UK returns Iranian migrant to France for second time
An Iranian man who twice crossed the English Channel in a small boat has been returned to France again under the UK-France returns pact, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Wednesday.
An Iranian man who twice crossed the English Channel in a small boat has been returned to France again under the UK-France returns pact, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Wednesday.
The man was first deported to France on Sept. 19 after arriving in the UK in August, but crossed back into Britain on Oct. 18 and claimed asylum, saying he was a victim of modern slavery, according to British media. He was detected through biometric checks, detained, and placed on a return flight to France this week.
“This individual was detected by biometrics and detained instantly. His case was expedited, and now he has been removed again,” Mahmood said. “If you try to return to the UK you will be sent back. I will do whatever it takes to scale up removals of illegal migrants and secure our borders.”
Lawyers for the man argued that he was vulnerable and feared violence from smugglers in northern France, but the Home Office rejected his trafficking claim on Oct. 27 after a brief review. He had been placed under hourly welfare checks in detention because of concerns about his mental health, the Guardian reported.
He told the newspaper he had returned to Britain because he feared for his life in France. “If I thought France was a safe place for me I would never have come to the UK,” he said.
Under the “one in, one out” agreement with France, 94 people have been removed from Britain while 57 have been accepted legally from France after security and eligibility checks. Officials say the government is stepping up enforcement, though French unions have resisted at-sea interceptions, calling them unsafe.
The case comes as the number of small boat arrivals in 2025 has reached 36,886 — slightly higher than last year — despite periods of bad weather that temporarily halted crossings.
Mahmood said the government would continue to expand the returns system as part of efforts to deter Channel crossings and show that “those who come illegally will not be allowed to stay.”
Mostafa Pourdehghan, secretary of parliament’s Industries and Mines Committee, said talks with Telegram have been under way and that officials had hoped to restore access this week before differences delayed the step.
“We have received information indicating repeated consultations with Telegram’s managers,” he told Rouydad24. “Some colleagues at the Communications Ministry have unofficially told us Telegram will be unblocked soon.”
He framed removing the filtering as a public demand and said resistance was coming from outside the legislature, what he described as "VPN mafia."
“The financial turnover of VPNs is about 50 trillion tomans (about $450 million), and beneficiaries hide behind sacred slogans such as national security to profit from continued filtering,” he said.
Pourdehghan added that a parliamentary “investigation and inspection into the backstory of these pressures” is being advanced with the communications minister.
The debate has intensified amid reports of negotiations over conditions for lifting the 2018 ban on Telegram, which remains widely used via VPNs.
State-linked outlets have said Tehran wants commitments including cooperation with the judiciary on data requests, limits on content deemed to incite ethnic tensions, and measures against material considered to threaten national security.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has rejected reports that the government reached a deal with the platform.
“If a platform does not accept internal regulations, it will not receive a license,” he told lawmakers, calling reports of an agreement false.
President Masoud Pezeshkian campaigned on easing internet restrictions, but officials have said any change must be approved by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and tied to compliance with domestic rules.
The arrest took place in the suburb of Risskov in cooperation with Denmark’s intelligence service PET and East Jutland Police. The man was detained under a German arrest warrant, and German officers were present during the operation, police said.
German prosecutors said the man is suspected of acting as a contact in a network tied to an Iranian intelligence operation. He allegedly tried to help obtain a weapon for another man who was arrested in June and accused of gathering information on Jewish sites in Berlin.
That earlier suspect, identified by German media as 53-year-old Ali S., a dual Afghan-Danish national, had secretly traveled to Iran after collecting surveillance material on Jewish institutions, according to German newspaper Bild. The report said he met a Quds Force officer in Tehran and handed over photos, videos, and details about possible targets, including Jewish community offices and restaurants.
Ali S. was arrested in Denmark in June and later extradited to Germany, where he faces charges of espionage and planning attacks for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The newly arrested man, also of Afghan origin, is charged with attempted murder in Germany and will appear before a Danish court in Aarhus later on Wednesday for a custody hearing pending a decision on extradition, police said.
PET said the case reflects a broader pattern of Iranian intelligence activity in Europe, including efforts targeting Israeli and Jewish interests. PET chief Finn Borch Andersen said state-backed actors such as Iran pose an increasing threat. “We take this very seriously, especially given the use of intermediaries and criminal networks to plan violent acts,” he said.
Ali Seyedzadeh, the director general of the National Water and Wastewater Management Office, told state television that rainfall across Iran since the beginning of October totaled just 2.2 millimeters -- down 83% from last year and 77% below long-term averages.
“We are in an extremely concerning situation,” he said, warning that weather forecasts show no rain in the coming weeks.
He added that the decline has left reservoirs severely depleted, with major dams including those supplying Tehran, Isfahan, and Khuzestan operating at minimal levels.
Seyedzadeh said Tehran’s five main dams now hold less than 200 million cubic meters of water -- about one-third of their normal volume -- with the Amir Kabir Dam at only 8% of capacity and the Laar Dam at 1%.
He said nationwide water loss through aging pipelines is estimated at 15%, and called for urgent measures such as installing smart meters and water-saving devices in high-use households.
Looming water rationing in Tehran
Authorities in Tehran have warned that the capital could face water rationing within weeks as the city’s main reservoir, the Amir Kabir Dam, is nearing depletion.
Habibi, deputy head of Tehran’s Regional Water Company, said the Amir Kabir Dam -- one of the capital’s five main water sources -- holds only about 14 million cubic meters of water, compared to 86 million cubic meters a year ago.
“Only four or five million cubic meters remain extractable,” he told the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “We urgently need public cooperation to manage water consumption efficiently.”
“We hope to see precipitation later in the water year to make up the deficit,” Habibi said, adding that conservation “is the only short-term solution to protect Tehran’s limited water reserves.”
Officials said the dam is now 85% empty, describing the situation as critical. The company’s head, Behzad Parsa, told IRNA last week that the reservoir’s remaining capacity would cover less than two weeks of the city’s demand.
Tehran, home to nearly nine million people, depends on five dams -- all reporting sharp declines.
The Laar and Mamloo reservoirs are at 1% and 7% capacity respectively, while only Taleghan remains above one-third. Local newspaper Haft-e Sobh warned that if autumn rains fail to materialize, “widespread rationing and water cuts” could begin across the capital.
"The United States strongly condemns the tragic death of Omid Sarlak, a young Iranian man whose body was found riddled with bullets in the city of Aligudarz shortly after he posted an anti-regime message online," the US State Department said on its Persian language account on X.
Sarlak was found dead in a car in the city of Aligoudarz in Western Iran after he shared a video of himself burning a picture of the 86-year-old theocrat with a speech of Iran's last shah playing in the background.
"The suspicious timing and circumstances surrounding the incident strongly suggest regime involvement," it added.
Authorities said his death was a suicide, but family members and rights activists have rejected the explanation.
"This is yet another example of the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of dissent and its ongoing campaign to silence those who dare to speak out against it," the State Department added. "The United States stands firmly with the Iranian people in their struggle for justice, dignity, and freedom."
Videos from Sarlak’s funeral on Monday showed crowds chanting “Death to Khamenei” in one of the largest public outpourings of anti-government anger in recent months.
His death came as senior Iranian clerics renewed calls for severe punishment of those who insult or threaten the Supreme Leader, with one prominent official saying such acts amount to “waging war against God” and warrant the death penalty.
