عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

US Accuses Iranians of Attempt to Smuggle Advanced Weapons to IRGC

United States Department of Justice. Reuters
United States Department of Justice. Reuters
TT
TT

US Accuses Iranians of Attempt to Smuggle Advanced Weapons to IRGC

United States Department of Justice. Reuters
United States Department of Justice. Reuters

The Justice Department on Friday said an Iranian, carrying the British nationality, has pleaded guilty for exporting advanced weapons from the United States to Iran.

Meanwhile, an indictment was unsealed charging four individuals with the same offense, as well as related offenses.

In a statement, the Department said that according to his plea, Saber Fakih, 46, of the UK, conspired with Bader Fakih, 41, of Canada, Altaf Faquih, 70, and Alireza Taghavi, 46, to export and attempt to export an Industrial Microwave System (IMS) and counter-drone system from the United States to Iran, without first obtaining the requisite license from the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

It said Saber Fakih pleaded guilty to count two of the indictment.

The statement added that in 2017 and 2018, the co-conspirators attempted to export to Iran items that had potential civil and military uses.

Fakih faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of $1 million for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

“Fakih and his coconspirators attempted to evade US sanctions and obtain highly sensitive pieces of equipment for Iran from unwitting US suppliers,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

“In doing so, Fakih jeopardized not only US national security, but the national security of any other nation Iran decides to target. The Department of Justice can and will act to disrupt and prosecute such criminal conduct.”

Meanwhile, Special Agent in Charge Nasir Khan of the US Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement, Washington Field Office, said “this investigation illustrates that our adversaries are willing to utilize complicated procurement networks and blatantly disregard US export control laws to acquire sensitive dual use items for potential military purposes.”

The list of indictments against Faikh and his partners revealed that for over 40 years, Iran has continuously attempted to obtain sanctioned items that could be used against Americans or its allies.

In this regard, Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division pledged that the FBI, along with its federal partners, will persist in thwarting these attempts and do its part to keep US democracy safe.

In addition, a related indictment was unsealed in the District of Columbia charging Iranian national Jalal Rohollahnejad, 44, with smuggling, wire fraud and related offenses arising from the same scheme.

The indictments allege that Rohollahnejad and Taghavi hold themselves out as representatives of Rayan Roshd Asfzar, which has been linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Britain Likely to Expel Israeli Diplomats if Jerusalem Consulate Closes

A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
TT
TT

Britain Likely to Expel Israeli Diplomats if Jerusalem Consulate Closes

A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A view of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Britain is likely to expel Israeli diplomats if Israel carries out its order to shut the British consulate in East Jerusalem this week in a dispute over sanctions targeting Israeli settlements, four sources said.

Israel on September 8 ordered Britain to close the East Jerusalem consulate within 30 days and remove its diplomats from the city, after Britain said it would impose a ban on trade of goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The 30-day deadline for Britain to close the consulate ends on Thursday, which will impact around 30 British diplomats who work there, along with their ‌family members, the ‌sources said.

If the consulate is closed, Britain is likely to respond ‌by expelling ⁠a similar number ⁠of Israeli diplomats from Israel's embassy to the United Kingdom, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The sources did not say how quickly Britain would act if the consulate closes. After Britain announced the sanctions, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused London of interfering in this month's Israeli general election.

The British foreign office did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli foreign ministry declined to comment. An Israeli official said any action against Israel would be met with a response.

The British sanctions announcement, and ⁠Israel's response, marked a new low in the relationship between the once ‌steadfast allies. Britain has repeatedly criticized Israel over its actions in ‌the war in Gaza and over Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians. Israel's government has accused Britain's governing Labor party ‌of being hostile towards Israel.

The British consulate, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, ‌handles the country's relations with Palestinians in the city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza. It also provides consular services to Palestinians.

The consulate has been in Jerusalem for almost 200 years, long before the State of Israel was established in 1948.

Reuters reported on Monday that Britain's top national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, had ‌quietly visited Israel last week in a bid to keep the consulate open but failed to reach an agreement. A fifth source said Britain ⁠was still hopeful an ⁠agreement could be reached.

Two other sources said that Britain has asked European countries to raise the issue with Israel in hope of convincing the government to reverse its decision.

A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told Reuters on Monday the consulate would close on Thursday.

In announcing the sanctions, Britain said that Israel's actions were undermining the possibility of a two-state solution — the idea of a Palestinian state co-existing peacefully alongside Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government openly rejects the idea of Palestinian statehood.

Britain, which recognized the State of Palestine last year, cited Israeli government-backed projects to expand settlements and rising settler attacks targeting Palestinians in the West Bank. The British sanctions are to take effect next year.

France and Canada joined in announcing sanctions. Israel has not taken action against Paris or Ottawa.

The incident highlighted growing frustration among Israel's longtime allies over its settlements in the occupied West Bank, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war. Nearly all countries and all UN bodies view the settlements as illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.

World

WHO: No Signs of Further Russian Infections after Plague Lab Worker Dies

A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
TT
TT

WHO: No Signs of Further Russian Infections after Plague Lab Worker Dies

A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that Russian authorities have identified all of the people in contact with a laboratory worker at a ⁠plague research institute in ⁠Siberia who died of unknown causes.

"All of the patients' contacts ⁠have been reportedly identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness," said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

He said ⁠Russian ⁠authorities, who have yet to officially respond to a WHO request for information, are investigating whether pneumonic plague caused her death in Siberia's Irkutsk region.

He deemed the public health risk in Russia to be low.

"The WHO initial risk assessment from the information available estimates the risk to be moderate to low for Irkutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European region," Lindmeier told a press briefing.

Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor insisted Tuesday that a document circulating online indicating heightened sanitary-epidemiological measures and restrictions in the Irkutsk region was fake.

"We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue," it said on Telegram.

"No such decisions have been made at this time," it said, stressing that "the sanitary-epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk Region ... remains stable.”

World

Tens of Thousands Expected in Paris for High School Protests

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
TT
TT

Tens of Thousands Expected in Paris for High School Protests

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on the streets of Paris on Tuesday as France's powerful trade unions join high school students rallying for better conditions in a wave of protests marked by clashes with police.

Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15 to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

While many protests have been peaceful, some demonstrators have lit dustbin fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police, who have responded with batons, tear gas and riot-control rounds, AFP said.

The government says 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement, with a 15-year-old losing a hand on Monday after, according to a police union source, he picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot officers.

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron after his maximum two terms in office.

More protests are expected across the country on Tuesday after teaching was disrupted at 589 of the country's 3,700 lycees and 32 universities, according to the education ministry and a student union.

Authorities are expecting some 20,000 to 40,000 demonstrators in Paris.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office has called for "peaceful" gatherings, calling for a return to "a structured, legal and democratic form of opposition".

The head of the CGT labor union Sophie Binet has said its members would be there to "protect high-school students".

- 'Disproportionate police repression' -

Several unions and rights groups have accused the police of using disproportionate force against the protesters.

Amnesty International late Monday said the French authorities should "put an end to the disproportionate police repression seen in recent days during student protests".

"The images and testimonies widely circulated over the past week raise alarming concerns about the dangerous use of tear gas, batons and policing techniques by the police," Amnesty's Anne Savinel-Barras said.

The police have launched 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality since the protests started, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday.

The government has sought to address the grievances, while accusing the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of being behind the movement.

Veteran LFI presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has strongly supported the protests, while calling for non-violent methods.

Since the start of the movement, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the education ministry.

More than 5,000 people, 87 percent of them minors, have been arrested.

Lecornu's office said 85 teaching staff have also been injured.

The prime minister has sought to address the issue of missing teachers and renovating buildings that are dilapidated.

The government is also pushing legislation to make those responsible for damaging public property pay for repairs themselves, instead of using public funds.

Lecornu has said the draft law could allow compensation payments to be recovered from family allowances and housing benefits while ensuring a minimum income.

Union leader Binet has said it would "end up targeting the most vulnerable families".