Iran Says it Has Arrested Head of US-Based 'Terrorist Group'

Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
TT
20

Iran Says it Has Arrested Head of US-Based 'Terrorist Group'

Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)

Iran said Saturday it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a deadly 2008 bombing in the southern city of Shiraz and of other, abortive attacks.

The group's "Jamshid Sharmahd, who was leading armed and sabotage operations inside Iran, is now in the powerful hands" of Iran's security forces, state television said in a report citing a statement from the intelligence ministry.

The statement did not elaborate on where or when the leader of the opposition royalist group known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar (Farsi for Thunder), was arrested.

According to the statement, he had orchestrated the April 12, 2008 bombing in a packed mosque in Shiraz that killed 14 people and wounded 215.

Iran hanged three men convicted of the bombing in 2009, saying they had ties to the monarchist group.

It said they had been taking orders from an Iranian US-backed "CIA agent" to try to assassinate a high-ranking official in Iran.

They were 21-year old Mohsen Eslamian and Ali Asghar Pashtar, 20 -- both university students -- as well as Rouzbeh Yahyazadeh, 32.

The three were found guilty of being "mohareb" (enemies of God) and "corruption on the earth" by a revolutionary court in Tehran.

Iran hanged two other convicted members of the group in 2010, who had "confessed to obtaining explosives and planning to assassinate officials".

The statement issued on Saturday said that Tondar had plotted several other "big operations" which failed.

It said that Tondar had planned to blow up a dam in Shiraz, use "cyanide bombs" at a Tehran book fair, and plant an explosive device at the mausoleum of the republic's founder, Khomeini.

It was not clear how Iran arrested the US-based Sharmahd.

Iran's intelligence ministry announced the arrest of a former opposition figure in similarly mysterious circumstances in October last year.

Ruhollah Zam, described as a "counter-revolutionary" by Iranian authorities, was sentenced to death last month over "corruption on earth".

Zam, who reportedly lived in exile in Paris, ran a channel on the Telegram messaging application called Amadnews and was accused of sparking unrest during anti-government protests last year.



Russia's Lavrov, US' Rubio Meet in Kuala Lumpur

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
TT
20

Russia's Lavrov, US' Rubio Meet in Kuala Lumpur

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the US State Department and Russia's foreign ministry said. 

It would be the second in-person meeting between Rubio and Lavrov, and comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war in Ukraine drags on. 

The first meeting between the top diplomats took place in Saudi Arabia in February as part of the Trump administration's effort to re-establish bilateral relations and help negotiate an end to the war. 

"I can confirm: such a meeting is being worked out," TASS state news agency cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Thursday. 

Trump, who returned to power this year promising a swift end to the war that began in 2022, had taken a more conciliatory tone toward Moscow in a departure from predecessor Joe Biden's staunch support for Kyiv. 

But on Tuesday, a day after Trump approved sending US defensive weapons to Ukraine, he aimed unusually direct criticism at Putin, saying the Kremlin leader's statements on moving towards peace were "meaningless". 

Trump has also said he was considering supporting a bill that would impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500% tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. 

When asked on Wednesday about Trump's criticism of Putin, the Kremlin said Moscow was "calm" regarding the criticism and that it would continue to try to fix a "broken" US-Russia relationship. 

At a conference of Ukraine-friendly nations in Rome on Wednesday, Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Kyiv described as a "substantive" conversation. 

Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones early on Wednesday, the latest attack in a series of escalating air assaults in recent weeks that have involved hundreds of drones in addition to ballistic missiles, straining Ukrainian air defenses at a perilous moment in the war. 

In his first visit to Asia since taking office, Rubio is in Kuala Lumpur to meet with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with senior Malaysian government officials. 

The trip is part of an effort to renew US focus on the Indo-Pacific and look beyond the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration's attention, with Rubio balancing dual responsibilities as secretary of state and national security adviser.