Tehran:

Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and an upgraded one-way attack drone at a military parade on Saturday, state media said, amid soaring regional tensions and allegations of arming Russia. Iran stands accused by Western governments of supplying both drones and missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, a charge it has repeatedly denied.

The solid-fuel Jihad missile was designed and manufactured by the aerospace arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and has an operational range of 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles), state news agency IRNA said.

The Shahed-136B drone is an upgraded version of the Shahed-136, with new features and an operational range of more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles), it added.

New President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the annual parade in Tehran, commemorating the 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

“Today, our defensive and deterrent capabilities have grown so much that no demon even thinks about any aggression towards our dear Iran,” he said.

“With unity and cohesion among Islamic countries… we can put in its place the bloodthirsty, genocidal usurper Israel, which shows no mercy to anyone, women or children, old or young.”

The Middle East has been in turmoil since Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza and drawing in Iranian allies around the region.

The tensions have intensified in recent days as the focus of Israel’s firepower has shifted north to the Lebanon border where its troops have been battling the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

An Israeli air strike on Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold killed 16 members of its elite Radwan Force on Friday, a source close to the group said, hot on the heels of deadly sabotage attacks on the group’s communications earlier this week.

Britain, France, Germany, and the United States slapped new sanctions on Iran earlier this month, alleging that it had been providing ballistic missiles for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

India has said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments on Indian Muslims are “unacceptable”. Posting on X on the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed,

Khamenei had clubbed Indian Muslims with those in Gaza, talking about the sufferings in Myanmar, Gaza or India.

“We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran,” the foreign ministry has said in a statement.

“These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” New Delhi  has added.

“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place,” the Iranian leader had said in his post on X.

“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah,” he added.

Berlin:

A 30-year-old Iranian dissident was gang-raped in Germany by four men believed to be loyalists of Iran’s Islamic Republic, a report said. The assault, which took place on Saturday night at an abandoned brewery in the town of Iserlohn in North Rhine-Westphalia is being treated as a politically motivated crime, according to reports from Der Spiegel and other German media outlets.

The attackers, aged 24 to 46, were arrested shortly after the incident by local law enforcement, who deployed helicopters and multiple patrol units in a swift search of a nearby forest. One of the suspects sustained injuries while trying to escape capture. According to local media, witnesses had alerted authorities after hearing the victim’s screams, leading to the discovery of the man in a severely abused state, tied up and in need of medical care.

German investigators have confirmed that the attack was not only violent but carried a specific political message. The victim, an Iranian refugee known for his opposition to Tehran’s regime, was targeted with the intention of “sexual humiliation.”

The attackers are reported to be staunch supporters of Iran’s Islamic Republic. 

This latest attack follows a trend of Iranian dissidents being targeted on foreign soil. Earlier this year, an Iranian dissident in the Netherlands narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Other incidents include the stabbing of Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati in London and threats against Iranian journalists in the UK.

Tehran:

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said that diplomatic opportunities still exist to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Kanaani stated on Monday that the path to an agreement remains open if other involved parties show a practical commitment to fulfilling their obligations, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We believe that the diplomatic opportunity still exists for all parties, especially those that refrained from implementing the agreement,” Kanaani told reporters in Tehran.

He noted that Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi recently had a “good phone conversation” with the European Union (EU)’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, expressing optimism about potential talks between Iran and the EU.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with several major countries in 2015. The agreement imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

However, the US government under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018, reinstating sanctions and prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments.

Efforts to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, but no significant progress has been reported since the latest round of talks in August 2022.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

 Any Iranian transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war, the United States said on Friday, following reports that the two countries had deepened ties in recent weeks with such an arms transfer.

Reuters reported in August that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Iran and that dozens of Russian military personnel were being trained in Iran on the satellite-guided weapons for eventual use in the war in Ukraine.

Short-range missiles have now been delivered to Russia by Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

“We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.

“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Another U.S. official told Reuters they were watching the potential Iranian-Russian missile transfers closely.

The potential moves come after the United States and partners, including in Europe, warned that such a step by Iran could meet with consequences. The Western countries have been watching Iran and Russia’s deepening ties in recent months with increasing concern.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday that Tehran’s position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged.

“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict – which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations – to be inhumane,” it said.

“Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict,” the mission said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An ancient salt mine in Iran naturally preserved dead miners for thousands of years in a grisly state – some of them frozen with their arms still raised before being buried alive. According to the New York Post, these corpses – known as the “Saltmen” – were naturally mummified and preserved in the Chehrabad salt mine, near the village of Manzelou in northwest Iran. The bodies came from various time periods, with the oldest dating back to 9550 BCE – more than 10,000 years ago. 

The first Saltman – complete with a long white beard and a single gold earring, as well as a set of iron knives – was accidentally unearthed by miners in 1993. This mummy was still wearing one of his leather boots and had some traces of woollen trousers on his leg. According to the Post, the man is believed to have died in the mine around 300 CE. His remains were buried in the middle of a 148-foot tunnel. 

The second corpse was discovered in 2004, just 50 feet from where Saltman 1’s remains were uncovered. In 2005, two more mummies – including the remains of a 16-year-old boy – were found in another tunnel. By 2010, a total of six corpses had been found in the salt mine. 

All of the corpses were remarkably well-preserved by the salt that surrounded them. The lack of oxygen also meant that the bodies could not decompose. 

A study of the first Saltman head revealed that the corpse had fractures around his eye and damage to the head – leading scientists to conclude that they were all likely killed in mining collapse. The 16-year-old mummy was even found with his hands still raised above his face as if he was surprised by a sudden fall or other threat.

Also Read | New York Man Says He Pays Over ₹ 1.5 Lakh A Month In Rent To Live With 23 Roommates

The fifth Saltman was more well-preserved than the others, which allowed scientists to examine his organs up close. They discovered that he had tapeworm eggs which indicated that the men consumed raw or undercooked meat before they met their untimely death in the salt caves. 

The discovery marked the earliest evidence of ancient intestinal parasites in Iran, according to a 2012 research paper published in the Journal of Parasitology.

While six whole bodies have been accounted for, detached body parts have also been found, the Post reported. The number of potential “Saltmen” bodies is now believed to be eight or more. It is highly probable that all of them were miners who died in collapses or accidents. The official cause of death as well as how many more of them there could be inside the mine remains a mystery. 

FILE PHOTO: Rescue team works following a crash of a helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, on May 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

An official investigation into the helicopter crash in May that killed Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and seven other people found it was caused by challenging climatic and atmospheric conditions, Iranian state TV reported Sunday (September 1 2024).

The final report of the Supreme Board of the General Staff of the Armed Forces said the main cause of the helicopter crash was the complex climatic conditions of the region in spring, state TV said.

The report also cited the sudden appearance of a thick mass of dense fog rising upwards as the helicopter collided with the mountain.

According to the report, there were no signs of sabotage in parts and systems.

Raisi died alongside seven others including his foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in the crash in a remote mountainous area in northwestern Iran.

Tehran:

Iran carried out on Monday a rare public execution of a man over the murder of a lawyer two years ago, state media reported.

“The death sentence against the murderer of a lawyer was carried out this morning in public in Shahroud city” of the northern Semnan province, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

The official IRNA news agency said the man was a 20-year-old who confessed to having been hired by a gang to kill the lawyer, without providing further details.

Monday’s execution was carried out in accordance with the Islamic Sharia law of “retribution”. 

Public executions are relatively rare in Iran, where almost all capital punishments are carried out inside prisons, usually by hanging.

Iran executes more people per year than any other nation except China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

On Wednesday, authorities in central Iran executed a male fortune-teller for raping and sexually assaulting his clients.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Israel:

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US “bridging proposal” for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Blinken, on his ninth visit to the Middle East since the Palestinian operative group’s October 7 attack triggered the war with Israel, was scheduled to fly from Tel Aviv to El Alamein, the Mediterranean city famous for a World War II battle in 1942, to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer palace.

Afterwards, he will head to a meeting with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha, the scene of ceasefire talks last week.

Both Egypt and Qatar are working alongside the United States to broker a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict.

Washington put forward the latest proposal last week after the talks in Doha.

Blinken said Monday he had “a very constructive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal”.

Ahead of those talks, Hamas called on the mediators to implement the framework set out by US President Joe Biden in late May, rather than hold more negotiations.

The movement said on Sunday that the current US proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions” and leaves him “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators”.

Earlier on Monday, the US secretary of state had said: “This is a decisive moment — probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security”.

Months of on-off negotiations with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have failed to produce an agreement.

Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for delays in reaching an accord that diplomats say would help avert a wider conflagration in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“There is, I think, a real sense of urgency here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible,” Blinken said.

The Biden administration is under domestic pressure over Gaza, with pro-Palestinian protests taking place outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.

Biden said in his farewell speech to the convention that the protesters “have a point”, adding that “a lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides”.

Permanent ceasefire

Israel and Hamas have traded blame for delays in reaching a truce deal.

Hamas insisted on “a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip”, saying Netanyahu wanted to keep Israeli forces at several strategic locations within the territory.

Western ally Jordan, hostage supporters who protested in Tel Aviv during Blinken’s visit, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Netanyahu in order for an agreement to be reached.

Far-right members crucial to the prime minister’s governing coalition oppose any truce.

The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 40,139 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and operative deaths.

Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack, 111 are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

The Biden framework would freeze fighting for an initial six weeks while Israeli hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid enters Gaza.

Netanyahu said on Monday that negotiators were aiming to “release a maximum number of living hostages” in the first phase of any ceasefire.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Iran was behind a recent hack targeting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, US security agencies said on Monday, accusing Tehran of seeking to influence the 2024 election.

The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed the Trump campaign claim from earlier this month that it had been targeted, potentially by Iran.

“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns,” the security agencies said.

“This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign, which the (intelligence community) attributes to Iran,” they said.

The intelligence community “is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties. Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the US election process.”

Trump’s campaign said on August 10 that it had been hacked, blaming “foreign sources” for distributing internal communications and a dossier on running mate J.D. Vance.

“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Trump’s campaign implied Iran was behind the move as news outlet Politico reported it had received emails with the campaign material from a source who refused to identify themselves.

Cheung cited a report from Microsoft this week that said Iranian hackers “sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign.”

The materials received by Politico included research on vetting Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick.

In 2016, a hack of Democratic National Committee emails — blamed on Russians — exposed internal party communications, including about candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump, who would go on to win the election, was criticized for encouraging the hack.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)