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Iran Says it Has Arrested Head of US-Based 'Terrorist Group'

Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
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Iran Says it Has Arrested Head of US-Based 'Terrorist Group'

Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)
Iran said it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a 2008 bombing in the city of Shiraz. (Reuters)

Iran said Saturday it has arrested the head of a US-based "terrorist group" accused of being behind a deadly 2008 bombing in the southern city of Shiraz and of other, abortive attacks.

The group's "Jamshid Sharmahd, who was leading armed and sabotage operations inside Iran, is now in the powerful hands" of Iran's security forces, state television said in a report citing a statement from the intelligence ministry.

The statement did not elaborate on where or when the leader of the opposition royalist group known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar (Farsi for Thunder), was arrested.

According to the statement, he had orchestrated the April 12, 2008 bombing in a packed mosque in Shiraz that killed 14 people and wounded 215.

Iran hanged three men convicted of the bombing in 2009, saying they had ties to the monarchist group.

It said they had been taking orders from an Iranian US-backed "CIA agent" to try to assassinate a high-ranking official in Iran.

They were 21-year old Mohsen Eslamian and Ali Asghar Pashtar, 20 -- both university students -- as well as Rouzbeh Yahyazadeh, 32.

The three were found guilty of being "mohareb" (enemies of God) and "corruption on the earth" by a revolutionary court in Tehran.

Iran hanged two other convicted members of the group in 2010, who had "confessed to obtaining explosives and planning to assassinate officials".

The statement issued on Saturday said that Tondar had plotted several other "big operations" which failed.

It said that Tondar had planned to blow up a dam in Shiraz, use "cyanide bombs" at a Tehran book fair, and plant an explosive device at the mausoleum of the republic's founder, Khomeini.

It was not clear how Iran arrested the US-based Sharmahd.

Iran's intelligence ministry announced the arrest of a former opposition figure in similarly mysterious circumstances in October last year.

Ruhollah Zam, described as a "counter-revolutionary" by Iranian authorities, was sentenced to death last month over "corruption on earth".

Zam, who reportedly lived in exile in Paris, ran a channel on the Telegram messaging application called Amadnews and was accused of sparking unrest during anti-government protests last year.

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Israeli Envoy Ejected from AU Meeting on Rwandan Genocide

Young Rwandans hug as they are waiting to start walking at the "Walk to Remember" for the commemorations of the 31th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide in Kigali on April 7, 2025. (AFP)
Young Rwandans hug as they are waiting to start walking at the "Walk to Remember" for the commemorations of the 31th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide in Kigali on April 7, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Envoy Ejected from AU Meeting on Rwandan Genocide

Young Rwandans hug as they are waiting to start walking at the "Walk to Remember" for the commemorations of the 31th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide in Kigali on April 7, 2025. (AFP)
Young Rwandans hug as they are waiting to start walking at the "Walk to Remember" for the commemorations of the 31th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide in Kigali on April 7, 2025. (AFP)

Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia was ejected from a conference at African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa commemorating the 31st anniversary of Rwanda's genocide against the Tutsi, two diplomats told AFP on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear why Ambassador Avraham Neguise was asked to leave the event on Monday, held to mark the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, which left at least 800,000 people dead in 1994.

Neguise participated in the first part of the event, a solidarity march inside AU headquarters, an Arab diplomat said.

"After that, the AU commission chairperson, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, refused to start the event inside the hall in the presence of the Israeli ambassador and asked him to get out," the diplomat said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"The Israeli ambassador left."

Another diplomatic source said the ambassador had been "sitting in a very visible seat, close to the Americans, and everything was delayed until he was asked to leave".

The source said it was unclear whether the move was a protest by AU member states over Israel's war in Gaza.

The Times of Israel quoted the Israeli foreign ministry as saying: "It is outrageous that at an event commemorating the victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, to which the Israeli ambassador in Addis Ababa was invited, (Youssouf) chose to introduce anti-Israel political elements."

Youssouf's spokesperson did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.

It is not the first time Israel's presence has stirred criticism within the pan-African organization.

In 2022, the AU failed to conclude discussions on the contested accreditation of Israel as an observer country.

Algeria and South Africa, two financial heavyweights of the organization, particularly argued against the move.

Both countries have rifts with Israel: Algeria has no diplomatic ties with Israel, in protest over its treatment of the Palestinians, while South Africa has brought a case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

In 2023, an Israeli diplomat was also expelled from the AU assembly.

Youssouf, a Djiboutian national, took office as AU commission chairperson in February after serving nearly 20 years as foreign minister of the small Horn of Africa country.