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Iran Dissidents File New Lawsuit against Raisi in US

In this file photo taken on July 19, 2022, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi takes part in a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts following their summit in Tehran. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 19, 2022, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi takes part in a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts following their summit in Tehran. (AFP)
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Iran Dissidents File New Lawsuit against Raisi in US

In this file photo taken on July 19, 2022, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi takes part in a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts following their summit in Tehran. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 19, 2022, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi takes part in a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts following their summit in Tehran. (AFP)

Iranian dissidents and ex-prisoners including a Western academic on Tuesday announced the filing of a civil suit in New York against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as he attended the UN General Assembly.

The republic's hardline president is the target of the complaint for his role as a judge in the 1980s when thousands of people were sentenced to death in the country, according to the advocacy group National Union for Democracy in Iran.

The suit had yet to be made public Tuesday evening by a US federal court in Manhattan, said AFP.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian-British academic imprisoned in Iran from September 2018 to November 2020 for espionage, appeared by video at a New York press conference and painted a harrowing picture of her ordeal behind bars, including a year of solitary confinement.

"I was subjected to a range of different psychological and physical tortures and was routinely subjected to cruel and degrading and humiliating mistreatment," Moore-Gilbert said.
The litigation "is a step towards justice and an attempt to help victims regain their dignity," former prisoner Navid Mohebbi told reporters.

"I have seen the very worst of what this regime and Raisi have done to my compatriots," Mohebbi added.

The civil suit invokes US legislation protecting victims of torture.

NUFDI political director Cameron Khansarinia said "the plaintiffs in this case, Iranian dissidents, former Iranian hostages, former Western hostages, are coming together in an unprecedented fashion to take a step forward for justice."

He said that the dissidents and former prisoners were "echoing the cries we hear today on the streets of Iran," a reference to a deadly crackdown against protests that erupted after the death of young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by morality police who enforce restrictions on women's dress.

The complaint is not the first against Raisi on American soil.

In August in New York a civil lawsuit filed by a separate exile group challenged US authorities to take action against Raisi ahead of his UN appearance.

According to that filing, Raisi in 1988 was a member of the so-called "death commission," four judges who directly ordered thousands of executions as well as torture of members of the armed opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, known as the MEK.

Raisi, elected in August 2021, is due to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

Earlier Tuesday he met in New York with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he discussed Tehran's nuclear program and "respect for women's rights" after the demonstrations in several Iranian cities.

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World

US Says ‘Took Out’ Iran Base Threatening Blocked Hormuz Oil Route

18 August 2022, Strait of Hormuz: A satellite image, captured by NASA, shows the Strait of Hormuz. (NASA/dpa)
18 August 2022, Strait of Hormuz: A satellite image, captured by NASA, shows the Strait of Hormuz. (NASA/dpa)
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US Says ‘Took Out’ Iran Base Threatening Blocked Hormuz Oil Route

18 August 2022, Strait of Hormuz: A satellite image, captured by NASA, shows the Strait of Hormuz. (NASA/dpa)
18 August 2022, Strait of Hormuz: A satellite image, captured by NASA, shows the Strait of Hormuz. (NASA/dpa)

The US military declared on Saturday it had taken out an Iranian bunker housing weapons threatening oil and gas shipments in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US statement appeared designed to calm the concerns of energy markets and of Washington's skeptical international allies, more than 20 of whom issued a statement vowing to back efforts to re-open the key sea lane.

Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said US war planes had dropped 5,000-pound bombs on an underground facility on Iran's coast that was storing anti-ship cruise missiles, mobile launchers and other equipment.

"We not only took out the facility, but also destroyed intelligence support sites and missile radar relays that were used to monitor ship movements," Cooper said in a video statement, revealing details of a strike first announced on Tuesday.

A statement from the leaders of mainly European countries, including the UK, France, Italy and Germany, but also South Korea, Australia, the UAE and Bahrain, condemned the "de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces".

"We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preliminary planning," they said.

As consumers count the cost of attacks on energy facilities in the Gulf, including the world's largest gas hub, US President Donald Trump has slammed NATO allies as "cowards" and urged them to secure the strait.

Iran has choked the channel, through which around a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes during peacetime.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had only imposed restrictions on vessels from countries involved in attacks against Iran, and would offer assistance to others that stayed out of the conflict.

Iran also denies claims -- cited in the 20-country joint statement -- that it has deployed mines in the channel.

The standoff has sent crude oil prices soaring, with a barrel of North Sea Brent crude up more than 50 percent over the past month and now comfortably more than $105.

Meanwhile, Tehran marked the end of Ramadan as the war entered its fourth week.

Iran's supreme leader traditionally leads Eid al-Fitr prayers, but Mojtaba Khamenei, who came to power earlier this month after his father was killed in US-Israeli strikes, has remained out of the public eye.

Instead, the head of the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, attended prayers at central Tehran's Imam Khomeini grand mosque, which was overflowing, with worshippers flooding the streets outside.

The previous evening, airstrikes had darkened the mood as the city celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Iran's ally Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to Khamenei, saying he "wished the Iranian people strength on overcoming these severe trials and emphasized that during this difficult time, Moscow remained a loyal friend".

World

Iran ‘Unsuccessfully’ Targeted Diego Garcia Base, Reveals Source

US Military personnel take away Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), removed from a US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber at RAF Fairford in southwest England on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
US Military personnel take away Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), removed from a US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber at RAF Fairford in southwest England on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran ‘Unsuccessfully’ Targeted Diego Garcia Base, Reveals Source

US Military personnel take away Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), removed from a US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber at RAF Fairford in southwest England on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
US Military personnel take away Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), removed from a US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber at RAF Fairford in southwest England on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

Iran was "unsuccessful" in targeting the joint UK-US Indian Ocean military base at Diego Garcia, a UK official source confirmed to AFP on Saturday, after the Wall Street Journal reported Tehran fired two ballistic missiles at it.

Diego Garcia, which is around 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iranian territory, is one of the two bases the UK has allowed the United States to use for "defensive operations" in its war against Iran.

On Friday, the UK government said it would allow Washington to use its bases in Diego Garcia and Fairford in southwest England to target Iranian "missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz".

The UK official source confirmed that Iran's "unsuccessful targeting of Diego Garcia" took place before Friday's announcement.

The source did not confirm additional details about the attack.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing US officials, that while neither of the two ballistic missiles hit their target, the launch suggests that Tehran has missiles with longer ranges than previously thought.

The Pentagon declined to comment.

One of the missiles failed in flight, and the other was targeted by an interceptor fired from a US warship, though it was not clear if the missile was hit, the WSJ reported.

"Iran's reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies," a UK Ministry of Defense spokesperson said Saturday.

"This government has given permission to the US to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations."

Iran has "always had missiles of that sort of range that we've known about, maybe not declared", former UK Royal Navy commander and defense expert Tom Sharpe told AFP.

The attack "shows that they can still move these mobile launchers around, undetected, spin up and fire without being struck", said Sharpe, adding however that they would not be a "game changer" in the war.

- 'Strategic messaging' -

"Depending on the weight of the warhead, Iran can increase the range of some of its missiles," explained Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the Crisis Group.

"But this was less about battlefield utility than strategic messaging -- signaling to the United States and Israel that misreading Iran's resolve and capabilities could prove a costly mistake," said Vaez.

US President Donald Trump has been critical of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's response to the war against Iran, initially refusing to be involved before allowing Washington limited use of the two bases.

American forces have stationed bombers and other equipment at Diego Garcia, a key hub for Asia operations, including the US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Trump has also slammed Britain's decision to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after holding it since the 1960s. Under that agreement, the UK would maintain a lease for the base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his UK counterpart Yvette Cooper on a Thursday phone call that any US use of British bases would be considered "participation in aggression", according to Tehran's foreign ministry.

In turn, Cooper warned Araghchi "against targeting UK bases, territory or interests directly", according to a UK foreign office statement.

World

UK Says Its Bases on Cyprus Will Not Be Used in Offensive Operations

A view of a Salt Lake during a sunset, in Larnaca, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
A view of a Salt Lake during a sunset, in Larnaca, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
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UK Says Its Bases on Cyprus Will Not Be Used in Offensive Operations

A view of a Salt Lake during a sunset, in Larnaca, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
A view of a Salt Lake during a sunset, in Larnaca, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)

Britain will not be using its bases in Cyprus for any offensive action in the Iran crisis, the Cypriot government spokesperson said on Saturday, citing a phone call between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Cypriot President Nikos ‌Christodoulides.

"The British ‌Prime Minister reiterated ... ‌that ⁠the security of the ⁠Republic of Cyprus is fundamental to the United Kingdom and, to that end, a decision has been taken to enhance the ⁠means contributing to the preventive ‌measures ‌already in place," the spokesperson said in ‌a written statement.

"Finally, the ‌Prime Minister reiterated that the British Bases in Cyprus will not be used for any ‌offensive military operations."

An Iranian-type Shahed drone caused slight damage ⁠when ⁠it hit facilities at Britain's Akrotiri airbase in southern Cyprus on March 2, with two others later intercepted. There have been no further known security incidents.

Britain retained sovereignty over two bases on the island when it granted its colony independence in 1960.