عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iranian Parliament Reviews Ahmadinejad-Linked Corruption

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, and his close ally Hamid Baghaei at a news conference. AP file photo
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, and his close ally Hamid Baghaei at a news conference. AP file photo
TT
TT

Iranian Parliament Reviews Ahmadinejad-Linked Corruption

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, and his close ally Hamid Baghaei at a news conference. AP file photo
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, and his close ally Hamid Baghaei at a news conference. AP file photo

Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Plan and Budget Commission Golamriza Tacgerdun revealed on Tuesday that mounting suspicions against ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are enough to take to court.

A state audit department report published earlier ensures Ahmadinejad’s involvement in “financial violation”.

Tacgerdun said Ahmadinejad had committed “serious violations” during his presidency, according to a report by the Iranian Audit Bureau, the body which oversees budget spending.

“The Audit Court has the capacity to make a case, it is natural that the judiciary investigates the case, but we have not reached that stage yet,” Tacgerdun explained, according to the Iranian labor news agency (Ilna).

The Iranian MP's comments came a week after the parliament published a report of the Prosecutor General of the Iranian Court of Auditors, accusing Ahmadinejad of "violations" involving over 4,600 billion Iranian Tomans. The report demands that Ahmadinejad makes a financial compensation. 

Ahmadinejad was president for eight years serving between 2005 and 2013, after being re-elected in July 2009. He sparked protests by the reformist Green Movement after candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejected Ahmadinejad’s win, accusing the authorities of rigging election results.

According to ICANA news agency, the report said the violation occurred during Ahmadinejad's term when his office wired money obtained from oil revenues and transferred them to the state treasury.

There were also irregularities in oil imports, it said.

The agency stated that the irregularities were found during a parliamentary budget audit of 2016.

Ahmadinejad’s former vice president and close aide, Hamid Baghaei, was sent to prison in 2015 on unidentified charges. He was again behind bars over corruption allegations from July 9 of this year until his release on bail on July 26.

More so, Tacgerdun said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani had ignored the revealing reports which make a strong case against Ahmadinejad.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

2 Israelis Charged with Using Classified Military Information to Place Bets

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
TT
TT

2 Israelis Charged with Using Classified Military Information to Place Bets

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Two Israelis have been charged with using classified military information to place bets on how future events will unfold, Israeli authorities said Thursday, accusing the individuals of “serious security offenses.”

A joint statement by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, domestic security service Shin Bet and police said that a civilian and a reservist are suspected of placing bets on the US-based prediction market Polymarket on future military operations based on information that the reservist had access to, The AP news reported.

Israel’s Attorney General’s Office decided to prosecute the two individuals following a joint investigation by police, military intelligence and other security agencies that resulted in several arrests. The two face charges including bribery and obstruction of justice.

Authorities offered no details on the identity of the two individuals or the reservist's rank or position in the Israeli military but warned that such actions posed a “real security risk” for the military and the Israeli state.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan had reported earlier that the bets were placed in June ahead of Israel’s war with Iran and that the winnings were roughly $150,000.

Israel's military and security services “view the acts attributed to the defendants very seriously and will act resolutely to thwart and bring to justice any person involved in the activity of using classified information illegally,” the statement said.

The accused will remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against them, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Prediction markets are comprised of typically yes-or-no questions called event contracts, with the prices connected to what traders are willing to pay, which theoretically indicates the perceived probability of an event occurring.

Their use has skyrocketed in recent years, but despite some eye-catching windfalls, traders still lose money everyday. In the US, the trades are categorized differently than traditional forms of gambling, raising questions about transparency and risk.

World

WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Trying to Fully Block its Service

FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
TT
TT

WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Trying to Fully Block its Service

FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
FILED - 21 January 2022, Berlin: The icon of Whatsapp is seen on the screen of a smartphone. Photo: Fabian Sommer/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa

US messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, accused authorities in Russia on Thursday of trying to fully block its service in order to drive Russians to a state-owned app, which it alleged was used for surveillance.

"Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia," WhatsApp said in a statement.

"We continue to do everything we can ‌to keep users connected."

Some ‌domain names associated with WhatsApp on Thursday disappeared from Russia's ‌national ⁠register of domain ⁠names, meaning that devices inside Russia stopped receiving its IP addresses from the app and that it could be accessed only by using a virtual private network (VPN), Reuters reported.

Roskomnadzor, the state communications regulator, and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Roskomnadzor first began restricting WhatsApp and other messenger services in August, making it impossible to complete phone calls on them, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing ⁠to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism ‌cases.

It said in December it was taking ‌new measures to gradually restrict the app, which it accused of continuing to violate Russian ‌law and of being a platform used "to organize and carry out terrorist acts ‌on the territory of the country, to recruit their perpetrators and to commit fraud and other crimes."

Since then, many Russians have been able to use WhatsApp only in conjunction with a virtual private network and have switched to using rival messenger apps, though some ‌of those - like Telegram - are also under pressure from the authorities for the same reasons.

In a video published by state ⁠news agency ⁠TASS on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was a possibility of reaching an agreement if Meta entered into dialogue with the Russian authorities and complied with the law.

"If the corporation (Meta) sticks to an uncompromising position and, I would say, shows itself unready to align with Russian legislation, then there is no chance," Peskov said.

Russian authorities, who also block or restrict social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, are heavily pushing a state-backed messenger app called MAX, which critics say could be used to track users.

The authorities have dismissed those accusations as false and say MAX, which integrates various government-related services into it, is designed to simplify and improve the everyday lives of citizens.

World

Israel President Says at End of Visit Antisemitism in Australia 'Frightening'

Israel's President Isaac Herzog reacts during a Jewish community event in Melbourne on February 12, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog reacts during a Jewish community event in Melbourne on February 12, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
TT
TT

Israel President Says at End of Visit Antisemitism in Australia 'Frightening'

Israel's President Isaac Herzog reacts during a Jewish community event in Melbourne on February 12, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog reacts during a Jewish community event in Melbourne on February 12, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Antisemitism in Australia is "frightening" but most people want good relations, Israel's President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday as he wrapped up a four-day visit and was met by protests in the city of Melbourne.

Herzog's tightly policed visit to Australia this week was meant to offer consolation to the country's Jewish community following the mass shooting on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people in December, said AFP.

However, it sparked demonstrations in major cities, including in Sydney, where police used pepper spray on protesters and members of the media, including an AFP photographer, during scuffles in the central business district on Monday night.

Herzog told Channel Seven's Sunrise ahead of his Melbourne stop that a "wave" of anti-Jewish hatred in Australia had culminated in the December 14 killings at Bondi.

"It is frightening and worrying," he said.

"But there's also a silent majority of Australians who seek peace, who respect the Jewish community and, of course, want a dialogue with Israel."

The Israeli head of state said he had brought a "message of goodwill to the people of Australia".

"I hope there will be a change. I hope things will relax," he said.

Herzog attended a Jewish community event after a meeting with Victoria's governor at Melbourne's Government House.

Protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans squared off with police outside the event.

More are expected to turn out later at around 5 pm (0600 GMT) on Thursday.

Herzog told the audience at the community event: "We came here to be with you, to look you in the eye, to embrace and remember."

He also said demonstrators outside should instead "go protest in front of the Iranian embassy".

The Australian government accused Iran last year of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran's ambassador.

Canberra, citing intelligence findings, accused Tehran of directing the torching of a kosher cafe in the Sydney suburb of Bondi in October 2024 and a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.

- Controversial visit -

Ahead of his arrival, national broadcaster ABC reported that a building at Melbourne University had been graffiti-ed with the phrase: "Death to Herzog".

Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog's trip.

"His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community," said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community's peak body.

But some in the community disagreed, with the progressive Jewish Council of Australia saying he was not welcome because of his alleged role in the "ongoing destruction of Gaza".

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians -- "an entire nation" -- were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

Israel has "categorically" rejected the inquiry's report, describing it as "distorted and false" and has called for the body's abolition.