UAE backs Bahrain after arrests linked to Iran’s IRGC

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe and the United States share the goal of ending the war with Iran and preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, despite tensions within NATO over the conflict.

“Our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons,” Merz said during a visit to Sweden. “And this goal is a common goal between America and Europe.”

Iran’s IRGC said residents in the central city of Qom should expect explosion sounds on Saturday afternoon due to a planned operation to destroy munitions from the recent war between Iran, the United States and Israel, which is now under a fragile ceasefire.

In a statement, the public relations office of the IRGC’s Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib unit said a two-stage operation to destroy munitions from the conflict would take place between 2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

“The sound of explosions is the result of a technical operation and there is no cause for concern for citizens,” the statement said.

The Caspian Sea has emerged as a critical trade and military supply route for Iran as Tehran seeks alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz amid the US naval blockade, the New York Times reported.

According to the report, Russia has been shipping commercial goods and drone components to Iran through the landlocked waterway, helping Tehran replenish military supplies and sustain imports disrupted by tensions around Hormuz.

US officials told the newspaper that Russia is sending drone parts to help Iran rebuild capabilities after losing much of its drone arsenal in recent fighting. Iranian officials also said food imports including wheat, corn and cooking oil are increasingly being rerouted through Caspian ports.

Unlike the Strait of Hormuz, the Caspian is inaccessible to the United States militarily because only the five bordering states have access, making it an attractive route for sanctions evasion and military transfers, the report said.

“If you’re thinking about the ideal place for sanction evasion and military transfers, it’s the Caspian,” one expert told the Times.

British prosecutors have charged two men with religiously aggravated harassment offences after they allegedly traveled to the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill in north London to film antisemitic social media videos.

The charges relate to allegations that Jewish residents were approached, harassed and filmed.

Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, are due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

“The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge Adam Bedoui ... and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub ... following an incident where Jewish people in Stamford Hill were being approached, harassed and filmed,” Chief Crown Prosecutor Huw Rogers said.

Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Saturday it had arrested 41 people allegedly linked to a group tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the ideology of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist).

The ministry said security services uncovered what it described as the group’s “main organization” following intelligence gathering and earlier investigations into cases involving alleged espionage for foreign actors and sympathy with what it called “the blatant Iranian aggression.”

Authorities said legal proceedings against those detained were underway and investigations continued to identify others allegedly involved in the group’s activities.