Iran sought to surveil Israeli embassies in Africa for potential attacks

Hussein, Iraq’s former president, used chemical weapons extensively against Iranian forces and Iraqi Kurds during the conflict.

“The truth must prevail, and those who supported Saddam’s chemical weapons program must be held responsible,” Araghchi told the 30th annual Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague on Tuesday.

In December 2002, Berlin daily Die Tageszeitung reported that Germany was the country whose companies contributed most to Baghdad’s efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, citing documents Iraq submitted to the United Nations.

“We urge Germany to release the results of its past investigations and commit to full and transparent investigations about the involvement of its companies and nationals in enabling Saddam’s atrocities,” he said.

Relations between Berlin and Tehran are at a low ebb after Germany joined France and Britain in September in reimposing international sanctions on Iran for what the European powers see as defiance of UN nuclear inspections.

Tehran had also bristled at comments by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a surprise military campaign on Iran in June in which he described the attacks as "dirty work Israel is doing for all of us."

Araghchi said Iran’s unanimous election to the Chemical Weapons Convention Executive Council — the 41-member policy-making body of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — was “a meaningful step for all who believe in a world free of chemical weapons.”

“As a nation that has suffered deeply from Saddam’s chemical attacks during the 1980–1988 war on our people, Iran carries enduring wounds that still affect tens of thousands of victims and their families,” he said.

Araghchi attended the conference with Kamal Hoseinpur, a lawmaker from Sardasht, a city in Iran’s northwest near the border with Iraq that was hit by Iraqi chemical attacks in 1987.

Araghchi described Sardasht as “a global symbol of resistance, suffering and the call for justice.”

“The people of Sardasht endured chemical attacks whose consequences continue even today, made worse by unjust US sanctions that restrict access to vital medicines and medical care,” Araghchi said.

Araghchi contrasted Germany with the Netherlands, where Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat was convicted in 2005 for supplying Iraq with chemicals used to produce mustard gas during the 1980s.

“The judicial investigations by Dutch authorities which led to the prosecution and conviction of one Dutch individual is appreciated,” he said. “However, we all know that it was the very minimum and showed only the tip of the iceberg.”

“Justice for the victims is overdue, and their calls for justice must never be forgotten,” he added.

Araghchi's comments come as Iran's own government came under scrutiny after security forces used an unidentified "green gas" against protestors during the nationwide protests in 2022 after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died in morality police custody.

In November 2022, videos were posted on social media that showed thick green smoke wafting through the streets in Javanrud in Western Iran as security forces there confronted protesters.

The German newspaper Bild reported in 2018 that Berlin had approved a license for a company to sell technology with potential military applications to Iranian firms which were ultimately used by the Syria in domestic chemical weapons attacks.

“If I were a decision maker, I would have joined the plan endorsed by Saudi Arabia, which conditions recognition of Israel on its acceptance of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders,” he said.

Safavi, 44, the son of former Revolutionary Guards commander Yahya Rahim Safavi, added: “Israel will never accept the two-state solution, but Iran would demonstrate it has no intention of undermining the internationally recognized order.”

He stressed he spoke personally and not for the state.

• 

  Iran's Guards warn against 'satanic' push for two-state solution

• 

  Iran rejects Arab-Islamic summit’s call for two-state solution

Safavi also said recognition of Israel is “impossible under Ayatollah Khamenei’s leadership,” while allowing that “in the long term, no one knows.”

The article said debate over Iran’s direction has widened among well-connected figures after a brief war with Israel in June.

Other prominent voices cited by the outlet include Faezeh Hashemi – a former lawmaker and daughter of ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – who said Iran should re-establish diplomatic ties with Washington and take “meaningful steps towards substantial change.”

The article also referenced figures from influential families who have at times diverged publicly from hardline positions, including cleric the grandchild of the Islamic Republic’s founder Hassan Khomeini, his brother Ali, and lawyer Hassan Younesi, the son of a former intelligence minister.

• 

  Iran’s rulers don’t mind the ship sinking, their brood jumped long ago

• 

  Iran's noble-born openly tout their 'good genes'

The article emphasized that their comments reflect a broader discussion inside elite circles rather than an official policy shift.

There is no indication Iran’s leadership plans to adopt the proposals described, the Financial Times said, adding that the debate may gain importance as the country looks ahead to eventual succession for the 86-year-old Supreme Leader.

Afarin (Masoumeh) Mohajer was detained on September 29 by security forces at Tehran's Khomeini International Airport, her son Reza Zarrabi told Iran International.

Human rights organizations had previously reported her arrest but said she was detained upon arrival in Tehran. His son, however, said she was arrested as she attempted to fly back to the United States.

Zarrabi, who is based in Frankfurt, said authorities detained his mother to pressure him into ending his political activism against Tehran’s Islamic theocracy. He calls himself a Republican and Liberal Democrat.

“We are aware of the detention of a US citizen in Iran and are closely tracking reports of this case,” the State Department spokesperson said in an email response when asked if Washington is aware of Mohajer’s detention.

"The Department of State has long warned Americans not to travel to Iran and that is particularly true now," the spokesperson added.

Zarrabi described his mother as warm and attached to him after he lost two siblings to suicide. She belonged to no political groups, he said.

Mohajer had travelled to Iran to attend to matters relating to an inheritance, Zarrabi added. She now faces charges he called false, including "membership in hostile groups, propaganda against the Islamic Republic on social media, insulting the Supreme Leader and insulting the religion (of Islam)."

Zarrabi said he has been a political activist for 14 years and a member of Iranian opposition think thanks, but that his mother had no role in his activities.

Mohajer is being held in the women’s section of Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, Zarrabi added, saying she called last week to plead with him to stop his dissident activities and believes Iranian intelligence agents coerced her.

100%

Zarrabi expressed worries for her health in prison as she suffers from brain cancer and is certain that she is not receiving medical treatment.

“I have no doubt that she is a hostage and a victim of the Iranian government’s hostage-taking toward the United States,” he said.

Relations between Tehran and Washington are at a low ebb after the United States joined a surprise Israeli military campaign on the country in June, attacking three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran has long detained foreign and dual nationals whom it eventually releases in exchange for political or financial concessions.

"Anyone with a US connection, including dual US-Iranian nationals, is at significant risk of questioning, arrest, and detention in Iran," the State Department told Iran International in its statement.

"Iranian authorities routinely delay consular access to detained US nationals. In particular, Iranian authorities consistently deny consular access to dual US-Iranian nationals."

In a post in Arabic on X, Larijani offered condolences for the deaths, describing those killed as having “reached their wish.”

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “continues his adventurism to the point that everyone reaches the conclusion that there is no path left except direct confrontation with Israel.”

Hezbollah said the strike on Sunday killed Tabtabai, the group’s top military official, and wounded 28 others.

• 

  Iran condemns Israeli strike killing Hezbollah’s top military commander

Israel’s military said it targeted Tabtabai in Beirut’s southern suburbs, calling him a senior official overseeing Hezbollah’s military readiness, in one of the most significant escalations since a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024.

Iran has condemned the attack as a violation of the ceasefire and a “war crime,” and Hezbollah has said it crossed a “red line,” adding that its leadership would decide how to respond.

The United States designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and sanctioned Tabtabai in 2016, describing him as a key commander within the group.

The Israeli military said it killed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s top military official in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday, marking a major escalation despite a year-old US-brokered truce between the sides.

The strike, the first on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital in months, targeted Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff and one of its most senior commanders, the military said.

Iran's foreign ministry said the attack said the attack amounted to a “war crime.”

Hezbollah confirmed Tabatabai's death, mourning him as “the great jihadist commander” who had “worked to confront the Israeli enemy until the last moment of his blessed life,” while giving no details on his exact duties.

Mahmoud Qmati, a senior Hezbollah official, said the attack crossed a “red line,” adding that Iran-backed group’s leadership would decide how to respond.

The United States sanctioned Tabatabai in 2016, identifying him as a key Hezbollah figure and offering up to $5 million for information on him.

Israel said he “commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel.”

In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its forces and expected the Lebanese government “to fulfill its obligation to disarm Hezbollah.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the international community to intervene to stop Israeli attacks.

Israel has already eliminated much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership du

Both sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations since 2024.

Founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most powerful military and political force. It has fought multiple wars with Israel and is a key member of Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” alliance.

The group, which fought a nearly twenty-year insurgency which ultimately ejected Israel from occupied South Lebanon in 2000, is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and several Western countries.