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EU says eyes training 3,000 police officers in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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There will be a “need to stabilise Gaza with an important police force” if the current ceasefire endures, said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The UN Security Council voted Monday in favour of a US-drafted resolution bolstering President Donald Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip — which has allowed a fragile ceasefire to hold between Israel and Hamas since October 10.

The peace plan notably authorises the creation of an international force that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly-trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarise Gaza.

The EU has struggled to exert influence during the two-year war in Gaza due to splits within the bloc between countries supporting Israel and those closer to the Palestinians.

Keen to reclaim a role in the region, the EU will propose training Palestinian police officers — who are not affiliated with Gaza’s Hamas rulers — as part of efforts to restore long-term security in the territory.

Around 7,000 police in Gaza are still on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank, the official said. Many have retired or are unable to work, but about 3,000 could be trained, he added.

The training would take place outside of the Gaza Strip, he stated.

The EU has financed a police training mission in the West Bank since 2006, with a budget of around 13 million euros ($15 million).

EU foreign ministers are due to discuss the training proposal during talks Thursday in Brussels. The bloc will also host a Palestinian donor conference the same day, bringing together around 60 delegations, including Arab states — but not Israel.

The conference will notably allow participants to “take stock” of progress on reforms by the Palestinian Authority, the official said.

The EU is the PA’s main financial backer but has made future aid conditional on reforms, which it considers essential for the Authority to play its part in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Europe has long advocated.

IAEA head confirms inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities ‘unaffected’ by US attacks

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Our inspectors are back in Iran and have carried out inspections at facilities unaffected by June’s [Israeli and American] attacks, but more engagement is needed to restore full inspections,” Grossi said in a post on X following the IAEA’s Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday.

Earlier, addressing the board meeting, Grossi stated he is in regular contact with Tehran and urged Iran to facilitate the IAEA’s access to the damaged sites with low-enriched and high-enriched uranium to assess their status.

“We have returned to Iran, and over a dozen inspections have taken place so far. However, there is still more work to be done in line with the relevant provisions of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements,” Grossi noted, adding that more engagement is needed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA in June over security concerns following the US and Israeli war of aggression, during which some of its nuclear sites were bombed in violation of international law, the NPT, and the UN Charter.

In response, the Iranian Parliament passed legislation barring further access to its nuclear facilities by IAEA inspectors. Tehran also accused the Agency of effectively providing cover for the strikes by declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations and then failing to condemn the attacks.

In early September, the IAEA chief signed an agreement in Cairo with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, setting out a framework of understanding on procedures for Agency inspections.

However, Iran announced that the agreement was null and void after the European parties to a now-expired nuclear deal invoked its so-called snapback mechanism, restoring UN sanctions on the country.

However, Tehran later said that it had allowed IAEA inspectors to visit several nuclear sites since the June aggression.

“As long as we are a member of the NPT, we’ll abide by our commitments, and just last week, IAEA inspectors visited several nuclear facilities, including the Tehran Research Reactor,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei stressed earlier this month.

 

Major part of UN Security Council resolution on Gaza violates rights of Palestinians: Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iranian Foreign Ministry

The full text of the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the UN Security Council resolution on Gaza is as follows:

1-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while supporting any regional or international action to end the genocide and crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and Gaza, the effective entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and the complete withdrawal of the Zionist occupiers, expresses its serious concern regarding the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 2803.

2-A large part of the provisions of this resolution are contrary to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and, by imposing a kind of guardianship system on the Gaza Strip, it deprives the Palestinian people of their fundamental rights, especially the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Holy Quds as its capital.

3-The drafters of this resolution have deliberately ignored the central position and role of the United Nations and even the organization’s previous resolutions on the Palestinian issue.

4-The Islamic Republic of Iran considers any legitimization of the occupation of the Gaza Strip by the aggressive Zionist regime, the division of Gaza, and its separation from the unified geography of Palestine to be contrary to the aspirations of the Palestinian people and warns of its dangerous consequences.

5-International forces must operate under full UN supervision, and their task will be to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the entry and distribution of international humanitarian aid.

6-The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the responsibility of the international community, especially the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement, to force the apartheid regime and the Zionist occupiers to end the occupation of Palestine and completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and believes that no decision can and should distort this.

7-The Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasized the legitimacy of resistance against occupation, apartheid, and colonialism according to international law, and considers resistance to be the legitimate response of the Palestinian people to the continued occupation of the Palestinian land and the continued aggression of the Zionist regime.

8-It emphasizes that any discussion about the fate of the Palestinian people, including how to govern the Palestinian territories, must take place within the framework of Palestinian national agreement and consensus, and that imposing any solution by external parties in this regard is unacceptable.

9-In the current situation where the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank are facing genocide, imposed famine, and colonial annihilation, providing humanitarian aid, relief, and the full reopening of crossings are priorities.

10-The immediate expectation from the international community is to exert effective pressure on the Zionist regime, to prevent the continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes and occupation and gross violations of Palestinian rights in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and to support the realization of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.

11-It also reminds us of the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council and its member states to prosecute and hold accountable war criminals and genocidal perpetrators, given the apparent failure and inaction of the United Nations Security Council over the past two years to stop the genocide of Palestinians.

 

 

No negotiation process underway with US: Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
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Esmail Baghaei

Esmail Baqaei, the spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic apparatus, on Wednesday responded to US President Donald Trump’s renewed claims about negotiations with Iran.

During a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington on Tuesday, Trump repeated his previous claims, saying that Iran is “desperately seeking a deal.”

Baqaei, referring to Washington’s record of repeated breaches and excessive demands, said that—as the foreign minister has repeatedly stressed—talks with a party that does not believe in the reciprocity of negotiations, boasts of its military aggression against Iran and the killing of Iranian children, and is clearly seeking to impose its own dictates, are not justifiable.

In response to another question about a message sent by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—and whether it was linked to the crown prince’s visit to Washington—Baqaei said the message, delivered by the new head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, was purely bilateral in nature.

It expressed Iran’s appreciation to Saudi Arabia for the services provided to Iranian pilgrims during last year’s Hajj and highlighted the importance of continued cooperation and coordination to ensure the successful organization of this year’s pilgrimage.

Iran’s deputy FM dismisses holding secret talks with IAEA

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran nuclear program

Speaking in a televised interview on Tuesday night, Kazem Qaribabadi said that Iran maintains an official channel of communication with the Agency and therefore has no need for clandestine talks.

Responding to a question about alleged secret discussions between Iran and the IAEA in Egypt, he strongly denied the reports.

Elsewhere in the interview, Qaribabadi warned that the recent anti-Iran initiative pursued by the three European countries and the United States at the IAEA Board of Governors could jeopardize the “Cairo understanding.”

His comment referred to the recent arrangement reached between Iran and the Agency in the Egyptian capital, under which bilateral cooperation was to continue within a defined framework.

Reports indicate that the UK, France and Germany, together with the United States, have drafted a resolution against Iran for adoption at the Agency’s upcoming meeting in Vienna.

Iran has previously stated that if such a resolution is passed, it will fundamentally reconsider its cooperation under the Cairo understanding as well as its approach toward the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran’s interior minister says security situation improved compared to last year

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iranian Border Guard

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Wednesday’s cabinet session, Momeni said that border security is adequate and that, across all indicators, the country’s security has generally improved.

He addressed the issue of foreign nationals in Iran, noting that 1.5 million have left the country so far, while approximately six million remain.

Momeni added, “We are not hostile to migrants, but resources and capacities cannot accommodate more”.

At least 13 killed in Israeli attack on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

By
IFP Media Wire
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The drone strike hit a car on Tuesday in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, the ministry said, adding that “ambulances are still transporting more wounded to nearby hospitals.”

Israel claimed it struck members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas who were operating in a training compound in the refugee camp.

“When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, this means all terrorist groups operating in the region,” the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement, adding, “We will continue to act forcefully against Hamas’s attempts to establish a foothold in Lebanon and eliminate its elements that threaten our security.”

Hamas denied Israel’s claim, calling it a “fabrication” and stressing the group doesn’t have training facilities in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

“The Zionist bombardment was a barbaric aggression against our innocent Palestinian people as well as Lebanon’s sovereignty,” it stressed in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes on cars elsewhere in the country’s south killed two people.

Israel has killed several officials from Palestinian factions, including Hamas, in Lebanon since it launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 69,483 Palestinians and wounded 170,706. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

A day after Israel launched its war on Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets towards Israel, which responded with shelling and air strikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in a conflict that Israel escalated into a full-blown war in late September 2024.

Israel’s war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians. In Israel, 127 people were killed, including 80 soldiers.

The war halted in late November 2024 with a United States-brokered ceasefire, but since then, Israel has carried out dozens of air attacks on Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported more than 270 people killed and about 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire.

 

Son of former Tehran Friday prayer leader linked to alleged financial scam dies

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

According to a statement on Kazem Seddiqi’s official channel, Mohammad-Mehdi had been suffering from a severe liver condition in recent years and died at dawn on Wednesday.

Born in 1977 in Qom, he studied in the Qom seminary and later served as an administrative deputy at the Imam Khomeini Seminary.

Seddiqi’s name had previously circulated widely in Iranian media during the controversy over the high-value “Ozgol Garden,” in northern Tehran, after documents were published alleging the unlawful transfer of the property to him, his father, and his brother.

Reports at the time stated that he held a 25 percent share of the property.
Following public scrutiny, Kazem Seddiqi said he had been unaware of the transfer and claimed his signature had been forged, later returning the property to the seminary under his supervision.

Media outlets, including Tasnim News, also reported that Mohammad-Mehdi Seddiqi had faced financial accusations and had been detained for a period, though he was at home at the time of his death.

A cleric close to the family wrote that Mohammad-Mehdi had recently expressed severe distress over the controversies.

Caspian Sea water levels drop one meter in five years, Iran warns of escalating environmental crisis

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Caspian Sea

Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, Deputy for Marine and Wetland Affairs, issued the warning during an environmental panel at a meeting of governors from Caspian littoral provinces.

Calling the Caspian the world’s largest lake and a shared heritage of the five coastal states, he said the sea supports millions of people and contains more than 2,800 plant and animal species.

Lahijanzadeh noted that the continued decline in water levels over the past decade has already resulted in drying wetlands, habitat loss, declining fish stocks, coastal dust storms, reduced port operations, and damage to tourism.

He attributed the crisis to climate-related factors and reduced river inflows, cautioning that the trajectory could lead to irreversible consequences if unaddressed.

Lahijanzadeh also highlighted overfishing, degradation of river habitats, diminishing sturgeon populations, and the spread of invasive species.

He presented Iran’s proposal for joint action, including a regional rescue plan, a 25-year scientific monitoring program, coordinated water-resource management, strengthened protection of aquatic species, implementation of the Moscow Protocol on pollution control, and creation of a shared environmental fund.

He urged the five Caspian states to adopt genuine cooperation, saying today’s decisions will shape the future of coastal communities.

9/11 families criticize MbS White House office comments

By
IFP Media Wire
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“The crown prince knows nothing of the pain of the 9/11 families,” Terry Strada, national chair of the 9/11 Families United, said in a statement to The Hill.

“He is actively working to impede our efforts to ensure extensive evidence of Saudi government support for al-Qaeda and the terrorist hijackers are brought to light, harboring a former agent that produced a casing video of the U.S. Capitol building, and trying to rewrite history with investments.”

“We aren’t buying it, our allies in Congress aren’t buying it, and neither are the American people,” Strada added.

Strada was reacting to specific remarks made by Bin Salman.

Bin Salman during a press appearance with Trump said he felt “pain about the families of 9/11 in America” after an ABC News reporter said the victims of families were “furious” about his Oval Office visit.

The crown prince said that “we have to focus on reality” and claimed opponents of his kingdom were interfering with Saudi and American relations.

During the meeting, Bin Salman stated that U.S. and Saudi intelligence found that Osama bin Laden hire Saudi citizens to cause a riff between the two countries. Saudi Arabia has sought to get civil case from the families against the country’s government ended.

Trump and the crown prince met to discuss a weapons agreement, including the U.S. selling the Saudi’s F-35s, mineral deals and other technology-based agreements. The president is next scheduled to attend the U.S.-Saudi Business Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday.

The meeting was also criticized for the crown prince’s alleged role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. A critic of the Kingdom, Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. A U.S. intelligence report found that the crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi.

Trump defended Bin Salman in 2018 and again on Tuesday, when he claimed the crown prince “knew nothing about” Khashoggi’s murder.

“You’re mentioning somebody who was extremely controversial,” Trump told one reporter on Tuesday, referring to Khashoggi.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. And you can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump stressed.

Bin Salman said that his Kingdom had taken steps to investigate Khashoggi’s killing, and charged five people with the murder and commuted death sentences to decades in prison.

Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, wrote in a post on the social media platform X that there “is no justification to murder my husband.”

“While Jamal was a good transparent and brave man many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press,” she posted, adding, “The Crown Prince said he was sorry so he should meet me, apologize and compensate me for the murder of my husband.”

 

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