Iran internet shutdown nears day 20, Netblocks says

The European Union is preparing to impose sanctions on senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in an initial response to a deadly crackdown on mass protests, AFP reported, citing EU diplomats.

The bloc’s 27 member states are expected to approve asset freezes and visa bans on 21 individuals and entities, including high-ranking IRGC members, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, the diplomats said. Ambassadors are due to sign off on the measures on Wednesday.

EU ministers are also expected to agree on sanctions against 10 more individuals and entities over Iran’s supply of drones and missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, AFP reported.

The move comes as pressure grows within the EU to formally list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, with Italy backing the push. The EU has already sanctioned hundreds of Iranian officials and entities over previous crackdowns and Tehran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Iran's exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi welcomed Italy’s move to press the European Union to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

“I welcome the Italian government’s position on proscribing the IRGC and thank Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani for advancing this in Brussels,” Pahlavi wrote on X.

He said it was time to act decisively in support of Iranians opposing the Islamic Republic.

Iranian authorities have sought to conceal the scale of killings during the crackdown on the recent protests through mass burials and the removal of bodies from hospitals and morgues, the Guardian reported on Tuesday, citing testimony from doctors and forensic staff.

Medical workers told the newspaper that bodies have been transported in trucks and buried rapidly to hide the number of dead. One doctor was quoted as saying: “They’ve mass murdered people. No one can imagine … I saw just blood, blood and blood.”

Another doctor said the injuries documented showed “a brutality without limit – both in scale and in method,” adding that publicly cited death figures were “a severe underestimation,” according to the report.

The Guardian said the accounts are based on testimony from medics, morgue workers and graveyard staff across multiple provinces.

The US Air Force will conduct a multi-day readiness exercise across the Middle East to test its ability to deploy, disperse and sustain combat aircraft across the US Central Command area, Air Forces Central said on Monday.

The exercise, led by the Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central), is aimed at validating procedures for rapidly moving aircraft and personnel, operating from dispersed contingency locations, and sustaining missions with minimal logistical footprint, the command said in a statement.

The exercise will be carried out with host-nation approval and in coordination with civilian and military aviation authorities, it added.

The command said the training is intended to strengthen cooperation with regional partners and prepare US forces for flexible responses across the region, which includes the Middle East and parts of Central and South Asia.

“Our Airmen are proving they can disperse, operate, and generate combat sorties under demanding conditions – safely, precisely and alongside our partners,” said Lieutenant General Derek France, commander of Air Forces Central and the Combined Forces Air Component for US Central Command.

Air Forces Central said the exercise is designed to ensure US airpower remains available when required.

Iran summoned Italy’s ambassador to the foreign ministry after what it described as "irresponsible remarks by Italy’s foreign minister" about Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Iranian state-linked media reported on Tuesday.

The move followed comments by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said Italy would seek to persuade other European Union members to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

After the summons, the foreign ministry’s director general for western Europe warned of what he described as damaging consequences of labeling the Revolutionary Guards and urged Italy to revise what he called ill-considered approaches toward Iran, the reports said.

Tajani said earlier that he would push the issue at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, citing civilian deaths during protests in Iran and calling for a clear response.