Iran says ready to respond decisively to any US threats
Iran’s armed forces joint military command said on Tuesday that it is ready to respond decisively to any US threats.
Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, said Iran’s armed forces were “united and coordinated,” adding that they were “prepared to deliver decisive, determining and immediate responses to enemy threats and actions.”
He also said that US and Israel had been forced to seek a ceasefire after sustained missile and drone strikes from Iran.
Iran executed a man on Tuesday over accusations that he set fire to a mosque and what authorities described as anti-security activities, according to the judiciary, in a case tied to anti-establishment protests earlier this year.
Judiciary-affiliated media identified the man as Amirali Mirjafari and said his death sentence had been upheld by the Supreme Court before being carried out early on Tuesday.
State media said Mirjafari had set fire to the Gholhak Grand Mosque in Tehran and acted as a leader of a network accused of links to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, framing the case as part of efforts against foreign-backed activity.
Authorities said he had confessed after his arrest to taking part in protests in January, damaging public property, including phone booths and buses, and setting fire to motorcycles using gasoline-filled bottles.
Amnesty and other rights groups have repeatedly said Iranian courts rely on confessions obtained under duress in such cases.
Iran has used broad security charges to prosecute people detained during the January protests, which followed a new wave of anti-government demonstrations and a widening crackdown by authorities that became one of the most extensive in recent years.
Tehran has not released official nationwide arrest figures, but Iran International reported earlier this year that the number exceeds 36,500, based on internal security briefings the channel obtained and reviewed.
Earlier this month, Iran executed 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, who had been convicted in the same case linked to the nationwide anti-government protests that the Islamic Republic repressed in what became its broadest crackdown to date.
In a recent report, Amnesty International said 11 men were at risk of imminent execution over participation in the protests. The rights group said they had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention before being convicted in grossly unfair trials based on forced confessions.
Iran will negotiate or face consequences if it refuses talks, US President Donald Trump said on Monday.
“They’re going to negotiate and if they don’t, they’re going to see problems like they’ve never seen before,” he said in a John Fredericks radio interview, adding that the Iran war is "very close to being over."
Trump said any future agreement would ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
He added that Washington would not allow Tehran any path to acquiring such capabilities.
An Iranian crude carrier is nearing Kharg Island after crossing the blockade line on its return voyage, TankerTrackers said on Tuesday.
The very large crude carrier departed Iran in late March and transferred two million barrels of crude to another tanker near the Riau Archipelago in Indonesia, before sailing back toward Iran.
“She’ll reach Kharg Island tomorrow,” TankerTrackers said.
The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, seized by US forces on Sunday, was likely carrying items Washington considers dual-use and potentially usable by the military, Reuters reported on Monday, citing maritime security sources.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments pointed to dual-use cargo on board following the vessel’s voyage from Asia.
The small container ship belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, (IRISL) which is under US sanctions.
Ship-tracking data on Marine Traffic showed the vessel was boarded off Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 1308 GMT.
US Central Command said the crew had failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period and that the vessel was violating a US blockade.
The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, boarded and seized by US forces on Sunday, is likely carrying items that Washington considers “dual-use” and potentially usable by the military, Reuters reported citing maritime security sources said.
The small container vessel, part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) group under US sanctions, was intercepted off the coast of Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command said the ship’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period and that the vessel was in violation of a US naval blockade.
Reuters cited anonymous maritime security sources as saying preliminary assessments suggested the vessel was likely carrying dual-use items following a voyage from Asia.
