Azerbaijan Arrests 4 Over Attempted Assassination of Anti-Iran Lawmaker

A police officer stands in front of the house of MP Fazil Mustafa in Baku. (EPA Azerbaijan)
A police officer stands in front of the house of MP Fazil Mustafa in Baku. (EPA Azerbaijan)
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Azerbaijan Arrests 4 Over Attempted Assassination of Anti-Iran Lawmaker

A police officer stands in front of the house of MP Fazil Mustafa in Baku. (EPA Azerbaijan)
A police officer stands in front of the house of MP Fazil Mustafa in Baku. (EPA Azerbaijan)

Azerbaijan arrested four people in connection with the attempted assassination of an anti-Iran lawmaker, who was shot and wounded last week, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Representative Fazil Mustafa, who has been highly critical of Iran, was receiving treatment in a hospital after being shot in the attack.

Mustafa's assistant, Ajdar Aliyev, told Reuters the politician was feeling well and expected to return to his home, which he said was under police guard, in the coming days.

The interior ministry spokesman declined to give details of the arrested suspects, saying a statement would be released later.

However, Azerbaijani media reported that one of the detainees, Hasan Ramez, is the brother of Hossein Ramez who previously threatened the deputy from his residence in Iran.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador, Abbas Mousavi, in response to a memorandum sent by the Iranian embassy in protest against Azerbaijani media coverage about Iran.

Local Azertac news agency reported that the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizada, disputed the claims made in the complaint.

Moreover, the Foreign Ministry handed the ambassador several articles published in Iranian media against Azerbaijan.

"Ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan was informed that the insulting, false, defamatory and biased information about the Republic of Azerbaijan and its government officials regularly spread in the Iranian media, as well as well-known Iranian public and political figures' statements and speeches, undermine relations between our countries and further deepen misunderstandings," read the statement.

The misunderstandings arising in "our relations are constantly caused by the unilateral behavior and steps of the Iranian side, as well as the inadequate reciprocation by Iran of consistent and well-intentioned steps by Azerbaijan."

The Azerbaijani official urged the Iranian diplomat to "prevent the spread of false and biased information against Azerbaijan in Iranian media."

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran had already been strained after an attack on Baku’s embassy in Tehran in January, which resulted in casualties.

Baku insisted it was a "terrorist attack," while Tehran claimed the attacker had "personal motives."

Relations between the two countries were also strained by military movements between Armenia and Azerbaijan around the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Tensions between the two oil-rich neighbors deepened after Azerbaijan sent an ambassador to Israel and opened an embassy there last week.

Last Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's statements regarding the agreement with his Azerbaijani counterpart on "forming a united front" against Iran. Baku denied making any statement against Tehran.



Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
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Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT

Iran's atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said no country can deprive the Iranian republic of its right to nuclear enrichment, after US President Donald Trump again hinted at military action following talks in Geneva.

"The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel," said Eslami, according to a video published by Etemad daily on Thursday.

"Iran's nuclear program is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology."

The comments follow the second round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva on Tuesday.

The two foes had held an initial round of discussions on February 6 in Oman, the first since previous talks collapsed during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June.

The United States briefly joined the war alongside Israel, striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Wednesday, Trump again suggested the United States might strike Iran in a post on his Truth Social site.

He warned Britain against giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, saying that the archipelago's Diego Garcia airbase might be needed were Iran not to agree a deal, "in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime".

Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.

Western countries accuse the Iranian republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.

Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he has described as an "armada".

After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he recently indicated that a second aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, would depart "very soon" for the Middle East.

Separately, the Iranian and Russian navies were conducting joint drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday.


Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
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Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN

A building collapse caused by an explosion in Pakistan's southern megacity of Karachi killed at least 16 people on Thursday, including children, officials said.

More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighborhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing Sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.


Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
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Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol ‌religious sites including ‌the mosque, as well as community events.

The latest letter ‌comes ⁠weeks after a ⁠similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire.

Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque's staff in January.

The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and ⁠CCTV cameras.

Some 5,000 people are expected to attend ‌the mosque each night during Ramadan. More ‌than 60% of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to ‌the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council, where Lakemba ‌is located, said the community was feeling "very anxious".

"I've heard first-hand from people saying that they won't be sending their kids to practice this Ramadan because they're very concerned about things that might happen in local mosques," AFP quoted him as saying.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‌condemned the recent string of threats.

"It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the ⁠holy month ⁠for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation," he told ABC radio.

"I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that."

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.

The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740% rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by ISIS killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.

"There's been a massive increase post-Bondi," Mayor El-Hayek said. "Without a doubt, this is the worst I have ever seen it. There's a lot of tension out there."