Page 6 - Iran

Iranian hackers sent stolen Trump campaign info to Biden's campaign: US

Iranian government-backed hackers stole Trump campaign documents and shared them with news organisations, CNN had reported

Iran-India tensions flare over controversial comments on minorities

Unacceptable: Govt on Iranian supreme leader's comment on Indian minorities

India on Monday strongly deplored comments made by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the condition of minorities in India, calling the remarks "misinformed and unacceptable". External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said countries commenting on minorities in India should look at their "own record" before making any observations about others. "We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable," he said. "Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others," Jaiswal said. The Iranian leader, addressing a gathering of clerics in Tehran on Monday, talked about what he described as "suffering" of Muslims in Gaza, Myanmar and India. "The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are obliv

Iran successfully launches satellite in its programme criticised by West

Iran launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, state-run media reported, the latest for a program the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. Iran described the launch as the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. Independent scientists later confirmed the launch and that the satellite reached orbit. Footage later released by Iranian media showed the rocket blast off from a mobile launcher. An Associated Press analysis of the video and other imagery later released suggested the launch happened at the Guard's launch pad on the outskirts of the city of Shahroud, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) east of the capital, Tehran. The launch comes amid heightened tensions gripping the wider Middle East over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, during which Tehran launched an unprecedented direct missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enric

Iran launches satellite in space amid Western concerns over missile risks

Iran launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, state-run media reported, the latest for a programme the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile programme. Iran described the launch as a success, which would be the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch's success, nor did Iranian authorities immediately provide footage or other details. The launch comes amid heightened tensions gripping the wider West Asia over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, during which Tehran launched an unprecedented direct missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, raising concerns among nonproliferation experts about Tehran's program. Iran identified the satellite-carrying rocket as the Qaem-100, which the Guard used in January for another successful launch

Iran's president Pezeshkian slams West over war in Gaza, support for Israel

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday slammed the West, saying that Israel is committing massacres in the war in Gaza and using European and American weapons to do so. Pezeshkian, who spoke in Baghdad at the start of his first visit abroad since taking office, is hoping to cement Tehran's ties to Baghdad as regional tensions increasingly pull both majority Shiite countries into the widening Middle East fray. Iran has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian militant Hamas group since its Oct 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war erupted, according to local health officials. The war has also caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. The Israeli entity is committing massacres against women, children, young men and elderly. They bomb hospitals and schools, Pezeshkian said. All these crimes are being committed

Tehran a partner: Kremlin on report of missile supplies from Iran to Russia

The Journal cited unidentified US and European officials as saying that Iran had sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia

Ukraine expresses concern over transfer of Iranian missiles to Russia

In a statement emailed to reporters, the ministry said the deepening military co-operation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, Europe and the Middle East

As Iran threatens Israel, danger of missile programme remains in question

As Iran threatens to attack Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader in the Iranian capital, its long-vaunted missile program offers one of the few ways for Tehran to strike back directly, but questions loom over just how much of a danger it poses. The program was behind Iran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel in April, when Iran became the first nation to launch such a barrage since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein lobbed Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War. But few of the Iranian projectiles reached their targets. Many were shot down by a US-led coalition, while others apparently failed at launch or crashed while in flight. Even those that reached Israel appeared to miss their marks. Now a new report by experts shared exclusively with The Associated Press suggests one of Tehran's most advanced missiles is far less accurate than previously thought. The April assault showed "some ability to strike Israel, said Sam Lair, a research associate at the Jame

Iranian backed Yemen's Houthi rebels target oil tanker in Red Sea

An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted an oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, as a second ship nearby also came under fire. Both attacks were near where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group. The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed rebels' campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. Meanwhile, the efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion seek to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil. In Monday's first assault, ballistic missiles hit the Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I, and a third exploded near the ship, the multination Joint Maritime Information Center overseen by the U.S. Navy said. All crew on board are safe (no injury reported), the cente

Record heat in Iran raises global concern as heat index touches 82 degrees

If verified, these figures could set new records for the highest heat index and dew point ever documented on Earth

Iran needs more than $100 billion in foreign investment: Prez Pezeshkian

Iran's president said Saturday his country needs some $100 billion in foreign investment to achieve an annual target of 8% economic growth up from the current rate of 4%. The remarks by Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July, came in his first live televised interview by state TV. Pezeshkian said Iran needs up to $250 billion to reach its goal but more than half is available from domestic resources. Experts say growth in GDP of 8% would reduce double-digit inflation and unemployment rates. Hundreds of entities and people in Iran from the central bank and government officials to drone producers and money exchangers are already under international sanctions, many of them accused of materially supporting Iran's Revolutionary Guard and foreign militant groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Pezeshkian in his interview complained about the sanctions and said his administration plans to reduce inflation, which is running at more than 40% annually, if we solve our problems

Houthis will allow rescue ships to aid tanker ablaze in Red Sea: Iran

Yemen's Houthi rebels have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to assist a Greek-flagged oil tanker that remains ablaze in the Red Sea in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns, Iran's UN Mission said late Wednesday. The Pentagon said Tuesday that attempts by an unidentified third party to send two tugboats to the stricken Sounion were blocked by the Iranian-backed Houthis. Air Force Maj Gen Pat Ryder told reporters that the Houthis' actions demonstrate their blatant disregard for not only human life, but also for the potential environmental catastrophe that this presents. Last week's attack on the Sounion marked the most serious assault in weeks by the Houthi rebels, who continue to target shipping through the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The attacks have disrupted the $1 trillion in trade that typically passes through the region, as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. Iran's UN Mission ...

How lessons learned from 2016 campaign led US to be open about Iran hack

The 2016 presidential campaign was entering its final months and seemingly all of Washington was abuzz with talk about how Russian hackers had penetrated the email accounts of Democrats, triggering the release of internal communications that seemed designed to boost Donald Trump's campaign and hurt Hillary Clinton's. Yet there was a notable exception: The officials investigating the hacks were silent. When they finally issued a statement, one month before the election, it was just three paragraphs and did little more than confirm what had been publicly suspected that there had been a brazen Russian effort to interfere in the vote. This year, there was another foreign hack, but the response was decidedly different. US security officials acted more swiftly to name the culprit, detailing their findings and blaming a foreign adversary this time, Iran just over a week after Trump's campaign revealed the attack. They accused Iranian hackers of targeting the presidential campaigns of b

Iran's foreign min vows retaliation against Israel over Haniyeh's death

Iran's foreign minister again has referenced his country's planned retaliation over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Abbas Araghchi said late Sunday he made the remark in a conversation with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani by telephone. Iran reaction to Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is definitive, and will be measured & well calculated, Araghchi wrote on the social platform X. We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it unlike Israel. Tajani said in a statement he called for restraint and to pursue a constructive approach, in order to stop the cycle of military actions in the region, which only risks bringing more suffering. It is important that Iran exercises moderation towards Hezbollah in order to avert an escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Italian soldiers of the UNIFIL contingent are operating, and towards the Houthis in order to avoid an increase in tensions in the Red Sea area, where Italy plays a leading role in the .

Pak flies home injured and bodies of 28 pilgrims killed in Iran bus crash

Pakistan brought home Friday the bodies of 28 Shiite pilgrims killed in a bus crash in Iran this week while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage. A Pakistani military aircraft also flew back 23 pilgrims injured in the accident, officials said. Earlier in the day in Iran, officials handed over the bodies of the crash victims to Pakistani diplomats. Prayer services were held in both Iran and later in Pakistan. Funeral were to take place in the victims' home districts early Saturday. The pilgrims were from Pakistan's southern Sindh province, according to Nasir Shah, a provincial government spokesman. The plane, requested by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the repatriation, landed at the airport in Jacobabad, about 1,000 kilometres southwest from the capital of Islamabad. The coffins, covered in Pakistan's national flag, were handed over to the victims' relatives for burial. State-run PTV broadcast the ceremony at the Jacobabad airport, where relatives of the victims cried and

Google says Iranian group trying to access mails linked to US prez campaign

Google has said that an Iranian group linked to the country's Revolutionary Guard has tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since May. The tech company's threat intelligence arm on Wednesday said the group is still actively targeting people associated with Biden, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic candidate last month when he dropped out. It said those targeted have included current and former government officials, as well as presidential campaign affiliates. The new report from Google's Threat Analysis Group affirms and expands on a Microsoft report released Friday that revealed suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in this year's US presidential election. It sheds light on how foreign adversaries are ramping up their efforts to disrupt the election that is now less than three months away. Google's report said its threat researchers detected and

Suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in US presidential race: What we know

Details emerged over the weekend of a suspected Iranian cyber intrusion into the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, potentially resulting in the theft of internal campaign documents. The FBI is investigating the matter as well as attempts to infiltrate President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, which became Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign after Biden dropped out of the race. Here's what we know: What happened? Trump's presidential campaign said Saturday that it had been hacked and that sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed. It declared that Iranian actors were to blame. The same day, Politico revealed it had received leaked internal Trump campaign documents by email, from a person only identified as Robert. The outlet said the documents included vetting materials on Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Sen Marco Rubio, who also was considered as a potential vice president. Two other news outlets, The New York Times and

Ex-nuclear negotiator, female min in list of proposed mins by Iran prez

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country's new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran's first female minister in more than a decade. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers. Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal. Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minist

Trump's campaign says its emails were hacked, Iranian actors suspected

Former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents. The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran's involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents' attempts to interfere in the US campaign in 2024. It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on foreign sources hostile to the United States. The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday by The Associated Press. Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source an AOL email ..