ReportWire

Tag: Iran

  • Iran hangs a man it accuses of spying for Israel

    [ad_1]

    Iran’s foreign minister has held *** telephone call with his counterparts in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom over their threat to potentially snap back sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Now the snap back mechanism is part of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers that saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium. In exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions now in the deal, there was *** part of it that said that any of those members of the deal could go and declare Iran in noncompliance with it, setting forth the clock that ultimately would snap back those UN sanctions. Now Iran contends that these European nations can’t do that. They point to the fact. America unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018, setting up years of tensions over the program that saw Iran up its enrichment to about 60% purity, *** short step away from weapons grade levels. That enrichment and other issues saw Israel launch its unprecedented 12 day war on Iran back in June. Now as of right now, the European nations and Iran are both saying that there will be another round of talks next week, but the clock is ticking. The Europeans had said if Iran doesn’t reach an agreement by the end of the month, that it will start the snapback process, and that could mean more pressure on Iran’s ailing economy.

    Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nearsIran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

    DUBAI, Dubai —

    Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.

    Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.

    Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nears

    Iran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”

    Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.

    Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.

    Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.

    In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

    The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.

    Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Iran Executes Man Accused of Spying for Israel, Judiciary’s News Outlet

    [ad_1]

    DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran executed a man accused of spying for its arch-rival Israel on Monday, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan said, naming the defendant “Bahman Choubi-asl”.

    (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • U.N. hits Iran with

    [ad_1]

    The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran early Sunday over its nuclear program, further squeezing the Islamic Republic as its people increasingly find themselves priced out of the food they need to survive and worried about their futures.

    The sanctions will again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran, and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures. It came via a mechanism known as “snapback,” included in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and comes as Iran’s economy already is reeling.

    Iran’s rial currency sits at a record low, increasing pressure on food prices and making daily life that much more challenging. That includes meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table.

    Meanwhile, people worry about a new round of fighting between Iran and Israel — as well as potentially the U.S. — as missile sites struck during the 12-day war in June now appear to be being rebuilt.

    Activists fear a rising wave of repression within the Islamic Republic, which already has reportedly executed more people this year than over the past three decades.

    Sina, the father of a 12-year-old boy who spoke on condition that only his first name be used for fear of repercussions, said the country has never faced such a challenging time, even during the deprivations of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and the decades of sanctions that came later.

    “For as long as I can remember, we’ve been struggling with economic hardship, and every year it’s worse than the last,” Sina told The Associated Press. “For my generation, it’s always either too late or too early — our dreams are slipping away.”

    Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks with Fox News Channel’s Martha MacCallum during an interview on Sept. 25, 2025, in New York City.

    John Lamparski / Getty Images


    Snapback was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. Security Council, meaning China and Russia could not stop it alone, as they have other proposed actions against Tehran in the past. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called them a “trap” for Iran on Saturday.

    France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered snapback over Iran 30 days ago for its further restricting monitoring of its nuclear program and the deadlock over its negotiations with the U.S.

    Iran further withdrew from the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring after Israel’s war with the country in June, which also saw the U.S. strike nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, the country still maintains a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% — that is largely enough to make several atomic bombs, should Tehran choose to rush toward weaponization.

    Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though the West and IAEA say Tehran had an organized weapons program up until 2003.

    The three European nations on Sunday said they “continuously made every effort to avoid triggering snapback.” But Iran “has not authorized IAEA inspectors to regain access to Iran’s nuclear sites, nor has it produced and transmitted to the IAEA a report accounting for its stockpile of high-enriched uranium.”

    Tehran has further argued that the three European nations shouldn’t be allowed to implement snapback, pointing in part to America’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, during the first term of President Trump’s administration.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the three European nations for “an act of decisive global leadership” for imposing the sanctions on Iran and said “diplomacy is still an option.”

    “For that to happen, Iran must accept direct talks,” Rubio said.

    However, it remains unclear how Tehran will respond Sunday.

    “The Trump administration appears to think it has a stronger hand post-strikes, and it can wait for Iran to come back to the table,” said Kelsey Davenport, a nuclear expert at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. “Given the knowledge Iran has, given the materials that remain in Iran, that’s a very dangerous assumption.”

    Risks also remain for Iran as well, she added: “In the short term, kicking out the IAEA increases the risk of miscalculation. The U.S. or Israel could use the lack of inspections as a pretext for further strikes.”

    The aftermath of the June war drove up food prices in Iran, putting already expensive meat out of reach for poorer families.

    Iran’s government put overall annual inflation at 34.5% in June, and its Statistical Center reported that the cost of essential food items rose over 50% over the same period. But even that doesn’t reflect what people see at shops. Pinto beans tripled in price in a year, while butter nearly doubled. Rice, a staple, rose more than 80% on average, hitting 100% for premium varieties. Whole chicken is up 26%, while beer and lamb are up 9%.

    “Every day I see new higher prices for cheese, milk and butter,” said Sima Taghavi, a mother of two, at a Tehran grocery. “I cannot omit them like fruits and meat from my grocery list because my kids are too young to be deprived.”

    The pressure over food and fears about the war resuming have seen more patients heading to psychologists since June, local media in Iran have reported.

    “The psychological pressure from the 12-day war on the one hand, and runaway inflation and price hikes on the other, has left society exhausted and unmotivated,” Dr. Sima Ferdowsi, a clinical psychologist and professor at Shahid Beheshti University, told the Hamshahri newspaper in an interview published in July.

    Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.

    In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russian Nuclear Group Inks $25-Billion Deal to Build Nuclear Power Plants in Iran

    [ad_1]

    Concrete pouring officially commenced at the Bushehr Unit 2 site on Nov 10, 2019. Courtesy: AEOI

    The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Iranian officials have signed an agreement with Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company, to build at least four nuclear power plants in Iran. The $25-billion deal announced September 26 comes two days after Rosatom said officials said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to advance construction of nuclear power technology in Iran. Rosatom on Wednesday did not disclose the number of reactors it would build, saying only it would work with Iran on construction of small nuclear power plants. The Moscow Times news service said the deal was signed just hours before more United Nations’ sanctions are expected to be placed on Iran, including on its nuclear program. The agreement comes as European officials are prepared to institute so-called “snapback sanctions” on Iran, related to the 2015 deal about Iran’s nuclear program. Britain, France and Germany triggered the sanctions last month, accusing Iran of failing to adhere to its commitments under the agreement. China and Russia at a United Nations’ Security Council session on Friday offered a draft resolution to allow another six months for talks, though most political analysts have said it is not likely to have enough support to pass.

    Adding Nuclear Generation Capacity

    Iranian state television on Friday reported that “A deal for the construction of four nuclear power plants with a value of $25 billion in Sirik, Hormozgan was signed between the Iran Hormoz company and Rosatom.” Iran currently has just one operating nuclear power plant. The 1-GW Bushehr facility is located in the southern part of the country. IRNA reported that each of the four new reactors would have 1,255 MW of generation capacity. No timeline was reported for that construction. Construction is continuing at two new units at Bushehr, work that began in 2019 and 2020. Those Russian-designed units, which are VVER-1000 reactors, could come online as soon as next year, according to Russian officials. The latest agreement comes on the heels of a visit to Moscow this week by Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s vice president and head of its nuclear program. Eslami has said at least four future reactors would be located in Bushehr. Iran has a reported goal of at generating at least 20 GW of electricity from nuclear power by 2040. Russian officials earlier this year said they have a plan to build at least eight reactors in Iran. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • UN Security Council rejects Russia and China’s last-ditch effort to delay sanctions on Iran

    [ad_1]

    By FARNOUSH AMIRI, STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN and EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press

    NEW YORK (AP) — Iran’s president called the expected reimposition of sanctions over its nuclear program “unfair, unjust and illegal” on Friday as the U.N. Security Council rejected a last-ditch effort to delay them.

    President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke at a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, a day before the deadline for the so-called “snapback” of sanctions to kick in. But the president says that despite previous threats, Iran will not respond by withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.

    THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

    UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Friday rejected another last-ditch effort to delay the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program a day before the deadline and after Western countries claimed that weeks of meetings failed to result in a “concrete” agreement.

    The resolution put forth by Russia and China — Iran’s most powerful and closest allies on the 15-member council — failed to garner support from the nine countries required to halt the series of U.N. sanctions from taking effect Saturday, as outlined in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

    “We had hoped that European colleagues and the U.S. would think twice, and they would opt for the path of diplomacy and dialogue instead of their clumsy blackmail, which merely results in escalation of the situation in the region,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, the deputy Russian ambassador to the U.N., said during the meeting.

    Barring an eleventh-hour deal, the reinstatement of sanctions — triggered by Britain, France and Germany — will once again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures. That will further squeeze the country’s reeling economy.

    The move is expected to heighten already magnified tensions between Iran and the West. It’s unclear how Iran will respond, given that in the past, officials have threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.

    Four countries — China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria — once again supported giving Iran more time to negotiate with the European countries, known as the E3, and the United States, which unilaterally withdrew from the accord with world powers in 2018.

    “The U.S has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the vote. “This sordid mess did not come about overnight. Both the E3 and the U.S. have consistently misrepresented Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”

    The European leaders triggered the so-called “snapback” mechanism last month after accusing Tehran of failing to comply with the conditions of the accord and when weeks of high-level negotiations failed to reach a diplomatic resolution.

    Lots of diplomacy as deadline nears

    Since the 30-day clock began, Araghchi, has been meeting with his French, British and German counterparts to strike a last-minute deal, leading up to this week’s U.N. General Assembly gathering. But those talks appeared futile, with one European diplomat telling the Associated Press on Wednesday that they “did not produce any new developments, any new results.”

    Therefore, European sources “expect that the snapback procedure will continue as planned.”

    Even before Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York on Tuesday for the annual gathering, remarks from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that peace talks with the United States represent “a sheer dead end” constrained any eleventh-hour diplomatic efforts from taking place.

    Iranian officials have defended their position over the last several weeks, saying that they’ve put forward “multiple proposals to keep the window for diplomacy open.” On Friday, Araghchi said in a social media post that “the E3 has failed to reciprocate” efforts, “while the U.S. has doubled down on its dictates.” He urged the Security Council to vote in favor of an extension to provide the “time and space for diplomacy.”

    European nations have said they would be willing to extend the deadline if Iran complies with a series of conditions. Those include resumption of direct negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear program, allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors access to its nuclear sites, and accounts for the more than 880 pounds of highly enriched uranium the U.N. watchdog says it has.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Iran carried out 1,000 executions this year, says Amnesty

    [ad_1]

    Iranian authorities have executed over 1,000 people so far this year, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Friday.

    This was the highest number of yearly executions in Iran recorded by Amnesty in at least 15 years, the organization reported.

    “The ongoing escalation of executions in Iran has reached horrific proportions as the Iranian authorities continue to systematically weaponize the death penalty as a tool of repression and to quash dissent while displaying a chilling assault on the right to life,” said Heba Morayef, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    At the end of August, the United Nations observed 841 executions since the beginning of the year, a sharp increase in executions compared to previous years. According to UN figures, there were at least 975 executions in total in 2024.

    During the war against Israel in June and after a ceasefire came into force, Iran's security authorities cracked down on alleged collaborators with the country's arch-enemy. Iranian media reported a number of executions for alleged espionage for Israel.

    [ad_2]
    Source link

  • Iran’s vice president says it won’t waver from its nuclear program

    [ad_1]

    Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), attends a session of the World Atomic Week international forum, an event dedicated to the global nuclear industry and related sectors, in Moscow, Russia, September 25, 2025. (photo credit: EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/REUTERS)

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Over 1,000 people executed by Islamic regime over past nine months, human rights org. claims

    [ad_1]

    The number of executions has reportedly reached a three-decade peak, with 64 executions over the past week alone.

    Iran has executed at least 1,000 people over the past nine months, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization (IHR).

    The number ofexecutions has reportedly reached a three-decade peak, with 64 executions over the past week alone.

    The executions, mostly hangings, toppled the previous figure of 975 state murders in 2024 and the record in 2015.

    “TheIslamic Republic has begun a mass killing campaign in Iran’s prisons, the dimensions of which, in the absence of serious international reactions, are expanding every day,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told The Telegraph.

    People walk past a billboard with a caricature of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a street in Tehran, Iran, August 10, 2025. (credit: Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

    The 12-Day War

    The dramatic rise in executions has been connected to the 12-Day War with Israel by activists, as Tehran accused waves of individuals of working with the Jewish state.

    “We will definitely deal decisively and legally with spies, but it should be noted that identifying them is not easy and requires intelligence techniques,” Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje’i said.

    Experts have warned that the war in the Middle East has been used by the Islamic regime as a war to covertly intensify repression and instill fear against rebellion.

    Amnesty International and other humanitarian organizations have warned that Iran is the country carrying out the second largest number of executions, following behind China.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Iran to halt cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

    [ad_1]

    Western European nations’ move to reimpose sanctions has derailed a recent monitoring agreement, Tehran has said

    Iran’s top security body has announced the suspension of nuclear cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing actions by Western European nations against the Islamic Republic.

    On Friday, the UN Security Council voted to reimpose sanctions on Iran, which had been suspended in return for curbs on its nuclear program in a 2015 deal. The so-called “snapback” mechanism was initiated by Britain, France, and Germany last month.

    “The ill-considered actions of three European countries regarding the Iranian nuclear issue… will effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the Agency,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement cited by state news agency IRNA.

    The European nations took these steps despite the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and “the presentation of plans to resolve the issue,” it said.

    Earlier this month, Tehran and the IAEA reached an agreement that would have allowed the organization to resume inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran had suspended them after Israel and then the US attacked its nuclear sites, accusing it of developing a nuclear bomb – accusations the Islamic Republic has consistently denied.

    Iran had previously agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which it signed with Russia, China, the US, France, Britain, Germany and the EU. However, the deal effectively collapsed when Washington unilaterally withdrew in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term.
    US revokes sanctions waiver on India for key Iran port

    On August 28, Britain, France, and Germany triggered the JCPOA’s 30-day “snapback” mechanism, designed to reimpose sanctions frozen under the accord. Friday’s UNSC vote means the measures will take effect on September 28.

    At the session, the Russian envoy to council, Vassily Nebenzia, stressed that Moscow does not recognize the decision. The E3 has “chronically” violated their JCPOA obligations and failed to follow the dispute mechanism, he said.

    “In our view, no snapback procedure is taking place,” Nebenzia said, adding that “the Russian Federation does not recognize either the alleged steps taken or any further steps in this context.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Pezeshkian says Iran can overcome any return of sanctions

    [ad_1]

    After the United Nations voted to uphold the nuclear “snapback” sanctions process, the Iranian President asserted that Iran will not be stopped.

    Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Saturday that Iran would overcome any reimposition of sanctions on it through a so-called “snapback” process, after the UN Security Council voted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran.

    “Through the ‘snapback’ they block the road, but it is the brains and the thoughts that open or build the road,” Pezeshkian said in remarks carried by state television.

    “They cannot stop us. They can strike our Natanz or Fordow (nuclear installations struck by the US and Israel in June), But they are unaware that it is humans who built and will rebuild Natanz,” Pezeshkian said.

    The Security Council move came on Friday after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.

    An IDF infographic on the Isfahan nuclear facility in Iran, released June 13, 2025 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

    Iran denies having any such intention

    “We will never surrender in the face of excessive demands because we have the power to change the situation,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media.

    The “snapback” process would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran unless an agreement is reached on a delay between Tehran and key European powers within about a week.

    The snapback would reimpose an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israeli strike in Qatar shakes decades-long U.S. security pact with Gulf states

    [ad_1]

    BEIRUT — For years, Persian Gulf nations staked their defense on one thing above all: A U.S.-supplied security umbrella, paid for with tens of billions of their petrodollars and agreements that allowed the U.S. to dot the Middle East with some of its largest military facilities.

    The thinking was that being users of U.S. weaponry and having a U.S. military presence was a virtual guarantee of protection if enemies came to call.

    That thinking was upended on Tuesday, when Israel, arguably the U.S.’s top ally, dispatched warplanes and hurled 10 missiles at Hamas’ political office compound in the Qatari capital Doha.

    The attack, which targeted the Palestinian group’s senior negotiation team as it was discussing a ceasefire proposal from President Trump, killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer. Hamas denies any of its senior leadership was killed.

    But whether the targeting succeeded is irrelevant to Gulf leaders pondering the effectiveness of decades-old security arrangements with the U.S.

    “The message to the region appears to be, ‘If you think close ties with and major military support for Washington provides protection… think again,’ ” said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

    “They’re all vulnerable to attack by larger and more powerful neighbors, and they expect a commitment that helping the U.S. militarily comes with a certain degree of protection. It clearly doesn’t,” he said.

    This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC taken on Wednesday shows damage after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas’ political leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

    (Planet Labs PBC via Associated Press)

    Qatari officials were apoplectic after the strike, calling it cowardly and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

    Especially galling to Qatar — which houses the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American military installation in the region — is that it allowed Hamas officials to openly live in a well-appointed district of its capital at Washington’s request, just as it had with the Taliban during the group’s negotiations to end America’s war in Afghanistan.

    “Everything about that meeting [with Hamas] is very well known for the Israelis and for the Americans. It’s not something we’re hiding,” said Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

    “I have no words to express how enraged we are from such an action [by Israel]. This is state terror,” he said.

    Other Gulf leaders — even those harboring lingering reservations about Qatar and its regional policies — presented a united front on Qatar’s behalf.

    Saudi Arabia called the strike a “brutal aggression” and said the kingdom would “stand with Qatar without limit.” Bahrain expressed its “full solidarity.”

    Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, traveled to Doha the next day to meet the Qatari emir — a surprise given how assiduously the UAE has worked to improve ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, the Trump-brokered agreements that saw a number of Arab and Gulf nations normalize relations with Israel in 2020.

    “The Gulf states view an external attack on one member as an attack on all,” said Yasmine Farouk, the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Project director at the International Crisis Group.

    Farouk added that trust in the U.S. was already diminished in recent years when Washington failed to defend or respond to attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2019 and the UAE in 2022 by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Qatar, which suffered through an Iranian missile assault on Al Udeid in June, now has the dubious honor of having its territory become a proxy battleground for both sides of the larger U.S.-Iran conflict.

    This week’s strike also represents a setback for the anti-Iran coalition the U.S. has worked to forge with its Arab allies and Israel. But the feeling among many in the Gulf is that Israel is just as belligerent and destabilizing an actor as Iran.

    “Israel has misinterpreted the willingness of Gulf countries to normalize relations with it as an acknowledgment of its dominance in the region,” Farouq said.

    “The Gulf states do not want to live in a region dominated by either Israel or Iran,” she added. “They reject that kind of behavior, rather than rejecting a specific country.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the immediate motive for the strike was Hamas claiming responsibility for the killing of six Israelis by Palestinian gunmen in Jerusalem earlier this week. He insisted the operation was planned and conducted entirely by Israel.

    At the same time, the more than 1,000-mile distance between Israel and Qatar means Israeli warplanes flew over multiple Arab countries, almost all of them with U.S. bases presumably able to detect incoming aircraft. (The U.S. has 19 bases across the region.) The building the Israelis struck is less than 20 miles away from Al Udeid.

    Trump said he learned about the attack shortly before it began and instructed members of his administration to “immediately” inform the Qataris. But Al Thani said the call from the U.S. came 10 minutes after the planes lobbed their missiles on Doha.

    In May, when Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, they feted him with grandiose events heavy on the pomp and circumstance and pledged trillions of dollars for investments in the U.S. The expectation was that this would buy some leverage, but Trump is reported to have done little more than scold Netanyahu over Tuesday’s strike, even while stopping short of condemning his actions. (Also in May, Qatar donated a luxury Boeing 747 aircraft for Trump to use as Air Force One.)

    The conclusion for Gulf countries expecting U.S. protection from all threats, said Abdulaziz Al-Anjeri, founder of the Kuwait-based think tank Reconnaissance Research, is that some threats are more equal than others.

    “U.S. security assistance is effective against Iran or its allied armed factions, but it does not extend to Israel,” he said, adding that historical alliances with the Gulf don’t carry the same weight for Trump as they may have in the past.

    The issue, said Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, is that there’s little specificity as to what a U.S. security umbrella actually entails.

    “America’s No.1 ally is now striking another American partner, and all they got from Trump is that they ‘felt badly.’ That it happened this way is not in America’s favor,” Al-Saif said.

    He added that Gulf nations, especially Saudi Arabia, have been pushing for more formal — and well-defined — defense pacts, but that the relationship with the U.S. needed to reflect recent changes. “You’re here as a security guarantor,” he said of the U.S. “We cannot be cash dispensers if we feel that our basic security is not guaranteed.”

    [ad_2]

    Nabih Bulos

    Source link

  • Satellite photos show activity at Iran nuclear site after US bombing

    [ad_1]

    New Satellite photos reveal that Iran has begun removing critical cooling equipment from its Natanz uranium enrichment facility after U.S. airstrikes in late June damaged the site’s power systems and forced operations offline.

    The images, posted on X by David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank, show the relocation of nearly two dozen large chillers once used to regulate centrifuge operations.

    Newsweek has reached out the U.S. State Department and Iran’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

    Why It Matters

    The dispersal of equipment underscores Iran’s immediate effort to shield its nuclear program from further attacks. The U.S. strikes—carried out at the end of the 12-day Iran–Israel war—were hailed by President Donald Trump as a “spectacular military success,” although U.S. intelligence later said the bombing would set back Iran’s program by up to two years, rather than indefinitely.

    With Natanz still without external power and centrifuges idle, the relocation of chillers signals Tehran’s determination to preserve enrichment capability, a step that could harden its bargaining position and increase the risk of renewed confrontation across the Middle East.

    In this image made from April 17, 2021, video released by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting, IRIB, state-run TV, various centrifuge machines line the hall damaged on Sunday, April 11, 2021, at the Natanz Uranium…


    IRIB/AP Photo

    What To Know

    Albright’s satellite imagery showed that 19 of the 24 chillers previously housed in two heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) buildings at Natanz had been moved to locations across the site—including helicopter pads and near water facilities—to make them harder to target.

    He wrote: “The removal and dispersal appears to be a tactic to make the chillers less vulnerable to future aerial bombardment.”

    Albright said Natanz still lacked external power and centrifuge cascades remained offline. He interpreted the chiller relocation as a clear move by Iran to protect essential hardware during the downtime and amid anticipated threats.

    Scope of U.S. Bombing

    The U.S. bombing campaign struck three nuclear sites: Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. While imagery confirmed significant surface destruction, particularly at Natanz, U.S. intelligence assessments circulated after the fact determined that underground sections of the Fordow site had not been destroyed.

    The Pentagon concluded that Iran’s nuclear program was set back by several months, but not eliminated, contradicting Trump’s assertion that the program had been “obliterated.”

    Mission details of a strike on Iran
    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine discusses the mission details of a strike on Iran during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 22, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia….


    Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    Diplomatic Reactions

    Tehran has sought to counter pressure internationally. Alongside Russia and China, Iran issued a joint letter denouncing European efforts to reimpose United Nations snapback sanctions. On X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the European move as illegal and politically destructive, emphasizing that the U.S. was the first to breach the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) under Trump.

    Urainum Enrichment

    Iran has long exceeded the uranium production limits set under the JCPOA, citing Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement as justification, while maintaining that its nuclear program is intended solely for civilian purposes.

    With the deal set to expire in October, the snapback mechanism could reinstate sanctions that had been lifted. Following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in mid-June, Iran and Britain, France and Germany (E3) held talks in Geneva aimed at a new agreement, but the E3 concluded that Iran had not shown sufficient readiness to reach a deal.

    What People Are Saying

    David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security: “The movement of this equipment shows Iran appears worried about a new attack destroying even more centrifuge–related equipment.”

    Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister: “Our joint letter with my colleagues, the foreign ministers of China and Russia, signed in Tianjin, reflects the firm position that the European attempt to invoke snapback is legally baseless and politically destructive”

    What Happens Next

    Natanz remains without power, centrifuges are inactive, and chillers essential to enrichment have been scattered across the facility. Whether the U.S. or Israel decides to strike again will determine if Iran can reconstitute its nuclear program or if the latest confrontation escalates into a broader conflict.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Passenger van swept away by flood in Iran, not in Pakistan

    [ad_1]

    Intense monsoon downpours have killed hundreds in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eastern Punjab provinces in August but dramatic footage of floodwaters sweeping away a passenger van first surfaced online more than three years ago. News reports published similar footage about the passengers drowning in northeastern Iran in July 2022.

    “Latest: A huge tragedy. The entire school van along with children became victim of flood,” reads the Urdu-language caption of a Facebook reel published on August 28.

    The clip shows a green van being swept by muddy floodwater as passengers cry for help and people rush along the bank. After some time, the van is seen overturned along the embankment.

    The post also contained the hashtags #Ravi #flood #indian #IndiaFloods #rescue #lahore.

    Three transboundary rivers in the east of Pakistan have swollen to exceptionally high levels in August as a result of heavy rains across the border in India (archived link). 

    It has triggered flood alerts throughout Punjab province, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people. The army was also deployed to help evacuate people and livestock near the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers.

    Screenshot of the false Facebook reel taken on August 28, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

    The same clip along with similar claims also appeared on Instagram, X and TikTok.

    But the video first circulated in news reports about floods that hit neighbouring Iran three years ago.

    A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to similar footage used in a July 31, 2022, report by the news outlet The Independent Persian on its verified YouTube channel entitled: “Van passengers trapped in deadly flood” (archived link).

    Persian language description on the video reads: “On July 30, the occupants of a van were caught in the middle of flooding on the road from the village of Meyami to the village of Chenarak in Razavi Khorasan province. According to the governor of Mashhad, the 13 passengers in the van were Iraqis, seven of whom died as a result of the accident.”

    <span>Screenshots comparison of false post (left) and the Independent Persian video (right): </span>

    Screenshots comparison of false post (left) and the Independent Persian video (right):

    Iranian media outlets Mehr News and Hamshahri Online also reported the same incident embedding similar images (archived here and here).

    Landslides and floods triggered by heavier-than-usual monsoon rains have killed more than 850 people across Pakistan since June. The latest downpour has killed at least 32 people as of August 31, 2025 (archived link).

    AFP has fact-checked other false claims about the monsoon rains affecting South Asia.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump says he’s ended 6 or 7 wars. Here’s what the record shows.

    [ad_1]

    In recent weeks, President Trump has repeatedly claimed he deserves credit for ending six or seven wars during his first months in office, arguing that he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

    “I stopped seven wars, and they were, they’re big ones too,” Mr. Trump said Friday. 

    “I’ve settled six wars, and a lot of people say seven because there’s one that nobody knows about,” he said in an August 19 interview.

    A White House official provided a list of seven conflicts the president is referencing: Israel and Iran, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.

    “There has been more progress towards peace than ever before because of this President’s leadership,” the official wrote.

    The recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace prize is expected to be announced next month. 

    Over 100 people have received the award since the 19th-century chemist Alfred Nobel created the prize to honor a “person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” 

    Four U.S. presidents have been past laureates, most recently Barack Obama who received the prize for supporting nuclear nonproliferation and international diplomacy.

    Foreign policy experts say that while Mr. Trump has helped broker ceasefires, including one between Israel and Iran, several of the foreign conflicts cited by the administration were not full-scale wars — and many remain unresolved. The White House did not respond to a request for clarification on why the president has repeatedly labeled all seven conflicts as settled wars.

    Some of these peace efforts involved limited U.S. involvement, and in other instances, it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump’s role was decisive. 

    Here’s a look at the conflicts:

    Israel and Iran 

    After Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, a 12-day conflict resulted in the deaths of  about 28 Israelis and hundreds of Iranians before a ceasefire was reached with U.S. and Qatari involvement. Mr. Trump claimed credit, saying he had ordered U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and pressed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back from further strikes.

    Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at Brookings, said Mr. Trump deserves some credit for this ceasefire. “He managed to use a combination of a good relationship with Netanyahu, but also a willingness to put a little pressure on Netanyahu that I think contributed to the at least temporary cessation of hostilities,” O’Hanlon said.

    But other foreign policy experts said tensions between the nations are far from resolved, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in early July that the Defense Department estimated the U.S. strikes likely delayed Iran’s nuclear program by “one to two years.”

    Larry Haas, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council said, “I very strongly disagree with the notion that the president brought peace to Iran and Israel. We may be in a quiet period in terms of direct confrontation, but Iran right now is trying to regroup.”

    Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo 

    In June, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a peace deal after multiple days of talks in Washington mediated by President Trump and Qatar.

    The deal aimed to end three decades of fighting over Congo’s mineral reserves. Yet the violence has continued, with both sides accusing each other of violating peace terms. Human Rights Watch reported that M23, an armed group that U.S. officials believe is backed by Rwanda, killed over 140 civilians in eastern Congo in July.

    “It’s a premature declaration of success, when in fact we are just getting to the starting line,” O’Hanlon said.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan 

    In August, Mr. Trump helped negotiate an agreement aimed at normalizing relations and  reopening transportation routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have spent decades fighting for control of the Karabakh region. 

    O’Hanlon and Haas agreed the Trump administration pushed the deal forward in part by inviting both leaders to the White House. Leaders of both countries also credited Mr. Trump for the agreement, saying he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

    But the deal is not a formal peace agreement and requires ratification. One remaining sticking point is that Azerbaijan wants Armenia to remove any mention of territorial claims to Azerbaijan’s land from its constitution before officials sign a final deal.  Armenia’s prime minister has expressed willingness to change the constitution but has not specified a date for a referendum. 

    Thailand and Cambodia

    In late July, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a ceasefire after an outbreak of fighting killed at least 35 people. President Trump said that he had pressured both sides to come to the table by threatening trade consequences. 

    The U.S. is a top importer for both counties, and foreign policy experts CBS News spoke to said Mr. Trump’s tariff threats played a significant role in securing a ceasefire. “He helped move things along with economic pressure,” Haas said. 

    The border dispute is continuing, though, with Thai officials accusing Cambodia of laying new landmines. Cambodia denied doing so. 

    India and Pakistan 

    India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in May after weeks of cross-border missile and drone strikes. The deal ended the latest flare-up in their long-running dispute over Kashmir, which both nuclear-armed nations claim as their territory.

    Pakistan credited the Trump administration’s efforts in U.S.-led talks, and nominated him for the Nobel Peace prize. But India insisted its own pressure on Pakistan, not U.S. diplomacy, drove the deal. 

    Josh Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it’s a stretch to call the dispute over Kashmir settled.

    “There is no real ending to this conflict,” he said, noting that future negotiations could be complicated by Mr. Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on India, a key partner. 

    Egypt and Ethiopia

    Mr. Trump also claims he brokered peace between Ethiopia and Egypt, which have disagreed about Ethiopia’s decision to construct a hydroelectric dam in the Nile. 

    During his first term, Mr. Trump tried to broker a deal between the countries and suspended some aid to Ethiopia because of a lack of progress. In June, the president mentioned the dispute on Truth Social, writing, “There is peace, at least for now, because of my intervention, and it will stay that way!”

    No deals have been announced, however. Ethiopia still plans to officially open its dam in September over Egypt’s objections that it will restrict the flow of water to its country. And while Egypt previously threatened to go to war over the dam, this conflict has remained a diplomatic one.

    O’Hanlon said of the dispute, “I would not call the Egypt-Ethiopia interaction a war.” 

    Serbia and Kosovo 

    In 2020, President Trump helped negotiate a deal between Serbia and Kosovo to help normalize economic ties, but progress stalled afterwards. 

    Talks have continued with European leaders, but no breakthroughs have emerged. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia still does not recognize.

    “His deal-making, to the extent that it existed, actually occurred in his first term, and he really hasn’t stopped what’s going on,” Haas said. 

    Laura Doan

    Laura Doan is a fact checker for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Geopolitical Chaos Sends Iranian Crypto Flows Plummeting by Over 76%

    [ad_1]

    Cryptocurrency trading in Iran has slowed dramatically in 2025. A mix of geopolitical tensions, cyberattacks, and stricter regulations has rattled the previously booming market.

    According to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, total cryptocurrency inflows into Iran from January through July 2025 reached roughly $3.7 billion, an 11% decline from the same period in 2024.

    The contraction was particularly pronounced after April, as June inflows plunged more than 50% year-over-year. This was followed by an even steeper drop of over 76% in July.

    Hack, War, and Wallet Freezes

    Several geopolitical and security events weighed heavily on Iranian crypto markets, such as stalled nuclear talks with Israel, the outbreak of an armed conflict in June, a $90 million breach at Nobitex, and Tether’s blacklisting of an important Iranian-linked stablecoin address.

    According to the TRM report, these shocks together shifted trader behavior, prompting capital outflows to overseas exchanges and increased use of alternative blockchains and stablecoins.

    Despite the turbulence, Nobitex maintained its central role in Iran’s crypto ecosystem and handled more than 87% of all Iranian-linked transaction volume in 2025. Of the over $3 billion processed through the platform, approximately $2 billion moved via the Tron network, with heavy use of TRC-20 USDT and TRX.

    This concentration offered efficiency for users but also amplified systemic risk, as demonstrated when the Predatory Sparrow group exploited vulnerabilities in Nobitex’s infrastructure during the height of the Iran-Israel hostilities.

    Dual Priorities

    The $90 million hack froze liquidity, slowed transaction processing, and temporarily pushed users toward smaller or higher-risk platforms, revealing not only operational weaknesses but also the regime’s “dual priorities” of enabling warrantless surveillance while maintaining selective privacy for VIP users. TRM Labs traced on-chain activity to IRGC-linked actors and sanctioned entities such as Gaza Now, underscoring the political dimensions of the attack.

    The geopolitical escalation in June accelerated capital flight from domestic exchanges, as seen with the surge in outflows from Nobitex by more than 150% in the week leading up to the conflict, often moving to global exchanges with limited Know Your Customer (KYC) measures or to high-risk, no-KYC platforms.

    The exodus was exacerbated in July when Tether froze 42 Iranian-linked addresses, many of which were tied to Nobitex and an IRGC-affiliated actor. The freeze disrupted longstanding transactional flows, which led Iranian users to move to alternative stablecoins such as DAI on the Polygon network.

    Domestic influencers, government-aligned channels, and exchanges actively encouraged this migration, demonstrating both the adaptability of participants and the regime’s use of digital assets to bypass sanctions.

    Meanwhile, Iran’s domestic regulatory environment continued to shift, with the Law on Taxation of Speculation and Profiteering enacted in August 2025, which imposed capital gains tax on crypto trading. While phased implementation is expected, the measure points to Tehran’s intent to formally regulate digital asset markets by bringing cryptocurrencies alongside gold, real estate, and forex in the regime’s tax framework.

    Beyond capital markets, crypto remains a critical tool for Iran in procurement and sanctions evasion. Chinese resellers, for instance, supply drone components, AI hardware, and electrical equipment through crypto transactions, and a sophisticated underground KYC bypass industry supports these operations by providing forged identification documents for onboarding to international exchanges.

    SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)

    Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

    LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

    [ad_2]

    Chayanika Deka

    Source link

  • Iran eyes more firepower as war tensions rise

    [ad_1]

    Iran has “no choice but to become stronger,” the country’s army chief said Wednesday as the Iranian armed forces continue to gird themselves for more conflict.

    The warning by Iranian Major General Amir Hatami comes in the wake of the 12-day conflict with Israel in June, when Israeli and U.S. forces struck Iranian military and nuclear sites, leaving a trail of casualties and inflaming regional tensions.

    Newsweek has contacted Iran’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

    Why It Matters

    With all sides on edge, fears of renewed confrontation are mounting, with Hatami’s remarks underscoring a fresh drive to strengthen Iran’s military capabilities amid a volatile and uncertain geopolitical landscape.

    Iran faces growing scrutiny over its nuclear program. Britain, France and Germany—known as the E3—are considering triggering the “snapback” mechanism of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 by the end of August, which would automatically reinstate pre-2015 sanctions if Tehran fails to comply with inspection requirements.

    With the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) set to expire on October 18, the stakes are high, carrying potential global consequences for non-proliferation and international diplomacy.

    In this photo released on Monday, June 23, 2025, by Iranian army press service, Iran’s army commander-in-chief Gen. Amir Hatami attends a video call with top commanders, in Zolfaghar central headquarters, Iran, as portraits of…


    Iranian Army Press Service/AP Photo

    What to Know

    Speaking at an event on Wednesday, Hatami stressed the need to build up the military further, declaring: “We need a powerful army to protect our nation. A strong army is one whose every component carries out its missions and duties correctly.”

    He noted that Iran’s strategic position had historically made it a target for external aggression, citing past invasions and conflicts. “This mission is important for every country, but in Iran, due to our strategic and geopolitical position, it is even more significant and exceptional.”

    Iran Army
    Soldiers march during a military parade to mark the Iran’s annual Army Day in Tehran on April 18, 2025.

    Atta Kenare/Getty Images

    12-Day War

    The June hostilities began with Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, followed by U.S. airstrikes, prompting Iranian missile retaliation on strategic targets, including the Al-Udeid Air Base used by the U.S. military in Qatar.

    The nonprofit group Human Rights Activists in Iran and the Iranian Health Ministry reported that the conflict killed between 935 and 1,190 Iranians, including 38 children and 132 women, and injured over 4,000.

    Iranian missile attacks killed 29 Israelis, including one off-duty soldier, and left more than 3,200 injured, according to the Times of Israel.

    Missile Defense

    Meanwhile, rumors circulating on X and other social media sites included reports that the U.S. had redeployed a THAAD missile defense system from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

    The claims, which Newsweek could not independently verify, highlighted a Bloomberg report this month that said the Pentagon plans to spend $3.5 billion to replace interceptor missiles used during the 12-day war, when Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems were heavily engaged against waves of short- and medium-range missiles fired by Iran.

    The U.S. Defense Department has yet to disclose any THAAD transfer but typically does not comment on operational movements. The chatter, however, speaks to the strain on Israel and growing concern in the region over the potential for renewed hostilities.

    What People Are Saying

    Iran Army Commander Major General Amir Hatami said in a public address on Wednesday: “We need a powerful army to protect our nation. A strong army is one whose every component carries out its missions and duties correctly.”

    Former Israeli intelligence officer Jacques Neriah told Tel Aviv radio station 103FM on Sunday: “There is a sense that a war is coming, that Iranian revenge is in the works. The Iranians will not be able to live with this humiliation for long.”

    What Happens Next

    Iran’s army plans to continue to strengthen its capabilities and modernize medical and combat readiness programs. Commanders have pledged ongoing support for military healthcare and training, ensuring the armed forces remain prepared for future challenges.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Australia denies Iran action due to ‘intervention’ by Israel’s Netanyahu

    [ad_1]

    Australia has dismissed a claim that Israeli interventions prompted the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra, after the premier blamed Tehran for directing anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

    “Complete nonsense,” Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told ABC Radio on Wednesday, when asked about Israel claiming credit for Australia’s decision to order Tehran’s ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, to leave the country.

    Albanese said on Tuesday that Australia had reached “the deeply disturbing conclusion” through “credible intelligence” that found Iran’s government had “directed” at least two attacks against Australia’s Jewish community.

    Responding to a question from the ABC about Australia’s allegations against Iran, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer had commended Australia for taking “threats seriously” against the Jewish community, which he said had come after a “forthright intervention” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Mencer said Netanyahu had “made very forthright comments about the [Australian] prime minister himself”, which spurred Albanese to action.

    “He made those comments because he did not believe that the actions of the Australian government had gone anywhere near far enough to address the issues of anti-Semitism,” Mencer added.

    The ABC included Mencer’s comments in an article titled: “Israeli government claims credit for pushing Albanese to expel Iranian diplomats.”

    Netanyahu last week accused Albanese of being “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews”, days after Albanese announced Australia would move to formally recognise a Palestinian state in September.

    Iran said it “absolutely rejected” Australia’s accusations regarding the attacks and noted that the claims had come after Australia had directed “limited criticism” at Israel.

    “It seems that this action is taken in order to compensate for the limited criticism the Australian side has directed at the Zionist regime [Israel],” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

    “Any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction,” Baghaei said.

    Ilana Lenk, the spokesperson and head of public diplomacy at Israel’s embassy in Canberra, shared Australian newspaper front pages with headlines including, ‘Iran attacks us’ and ‘Iran targets Bondi deli’, in a post on social media.

    “We warned Iran wouldn’t stop with Israel or the Jewish people. The West is next isn’t just a slogan, and today Australia sees it,” she wrote.

    In a statement, the Jewish Council of Australia said it was “shocked to learn of the Iranian government involvement in coordinating antisemitic attacks”.

    “The fact that a foreign government appears to be responsible shows how irresponsible it was for the attacks to be used to demonise the Palestine solidarity protest movement ,” the council said in a statement.

    “We call on politicians and the media to exercise caution and to avoid politicisation of these attacks in a way that could further harm the Jewish community,” the statement added.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • ‘I thought it was the end of my life’: Inside Israel’s attack on Iran’s Evin Prison

    [ad_1]

    “For me, hell was not the moment Israel attacked; hell was the moment they wouldn’t open the door [of the cell] for us,” Motahareh Goonei recalls in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

    A political activist, Goonei was in solitary confinement in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison when it was hit in a targeted attack by Israel on 23 June.

    Satellite imagery, witness accounts and verified footage obtained by BBC News Persian reveal new details of the attack in the closing hours of the Israel-Iran war and of those who died.

    The high-security complex, perched on the northern edge of Tehran, has held thousands of political prisoners over the past half-century. On that day in June, the prison became the site of the deadliest Israeli strike on Iranian soil in terms of civilian casualties.

    Iranian authorities say 80 people were killed – among them prison staff, inmates, medical workers, visitors and residents of nearby neighbourhoods.

    In a report published on 14 August, Human Rights Watch said that Israeli air strikes on the prison were unlawfully indiscriminate and amounted to an apparent war crime.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the reason for the attack was that the facility was being “used for intelligence operations against Israel”.

    ‘No way out’

    Describing the moment explosions ripped through the compound, Goonei said: “When I heard the third blast, I was certain there was no way out. I just pounded on the door with all my strength, but it wouldn’t open. I thought ‘this is the end of your life – say goodbye’.”

    Motahareh Goonei has been temporarily released from prison on bail [Supplied]

    Freed from her cell by another prisoner, Goonei stumbled into thick, choking smoke. She says that guards initially tried to block inmates from escaping, and some prison interrogators even threatened them.

    Yet in scenes she described as “horrific but humanising”, prisoners rushed to help injured guards, calming a panicked female officer and bandaging the wounds of a crying interrogator.

    Other inmates from another ward rushed to help doctors and nurses trapped in the prison clinic.

    Saeedeh Makarem, a doctor who was badly injured in the strike, later wrote on Instagram: “The very prisoners I once treated saved my life.”

    Another woman held in Evin, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears for her safety, has described the moment of the attack to the BBC.

    “At first there were several explosions in quick succession, and the noise went on for about two minutes.

    “We stayed on our beds at first because the windows had shattered, then we got dressed and all helped to bring the older women downstairs. No-one from the prison helped us – they shut the door on us and said we couldn’t go out.’

    Scale of the attack

    BBC analysis indicates Israel attacked Evin with at least six projectiles, damaging at least 28 buildings inside the complex.

    The IDF says it had conducted a “targeted strike” on “a symbol of oppression against the Iranian people” and claimed that measures were taken to minimise harm to civilians.

    But a relative of a political prisoner who arrived to visit just minutes after the blasts said “those coming out of the prison were saying there were bodies everywhere. Some prisoners had come out, none of them trying to escape — just stunned.”

    Iranian authorities say 75 inmates fled during the chaos. Some were later recaptured or returned voluntarily.

    Identifying victims

    Iranian officials say that of the 80 people killed in the attack, 42 were prison staff and five were inmates. Only the names of the staff have been released.

    BBC News Persian has independently verified the identities and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three of the victims through interviews with their relatives. They are:

    • Masoud Behbahani, a dual Iranian-American citizen, who was being held on financial charges. His family were given conflicting accounts of his death from the Iranian Prisons Organisation.

    • Arvin Mohammadi, 37, killed in the administrative building while posting bail for his father’s temporary release from prison during the war

    • Mehrangiz Imanpour, 61, a prominent artist and painter, killed by shrapnel

    Among the other victims killed in the attack were a local mother of a one-year-old child, a philanthropist visiting to arrange a prisoner’s release, five social workers, 13 young military conscripts, and the five-year-old child of one of the social workers.

    After the attack on Evin Prison, the fate of transgender prisoners remains unknown. Some media reports claimed that 100 transgender inmates had been killed, but BBC Persian’s investigation reveals that this is not true.

    Reza Shafakhah, a lawyer in Iran who has been following the situation of transgender prisoners, told the BBC: “There are serious concerns about their situation. No-one knows where these prisoners are now.”

    Composite image of three of those killed in the attack on Evin Prison

    Left to right: Arvin Mohammadi, Mehrangiz Imenpoir and Masoud Behbahani were among those killed [BBC / Supplied]

    Why target Evin?

    Israel alleged the prison was being used for “intelligence operations [against it], including counter-espionage”. It has not responded to questions from the BBC about the exact targets or weapons used, or whether it anticipated civilian deaths.

    A month after the attack, Amnesty International published a report into the incident.

    “Directing attacks at civilian objects is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Carrying out such attacks knowingly and deliberately constitutes a war crime,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty.

    The UN human rights office stated Evin was “not a military objective” and the attack violated international humanitarian law.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Australia expels Iranian diplomats, accuses country of directing antisemitic arson attacks

    [ad_1]

    Melbourne, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Iran of organizing two antisemitic attacks in Australia and said the country was cutting off diplomatic relations with Tehran in response on Tuesday.

    The Australian Security Intelligence Organization concluded the Iranian government had directed arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company, in Sydney in October last year and on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December last year, Albanese said.

    Iran’s government denied the allegations.

    There has been a steep rise in antisemitic incidents in Sydney and Melbourne since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023.

    Australian authorities have previously said they suspect that foreign actors are paying local criminals-for-hire to carry out attacks in the country.

    Police have already arrested at least one suspect in the Sydney cafe fire investigation and two suspects directly accused of torching the Melbourne synagogue.

    Member of Parliament Josh Burns walks past the damaged Adass Israel Synagogue, Dec. 10, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. An arson attack on the synagogue forced congregants to flee as flames engulfed the building.

    Asanka Ratnayake/Getty


    Sayed Mohammed Moosawi, a 32-year-old Sydney-based former chapter president of the Nomads biker gang, has been charged with directing the fire bombings of the Sydney café as well as the nearby Curly Lewis Brewery. The brewery was apparently confused for the café and mistakenly targeted three days earlier for an antisemitic attack.

    Giovanna Laulu, a 21-year-old man from Melbourne, was charged last month with being one of three masked arsonists who caused extensive damage to the synagogue in December.

    A second alleged arsonist, a 20-year-old man also from Melbourne, is expected to appear in court Wednesday, a police statement said. He has not been publicly named.

    “ASIO has now gathered enough credible intelligence to reach a deeply disturbing conclusion,” Albanese told reporters. “The Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks.

    “These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” he said. “They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable.”

    Australia Synagogue Fire

    Debris is strewn at the burnt-out Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 9, 2024. 

    YUMI ROSENBAUM/AP


    Shortly before the announcement, the Australian government told Iran’s Ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi that he will be expelled. It also withdrew Australian diplomats posted in Iran to a third country, Albanese said.

    An alert to Australians in Iran noted the embassy’s closure and urged them to “strongly consider leaving as soon as possible, if it is safe to do so.”

    “Foreigners in Iran, including Australians and dual Australian-Iranian nationals, are at a high risk of arbitrary detention or arrest,” the warning read.

    Australia updated its warning to travelers to its highest level: “Do not travel” to Iran.

    Iran has a long history of detaining Westerners or those with ties abroad to use as bargaining chips in negotiations.

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that Canberra would keep some diplomatic lines open to Tehran to advance Australia’s interests. She added that it was the first time Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II.

    Albanese said that Australia will legislate to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

    Australia’s law makes providing support to a listed terrorist organization a crime. The government has previously rejected calls to list the Revolutionary Guard under existing terrorism laws because it is a government entity.

    Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has been accused of carrying out attacks abroad over the decades of its existence, though it broadly denies any involvement. The Guard’s Quds, or Jerusalem, Force is its expeditionary arm and is accused by Western nations of using local militants and criminals in the past to target dissidents and Israelis abroad.

    The U.S., during the first Trump administration in 2019, formally designated the Guard a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it not only facilitating, but perpetrating terrorism. 

    A spokesperson for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the terrorist designation for the Revolutionary Guard, adding in a statement that the group was “outraged” that a foreign actor was behind the crimes.

    “Foremost, these were attacks that deliberately targeted Jewish Australians, destroyed a sacred house of worship, caused millions of dollars of damage, and terrified our community,” the statement said.

    Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israel has arrested several people on charges they had been paid or encouraged by Iran to carry out vandalism and monitor potential targets there.

    Iran denied Australia’s allegations through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, who tried to link it to the challenges Australia faced with Israel after announcing it would recognize a Palestinian state.

    “It looks like the action, which is against Iran, diplomacy and the relations between the two nations, is a compensation for the criticism that the Australians had against the Zionist regime,” Baghaei claimed.

    The move against Iran came a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded Albanese a “weak politician who had betrayed Israel” by recognizing a Palestinian state.

    Netanyahu’s extraordinary public rebuke on social media came after an Aug. 11 announcement by Albanese that his government’s recognition of a Palestinian state will be formalized at the United Nations General Assembly in September. That announcement was followed by tit-for-tat cancellations of visas for Australian and Israeli officials.

    Albanese previously resisted calls to expel Iran’s envoy to Canberra before, analysts said, including in 2024 when Sadeghi was summoned for meetings with foreign ministry officials over his social media posts.

    Michael Shoebridge, a former Australian defense and security official and director of the think tank Strategic Analysis Australia, said he didn’t believe the move was prompted by Israel’s complaints.

    “I don’t think that’s a matter of Australia-Israel relations, but a matter of community cohesion here in Australia,” he said.

    Neither ASIO director-general Mike Burgess nor Albanese explained what evidence there was of Iranian involvement.

    Burgess said no Iranian diplomats in Australia were involved.

    “This was directed by the IRGC through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians,” Burgess said.

    While antisemitic incidents increased in Australian after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 2023, Iran was responsible for a transition in October last year when the violence more directly targeted people, businesses and places of worship, Burgess said.

    “Iran started the first of those,” Burgess said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Iran’s supreme leader speaks out on Donald Trump

    [ad_1]

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said President Donald Trump has laid bare Washington’s true goal toward Iran—submission.

    “The man who is now in office in the U.S. wants Iran to be obedient to the US,” Khamenei said on his official X account, signaling Tehran has no intention of backing down even as U.S. and European powers threaten fresh sanctions.

    Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.

    Why It Matters

    Iran is locked in a high-stakes standoff with the U.S. and Western powers over the future of its nuclear enrichment program. Tensions soared and diplomacy stalled following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, with Trump threatening further attacks if Iran does not change course.

    Tehran says its military is at a high state of readiness amid concerns over more attacks under a fragile ceasefire with Israel

    In this photo released by the official website of the Supreme Leader’s Office on Thursday, June 26, 2025, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appears among his supporters for the first time since the Iran-Israel…


    Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran/Getty Images

    What To Know

    Khamanei said Trump’s statements and actions were part of a U.S. effort to subdue Iran, calling them “a grave insult” to the nation, and vowed that Iran “will stand with all its might against anyone who has such a wrongful expectation,” he said on Sunday.

    Khamenei dismissed calls for direct talks with Washington as naive, arguing that they ignore the deeper conflict. “This is not a matter that can be resolved.”

    The Trump administration has targeted Iranian oil firms and vessels, tightening the economic noose with sanctions before and after the nuclear talks—ultimately derailed by Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent U.S. bombing of its key nuclear facilities.

    Khamenei further accused the U.S. of backing Israel against Iran, prompting Tehran’s retaliatory strikes. He called for concrete measures against Israel’s “crimes” toward Palestinians, praising the Yemen-based Houthi militant group, whom Tehran supports, as a model of resistance.

    What People Are Saying

    Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said in a public address on August 24: “The gentleman currently in power in America has revealed their true objective. He said their confrontation with Iran is because they want Iran to obey America’s commands, meaning, in reality, they want the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic system to submit to their commands. […] The Iranian nation feels deeply offended by such a grave insult, and it will stand with all its might against anyone who has such a wrongful expectation of it.

    President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 7: “Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords. This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”

    What Happens Next

    Iran could face new sanctions under a “snapback mechanism” that European powers have threatened to trigger by the end of the month if no progress is made in nuclear negotiations.

    [ad_2]

    Source link