What to know about the Iran war today:
The head of Iran’s supreme national security council Mohsen Rezai said Saturday that any country joining the U.S. in sanctions as part of President’s Trump attempt to pressure the country’s economy would be considered an enemy. Rezai added Iran would “harm” the interests of any countries that don’t distance themselves from the U.S.Egypt’s foreign minister spoke to his Iranian counterpart by phone on Saturday in an effort to restart negotiations to end the war. Egypt’s foreign ministry said it discussed Iran continuing talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz or returning to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding from June.Iran granted some Iraqi oil tankers permission to transit through the Strait of Hormuz after repeated requests from Baghdad, according to state media reports on Saturday.
Iran executes man accused of carrying chainsaw during January protests
Iran on Sunday executed a man accused of carrying a chainsaw during January anti-government protests who was charged with acting as an agent of Israel and the United States.
The judiciary said Majid Adineh had been convicted of “operational action in favour of hostile groups” in nationwide rallies that broke out late last year.
He is one of a string of people put to death over the protests, which were sparked by economic hardships in Iran.
Adineh was accused of “deliberate arson, gathering and collusion with the intention of committing crimes against the country’s internal security”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said in a report Sunday.
The protest movement was initially sparked in late December by grievances over high living costs but rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.
Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths from the unrest, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel.
Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is headquartered in Paris. According to Amnesty International, Iran conducts the second most executions of any country, after China.
Iranian hackers reportedly shut down power plant in the U.K.
Iranian hackers were able to shut down a power plant in the U.K. for four days in an unprecedented attack, British newspaper The Telegraph reported.
The incident reportedly took place at the same time as water infrastructure systems in the U.S. were being targeted by cyberattacks earlier in the month too. Sources familiar with the matter at the time told CBS News Iran-backed hackers may have been linked.
The Telegraph reported that the facility affected was shut down for four days but the outage had no impact on the country’s electricity supply. British officials would not name the facility in question, the newspaper said.
Syria says Israeli drone hit small village
An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle wounded one person on Saturday in the southwestern Syrian village of Beit Jin, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA. Syria’s foreign ministry said several civilians were injured and called the strike a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty.
The Israeli military said it targeted a “terrorist who advanced terror attacks in final stages of preparation,” without elaborating. It wasn’t immediately clear if it was the same strike.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes around Syria after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in late 2024, mainly destroying army assets to keep them out of the hands of his successors.
Iran says any country joining U.S. sanctions considered “enemy”
Iran on Saturday warned countries against participating in the United States’ “economic war” against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies.
“We declare to all countries … do not join the economic war waged by the United States. Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy,” said Mohsen Rezai, the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, on state television.
If the countries concerned refused to “distance themselves” from the United States, Iran would “harm” their interests, he added.
Rezai also insisted Iran had more cards to play in the war, claiming, “We have not yet attacked any American economic interests.”
President Trump said earlier this week the U.S. will enforce “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.” But he also called on the rest of the world to come to the aid of the U.S. in enforcing sanctions, the specifics of which have still not been announced.
“This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide.”
At least one major country has already spurned that demand. China, Iran’s largest trade partner, said it opposes “illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council.”
Credit: Yahoo News