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Iranian-Swedish Tensions Rise over Trial of 1988 Mass Executions Jailer

A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
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Iranian-Swedish Tensions Rise over Trial of 1988 Mass Executions Jailer

A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]

Swedish-Iranian national Ahmad Reza Jalali is to be executed on May 21 at the latest, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency said on Wednesday, citing sources.

Jalali, a disaster medicine doctor and researcher, was arrested in 2016 on an academic visit to Iran and sentenced to death on charges of espionage for Israel's Mossad.

The report comes as Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prosecution official arrested by Swedish authorities in 2019, faces a life sentence in Sweden on charges of international war crimes and human rights abuses.

Nouri is accused of playing a leading role in the killing of political prisoners executed on government orders at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988.

Swedish prosecutors and plaintiffs have requested life imprisonment for Nouri for his role in the prison purges.

In the 89th session of Nouri’s trial, plaintiffs’ lawyers said Nouri played “an active role” in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in Iranian prisons and requested the court hand out the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for him.

On Sunday evening, Tehran summoned Sweden's ambassador over what it considered “baseless and false allegations” made against Nouri.

Iran's Secretary of High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi described Sweden’s trial of Nouri as “unlawful and unfair.”

Gharibabadi said Nouri's trial is a sham that violates the principles of justice and human rights.

Gharibabadi pointed out that “Nouri has been arrested based on false accusations and his detention is regarded as forced disappearance since his family was kept unaware of the arrest.”

There was no comment from the Swedish government on the Iranian statements.

In 2019, Nouri was arrested upon his arrival in Sweden over alleged human rights abuses.

Swedish prosecutors have invoked the principle of “universal jurisdiction” for serious crimes to bring the case against Nouri to trial.

Last week, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a message on Twitter, advised its country’s citizens against non-essential travel to Iran “due to the security situation.”

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World

Israel Says Struck Site it Claims Iran Used for Developing Nuclear Arms

This satellite image released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex, some 30 kms (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, Iran, on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Satellite image 2026 Vantor / AFP)
This satellite image released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex, some 30 kms (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, Iran, on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Satellite image 2026 Vantor / AFP)
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Israel Says Struck Site it Claims Iran Used for Developing Nuclear Arms

This satellite image released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex, some 30 kms (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, Iran, on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Satellite image 2026 Vantor / AFP)
This satellite image released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex, some 30 kms (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, Iran, on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Satellite image 2026 Vantor / AFP)

Israel's military said Thursday that it had struck a site in Iran it claimed was being used to develop nuclear weapons.

"The Israeli Air Force, acting on precise IDF intelligence, struck an additional Iranian nuclear program site," the military said, claiming the "Taleghan compound was utilized by the regime to advance critical capabilities for developing nuclear weapons.”

The Taleghan compound likely refers to a facility in Parchin, southeast of Tehran, where US-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, which has been monitoring Iran's nuclear program, recently claimed Iran conducts covert military activities.

World

Scores killed and Missing after Landslides Sweep Ethiopia

Children gather at a market stall to collect goods in Chercher, Southern Tigray, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Abel Gerezgiher / AFP)
Children gather at a market stall to collect goods in Chercher, Southern Tigray, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Abel Gerezgiher / AFP)
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Scores killed and Missing after Landslides Sweep Ethiopia

Children gather at a market stall to collect goods in Chercher, Southern Tigray, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Abel Gerezgiher / AFP)
Children gather at a market stall to collect goods in Chercher, Southern Tigray, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Abel Gerezgiher / AFP)

At least 50 people have died and 125 others are missing after landslides hit three districts in southern Ethiopia following a week of heavy rains, a local official said Thursday.

The landslides happened in Gamo Zone and affected the Gacho Baba District, Kamba District and Bonke District, according to Gamo Zone director of disaster response Mesfin Manuqa.

According to The Associated Press, Manuqa said that one person was pulled out of the mud alive during the rescue operation.

The Gacho Baba District communication chief, Abebe Agena, said most of those who died were found buried in the mud. It is not yet clear how many households were affected.

Tilahun Kebede, president of the South Ethiopia Regional State, expressed his sorrow over the disaster and urged residents to move to higher ground as rains continue.

“Given that it is the rainy season and these types of disasters could happen again, I am calling on communities living in the highlands and flood-prone areas to take the necessary precautions,” he said.

Mudslides and floods caused by heavy rainfall are common in Ethiopia, especially during the rainy season.

World

Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)

The Kremlin accused Ukraine on Thursday of targeting a major gas pipeline in southern Russia that leads to Türkiye with "reckless" drone strikes.

Ukraine has hit Russian energy targets throughout Moscow's four-year offensive, a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

"At night, there were renewed attempts to attack the Russkaya compressor station with drones," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling the pipeline an "international facility" that "ensures energy security for Türkiye".

"These are absolutely reckless actions by the Kyiv regime," Peskov said.

Russia's defense ministry said it had downed 10 Ukrainian-launched drones in the early hours of Thursday "above the gas compressor station that supplies gas to the TurkStream pipeline".

The station lies in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, which is regularly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes.

State-owned Russian gas producer Gazprom earlier said that the Russkaya and Beregovaya stations were targeted.

It called them "critical energy infrastructure facilities ensuring the reliability of gas exports via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines."

Russia has decimated much of Ukraine's energy infrastructure in more than four years of war.