Iranian Commander Threatens to Destroy Haifa, Tel Aviv

Iran's regular army ground forces' commander Kiumars Heydari. Fars
Iran's regular army ground forces' commander Kiumars Heydari. Fars
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Iranian Commander Threatens to Destroy Haifa, Tel Aviv

Iran's regular army ground forces' commander Kiumars Heydari. Fars
Iran's regular army ground forces' commander Kiumars Heydari. Fars

Iran will raze the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa should its enemy Israel make any mistake, Commander of the Iranian army ground forces Kiumars Heydari threatened on Tuesday.

“For any mistake made by the enemy, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground by the order of the Supreme Leader,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the Iranian commander as saying.

Heydari said all units of the army are being equipped with precision-guided, long-range and smart weapons, adding that the range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and that the operational missiles of the army have increased.

He underlined that the military and defense achievements of the Iranian army are a thorn in the enemies' eyes.

“All this equipment is to respond to the stupid aggressions of the enemies of the Islamic Revolution,” Heydari noted.

The Army commander reiterated that the usurper Zionist regime has occupied Muslim lands and these lands will return to Islam in less than 25 years.

However, Heydari failed to refer to any of the security developments that shook Iran lately.

Last May 25, an engineer died and another employee was injured after an accident in a research center at the Parchin military site affiliated with Iran's Defense Ministry.

The next day, Iranian authorities confirmed the death of engineer Ehsan Ghad Beigi in an "industrial accident" at the military site.

The New York Times said that according to three Iranians with knowledge of the attack and to a US official, a drone strike targeted the highly sensitive military site outside Tehran where Iran develops missile, nuclear and drone technology.

The attack came four days after a senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Col. Sayad Khodayee, was assassinated in Tehran outside his home, according to a statement by the Guards.

NYT said Israel told the United States that it was behind his killing, according to one intelligence official.

The Israelis intended it as a warning to Iran to stop targeting Israeli citizens abroad, the official said.

Few days following the Parchin explosion, another commander of IRGC Quds Force died under suspicious circumstances in Karaj. There were conflicting reports concerning the reason for his death, his role at the IRGC and his link to Khodayee.

Later, reports revealed that Ayoob Entezari, a senior Iranian engineer who held a PhD in aerospace engineering and was reported dead under unclear circumstances early this month, had been intentionally poisoned in the city of Yazd.

A letter written by the governor called him a "martyr" and a picture allegedly showed officials paying a condolence visit to his home.

Khodayee’s killing and the Parchin bombing dealt a major blow to Iranian authorities, who tried to reduce Israel’s ability to carry out operations deep inside Iranian territory, especially after hardliner Ibrahim Raisi was elected President.



French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
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French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)

Investigators suspect that a train derailment in northwest France which injured 44, one gravely, was the result of sabotage, a police source told AFP on Saturday.

A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry as a result, the source said.

Carrying 186 passengers, the train was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it derailed around 7:45 pm (1745 GMT) Friday.

Authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles drafted in.

Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois said 44 people were injured including an 18-year-old woman evacuated "in a critical condition", while tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.

SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, told AFP that traffic on the line has been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.


Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
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Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS

An explosion and fires have hit an ammunition storage site in central Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country.

The latest incident happened late Friday at the warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta.

No casualties were reported, and the extent of damage was not immediately clear.

"At present there is no danger to the population," local police said in a statement, adding that employees had been evacuated and the area cordoned off.

The nearest village is more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site, AFP reported.

The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine.

EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning.

Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020.

Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks.

Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August.

No injuries were reported in either case.


US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
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US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)

Before Iran carried out its attack that killed three US troops in July, Tehran acquired high-resolution satellite images of the base in Jordan from Chinese entities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing US officials familiar with details of the incident.

It is the clearest evidence so far that Chinese support for Iran during the war has had lethal consequences for US forces, according to the officials, who say the US has connected the imagery to the attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan.

The officials did not identify the Chinese entities that supplied the imagery and stopped short of accusing the Chinese government of directly assisting the attack.

Last July, Iranian ballistic missiles struck a housing area where US troops were sleeping, killing three soldiers and wounding four others. The attack was one of three missile strikes against the base within 24 hours and marked the first US deaths since an April ceasefire.

US officials also told the Journal that Iran targeted manned and unmanned aircraft stationed at the base.

Senior US officials raised the satellite imagery linked to the July 17 attack directly with Chinese counterparts, according to the Journal, but Beijing rejected the allegations and demanded evidence.

Chinese officials have repeatedly dismissed Washington's concerns and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were engaged in such activity, the report said.

The findings could add friction to US-China relations ahead of a planned Sept. 24 summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to the Journal report, Iranian access to high-resolution imagery was particularly significant because US strikes earlier in the war had damaged Iranian radar, satellites and other surveillance equipment, limiting Tehran’s ability to monitor US military positions.

Caption: Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)