Nestled in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Mashayekh hosts lush pomegranate orchards.
Harvesting pomegranates in this village and the evocative visuals showcase the heartwarming collaboration among villagers, painting a picturesque tale of unity and tradition in the annual ritual of gathering these precious fruits.
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Family and friends gathered at a cemetery in southern Tehran to bid their final goodbyes. However, the mourning was marred by an attempt to disrupt the ceremony with slogans, which the grieving family and friends did not endorse.
Armita’s unfortunate incident occurred on October 1st at Tehran’s Shohada metro station, resulting in a severe head injury after a sudden pressure drop upon entering the train. Despite medical efforts, Armita passed away 28 days later.
Certain foreign-based media outlets hostile to the Islamic Republic of Iran sought to sensationalize the incident, claiming a conflict over the hijab within the subway led to her accident.
Contradicting these reports, Armita’s parents vehemently denied any conflict, asserting that a thorough review of subway camera footage confirmed that no one physically engaged their daughter inside the subway.
Russian air defenses have prevented yet another “attempted terrorist attack by the Kiev regime” with 36 plane-type drones intercepted en route to Crimea, the military announced in a brief statement shortly before 2am local time, without providing any further details.
There were no reports of damage or casualties on the ground, and local officials have yet to comment on the incident.
Kiev has stepped up rocket and drone attacks on Crimea in recent months. On September 13, Ukraine struck a shipyard in Sevastopol with cruise missiles, damaging two naval vessels, according to the Russian military. Nine days later, a missile struck the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
Ukraine has also used sea drones to attack Russian port infrastructure in Sevastopol on multiple occasions. Maritime drones have targeted key transport infrastructure such as the Crimean Bridge, which was badly damaged in an attack in July, but was repaired and fully reopened earlier this month.
Russian officials have accused Kiev of plotting acts of sabotage targeting the country’s major infrastructure sites, including nuclear power plants. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian attack involving multiple drones was stopped in the Russian city of Kurchatov, home to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, but one of the UAVs reportedly damaged a nuclear waste storage building at the site.
The aid shipment was sent through the Dogharoun Border in the east of the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan Razavi.
The relief supplies delivered in three truckloads contained different types of foodstuff, cooking oil, rice, canned food, blankets, detergents, hygienic items and carpets worth around $100,000.
The former four aid shipments sent by Iran contained more than 730 tonnes of various types of relief items.
More than 2,000 people were killed in a 6.3-magnitude earthquake which struck western Afghanistan weeks ago. It was one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in two decades.
“At the moment, Iran is facing no obstacles in its missile program with regards to both weapons imports and exports,” said Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Reza Najafi while noting that the October 18th date has already passed.
The UN restrictions on Iran’s trade in advanced missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and dual-use equipment expired on October 18, 2023, a date known as Transition Day in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Over the past few days, the UN Secretariat announced in a statement that as October 18th has passed, all sanctions imposed on Iran in the domain of missiles and dual-use equipment related to weapons would be lifted, and the names of some of the individuals put on the sanctions list will be removed from the list,” he told ISNA.
“Accordingly, if some countries used to consider some restrictions in their domestic laws regarding their dealings with Iran due to the UN Security Council sanctions [on Tehran], they are now obliged to revise their national laws in this regard,” the top diplomat explained.
Paltel Group, which provides communications services in Gaza, announced on Sunday that landline, mobile and internet services were gradually being restored after being disrupted by “ongoing aggression.”
“Our technical teams are diligently addressing the damage to the internal network infrastructure under challenging conditions,” the telecom said in a statement.
“May God protect you all and our Country.”
The Jawwal Telecommunication Company also announced Sunday that its telecommunication services were “gradually being restored.”
In a separate update posted on X (formerly Twitter), the internet monitoring organization NetBlocks said that internet traffic was being restored in Gaza.
“Confirmed: Real-time network data show that internet connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip; service was disrupted on Friday amid heavy bombardment by Israel, leaving most residents cut off from the outside world at a critical moment,” the message said.
Qatari-owned telecommunications company Ooredoo, which also provides cellular service in Gaza, did not provide an update on any resumption of service.
Gaza had been under a near-total communications blackout for nearly 36 hours following Israeli air attacks on Friday that Palestinian telecoms providers said knocked out communications lines and towers.
Rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had warned that the lack of communications in the enclave was hampering efforts to document war crimes and other abuses.
On Saturday, Elon Musk said he would offer his Starlink satellite internet service to “internationally recognised aid organisations” in Gaza, prompting protests by Israel.
“HAMAS will use it for terrorist activities,” Israel’s communication minister Shlomo Karhi wrote on X.
“Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people. All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with starlink.”
“We are ready to conduct an immediate prisoner exchange deal that includes the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for all prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance,” Sinwar said in a statement.
Sinwar has also ordered the preparation of lists of all Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Qatar has been conducting behind-the-scenes diplomacy for more than three weeks, speaking to Hamas officials and Israel to promote peace and secure the release of hostages. Its mediation last week led to the release of two American hostages, a mother and daughter, and two elderly Israeli women.
There are 19 prisons within Israel and one inside the occupied West Bank that hold thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida had earlier claimed Israeli air raids and shelling have killed 50 captives.
The “price” of returning all the captives in Gaza is the release of all Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons – estimated at about 6,600 people.
“If the enemy wants to resolve this issue, we are ready,” he continued, adding, “If the enemy wants to close this file of detainees in one go, we are ready for it. If it wants to do it step-by-step, we are ready for that, too.”
Some 229 hostages are being held in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government will do everything possible to bring the captives held by Hamas home.
The idea of a swap deal of hostages for Palestinian prisoners has been discussed within the war cabinet but there was no decision on the move, he added.
Netanyahu did not commit to any exchange deal, but told the families Israeli authorities would “exhaust every option to bring them [the hostages] home”.
Families of hostages held in Gaza say they told Netanyahu they would only accept an “everyone in return for everyone” deal, which would secure the immediate release of all hostages. The families held a news conference shortly after meeting Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Many families of captives also protested in Tel Aviv demanding the return of their loved ones being held in Gaza. People hold up placards with the words “Bring them home now” and pictures of their missing loved ones.
But, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has stated the more pressure put on Hamas, the greater chance of returning hostages being held.
The statement appears meant to respond to criticism that Israeli ground operations in Gaza would scuttle negotiations over captive releases.
Several Western countries and families of those held have reportedly pressured Israel to delay a ground incursion into Gaza in the hope more can be freed.
“Hamas will use it for terrorist activities,” Kahri claimed in a post on X (formerly Twitter), adding that “there is no doubt about it, we know it, and Musk knows it.”
In response, the tech billionaire said he is “not so naive,” explaining how the proposed scheme would work, while promising to “do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal.”
“Per my post, no Starlink terminal has attempted to connect from Gaza. If one does, we will take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used *only* for purely humanitarian reasons,” Musk added.
Earlier on Saturday, Musk stated that he would open the Starlink satellite network to “internationally recognized aid organizations” working in Gaza, after a wave of Israeli airstrikes severed the enclave’s last phone and internet connections with the outside world.
Internet and cell phone services stopped working in Gaza on Friday night after a wave of Israeli airstrikes. The outage left news organizations and aid groups unable to reach their workers, with the UN children’s agency (UNICEF), the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, and Red Crescent all reporting no contact from their employees. RT Arabic was also temporarily unable to contact its correspondents and photographers in Gaza.
Musk’s plan would mark the second time that he has deployed Starlink to a combat zone. Shortly after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the tech tycoon supplied Kiev with Starlink terminals. However, he fell out of favor when he barred the Ukrainian military from using the network to guide drone strikes on Russian ships in the Black Sea.
“In the initial weeks of the war, we launched massive airstrikes that dealt a severe blow to the enemy… We eliminated many terrorists,” the PM stated in his address to the Israelis on Saturday night.
In three weeks of Israeli air raids, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 8,000 people, “half of whom are children”, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave told AFP early Sunday. It remains unclear how many of the casualties were actual combatants.
“However, we are only at the beginning of the road. The battle within the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long,” Netanyahu warned, while stressing that “this is our second War of Independence. This is our mission, our purpose in life, and together we will prevail”.
The IDF’s expansion of its operation comes almost three weeks after Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel, hammering Israeli towns and cities with rockets and raiding settlements near the Gaza border. Around 1,400 Israelis have been killed since the war began, and over 200 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
“Last night, additional ground forces entered Gaza, marking the beginning of the second stage of the war, whose goal is to destroy the military and political capabilities of Hamas and to bring our kidnapped citizens back,” Netanyahu declared.
Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza with airstrikes throughout Friday and Saturday nights, as ground troops and armor were launched in a significant incursion into the Palestinian enclave. It is unclear, however, whether the ongoing “expanded” ground operations will be followed by a larger invasion. There are concerns that a full-scale invasion may result in heavy Israeli casualties and trigger an escalation with other regional players, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also stated on Saturday that Israel has “moved on to a new phase in the war”, and added that ground operations in Gaza will continue “until new orders are given”.
Gallant has confirmed military operations against Hamas have progressed, stating, “We moved to a new phase in the war.”
“Tonight, the ground in Gaza shook. We attacked above ground and below ground. We attacked terrorist operatives at all levels, in all places. The instructions to our forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order is given.”
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Saturday that Israeli-Turkish ties were going to be reevaluated.
“Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey,” Cohen wrote.
In a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, Erdogan said that “Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a group of freedom fighters, ‘mujahideen’ [holy warriors] waging a battle to protect its lands and people”. Erdogan also added that he had canceled plans to visit Israel over the bombardment of Gaza.
On Thursday, Erdogan said attacks on Gaza “have long passed the point of being self-defense,” adding, “It is now oppression, atrocity, massacre and barbaric.”
And on Saturday, Erdogan told a crowd of Palestinian supporters in Istanbul that they should leave the rally “with the determination to never allow new Gazas to arise”, adding that Turkey will present evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza to the world.
Israel’s operation in Gaza is “not defense, but an open, vicious massacre”, Erdogan told thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Istanbul.
“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for exactly 22 days, but Western leaders have not even called for a ceasefire,” he declared, adding that Turkey is gathering information to “present Israel to the world as a war criminal”.
Turkey has responded after Israel’s foreign affairs minister said he was withdrawing diplomats and planning a “reevaluation” of the relationship between the two countries on Saturday.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that Israel “cannot even tolerate criticism and condemnation” even as it commits “a crime against humanity in front of the whole world”.
The ministry also responded to accusations of anti-Semitism against President Erdogan by Israeli officials, describing them as “baseless” and stressing that Turkey being a “safe haven” for Jewish people.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN earlier stated that Erdogan “remains an anti-Semite”, according to reports from Israel’s Army Radio.
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