 2020, Iran blamed Israel for a sophisticated attack that killed its top military nuclear scientist.

    Israel has not commented on this drone attack. However, Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or the Mossad.

    A letter published Thursday by Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, said that “early investigations suggest that the Israeli regime was responsible for this attempted act of aggression.” The letter, however, did not elaborate on what evidence supported Iran’s suspicion.

    ___

    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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  • CIA Director William Burns: Next 6 months will be

    CIA Director William Burns: Next 6 months will be

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    CIA Director William Burns said Thursday that the next six months would be “critical” in the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin betting that waning Western interest and “political fatigue” could afford his military a new chance at making battlefield gains.  

    “Putin, I think, is betting right now that he can make time work for him,” Burns said. “The key is going to be on the battlefield in the next six months, it seems to us.”  

    “Puncturing Putin’s hubris, making clear that he’s not only not going to be able to advance further in Ukraine, but as every month goes by, he runs a greater and greater risk of losing the territory that he’s illegally seized from Ukraine so far,” he continued. “So this next period, I think, is going to be absolutely crucial.”   

    CIA Director William Burns
    CIA Director William Burns speaks during an event as part of the Trainor Award ceremony at Georgetown University on Feb. 2, 2023, in Washington, D.C. 

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    The career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia said Western intelligence showed Moscow was not interested in peace talks, despite occasional reports to the contrary.   

    “We do not assess that Putin is serious about negotiations, for all that you hear sometimes about that,” Burns said.    

    His remarks came amid continued warnings from Ukrainian officials that Russia was preparing to launch a significant offensive targeting the eastern part of the country, where missile attacks have already intensified this week. The war will enter its second year later this month. 

    Burns engaged in a moderated discussion at Georgetown University Thursday, where he was being awarded the Trainor Award for Excellence in the Conduct of Diplomacy.  A former deputy secretary of state, Burns also served as ambassador to Jordan and worked during the Obama administration to start backdoor talks with Iran that paved the way for the 2015 nuclear deal. 

    On Thursday, he called the apparently deepening military ties between Russia and Iran “especially concerning.” Iran is known to have provided drones and relevant training to Putin’s forces in Ukraine.   

    Burns said that while he was in Kyiv for “30 hours or so” last month meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his advisors, at least six of those hours were spent “in bomb shelters,” as Russian forces conducted two separate strikes on civilian targets using Shahed 136 Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles.   

    Of Iran, he said domestic instability driven by widespread demonstrations there had made Tehran’s regime “increasingly unsettled.”

    “What’s going on internally is leading to more aggressive behavior externally,” he said. 

    “I do think as we look ahead to 2023 — and in my most recent trip, this was reinforced — the Middle East is going to reemerge as a particularly complicated set of challenges for American policymakers as well,” Burns said.  

    He spoke ominously of recent conversations he had in the region with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, which he said left him “quite concerned” about the potential for greater violence.    

    “A lot of what we’re seeing today has a very unhappy resemblance” to events preceding the Second Intifada more than two decades ago, he said.  “I’m concerned about that.” 

    Burns also warned that the Russia-backed mercenary organization known as the Wagner Group was “expanding its influence” to a number of countries in Africa, including Mali and Burkina Faso.

    “That is a deeply unhealthy development and we’re working very hard to counter it, because that’s threatening to Africans across the continent right now,” he said.  

    The CIA chief also said that China remains the “biggest geopolitical challenge” the U.S. faces in the decades ahead, calling competition with Beijing “unique in its scale.”  

    Chinese president Xi Jinping “doesn’t lack for ambition, but he’s not 10 feet tall,” Burns said. “He’s got a lot of challenges at home, whether it’s the zero COVID policy, which hasn’t gone as planned, economic growth figures — which could improve over the next few years — but have been historically low in recent years as well. We have a good hand to play, but we just have to play it systematically and thoughtfully.” 

    He said Xi was closely watching Putin’s experience in Ukraine and, while likely “unsettled” by Russia’s lackluster military performance, thus far remained “committed” to the partnership the two countries declared last year.   

    “But the truth is, there are actually some limits to it as well, simply because I think – as far as we can tell today, anyway – Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership have been very reluctant to provide the kind of lethal weapons to Russia to use in Ukraine that we know the Russians are very much interested in,” Burns said.  

    Of Xi’s own regional ambitions, Burns said U.S. intelligence showed Xi had instructed the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared to conduct a successful military invasion of Taiwan by 2027.  

    “Now, that does not mean that he’s decided to conduct an invasion in 2027 or any other year, but it’s a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition,” Burns said.  

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  • Iran couple reportedly sentenced to decade in prison after posting dance video on Instagram

    Iran couple reportedly sentenced to decade in prison after posting dance video on Instagram

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    A young couple have been sentenced by an Iranian court to more than a decade in prison each after posting a video of themselves dancing in front of a major Tehran landmark, according to a U.S.-based human rights group and Britain’s BBC News.

    The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said Iranian security forces “violently” arrested Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and her fiancé Amir Ahmadi, 22, at their home in Tehran on Nov. 1, 2022, soon after they published a video on social media showing them dancing in a city square with the Azadi (Freedom) Monument in the background.

    HRANA said a court in Tehran handed them both prison sentences of 10 years and six months after convicting them on charges including “encouraging corruption and public prostitution,” and “gathering with the intention of disrupting national security.”

    The couple was also barred from using the internet and from leaving Iran for two years, a period which presumably would begin after their incarceration.

    The BBC said its sources had confirmed the Nov. 1 arrests, which came after the couple posted the video to both of their Instagram accounts, which together have about 2 million followers. The video appeared to have been deleted from their accounts, but it has been widely shared by others on various social media platforms.

    The Mizan news website, a mouthpiece of Iran‘s judiciary, said the pair were detained not for dancing, but for online activities that included “encouraging people to riot against the country and subversion.”

    “Astiazh Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi had published a call for a rally on November 4 and called for riots on their Instagram pages,” the statement alleges. “During the riots, they used their page to advertise calls, including the call for November 4.”

    Iranian security forces have cracked down mercilessly on anyone joining, or even deemed supportive of nationwide anti-government protests that erupted in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s “Morality Police.” She was detained over an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict clothing rules for women.


    Is Iran really shutting down its controversial morality police?

    06:29

    At least four people have been executed after convictions related to the protests, and hundreds were swept up in mass-arrests. According to HRANA, at least 506 people have been killed in the Iranian authorities’ violent crackdown on the protests, which have died down in recent months.

    While Haghighi and Ahmadi’s social media clip merely showed two young people dancing happily and included no overt reference to the protests or Iran’s hardline Islamic cleric rulers, dancing itself is illegal in the conservative nation.

    In a report published just several days before the pair’s sentencing emerged, BBC News spoke to Iranian DJs who explained that dancing, especially to modern or Western-style music, had become an act of protest against the regime in and of itself.

    Tucker Reals

    Tucker Reals is the CBSNews.com foreign editor, based at the CBS News London bureau.

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  • Exclusive: Netanyahu says don’t get ‘hung up’ on peace with Palestinians first | CNN

    Exclusive: Netanyahu says don’t get ‘hung up’ on peace with Palestinians first | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said people can get “hung up” on peace negotiations with the Palestinians, saying he has opted for a different approach in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

    “When effectively the Arab-Israeli conflict (comes) to an end, I think we’ll circle back to the Palestinians and get a workable peace with the Palestinians,” he said.

    Asked by Tapper about the Biden administration’s concerns that settlements in the occupied West Bank could exacerbate tensions, Netanyahu pointed to the success of the Trump-era Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

    “I went around them (Palestinians), I went directly to the Arab states and forged with a new concept of peace… I forged four historic peace agreements, the Abraham Accords, which is twice the number of peace agreements that all my predecessors in 70 years got combined.”

    His comments come at a tense moment for Israel. Palestinians and Israelis have suffered terrible bloodshed in the past week, and fears are growing that the situation will spiral out of control. Last Thursday was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in nearly two years, followed by a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue Friday night – which Israel has deemed one of its worst terror attacks in recent years.

    The Biden administration has advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but there has been very little movement and seemingly few active efforts toward that goal by Netanyahu or Palestinian leaders.

    Analysts say the Abraham Accords have also done little to moderate Israel’s position on the Palestinians. When asked what concession Israel would grant Palestinian territories, Netanyahu responded: “Well, I’m certainly willing to have them have all the powers that they need to govern themselves. But none of the powers that could threaten (us) and this means that Israel should have the overriding security responsibility.”

    There are hopes that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Israel and the West Bank this week would help cool rising tensions.

    But both administrations appear to be on opposite sides of the coin when it comes to Israeli settlements. Netanyahu vowed this week that Israel would “strengthen” settlements in response to shooting attacks in Jerusalem, a position Blinken cautioned against on Tuesday.

    When asked about US concerns that expanding Israeli settlements on Palestinian land could hamper peace prospects, Netanyahu said: “Well, I totally disagree.”

    Biden and Netanyahu have a complicated relationship, especially over Iran. Netanyahu clashed with former US President Barack Obama over negotiations with the Palestinians, then again more openly over the Iran nuclear deal – which Biden would like to re-enter.

    Netanyahu explained his position on Iran to Tapper, saying, “If you have rogue regimes that are (intending to get) nuclear weapons, you can sign 100 agreements with them, it doesn’t help.”

    “I think the only way that you can stop or abstain from getting nuclear weapons is a combination of crippling economic sanctions, but the most important thing, is a credible military threat,” he said.

    Iran has said its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and that it formally halted its weapons program, but US officials warned Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have gone far beyond the parameters of the failed 2015 nuclear deal since former US President Trump exited it. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief warned that Tehran has amassed enough material for “several nuclear weapons” and urged diplomatic efforts to restart to prevent such a scenario.

    Another point of contention among among US allies has been Israel’s ambivalent stance on Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel has been performing a diplomatic balancing act in relations with Moscow.

    Although it has officially condemned the invasion and regularly sends aid to Ukraine, Israel has yet to send the Ukrainians weapons, and has been criticized for not being more forceful in its criticism of Russia.

    Israel does not want to upset Russia when the Israeli air force is looking to hit targets across the border in Syria. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against its neighbor in recent years, mostly aimed at disrupting Iran’s supply of precision-guided missile technology to Hezbollah.

    Netanyahu referenced this complicated scenario to Tapper, adding that Israel has been “taking action against certain weapons development” in Iran. He however refused to confirm or deny whether Israel was behind drone attacks at a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan over the weekend.

    “I never talk about specific operations… and every time some explosion takes place in the Middle East, Israel is blamed or given responsibility – sometimes we are sometimes we’re not.”

    The wide-ranging interview touched on concerns about Netanyahu’s cabinet, described as the most far right and religious in the country’s history, which has already faced internal tensions and widespread public protests.

    Netanyahu’s governing coalition relies on the support of a number of nationalist political figures once consigned to the fringes of Israeli politics.

    Netanyahu dismissed concerns about the inflammatory rhetoric and actions of these members, saying: “I’ve got my two hands on the wheel.”

    Pressed on some of those extreme statements – including reports that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described himself as a “fascist homophobe” – Netanyahu said: “Well, a lot of people say a lot of things when they’re not in power. They sort of temper themselves when they get into power. And that’s certainly the case here.”

    Netanyahu accused critics of hypocrisy and not holding a similar lens against his predecessors, while adding: “Look, I’m controlling the government, and I’m responsible for its policies, and the policies are sensible, and responsible, and continue to be that.”

    The six-time prime minister also rejected criticism of his government’s push for judicial reforms, that would give parliament (and by extension the parties in power) the ability to overturn supreme court rulings, appoint judges, and remove from ministries legal advisers whose legal advice is binding.

    This comes after he was forced to dismiss key ally Aryeh Deri from his ministerial posts after the High Court ruled that it was unreasonable to appoint the Shas party leader to positions in government due to his criminal convictions.

    Netanyahu told Tapper that he believed the changes would “make democracy stronger.”

    His country has seen ongoing demonstrations against judicial reforms, drawing tens of thousands of Israelis to the streets in January.

    Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to face charges on three separate cases in a long-running corruption trial that has dogged him politically. He has repeatedly denied all the charges against him, and has described the trial as a “witch hunt.”

    When asked whether there was an truth to claims that Netanyahu was trying to override the judiciary due to his own interests, he said “that’s false. None of the reforms that we’re talking about… have anything to do with my trial.”

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  • Iranian military plant targeted in drone strike

    Iranian military plant targeted in drone strike

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    Iranian military plant targeted in drone strike – CBS News


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    A drone strike was carried out on an Iranian military plant late Saturday night. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times quoted anonymous intelligence officials saying Israel appears to be responsible for the attack. The Pentagon is denying playing any part in the strike. CBS News anchors Tony Dokoupil and Lilia Luciano spoke with Eric Lob, an associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, about the significance of the attack.

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  • Was Israel behind drone attack on Iran military installation?

    Was Israel behind drone attack on Iran military installation?

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    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticised the drone attack as ‘cowardly’ and aimed at creating ‘insecurity’ in the country.

    Israel appears to have been behind a drone attack on a military factory in Iran, United States officials say.

    Iran said on Sunday that it intercepted drones targeting the facility near the central city of Isfahan, adding there were no casualties.

    The extent of damage could not be independently ascertained. Iranian state media released footage showing a flash in the sky and emergency vehicles at the scene.

    Israel was behind the drone attack, The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials and people familiar with the strike as saying. No response was immediately available from Israeli authorities.

    One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency that it did appear Israel was involved. Other American officials declined to comment beyond saying the US played no role.

    Meanwhile in Ukraine, which accuses Iran of supplying hundreds of drones to Russia to attack targets in Ukrainian cities, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy linked the incident directly to the war there.

    “Explosive night in Iran,” Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. “Did warn you.”

    ‘Cowardly’

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticised the drone attack as “cowardly” and aimed at creating “insecurity” in the country. State TV broadcast comments by lawmaker Hossein Mirzaie saying there was “strong speculation” Israel was behind it.

    Iran’s defence ministry did not comment on who carried out the attack. However, Iran has been a target of suspected Israeli strikes in the past amid a shadow war with its Middle East rival after its nuclear deal with world powers collapsed.

    A ministry statement described three drones being launched at the facility, with two of them successfully shot down. A third apparently made it through to strike the building, causing “minor damage” to its roof and wounding no one.

    Isfahan’s factory is 350km (217 miles) south of the capital Tehran. The ministry called the site a “workshop” without elaborating. It is home to both a large airbase built for its fleet of US-made F-14 fighter jets and its nuclear fuel research and production centre.

    When Amir-Abdollahian was asked if it would affect the country’s nuclear programme, he responded,  “Such moves can’t impact our nuclear scientists’ will and intentions to achieve peaceful nuclear energy.”

    Iran’s government faces challenges both at home and abroad as its nuclear programme rapidly enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its atomic accord with world powers.

    In separate incidents on Sunday, a refinery fire broke out in the country’s northwest and a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck nearby, killing three people.

    Israel is suspected of launching a series of attacks on Iran, including an April 2021 assault on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges. In 2020, Iran blamed Israel for a sophisticated attack that killed its top nuclear scientist.

    Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency.

    Talks between Iran and world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September. Under the pact, abandoned by Washington in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, Tehran agreed to limit nuclear work in return for the easing of sanctions.

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  • Iran says embassy attack should not affect Azerbaijan relations

    Iran says embassy attack should not affect Azerbaijan relations

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    Iran and Azerbaijan disagree on whether Friday’s attack on the Azeri embassy in Tehran constituted a ‘terrorist act’.

    Tehran, Iran – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has told his Azerbaijani counterpart that bilateral relations should not be affected after an attack on Baku’s embassy in Tehran that left one person dead.

    The attack took place on Friday when a man rushed the embassy with an assault rifle and opened fire, killing the head of the security staff and injuring two other guards.

    Raisi and President Ilham Aliyev had a phone call on Saturday to discuss the issue, during which the Iranian president expressed his condolences and said an investigation is under way.

    “The governments of Iran and Azerbaijan will not allow bilateral relations to be affected by the suggestions of those who wish ill on the two nations,” Raisi was quoted as saying on his official website.

    The Iranian president’s website also quoted Aliyev as saying “this was an unexpected crime, but cooperation between the two countries on this must be in a way that no one will find an opportunity to disrupt friendly bilateral relations using such incidents as an excuse”.

    But the readout of the call by the Azerbaijani presidency made no mention of this, further stressing a point concerning the attack that has divided Tehran and Baku.

    Aliyev strongly condemned the “terrorist act” and stressed that had it not been for a second guard who tackled the gunman, “he would have targeted other employees of the embassy and their family members living in the apartment section of the embassy compound”.

    CCTV footage released by Iran showed the attacker hurriedly arriving at the scene with his car and crashing into another vehicle parked in front of the embassy. After exiting the car with the rifle in hand, he passes an unarmed Iranian guard sitting in a booth and enters the embassy shooting. While shooting at two Azerbaijani guards, a third tackles him, eventually disarming the attacker.

    Aliyev had immediately condemned the incident as a “terrorist act” while the Azerbaijani foreign ministry summoned Iran’s envoy to Baku and said it will evacuate its diplomatic staff.

    Top officials in Tehran, meanwhile, repeatedly said the attack did not constitute a “terrorist” act as it was carried out with personal motivations.

    [Translation: I was at the hospital and learned about the treatment process of the Azerbaijan Republic embassy staff. Also, in a phone call with my colleague (Azerbaijani foreign minister Jeyhun Baryamov), I conveyed Dr Raisi’s message of condolences. The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate to clarify the dimensions of the incident. I offer my condolences to the government and nation of our brother and neighbour for this tragic incident.]

    The attacker, a man identified as Yasin Hosseinzadeh, was interviewed by Iran’s state television and said he stormed the embassy to “rescue” his wife, whom he said had disappeared after entering the embassy close to a year earlier.

    Iranian state television also interviewed the man’s two young children, whom he had reportedly brought to the embassy and were in the car at the time of the attack, with the daughter saying her mother had travelled back to Baku – where she was from – but her father believed she was at the embassy.

    Many countries, including Russia, Turkey and the United States condemned the attack and called for a transparent investigation.

    The attack comes amid months of tensions between neighbours Iran and Azerbaijan, with the latter being a close ally of Turkey, Iran’s historical rival.

    Iran, home to millions of ethnic Azeris, has long accused Baku of fomenting separatist sentiments in the country and has also taken issue with some of its plan following the Nagorno-Karabakh war that could affect its borders with Armenia.

    Tehran has also repeatedly warned Baku against its expanding military cooperation with Israel, saying Israel could potentially use Azerbaijani territory as a bridgehead against Iran.

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  • Drones attack military plant in Iran: Tehran | CNN

    Drones attack military plant in Iran: Tehran | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Drones attacked a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan, Tehran said on Sunday.

    “An explosion has occurred in one of the military centers affiliated to the Ministry of Defense,” the deputy head of security for Isfahan governorate Mohammad Reza Jan-Nesari told the semi-official Fars News Agency.

    Jan-Nesari said the explosion left some damage, “but fortunately there were no casualties.”

    The state news agency IRNA later said the explosion had been caused by “small drones.”

    “There was an unsuccessful attack by small drones against a defense ministry industrial complex and fortunately with predictions and air defense arrangements already in place, one of them (struck),” IRNA said in a post on Twitter, citing the country’s defense ministry.

    “The air defense system of the complex was able to destroy two other drones. Fortunately, this unsuccessful attack killed no one and minor damage was sustained to the roof of the complex.”

    The ministry said the attack took place at 10:30 p.m. local time.

    The plant is about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of Tehran.

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  • Hundreds injured, 2 dead, as earthquake hits Iran | CNN

    Hundreds injured, 2 dead, as earthquake hits Iran | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least two people were killed, and more than 500 injured when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Iran on Saturday night local time.

    Iran’s state news agency IRNA said the earthquake hit the city of Khoy, West Azerbaijan province, in northwest Iran, around 9:44 p.m. local time, citing the Iranian Seismological Center in Tehran.

    At least 580 people were injured and 70 villages damaged, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported. It said that relief and damage assessment operations are underway.

    The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also registered the quake as 5.9 magnitude.

    “The tremor was so strong that it was felt in many regions of West Azerbaijan Province, causing concern among residents. It was also felt in several cities, including the provincial capital of Tabriz in the neighboring province of East Azerbaijan,” IRNA reported.

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  • Iranian state TV says defense factory hit in drone attack

    Iranian state TV says defense factory hit in drone attack

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    Drones attacked an Iranian defense factory in the central city of Isfahan overnight, the state-run IRNA news agency reported early Sunday.

    It carried a Defense Ministry statement saying the attack occurred late Saturday and caused minor damage to a rooftop. The report said three drones were shot down by Iranian air defenses.

    The ministry did not say who was suspected of carrying out the attack.

    Separately, Iran’s state TV said a fire broke out at an oil refinery in an industrial zone near the northwestern city of Tabriz. It said the cause was not yet known, as it showed footage of firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze.

    Iran and Israel have long been engaged in a shadow war that has included covert attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

    Last year, Iran said an engineer was killed and another employee was wounded in an unexplained incident at the Parchin military and weapons development base east of the capital, Tehran. The ministry called it an accident, without providing further details.

    Parchin is home to a military base where the International Atomic Energy Agency has said it suspected Iran conducted tests of explosive triggers that could be used in nuclear weapons.

    In April 2021, Iran blamed Israel for an attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges.

    Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israeli media widely reported that the country had orchestrated a devastating cyberattack that caused a blackout at the nuclear facility. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency.

    In 2020, Iran blamed Israel for a sophisticated attack that killed its top nuclear scientist.

    Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes. U.S. intelligence agencies, Western nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.

    The United Nations’ top nuclear official, Rafael Mariano Grossi, recently warned that Iran has enough highly enriched uranium to build “several” nuclear weapons if it chooses.

    Efforts to revive a 2015 agreement with world powers that placed limits on Iran’s nuclear activities ground to a halt last year. Both the U.S. and Israel have vowed to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons, and neither has ruled out military action.


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  • Justice Department announces new arrests in plot to kill New York-based journalist directed from Iran | CNN Politics

    Justice Department announces new arrests in plot to kill New York-based journalist directed from Iran | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Justice Department announced new arrests Friday in a plot to kill a New York-based journalist and human rights activist who is critical of the Iranian government.

    The three men charged, who are allegedly part of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran, are facing murder-for-hire and money laundering charges for plotting to kill journalist Masih Alinejad.

    All three of the defendants, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday, are currently in custody.

    “Today’s indictment exposes a dangerous menace to national security – a double threat posed by a vicious transnational crime group operating from what it thought was the safe haven of a rogue nation. That rogue nation is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference unveiling the charges.

    Alinejad vowed to continue her activism in a video statement released Friday shortly after the department announced the charges: “Let me make it clear: I’m not scared for my life.”

    “I’m going to continue giving voice to brave Iranian leaders, women, men, inside Iran who are trying to save the rest of the world from one of the most dangerous virus(es), which is called Islamic Republic,” she said. “If we don’t take a strong action right now, we will face these terrorists on US soil more and more.”

    One of the three men had been arrested this past summer in the Brooklyn neighborhood where Alinejad lives. At the time, he was charged with possessing a firearm after police found in the back seat of his vehicle a suitcase containing a “Norinco AK-47-style assault rifle … loaded with a round in the chamber and a magazine attached, along with a separate second magazine, and a total of approximately 66 rounds of ammunition,” according to a complaint.

    The DOJ said in a statement Friday that since at least July, the three men have been “tasked with carrying out” the murder of Alinejad, “who previously has been the target of plots by the government of Iran to intimidate, harass and kidnap” her.

    “As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap the (Alinejad) from within the United States for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence the (Alinejad’s) criticism of the regime,” the department said in a statement.

    In a CNN interview last year, Alinejad said that the Iranian government had been targeting her and her family for her efforts to give voice to the protest movement in the country where she was born.

    “I’m not scared (for) my life at all because I know what I’m doing. I have only one life, and I dedicated my life to give voice to Iranian people inside Iran who bravely go to the streets – face guns and bullets to protest against Iranian regime – but this is happening in America,” she said at the time.

    Alinejad was targeted in another alleged kidnapping plot by Iranian nationals in 2021 after she spoke out against the Islamic Republic. The plot was organized by an Iranian intelligence official, an indictment alleged, but Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied any involvement, calling the accusation “baseless and ridiculous,” according to the semi-official news agency ISNA.

    This story has been updated with additional details Friday.

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  • After the Failure Of Their Stablecoin Experiment, Iran And Russia Will Inevitably Adopt Bitcoin

    After the Failure Of Their Stablecoin Experiment, Iran And Russia Will Inevitably Adopt Bitcoin

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    This is an opinion editorial by Q Ghaemi, a stocks and bitcoin analyst and author of the Qweekly Update newsletter.

    Earlier this month, reports surfaced that the Central Bank of Iran is working with the Russian Association Of The Crypto Industry And Blockchain to create a stablecoin that will be backed by gold to settle trade. This is not the first foray into the crypto universe for either country, nor will it be the last. But this venture will come to nothing, ultimately bringing both countries one step closer to adopting Bitcoin.

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  • Cloudflare says White House asked tech firm to bypass Iran censorship, but US sanctions got in the way | CNN Business

    Cloudflare says White House asked tech firm to bypass Iran censorship, but US sanctions got in the way | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A senior White House official asked US tech company Cloudflare to help circumvent internet censorship in Iran after protests erupted in that country last September but US sanctions prevented the firm from doing so, Cloudflare CEO Mathew Prince said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “I got a call from a senior official in the White House who said, ‘Can you do in Iran what you’re doing in Russia?’” said Prince, whose company makes software that protects users from cyberattacks and allows activists in authoritarian regimes to bypass censorship, during a panel discussion on security and technology. “And I said, ‘No.’ And [they] said, ‘Why not?’ And I said, ‘Because sanctions prevented us from ever putting our equipment in Iran.’”

    The Iranian government moved to block internet access as hundreds of protesters were killed in clashes with Iran’s security forces last fall, according to human rights activists.

    The anecdote underscores the prominent role that large tech firms can play in US foreign policy.

    US officials have, for example, tried to broker a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide crucial satellite communications for Ukrainian troops during the war while also encouraging SpaceX to provide satellite service to Iran.

    In the case of San Francisco-based Cloudflare, Prince said the White House official suggested the company could be given a “license” to operate in Iran, but Prince replied that it was “too late” for that.

    Prince did not name the White House official.

    CNN has requested comment from the White House National Security Council.

    The Biden administration in September granted certain exceptions to US sanctions on Iran for tech firms that provide tools for everyday Iranians to communicate, such as cloud computing or social media services.

    But that move was long overdue, digital rights activists previously told CNN, and US sanctions unwittingly accelerated Iran’s development of an internal communications network.

    Despite heavy US sanctions imposed on Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, Prince said Cloudflare’s prior presence on the ground in Russia means people there can use Cloudflare technology to circumvent Moscow’s censors to read credible news about the war. About 10% of Russian households use that anti-censorship Cloudflare technology, Prince claimed.

    The phone call from the White House, Prince said, illustrated a difficult “tradeoff” between sanctions meant to punish human rights-flouting regimes and the need to get technology into the hands of dissidents.

    Asked to respond to Prince’s comments during the panel discussion, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, “We engage in those tradeoffs every day.”

    Many technologies present “great opportunity, but great dangers in the wrong hands,” Wray said.

    While Cloudflare touts its record protecting dissidents abroad, it has also drawn heavy criticism from human rights activists for the firm’s willingness to provide services to controversial platforms such as messaging board 8chan (Cloudflare pulled its support for 8chan in 2019).

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  • American held in Iran launches hunger strike and writes to Biden asking him to do more for detainees | CNN Politics

    American held in Iran launches hunger strike and writes to Biden asking him to do more for detainees | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    An American wrongfully detained in Iran is calling on President Joe Biden to take notice of US detainees there, launching a hunger strike Monday to mark seven years since he was left behind in a prisoner swap that brought other Americans home.

    In a letter to Biden, Siamak Namazi called on the US president to think of him every day for the seven days he intends to carry out the hunger strike commemorating the grim milestone.

    “In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home. To no avail. Not only do we remain Iran’s prisoners, but you have not so much as granted our families a meeting,” wrote Namazi, who is one of three Americans who remain wrongfully detained in Iran. Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz have also been imprisoned there for years.

    “All I want sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran,” Namazi wrote to Biden. “Just a single minute of your time for each year of my life that I lost in Evin prison after the U.S. Government could have saved me but didn’t. That is all.”

    “Alas, given I am in this cage all I have to offer you in return is my additional suffering. Therefore, I will deny myself food for the same seven days, in the hope that by doing so you won’t deny me this small request,” he said.

    Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran after visiting in July 2015 and underwent months of interrogations before being arrested in October 2015. He was not included in the prisoner swap with Iran in January 2016 that led to the release of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. A fifth American was also separately released at that time.

    “When the Obama Administration unconscionably left me in peril and freed the other American citizens Iran held hostage on January 16, 2016, the U.S. Government promised my family to have me safely home within weeks,” Namazi wrote in his letter Monday. “Yet seven years and two presidents later, I remain caged in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, holding that long overdue IOU along with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.”

    A National Security Council spokesperson said the Biden administration remains “committed to securing the freedom of Siamak Namazi and we are working tirelessly to bring him home along with all US citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”

    The spokesperson added that it is “outrageous” for Iran to detain US citizens for political leverage.

    “Our priority is bringing all our wrongfully detained citizens home safely and as soon as possible and resolving the cases of missing and abducted US citizens,” the spokesperson said.

    The US does not have diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime, though it has called on the government there to release the detained Americans. Tensions between Tehran and the West have further ratcheted in the wake of brutal crackdowns against protests in Iran and the executions of protesters. Over the weekend, Western governments condemned the execution of Alireza Akbari, a dual British-Iranian citizen who was hanged after being accused of espionage and corruption.

    Namazi’s brother, Babak Namazi, told CNN that this week is especially painful for his family every year.

    “It’s just a horrific week, as to think that seven years, seven whole years have gone by, which could have been avoided if at that time Siamak would have been included with the five other Americans,” Babak said.

    In February 2016, Namazi’s father Baquer was lured to Iran under the false premise that he would be able to see his son. He was instead immediately taken into custody at that time. Siamak and Baquer Namazi were sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2016. Baquer was released from Iran after more than six years in October 2022. That same month, Siamak was granted furlough from Evin Prison, but was forced to return a short time later.

    Babak said his “family is of course gravely concerned for Siamak’s health and distraught that he has resorted to such desperate measures” as a hunger strike.”

    “President Biden, Siamak is begging you, my family is imploring you. Please, please, take what it takes to make those courageous decisions that we know you are capable of,” Babak told CNN.

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  • U.S. detainee in Iran Siamak Namazi on hunger strike

    U.S. detainee in Iran Siamak Namazi on hunger strike

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    Imprisoned Iranian American Siamak Namazi says he is going on a seven-day hunger strike — one day for each year he was left behind in a 2016 prisoner swap — in protest of the Biden administration’s failure to free him and other Americans detained in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

    baquer-and-siamak-namazi.jpg
    FILE: Baquer and Siamak Namazi

    CBS News


    Namazi, 51, informed President Biden of his hunger strike in a letter noting that he now holds the “unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.” 

    “All I want sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran,” Namazi wrote. “Just a single minute of your time for each year of my life that I lost in Evin prison after the U.S. Government could have saved me but didn’t. That is all. Alas, given I am in this cage all I have to offer you in return is my additional suffering. Therefore, I will deny myself food for the same seven days, in the hope that by doing so you won’t deny me this small request.”

    An attorney for Namazi told CBS News that he delivered the letter to national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday. For the past two years the Biden team has unsuccessfully tried to revive a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran while also simultaneously arranging a prisoner release. Both efforts have stalled and been further complicated by U.S. and Western outcry at Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters and other human rights violations.

    The White House has not commented.

    The Obama administration secured the release of four Iranian Americans on Jan. 16, 2016, among them, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian. Namazi was not included, though the U.S. officials who negotiated the deal were aware of his detention and had requested his release. The U.S. went through with the prisoner swap despite Namazi’s continued detention.

    Siamak Namazi’s father, Baquer Namazi, who was a United Nations official at the time, was detained in Iran shortly after the U.S. swap during an attempt to visit his detained son. Both Siamak and Baquer Namazi were subsequently left behind in two more prisoner exchanges that were carried out by the Trump administration. Iranian authorities finally allowed Baquer, now 86, to leave Iran last October for life-saving medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates.

    “How does one describe what it feels like to be stripped of your humanity and treated as some sort of extortionately priced item instead?” writes Siamak Namazi.  “How do I explain the devastation my family and I are left with after so many half-hearted prisoner deals crumbled last minute” 

    Siamak Namazi remains incarcerated in Iran’s Evin prison, along with Americans Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. Mr. Shargi’s family confirmed to CBS News that the three Americans are now located in the same prison ward, since a fire broke out at the prison last year as the country was engulfed by nationwide protests which continue to this day. U.S. permanent resident Shahab Dalili is also being detained in Iran. 

    Siamak Namazi implored the president to bring all Americans detained in Iran home. “In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home,” he wrote. “To no avail. Not only do we remain Iran’s prisoners, but you have not so much as granted our families a meeting.” 

    “Only the President of the United States has the power to bring us home, should he set his mind to do so,” he added. 

    In a recent interview with “Face the Nation,” Shargi’s wife and two daughters shared their frustration that the families of Americans held in Iran have not been granted an audience with the president. The families of Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner, both released in prisoner exchanges with Russia last year, were invited to meet with the president prior to the deals that secured their release. 

    The Shargi family’s frustration was recently compounded when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre indicated in two press briefings last year that she was not familiar with his case. “I just don’t understand how I should have faith that my dad’s going to be home, if the White House doesn’t even know his name,” Mr Shargi’s daughter, Hannah, told “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan.

    Here is the text of Namazi’s letter to President Biden:

    Dear President Biden,

    When the Obama Administration unconscionably left me in peril and freed the other American citizens Iran held hostage on January 16, 2016, the U.S. Government promised my family to have me safely home within weeks.  Yet seven years and two presidents later, I remain caged in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, holding that long overdue IOU along with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.

    My captors enjoy taunting me about that fact by saying things like: “How can your beloved America be so heartless? Not one but two U.S. presidents freed others but left you behind!” Yet my frank reply deprives them of any satisfaction.  I tell them while I remain highly indignant about the invidious distinction the U.S. Government can make among its citizens at risk, I never forget that it was not Obama or Trump who imprisoned me on made up charges. That it is clear whose vile hostage diplomacy has blighted the lives of so many innocent men and women and their families.  

    Sadly, I have a far harder time replying honestly to a genuine question, “How are you, really?”  I know of no words that do justice to the ineffable pain I’ve endured since Iran took me hostage in October 2015.  Nothing I say could possibly convey the agony of having to harden myself to this soul crushing callousness and lawlessness.  How does one describe what it feels like to be stripped of your humanity and treated as some sort of extortionately priced item instead?  How do I explain the devastation my family and I are left with after so many half-hearted prisoner deals crumbled last minute, turning freedom into a chimera?  How do I convey the excruciating terror that comes with not knowing when or how this nightmare will end or even what comes next? 

    Day after day I ignore the intense pain that I always carry with me and do my best to fight this grave injustice.  You certainly won’t be surprised to hear that my tenacity has wrought no positive results and that my repeated calls for the rule of law and show of humanity have fallen on deaf ears here.  Perhaps I’m lucky that is so.  After all, today the whole world is witnessing how atrociously this regime can respond to those who dare demand their basic rights. 

    The extent of my captors’ ruthlessness is not the only thing I’ve learned far more about during these insufferable years.  I now know that I shouldn’t get my hopes up when senior U.S. officials say that rescuing the hostages in Iran is their highest priority.  Such well-intentioned statements can be repeated year after year without tangible results.  Only the President of the United States has the power to bring us home, should he set his mind to do so.  That is why, Mr. Biden, on the 7th anniversary of being left behind by the Obama Administration, I’m once again risking a direct appeal to you.  

    In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home.  To no avail.  Not only do we remain Iran’s prisoners, but you have not so much as granted our families a meeting. 

    So today I feel compelled to adjust my ask.  All I want sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran. Just a single minute of your time for each year of my life that I lost in Evin prison after the U.S. Government could have saved me but didn’t.  That is all.  Alas, given I am in this cage all I have to offer you in return is my additional suffering.  Therefore, I will deny myself food for the same seven days, in the hope that by doing so you won’t deny me this small request. 

    Sincerely,

    Siamak Namazi

    Evin Prison

    January 16, 2023

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  • UK condemns Iran’s execution of dual British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari | CNN

    UK condemns Iran’s execution of dual British-Iranian citizen Alireza Akbari | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A dual British-Iranian citizen was hanged by Iran on charges of espionage and corruption, a state-affiliated media outlet reported Saturday, the latest in a string of executions carried out by a regime grappling with unprecedented protests across the country.

    The Iranian official, Alireza Akbari, was executed for crimes including “corruption on earth,” according the Iranian judiciary-affiliated outlet Mizan. Akbari was charged with working as a spy for MI6, the British intelligence agency, and reportedly paid more than $2 million in various currencies – 1.805 million euros, 265,000 British pounds and $50,000 – Iranian state media reported Saturday.

    British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled by the execution.” He added on Twitter: “This was a callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime with no respect for the human rights of their own people. My thoughts are with Alireza’s friends and family.”

    Akbari allegedly provided information to foreign officials about 178 Iranian figures, including country’s chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iranian media reported. Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun operating out of a car in 2020, according to state-affiliated Fars News. Iran’s top officials accused Israel of masterminding the plot at the time, without providing evidence.

    Akbari purportedly carried out his intelligence work through the veneer of a private company focused on research and trade activities, working directly with research institutes in London that Iran claimed were headed by intelligence officials, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. IRNA also cited allegations that Akbari had meetings with an MI6 intelligence officer and former British Ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton.

    Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death penalty handed down to Akbari after deeming it to be based on “substantiated evidence,” according to IRNA.

    Mizan did not specify when the execution was carried out. Akbari’s death sentence was announced just days ago, on January 11, after his conviction on spying for the United Kingdom. Akbari had denied the charges.

    According to allegations published in Mizan on Wednesday, Akbari had been arrested “some time ago.” The BBC reported Akbari was arrested in 2019.

    “On this basis and after filing an indictment against the accused, the file was referred to court and hearings were held in the presence of the accused’s lawyer and based on the valid documents in this person’s file, he was sentenced to death for spying for the UK,” Mizan said.

    Akbari previously served as Iran’s deputy defense minister and was the head of the Strategic Research Institute, as well as a member of the military organization that implemented the United Nations resolution that ended the Iran-Iraq war, according to Iranian pro-reform outlet Shargh Daily. He served under Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who was in office from 1997 to 2005, according to the BBC.

    Though Iran does not recognize dual nationality, the execution of an individual holding British citizenship will likely further fuel tensions between Tehran and Western democracies, which have been critical of the regime’s response to anti-government demonstrations that began in September last year.

    Iran has long ranked among the world’s top executioners, and Akbari is one of three individuals to receive a death sentence in the first weeks of 2023. Two young men, a karate champion and a volunteer children’s coach, were hanged last weekend after being convicted of killing a member of the country’s Basij paramilitary force. Both had allegedly taken part in the protests that began after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died while in custody of the country’s morality police.

    Amini’s death sparked massive nationwide demonstrations against a regime often criticized as theocratic and dictatorial.

    Critics have accused Tehran of responding to protests with excessive force – activist groups HRANA and Iran Human Rights say that 481 protesters have been killed – and using the country’s unjust judicial system to intimidate would-be demonstrators. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk alleged that Tehran was “weaponizing” criminal procedures to carry out “state-sanctioned killing” of protesters.

    As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, but the number could be much higher.

    Iranian state media has reported that dozens of government agents, from security officials to officers of the basij paramilitary force, have been killed in the unrest.

    Thousands of people have taken to the streets since Mahsa Amini's death in September.

    Though Akbari’s execution was, on its surface, unrelated to the recent protests, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley alleged that the act was “politically motivated.” He said Iran’s charge d’affaires would be summoned over the execution “to make clear our disgust at Iran’s actions.”

    “The execution of British-Iranian Alireza Akbari is a barbaric act that deserves condemnation in the strongest possible terms. Through this politically motivated act, the Iranian regime has once again shown its callous disregard for human life,” Cleverly said on Twitter. “This will not stand unchallenged.”

    The UK government had urged Iran not to execute Akbari, and the Foreign Office said it would continue to support his family.

    Amnesty International called Akbari’s execution “particularly horrific” and an “abhorrent assault on the right to life.” The rights group claimed that Akbari had said he was forcibly administered chemical substances, held in prolonged solitary confinement and forced to make recorded “confessions” repeatedly.

    Amnesty urged the UK government to “fully investigate” these allegations of torture and ill treatment and “pursue all avenues to hold the Iranian authorities to account.”

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  • Iran hangs former defence ministry official for spying for UK

    Iran hangs former defence ministry official for spying for UK

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    BREAKING,

    Akbari was a former deputy defence minister, whom Iran alleges shared information on senior officials.

    Tehran, Iran – Iran has executed a former deputy defence minister on allegations of spying for the UK.

    The judiciary’s official news outlet confirmed on Saturday morning that Alireza Akbari Akbari, a British-Iranian dual national, was hanged after being convicted of “corruption on Earth” and acting against national security by spying for British intelligence.

    It added that Akbari was sentenced to death for “harming the country’s internal and external security by passing on intelligence”.

    “The actions of the British spy service in this case have shown the value of the convict, the importance of his access and the enemy’s trust in him,” it added.

    It claimed he had received training from the MI-6, established shell companies to thwart Iranian intelligence services, had intelligence meetings in various countries, including Austria and the UAE, and received British citizenship as a reward for “betraying” his country.

    British Foreign Minister James Cleverly had previously called for a halt to Akbari’s execution, saying “this is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life”. The United States had also called for stopping the execution.

    Akbari was alleged to have passed on information about dozens of senior Iranian officials, including Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top nuclear scientist assassinated in a town near Tehran in 2020. Iran blamed the attack on Israel.

    According to the Iranian judiciary, Akbari began working with British intelligence in 2004 for five years before leaving the country. In 2009, he was allegedly advised by Britain to leave Iran.

    Akbari then allegedly re-entered Iran several years later to continue his activities, and was ultimately arrested.

    The judiciary did not announce the date of his arrest but he was reportedly taken into custody in 2019.

    Earlier this week, the state-run IRNA news website released a video purporting to show “confessions” by Akbari, who is said to have been a close ally of Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s current security chief and former defence minister from 1997 to 2005, when Akbari was his deputy.

    Akbari’s family had told British media he was innocent and had fallen victim to “political games” inside Iran.

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  • Iran’s top diplomat says talks with Saudis could restore ties

    Iran’s top diplomat says talks with Saudis could restore ties

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    Iranian foreign minister says he hopes diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia can be restored via dialogue after years of tensions.

    Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has expressed hope that diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh could be restored through dialogue between the two regional rivals.

    Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in January 2016 after protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran following Riyadh’s execution of the Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr.

    Amir-Abdollahian told a news conference in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday that he hoped “diplomatic missions or embassies in Tehran and Riyadh will reopen within the framework of dialogue that should continue between the two countries”.

    Iran and Saudi Arabia back opposing sides in several conflicts in the Middle East region, including in Syria and Yemen, where Tehran has supported the Houthi rebels.

    Since April 2021, Iraq has hosted five rounds of fence-mending meetings between the two sides, but the talks have stalled in recent months, and no meetings have been publicly announced since April 2022.

    Iran wields influence in political life in Lebanon and Iraq, where it also supports armed groups.

    On Friday, Amir-Abdollahian met with officials including his counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

    In a meeting with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the pair discussed “possible threats arising from the formation of a government of corrupt people and extremists” in Israel, according to a statement from the Tehran-backed group.

    Israel in late December inaugurated the most right-wing government in its history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    The move has sparked fears of heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, and of a potential military escalation in the occupied West Bank, where daily raids and violence by the Israeli army are a common occurrence.

    ‘Dialogue’

    Abdollahian also hailed a potential rapprochement between Iranian ally Syria and Turkey, after their defence ministers met last month.

    Syria’s pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said Amir-Abdollahian would visit Damascus on Saturday.

    “We are happy with this dialogue that is taking place between Syria and Turkey,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

    “We believe that this dialogue should have positive repercussions benefitting these two countries.”

    Ankara had long backed rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    But after more than a decade of war that has seen Damascus claw back territory with Russian and Iranian support, ties between Syria and Turkey have begun to thaw.

    In late December, Syrian and Turkish defence ministers held landmark negotiations in Moscow – the first such meeting since 2011.

    Assad had said on Thursday that a Moscow-brokered rapprochement with Turkey should aim for “the end of occupation” by Ankara of parts of Syria.

    The defence ministers’ meeting is to be followed by talks between the three countries’ top diplomats, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

    The mooted reconciliation has alarmed Syrian opposition leaders and supporters who reside mostly in the northern parts of the war-torn country under Ankara’s indirect control.

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  • Tehran executes British-Iranian dual national on charges of espionage

    Tehran executes British-Iranian dual national on charges of espionage

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    Iran executed a former deputy Iranian defense minister, who was a British-Iranian, on allegations of spying for British intelligence, marking the first execution of a prominent official in over a decade in a clear sign of deteriorating relations with the West.

    Alireza Akbari, a 61-year-old British-Iranian dual national, was executed for spying on behalf of the U.K., an accusation he had always denied since he was arrested in Iran in 2019.

    Akbari was accused of “harming the country’s internal and external security by passing on intelligence,” an activity he carried out between 2004 and 2009 and for which he would have received a payment of over €2 million, the judiciary’s official news outlet Mizan said.

    U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the execution a “callous and cowardly act, carried out by a barbaric regime.”

    Akbari’s death would “not stand unchallenged,” said U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, in a statement that prompted Persian authorities to summon the British ambassador in Teheran.

    BBC Persian aired an audio message from Akbari earlier this week in which the inmate said he had been tortured and forced to confess crimes on camera he hadn’t committed — something that human rights NGO Amnesty International is now urging London to investigate.

    Maryam Samadi, Akbari’s wife, said she was “just shocked,” in a phone interview with the New York Times on Friday. “We saw no reason or indication for the charges,” she said. “We could have never imagined this, and I don’t understand the politics behind it.”

    The U.K. Foreign Office is now seeking the possibility of giving asylum to Akbari’s family, considered at risk, but that’s proving difficult, as the country does not recognize dual nationality for its citizens.

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    Federica Di Sario

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  • Executions aren’t new in Iran, but this time they’re different | CNN

    Executions aren’t new in Iran, but this time they’re different | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


    New York and Amman
    CNN
     — 

    The Islamic Republic of Iran has long ranked among the world’s top executioners. But with the recent death sentences handed down to protesters, critics say the regime has taken capital punishment to a new level.

    Last weekend, Iran executed two more protesters charged with killing security personnel, causing an international outcry. Critics said that the executions were a result of hasty sham trials.

    The regime executed 314 people in 2021, 20% more than the previous year, rights group Amnesty International said in a report from May 2022. Many of those had to do with drug-related crimes.

    This year, a number of protesters are entangled in Iran’s court system, many of whom face a particularly unjust judicial process, according to activists.

    Human rights activists have warned there’s a real risk that many of them could become another number in the growing list of those executed by the Islamic Republic. At least 43 people are currently facing execution in Iran, according to a CNN count, but activist group 1500Tasvir says the number could be as high as 100.

    “Defendants are systematically deprived of access to lawyers of their choice during the trial, are subjected to tortured and coerced confessions and then rushed to the gallows,” Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CNN.

    United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday accused Iran of “weaponizing” criminal procedures, saying it amounts to “state sanctioned killing”

    With this round of protests, critics say, the authorities are using charges that carry the death penalty more liberally than they have before, widening the application of such laws to cover protesters.

    According to Iranian state media, dozens of government agents, from security officials to officers of the basij paramilitary force, have been killed in the protests. Activist groups HRANA and Iran Human Rights say that 481 protesters have been killed.

    Security personnel have died in previous protests as well, Sepehri Far said, “but it is crucial to point out in this (time) round Iranian authorities are using the death penalty way beyond (the) intentional killing of security officers.”

    The regime appears to have capitalized on the executions, using them as a deterrent to people eager to speak out and flood the streets, as was seen after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the nation’s morality police.

    “The trials and executions are yet another piece of the repression machine serving to demonstrate power and control and spread fear and publicize (the) government’s narrative about protesters,” Sepehri Far explained.

    Iran has used Islamic Sharia law to prosecute protesters with crimes carrying the death penalty, namely “waging war against God” or “moharebeh” and “corruption on earth,” according to the UN Office of Human Rights.

    The process has been criticized within the country too.

    Mohsen Borhani, a professor at Tehran University and an expert in Islamic jurisprudence, has also challenged the use of such religiously based charges against protesters. In a television debate last month, he argued that the protesters executed were charged with waging war against God when their role in the protests did not in fact merit such a charge.

    The brandishing of weapons by protesters, he said, was meant to intimidate, not injure security personnel. “This is fundamentally out of the realm of moharebeh because the person’s opposition is towards the government, not civilians.”

    Sepehri Far said that Mohsen Shekari, one of the first protesters to be executed, was accused of injuring an officer. “Others have received the death penalty for extremely vague charges such as destruction and arson of public property or using a weapon to spread terror,” she said.

    Activists say Iranian authorities have developed sophisticated methods of spreading disinformation on how, why and when executions will be carried out. Civil rights activist Atena Daemi said in a tweet, for example, that several Iranian news outlets had reported that activists on death row had been released, news that was refuted by the prisoners’ families.

    Activists have said that condemning the protests is not enough. The European Union has taken note, and as the bloc continues to discuss imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Iran, some members have supported moves to classify its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

    Saudi Arabia to lift restrictions on pilgrim numbers for 2023 Hajj season

    Saudi Arabia aims to host a pre-pandemic number of Muslim pilgrims for the Hajj in 2023, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said in a tweet on Monday. No age limits will be imposed on Hajj pilgrims this season, which starts on June 26.

    • Background: The kingdom had limited the number of pilgrims to 1,000 in 2020 and in 2021 increased the quota to almost 60,000, but only for residents of Saudi Arabia. In 2022, the kingdom authorized one million Muslims to perform the rites. The holy sites in the cities of Mecca and Medina normally host over 2 million people during the pilgrimage.
    • Why it matters: Performing the Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam which all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform at least once in their lives. Saudi Arabia has identified the pilgrimage as a key component of a plan to diversify its economy. According to Mastercard’s latest Global Destination Cities Index, Mecca attracted $20 billion in tourist dollars in 2018.

    Egypt commits to IMF to slow projects, increase fuel prices

    Egypt committed to a flexible currency, a greater role for the private sector and a range of monetary and fiscal reforms when it agreed to a $3 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Reuters reported, citing an IMF staff report released on Tuesday. Among its pledges is one to slow investment in public projects, including national projects, so as to reduce inflation and conserve foreign currency, without specifying where cuts might fall. Egypt also said it would allow most fuel product prices to rise until they were in line with the country’s fuel index mechanism to make up for a slowdown in such increases over the last fiscal year.

    • Background: In a letter of intent to the IMF, Egypt said it sought support after the war in Ukraine increased existing vulnerabilities amid tighter global financial conditions and higher commodity prices. Under the support, the IMF will provide Egypt with about $700 million in the fiscal year that ends in June.
    • Why it matters: Egypt is already suffering from economic hardship and rising inflation that has caused discontent at home. The 2011 revolution was partly triggered by economic matters and the cost of living.

    Saudi Arabia plans to use domestic uranium for nuclear fuel

    Saudi Arabia plans to use domestically-sourced uranium to build up its nuclear power industry, Reuters cited Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as saying on Wednesday. He added that recent exploration had shown a diverse portfolio of uranium.

    • Background: Saudi Arabia has a nascent nuclear program that it wants to expand to eventually include uranium enrichment, a sensitive area given its role in nuclear weapons. Riyadh has said it wants to use nuclear power to diversify its energy mix.
    • Why it matters: Atomic reactors need uranium enriched to around 5% purity, but the same technology in this process can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to higher, weapons-grade levels. This issue has been at the heart of Western and regional concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. It is unclear where Saudi Arabia’s ambitions end, since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in 2018 that the kingdom would develop nuclear weapons if Iran did. The neighboring United Arab Emirates has committed not to enrich uranium itself and not to reprocess spent fuel.

    German exports to Iran rose by 12.7% last year, Reuters reported. Despite a significant deterioration in political ties between the two countries due to Iran’s brutal crackdown on protesters, trade ties remained intact, with the value of trade climbing to $1.6 billion between January and November. Berlin is currently pushing for a fourth package of European Union sanctions on Iran.

    The Gulf nation of Oman become the latest in the small group of countries that are considering a move to a four-day workweek.

    The government has said that it is studying the possibility of expanding weekends to three days instead of two, citing other nations’ success in pilots to test the move.

    Salem bin Muslim Al Busaidi, an undersecretary at the labor ministry, told local media that the nation’s workforce has already increased flexibility, adopting remote work, part-time work and other initiatives to modernize the work environment.

    Several countries have experimented with a four-day work week, including Iceland, Spain and Ireland, and the trials suggest that the move improves productivity.

    Oman’s neighbor, the UAE, has seen some of the most dramatic changes to the country’s work environment. Besides shifting the country’s weekend to Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday and Saturday, the country adopted a four-and-a-half-day workweek in 2022.

    The UAE emirate of Sharjah took that a step further by adopting a four-day work week across all government sectors and allowing private companies to do the same.

    The emirate reported a 40% drop in traffic accidents in the first 8 months, a boost in employee productivity, and a drop in gas emissions due to the decrease in commutes, according to local media.

    The onset of Covid-19 drastically changed the working environment of the Gulf region as companies were forced to adapt to new ways of working under restrictions.

    By Mohammed Abdelbary

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