MIDDLE EAST

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Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, on Monday, February 9, said people of all faiths would stand united to overcome “evil” as he paid tribute to victims of the deadly Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney.

Herzog made the remarks while laying a wreath at Bondi Beach in memory of those killed during a Jewish festival attack on December 14, which claimed 15 lives. The ceremony took place under heavy security and gloomy weather as the Israeli leader began a four-day visit aimed at showing solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.

“The bonds between good people of all faiths and all nations will remain strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred,” Herzog said during the event outside the Bondi Pavilion. “We shall overcome this evil together.”

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Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” online video showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country.

The hacking comes as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher as information leaks out of a country still gripped by the government’s decision to shut down the internet.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over the crackdown after President Donald Trump drew two red lines for the Islamic Republic — the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations. A U.S. aircraft carrier, which days earlier had been in the South China Sea, passed Singapore overnight to enter the Strait of Malacca — putting it on a route that could bring it to the Middle East.

State TV disrupted

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Iran on Wednesday executed a man who was accused of spying for Israel, the Iranian judiciary’s media outlet Mizan reported.

Hamidreza Sabet Esmailpour, who had been convicted of passing information to a Mossad agent, was hanged at dawn, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency said.

“Hamidreza Sabet Esmaeilipour who was arrested on 29 April 2025, was hanged for the crime of espionage and intelligence cooperation in favor of a hostile intelligence service (Mossad) through… the transfer of classified documents and information, after the verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court and through legal procedures,” Mizan said.

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The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran’s deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.

Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

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Iran offered its first government-issued death toll Wednesday following a crackdown on nationwide protests, giving a far lower figure than activists abroad as the country’s theocracy tries to reassert control after unrest recalling the chaos surrounding its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

State television carried statements by the Interior Ministry and the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, an official body providing services to families of those killed in wars, saying 3,117 people were killed. It added that 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and security forces. It did not elaborate on the rest. Iran’s government in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the death toll early Thursday was at least 4,902, with many more feared dead. The human rights group has been accurate throughout the years on demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. Other groups similarly have offered higher numbers than the Iranian government tally.

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Iran’s supreme leader signaled Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters, directly challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later repeatedly referred to demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown like those that have followed other nationwide protests in recent years.

Protesters are “ruining their own streets ... in order to please the president of the United States,” Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei separately vowed that punishment for protesters “will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”

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Iran may lift its internet blackout in a few days, a senior parliament member said on Monday, after authorities shut communications while they used massive force to crush protests in the worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the latest sign of weakness in the authorities' control, state television appeared to be hacked late on Sunday, briefly showing speeches by U.S. President Donald Trump and the exiled son of Iran's last shah calling on the public to revolt.

Iran's streets have largely been quiet for a week, authorities and social media posts indicated, since anti-government protests that began in late December were put down in three days of mass violence.

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British and French fighter jets have carried out a coordinated air strike on an underground weapons bunker in central Syria believed to be used by the Islamic State group, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Royal Air Force Typhoon jets joined French aircraft in the operation late on Saturday, targeting a concealed facility in mountainous terrain north of Palmyra. Defence officials said intelligence assessments indicated the site was being used to store weapons and explosives intended for future attacks.