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Iranian president pays tribute to children killed in Israeli attacks

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The ceremony was held at the Ameneh Welfare and Nursery Complex in Tehran and commemorated the child victims of the Israeli regime’s aggression in June that left over 1,000 killed and more than 5,000 injured.

During the event, President Pezeshkian visited children residing at the welfare center and expressed solidarity with young victims of conflict.

“All these children are like my own grandchildren,” he said. “We are committed to creating better conditions for them.”

According to Iranian officials, 47 children and teenagers were among those killed in the wave of violence. The youngest victims were two infants, aged just two and nine months.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly condemned Israel’s military assault in the region, particularly their impact on civilians, and have called for international accountability and humanitarian support for affected populations.

Iran confiscates large US-made arms smuggled by groups linked to Mossad

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Police

According to officials, over 210 military-grade firearms were confiscated in three separate operations conducted over the past two weeks.

This brings the total number of weapons seized since late February to more than 1,000 in six coordinated operations.

Authorities stated that a significant portion of the arms were manufactured in the US and had been smuggled into Iran via neighboring countries by agents affiliated with Israeli spy agency, Mossad, and terrorist groups aiming to destabilize the region and carry out acts of sabotage.

The Iranian intelligence operatives successfully thwarted the infiltration at border entry points, preventing a serious threat to national security.

Officials stressed that the networks involved have been dismantled and their plans disrupted.

Over 7,000 air pollution-related deaths in Tehran in 2024

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Air Pollution Iran

This figure marks a slight increase compared to the previous year. The study also showed that annual average PM2.5 levels far exceeded WHO’s thresholds.

Meantime, in response to recurring winter smog, a member of Iran’s Parliament Environment Committee has proposed winter school closures as a mitigation strategy.
Abbas Shahsavani noted that school closures are intended to protect vulnerable groups, especially children, from exposure, not to reduce pollution levels.

“Children are among the most sensitive groups”, he said.

“When pollution reaches critical levels, emergency committees recommend shifting to virtual learning.”

Shahsavani underscored that the key to combating air pollution lies not in temporary measures, but in enforcing the Clean Air Act passed in 2017.

“Unfortunately, despite the law, we’ve seen no significant decline in pollutant levels, only weather conditions like wind have made short-term improvements.”

In 2024, Tehran experienced only 15 days with PM2.5 levels below WHO guidelines.

Shahsavani urged the government to prioritize reducing emissions such as phasing out old diesel vehicles and providing cleaner fuel for power plants, instead of relying on reactive measures like school closures.

Political Party chief: Larijani’s moderate approach a positive shift for policy-making

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Ali Larijani

Vaezi said the move will have a positive impact due to Larijani’s moderate stance.

“Dr. Larijani’s nonpartisan outlook, developmental leadership style, and moderate approach will contribute to a constructive transformation in the Council’s future policy-making”, Vaezi noted.

He further said this change signals a reinforcement of the values of moderation and rationality in the political arena.

“If this move is aimed at shifting direction and sending a message to the people, I see it as a constructive step”, he added.

President Massoud  Pezeshkian on Tuesday appointed Ali Larijani as the new Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), a pivotal position in Iran’s national security architecture.

Larijani served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2005 to 2007 as well.

Detained British couple in Iran make first phone call to family after seven months

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Prison

Lindsay and Craig Forman, both 52, were traveling around the world by motorcycle when they were detained by Iranian authorities in the southeastern city of Kerman. A month later, officials announced they were suspected of spying.

On Tuesday, the couple made brief phone calls from separate prisons in Tehran. Their families confirmed Lindsay is being held at Qarchak women’s prison, while Craig is in Tehran’s Fashafouyeh prison.

“We waited 213 days,” said Joe Bennett, Lindsay’s son. “We hoped, we held our breath, and today, we finally heard their voices. For a moment, the heavy weight of the past seven months lifted.”

The eight-minute call was described as emotional, filled with “laughter and tears.” Despite the relief, Bennett criticized the UK government for not clearly outlining a plan to secure their release, calling the ongoing silence “deeply concerning.”

Kieran Forman, Craig’s son, also described the call as “a huge relief” and said it gave him renewed hope amid ongoing uncertainty.

EU Parliament groups call on top officials to take action to end Gaza genocide

By
IFP Media Wire
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European Parliament

In a joint letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, they criticized the bloc’s continued inaction amid Israel’s ongoing attacks.

They urged the EU to back an immediate and permanent ceasefire, suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement and enforce a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.

The letter also called for targeted sanctions on Israeli officials, the reinstatement of full funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and a ban on trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements.

“This situation can no longer be regarded as a mere emergency: there is clear evidence that a genocide is being committed in Gaza. The European Commission and the European Council have so far failed to respond with the urgency and resolve that our treaties, values and responsibilities demand,” the lawmakers said.

The signatories also cited growing settler violence in the West Bank and Israeli plans to permanently occupy Gaza, calling it a clear violation of international law.

The EU’s foreign service has acknowledged Israel’s breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, they noted, yet the pact remains active and no sanctions have been imposed.

“We cannot afford more delay. We cannot afford more bloodshed. History will not forgive silence in the face of mass suffering and impunity. The European Union must take responsibility and act now,” they added.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children.

Israel’s military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Trump pledges to pull US out of Ukraine ‘mess’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Russia Ukraine War

When asked why the US should keep funding Ukraine as Kiev grows increasingly more coercive in its draft campaign, Trump responded: “This is Biden’s war. This is not my war. I’m here to get us out of it. It’s a mess, and I’m here to get us out.”

The journalist was referring to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent decree allowing the enlistment of men over 60.

”I haven’t heard that, when you say about 60-year-old men,” Trump said, adding, “But this is Biden’s war. And we’re working very hard to get us out.”

In recent weeks, the US president has threatened to impose 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions targeting Russia’s trading partners in an effort to pressure Moscow into accepting a ceasefire with Kiev – measures which Russia has denounced as illegal.

Asked whether he was prepared to follow through on his threats, Trump said a decision would be made after a scheduled meeting in Russia this week involving his special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

”I never said a percentage [for tariffs], but we’ll be doing quite a bit of that,” Trump stated.

“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow [on Wednesday]… We’ll make that determination at that time.”

Earlier in the day, Trump said he will “substantially” raise tariffs on Indian imports over the next 24 hours, due to New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude. He had previously announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, scheduled to take effect on Friday.

India, one the biggest importers of Russian oil alongside China, has promised to “safeguard its national interests and economic security” in response to the tariff threat.

Beijing responded by vowing to “defend its sovereignty” in response to what it described as “coercion and pressure.”

Moscow has condemned Trump’s tariff threats as violations of other nations’ rights.

“We believe that sovereign states should have, and do have, the right to choose their own trade partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Nursing shortage forces hospital ward closures in Iran, officials warn

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Hospital Surgery Doctor Nurse

At a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the Iranian Nursing Organization, Ahmad Nejatian, said the shortage is not due to a lack of trained nurses.

“We graduate 15,000 nurses annually, 2.5 times more than before, but still face major staffing gaps,” he said. “Increasing education capacity is not a solution.”

Nejatian stated that nurses are facing up to eight months of delayed payments for bonuses and overtime.

The financial burden and difficult working conditions, worsened by the recent 12-day war with Israel, have contributed to high attrition and increased requests for migration certificates, he added.

He also revealed that five nurses were killed during the conflict in June, with more casualties potentially unreported due to their involvement with military medical teams.

Despite improvements in back pay, Nejatian warned of systemic issues, adding, “If we continue delaying reforms like the family physician system, the health sector could face collapse.”

Iran’s fiber optic production plant launched in Venezuela

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Seyed Sattar Hashemi, said that in line with expanding technology diplomacy and exporting Iran’s technical capabilities to other countries, a fiber optic production facility has been launched and put into operation in Venezuela by Iranian knowledge-based companies.

The Iranian fiber optic plant in Venezuela was established with a $10 million investment. It aims to meet Venezuela’s domestic needs—which previously imported fiber optic equipment worth $2 million annually from Iran—and to become a regional hub for exporting telecommunications equipment to Latin American countries.

According to Amirhossein Mirabadi, head of the Center for International Interactions at the Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, with the inauguration of this plant, Iranian knowledge-based companies have established a presence in a region often described as the United States’ backyard.

Earlier, Iran and Oman had also agreed to establish a new corridor for data and internet transit—a route beginning in northern countries such as Russia and Central Asia, passing through Iran, and extending southward to the Persian Gulf, India, and even East Africa.

The purpose of this agreement is for Iran, leveraging its domestic infrastructure, to become one of the main data transit routes in the region. The initial capacity of this corridor is 4.5 terabits per second.

It is ‘up to Israel’ whether to occupy all of Gaza: Trump

By
IFP Media Wire
-

When asked on Tuesday about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to occupy the entire Palestinian territory, Trump said he is focused on getting “people fed” in Gaza.

“As far as the rest of it, I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel,” the US president told reporters.

Washington provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid annually, assistance that significantly increased following the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.

Israel has used forced displacement orders to squeeze Palestinians into ever-shrinking pockets in Gaza, turning 86 percent of the territory into militarised zones.

But increased military operations in the remaining part of the territory would further endanger the lives of Palestinians, who already endure daily bombardment and Israeli-imposed starvation.

Netanyahu’s purported plans to conquer Gaza have also raises concerns about the safety of the remaining Israeli captives held in the enclave by Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

Israel withdrew its forces and settlements from the Palestinian territory in 2005, but legal experts have said that the enclave remained technically under occupation, since the Israeli military continued to control Gaza’s airspace, territorial waters and ports of entry.

Since the start of the war in 2023, right-wing Israeli officials have called for the re-establishment of Israel’s military presence and settlements inside Gaza.

Netanyahu has also suggested that Israel aims to remove all Palestinians from the enclave, in what would amount to ethnic cleansing, a plan that Trump himself echoed in February.

Trump, at the time, proposed clearing Gaza of its people to construct a “riviera of the Middle East” in its stead.

The recent reports about Israel’s intention to expand its ground operations in Gaza come amid growing international outcry over the deadly hunger spreading across the territory.

Israel has blocked nearly all aid from entering Gaza since March, making US-backed GHF sites almost the only places for Palestinians to get food.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been shot by the Israeli military while trying to reach GHF facilities deep inside Israel’s lines of control. Nevertheless, the US has continued to support the organisation, despite international pleas to allow the UN to distribute the aid.

The Israeli military has also been accused of targeting aid seekers trying to reach assistance trucks away from GHF sites in northern Gaza.

On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his often-repeated claim that the US has provided $60m in aid to Gaza. His administration had provided $30m to GHF.

“As you know, $60m was given by the United States fairly recently to supply food – a lot of food, frankly – for the people of Gaza that are obviously not doing too well with the food,” he told reporters.

“And I know Israel is going to help us with that, in terms of distribution and also money. We also have the Arab states [which] are going to help us with that in terms of the money and possibly distribution.”

Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 61,000 people and flattened most of the territory in what rights groups and UN experts have called a genocide.

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