Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)
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Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government would take revenge from "the architects of the conspiracy."

The official IRNA news agency quoted Raisi as saying in a telephone conversation with the family of a deceased Basij officer that the responsible authorities are keen to take revenge from those responsible for this crime.

For his part, the spokesman for National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission, Abolfazl Amouei, said that a group of conservative MPs discussed security developments with officials from the Ministry of Intelligence.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Amouei indicated that recent developments have social foundations, but at the same time, the revolution's enemies seek to destabilize the country.

He added that the lawmakers demanded a strict confrontation with the counter-revolutionary groups.

Judiciary spokesman, Masoud Satayshi, said that former reformist MP Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, faces charges of propaganda against the regime, calling for gatherings, and disrupting public order.

He announced that Hashemi was "temporarily detained."

Hashemi was arrested on the 11th night of the protests, and hours after her arrest, Tasnim Agency quoted an informed source saying that one of the security services had arrested her for "inciting protestors to create chaos."

A member of the Expediency Discernment Council, Mohammad Sadr, warned that the authority "cannot rule by force," noting that the developments following Mahsa Amini's death resulted from accumulated resentment and repeated demands of people, especially the young and women.

Sadr, who ran several times for the Foreign Minister position, told the Jamaran website that "the security vision itself threatens security," calling for a change in the security position of the ruling institution.

Several newspapers criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and its Secretary General Mohammad Salih Hashemi Gulbaigani after he incited state agencies to impose strict veil laws.

The conservative Farheekhtegan newspaper headlined: "The Hate Production Factory," warning that the Commission's head and officials exacerbated social rifts.

Late Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to protest the UK's imposition of sanctions on Iran's morality police over the death of Amini.

The Ministry told the British ambassador that the sanctions imposed by the UK "are distorted and have no value for the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The ambassador was also informed that Iran "reserves its right to take countermeasures," state media added.

This is the third time Iran has summoned the British ambassador since the outbreak of protests last month.

Britain announced sanctions against Iran's morality police in its entirety as well as its chief, Mohammed Gachi, and the head of its Tehran division, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei in response to the violent suppression of protests since the death of Amini in police custody.

Recently, Western countries, including the United States and Canada, imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, accusing them of "suppressing" the protests.

The European Union is also considering imposing "restrictive measures" on Tehran.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, "The world is watching what is happening in Iran."

"These protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights," Sullivan wrote on Twitter.

"We stand with them, and we will hold responsible those using violence in a vain effort to silence their voices."

Meanwhile, reformist Etemad newspaper quoted Iranian-US sociologist Asef Bayat saying people wish to take back the everyday life that has been taken away from them.

Bayat believes this movement seeks life, and the protesters feel that achieving basic demands is being violated by the ruling establishment, unaware of the people's hopes and suffering.

He indicated that former protests focused on economic and living issues. However, the current movement is "comprehensive and unified," able to bring together different classes and nationalities from all over the country.

The Emtedad website quoted Bayat as saying that "women have taken the lead in Iran in the struggle against the authoritarian regime."

He described the uprising in Iran as an all-encompassing movement that has gathered together all Iranians regardless of their social class and ethnicity.



South Korea, Iran FMs Discuss Hormuz in Call

Members of the CandleAct union carry placards and shout slogans during a rally near the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, 10 September 2026. Protesters gathered to oppose a potential deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz.  EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
Members of the CandleAct union carry placards and shout slogans during a rally near the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, 10 September 2026. Protesters gathered to oppose a potential deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
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South Korea, Iran FMs Discuss Hormuz in Call

Members of the CandleAct union carry placards and shout slogans during a rally near the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, 10 September 2026. Protesters gathered to oppose a potential deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz.  EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
Members of the CandleAct union carry placards and shout slogans during a rally near the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, 10 September 2026. Protesters gathered to oppose a potential deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Iran discussed the Strait of Hormuz in a phone call on Friday, Seoul said, days after confirming it was weighing a "contribution" to the waterway's security.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured ally South Korea to provide help for the war in the Middle East, saying Seoul rejected his request for assistance in securing the waterway that is crucial to global oil supplies.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi at Tehran's request, "discussing the recent situation in the Middle East", and the Strait of Hormuz, the foreign ministry in Seoul said in a statement.

The Friday announcement followed a warning from Tehran earlier this week that any South Korean military contribution to the conflict would have "serious consequences".

South Korea sent a fact-finding team to assess the situation in the strait and has repeatedly said it has not decided whether to deploy its military to Hormuz.

Traffic through the vital shipping route has been virtually paralyzed since the US-Iran war began on February 28, disrupting global energy markets.

Negotiations between Iran and the United States have stalled as they vied for control over Hormuz, which normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports.


IAEA Confirms Activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flag flies during a special session of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2026. (AP)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flag flies during a special session of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2026. (AP)
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IAEA Confirms Activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flag flies during a special session of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2026. (AP)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flag flies during a special session of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2026. (AP)

The United Nations atomic watchdog said on Thursday it has observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily-fortified site suspected of housing nuclear-related activities.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said new movement at the complex had been spotted in remote imagery.

“There are some indications that there is movement around this construction site,” Grossi told Bloomberg Television.

“We don’t have any concrete information as to activities that may be taking place there,” he added.

Pickaxe Mountain, located in the Zagros Mountains roughly 220 kilometers south of Tehran, began drawing particular attention after an Iranian centrifuge workshop was sabotaged six years ago.

Iran said it intended to move sensitive nuclear-related infrastructure underground to protect it from attack.

“They said at the time, ‘we are going to put everything in tunnels, inside a mountain,’” Grossi told Bloomberg. “This was going to be impermeable and protected from attacks.”

Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility inside Pickaxe Mountain that could be used to enrich uranium.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump mentioned the Pickaxe at a Republican rally and said: “We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard.”

Trump has been threatening strikes on Pickaxe Mountain since at least mid-July.

Unverified nuclear stockpile

At the quarterly meeting of the IAEA board of governors in Vienna this week, Grossi said the UN watchdog has been completely blind regarding Iran's nuclear program since at least June 2025, when the US and Israel launched a 12-day conflict that included strikes on nuclear sites.

Prior to the June strikes, the IAEA calculated that Iran possessed approximately 440,9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, which is close to the 90% needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67% limit set by a 2015 now-defunct agreement with Iran.

On Wednesday, the UN atomic watchdog’s board reported Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years, citing it for failure to cooperate in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at undeclared sites.

The resolution accused Iran of failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations, citing it for failure to cooperate in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at undeclared sites.

Tehran responds

In return, Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi slammed the IAEA for referring Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council.

Gharibabadi wrote in a post on X, “They attack Iran's safeguarded nuclear facilities, disrupt the normal process of verification, and then use that very disruption as a pretext to issue a resolution.”

He described the approach as “fabricated”, saying: “With these fabrications, you cannot make up for the failure of your policies and actions, nor achieve any result at the Security Council.”

Iran’s mission to the UN also denounced the resolution. “It follows a telling trend and facilitates further erosion and ultimate collapse of the proliferation regime as a whole,” the mission said in a post on X.

The resolution sparked criticism in Tehran. Politicians said Iran should accelerate the development of the nuclear program and reconsider its membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iranian deputy Rouhollah Najabat said that following the IAEA Board of Governors’ resolution, Tehran will accelerate the technical development of its nuclear program.

“Westerners should know that the path of threats and referring the case to the Security Council is ineffective,” Najabat said.

He added that Iran will make no concessions but will take a “more serious and firm” approach.

The deputy warned that the Iranian parliament will not remain “passive.”

Lawmaker Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament’s presiding board, said Iran had “serious options” for responding. “One of our options could be withdrawal from the NPT,” he said, adding: “Iran will certainly respond.”


Hormuz Shipping Traffic Falls to Single Digits

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Hormuz Shipping Traffic Falls to Single Digits

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Vessel transits at the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday from 11 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Friday, well below the 10-day average of 15.

Of the seven vessels, two Panamax ships exited the strait, one carrying fertilizer and the other sailing in ballast, according to data from ship tracker Kpler as of 0306 GMT.

Five vessels entered the strait, including a Panamax vessel carrying dry bulk cargo, a Handysize vessel laden with steel, a Handysize vessel carrying grains, a medium-range tanker loaded with dirty petroleum products, and a Supramax vessel carrying dry bulk cargo.

The ⁠figures exclude any ⁠vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Meanwhile, two ballast QatarEnergy-linked vessels, the Al Ghashamiya and the Al Daayen, appeared inside the Strait of Hormuz this week on September 9 and 6, respectively, after last being seen outside the waterway on September 6 and ⁠3.

Another QatarEnergy-controlled vessel, Al Marrouna, also exited the Strait of Hormuz this week, delivering a cargo from Ras Laffan to Pakistan on September 10. The voyage marked the first known LNG shipment aboard a Qatar-linked tanker since late July, when Al Areesh carried a cargo from Ras Laffan also to Pakistan.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large, commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and ⁠container vessels, accounting ⁠for some 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

A US blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.