IRGC General Renews Threats to Israel

Second Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif
Second Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif
TT

IRGC General Renews Threats to Israel

Second Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif
Second Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif

The recent assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist was carried out remotely with the help of satellite guidance, artificial intelligence, and facial recognition, according to Iranian military officials cited by Iranian media on Sunday.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, believed to be the mastermind of Iran's controversial nuclear program, was traveling by car east of Tehran when he was shot dead on the afternoon of Friday, November 27. There are conflicting reports on how the attack unfolded, but most Iranian accounts agree that it was a sophisticated attack with gunfire and an explosion.

The killing deployed an "advanced electronic tool" guided by a "satellite device," according to Second Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as reported by Iran's semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

In response to the assassination, Sharif said: “The Zionists know very well that their actions will not go unanswered.

"In the past years it has been proved that their actions will not go unanswered.”

The Zionist Regime does all its efforts to prevent the Islamic Word from attaining scientific achievements, he said, adding: “Today, however, under the light of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has achieved independence in all fields of politics, science, the economy as well as military and defense issues.”



The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
TT

The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)

The pace and scale of Afghans returning from Iran are overwhelming already fragile support systems, a senior UN official warned Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people crossing the border daily exhausted and traumatized, relying on humanitarian aid.

So far this year, more than 1.4 million people have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including over 1 million from Iran.

Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn’t leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule, The AP news reported.

The UN special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, called for immediate international support for Afghanistan following a visit to the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province near Iran.

The “sheer volume of returns —many abrupt, many involuntary,” should be setting off alarm bells across the global community, Otunbayeva said.

“Without swift interventions, remittance losses, labor market pressures and cyclical migration will lead to devastating consequences such as the further destabilization of both returnee and host populations, renewed displacement, mass onward movement, and risks to regional stability,” she said.

Returns from Iran peaked in June following a 20 March government deadline requiring all “undocumented” Afghans to leave. The UN migration agency recorded more than 28,000 people crossing back into Afghanistan on June 25.

Afghanistan is a ‘forgotten crisis’ Most Afghans depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. But deep funding cuts are worsening the situation, with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations forced to cut education and health care programs.

Nicole van Batenburg, from the International Federation of the Red Cross, said Afghan children returning from Iran are developing scabies, fever and other illnesses because of deteriorating conditions at the border and the hot weather. Her colleagues were reuniting hundreds of children daily who got separated from their parents.

People lost their belongings and documents in the chaos of hasty exits. Most were only able to take a few suitcases with them, and some were now using their luggage as makeshift furniture.

“Afghanistan is an unseen crisis, and there are so many crises going on at this moment in the world that it seems to be forgotten,” van Batenburg told The Associated Press by phone from the border.

“The problems and the challenges are immense. We’re only talking about the situation here at the border, but these people have to return to some areas where they can live longer and where they can rebuild their lives.”

Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council said many of its staff were hosting returning families in their homes. Authorities were doing their best to mobilize the few resources they had, but local systems were not equipped to cope with “such tremendous” needs.