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Iranian Opposition Group Reveals Secret Nuclear Site Near Tehran

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
    Paris, London – Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iranian Opposition Group Reveals Secret Nuclear Site Near Tehran

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI

An exiled Iranian opposition group said it had uncovered a secret new military site which they fear is being used for testing in the Iranian nuclear program.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in a presser held in Washington and broadcast live online on Friday, said that a new site has been built to continue arming the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.

NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a group blacklisted as terrorist by Tehran.

The construction project of the new site in the Sorkheh-Hessar region in Tehran, started in 2012 and its construction took several years, NCRI revealed by providing satellite footage to corroborate its claims.

The new site is being run by a shadowy defense ministry research unit known as Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND).

“By being located in a military area, it has found an appropriate cover to keep the identities of the personnel working there a secret,” said NCRI spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh.

The SPND is known to conduct experiments with the aim of building nuclear weapons.

NCRI said that its revelation once again proves that fact that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multinational deal on Iran’s nuclear program agreed in 2015, did not prevent the mullahs’ striving to acquire nuclear weapons and that the regime has even reneged on its commitments stipulated in the JCPOA.

In other news, a member of the Iranian parliament has called for President Hassan Rouhani to be executed.

“Iran's leader should order you [Rouhani] be executed 1,000 times so that the hearts of the Iranian people flourish,” Mojtaba Zolnouri tweeted on Saturday.

The threats made by the cleric were reported by several Iranian media.

Zolnouri is angry about a statement made by Rouhani, which has been interpreted as preparation for negotiations with the US to be able to lead the country out of its current economic crisis.

"If necessary we will wage war, but if necessary also peace," Rouhani said on Wednesday.

For the hardliners, negotiations with the US - considered Iran's arch-enemy - are treason.

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World

Pope Defends Migrants at Mediterranean Island Frontier

Pope Leo XIV walks trough the arch of the monument Door of Europe - Porta d'Europa made by the italian artist Mimmo Paladino, during a one day visit to Lampedusa island, south of Sicily, on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Pope Leo XIV walks trough the arch of the monument Door of Europe - Porta d'Europa made by the italian artist Mimmo Paladino, during a one day visit to Lampedusa island, south of Sicily, on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
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Pope Defends Migrants at Mediterranean Island Frontier

Pope Leo XIV walks trough the arch of the monument Door of Europe - Porta d'Europa made by the italian artist Mimmo Paladino, during a one day visit to Lampedusa island, south of Sicily, on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Pope Leo XIV walks trough the arch of the monument Door of Europe - Porta d'Europa made by the italian artist Mimmo Paladino, during a one day visit to Lampedusa island, south of Sicily, on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited Italy's Lampedusa island, a major port of call for migrants risking the perilous crossing from Africa, in a stark message to US and EU leaders.

The Catholic Church's first US pope, who has clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over its treatment of migrants, is marking July 4, the United States' 250th anniversary of independence, on a migration frontline.

Leo's visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union's approval of new migrant rules allowing much broader detention powers and the creation of deportation centers outside the bloc.

After praying at the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims, the 70-year-old stood alone on the island's rocky shoreline, buffeted by the wind as he looked out to sea, where countless migrant boats have been lost to the waves.

He spoke to a migrant family, before taking the children by the hand and standing along with their pregnant mother at the "Door of Europe", a monument dedicated to people who risk everything in search of a better life.

The Chicago-born pontiff has made the defense of migrants a pillar of his papacy, like his predecessor, Francis, praising those who help the needy and decrying mass deportations in the United States.

He was expected to use the half-day trip to the Mediterranean island, a frontier between Africa and Europe, to call for safe and legal pathways for immigration.

Leo's presence "sends a clear message at a time when the global political debate on migration is often framed around borders and deterrence rather than protection and shared responsibility", Filippo Ungaro, spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.

Lampedusa sits 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the coast of Tunisia, and is famous for showing compassion to thousands of migrants -- and taking in their dead.

In 2013, more than 360 people died in the island's worst shipwreck, and dozens more have drowned in the years since.

Leo has previously praised the generosity of the islanders, a fishing and tourism community of 6,000.

World

Outgoing UK PM Says Successor Cannot Spend Less Time on Foreign Affairs

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seen at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 02 July 2026. EPA/ANDY RAIN / POOL
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seen at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 02 July 2026. EPA/ANDY RAIN / POOL
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Outgoing UK PM Says Successor Cannot Spend Less Time on Foreign Affairs

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seen at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 02 July 2026. EPA/ANDY RAIN / POOL
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seen at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 02 July 2026. EPA/ANDY RAIN / POOL

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said whoever succeeds him would have to devote as much time to international crises and diplomacy as he did, rejecting suggestions Britain's next leader could focus more heavily on domestic issues.

Starmer, who announced last month that he would step down after two years in office, said in a BBC interview on Friday that foreign and domestic policy could not be separated as Britain faced an increasingly volatile ⁠world.

"There's often this ⁠discussion - what's the right balance between dealing with international affairs and dealing with domestic affairs? They're one and the same thing," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Asked whether a prime minister could spend less time on diplomacy than he had, ⁠Starmer replied: "No, I don't think it is possible."

Starmer has faced criticism from some opponents over the amount of time he has spent on foreign policy. Lawmaker Andy Burnham, widely expected to replace Starmer, has promised to focus on domestic priorities including living standards, housing, infrastructure and devolving more power to Britain's regions.

In a video titled "With Keir" and posted on X on Saturday, Starmer defended ⁠the international ⁠focus of his premiership, saying Britain had restored its global standing. He cited support for Ukraine and participation in international coalitions among his key achievements.

"The fact that now other countries look to us for that leadership is something I'm really proud of having delivered in the two years we've had in government," he said.

Starmer also pointed to stabilizing the economy, reducing child poverty and improving the National Health Service among his key accomplishments.

World

St Petersburg Region Port, Oil Terminal Hit in Major Ukrainian Drone Attack

The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy holds a news briefing in Moscow, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy holds a news briefing in Moscow, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
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St Petersburg Region Port, Oil Terminal Hit in Major Ukrainian Drone Attack

The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy holds a news briefing in Moscow, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy holds a news briefing in Moscow, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

Russia's second city of St Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region came under a large Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Saturday, with a local port and oil infrastructure struck, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.

St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the city of 6 million had been subjected to a "large-scale" drone ⁠attack, with the city's ⁠oil terminal struck. He said there were no casualties and that the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with.

Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said drones had struck the port of Vysotsk, about 170 km (105 miles) northwest of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. The ⁠port handles oil, grain, coal and liquefied natural gas.

Drozdenko said 72 drones had been shot down over the Leningrad region.

In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "Ukraine's defense forces struck port oil infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war, and also hit Kronstadt, an important military target more than 850 km (528 miles) from Ukraine's state border."

According to Reuters, there was no information from Russia on a strike on Kronstadt, a major naval base close to St Petersburg ⁠that Ukraine ⁠hit in a previous attack on the city in June.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this year, causing fuel shortages in parts of Russia.

Elsewhere, the governor of Russia's Bryansk region, as well as the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said that drone strikes had killed one person in each region, with several more wounded.

South of St Petersburg, the governor of Pskov region said more than 30 drones had been shot down overnight. He reported minor damage and injuries, including to a factory in the town of Velikiye Luki.

Ukraine's general staff on Saturday rejected Russian claims that Moscow's ​forces had captured the key eastern city of Kostiantynivka.

"We deny this. These are more fake claims," a general staff official said.

The General Staff said Kostiantynivka remained under the control of ‌Ukrainian forces.

"Military units ‌and subunits ​of ‌the ⁠19th ​Army Corps ⁠of the Eastern Grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches," it said.