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Iranian Investigator Says Israel Likely behind Attack on Container Ship

Iranian-flagged container ship Shahr e Kord sails in Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Reuters)
Iranian-flagged container ship Shahr e Kord sails in Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Reuters)
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Iranian Investigator Says Israel Likely behind Attack on Container Ship

Iranian-flagged container ship Shahr e Kord sails in Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Reuters)
Iranian-flagged container ship Shahr e Kord sails in Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Reuters)

Israel is highly likely to have been behind an attack in the Mediterranean this week that damaged an Iranian container ship, an Iranian investigator was quoted as saying on Saturday by Iran’s media.

Israeli officials did not comment on Friday when asked if Israel was involved in the incident on Wednesday.

The container ship Shahr e Kord was hit by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, Iran reported on Friday. Two maritime security sources said initial indications were that the ship had been intentionally targeted by an unknown source.

“Considering the geographical location and the way the ship was targeted, one of the strong possibilities is that this terrorist operation was carried out by the Zionist regime (Israel),” an unnamed member of the Iranian team investigating the incident was quoted as saying by semi-official Nournews.

A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said on Saturday reports confirmed a sabotage attack “in clear violation of international law”.

“Measures to identify the perpetrators of this sabotage action is on our agenda,” said Saeed Khatibzade, quoted by state media.

Iran’s state-run shipping company IRISL said on Friday it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of the attack, which it called terrorism and naval piracy.

The incident came two weeks after an Israeli-owned ship the MV HELIOS RAY was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.

The cause was not immediately clear, although a US defense official said the blast left holes in both sides of the vessel’s hull. Israel accused Iran of being behind the explosion, a charge Tehran denied.

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German President Calls Iran War a Disastrous Mistake, in Rare Rebuke of Trump

FILE PHOTO: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech at his Bellevue Palace residency in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2025. Maryam Majd/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech at his Bellevue Palace residency in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2025. Maryam Majd/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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German President Calls Iran War a Disastrous Mistake, in Rare Rebuke of Trump

FILE PHOTO: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech at his Bellevue Palace residency in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2025. Maryam Majd/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech at his Bellevue Palace residency in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2025. Maryam Majd/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

The Iran war is a "disastrous mistake" that breaches international law, Germany's president said on Tuesday in an unusually blunt rebuke of US President Donald Trump's foreign policy, which he said marked a rupture for German ties with its biggest post-war ally.

In a scathing verbal attack, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose largely ceremonial role allows him to speak more freely than politicians, took a far more critical line than Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has skirted questions on the war's legality.

"Our foreign policy does not become more ⁠convincing just because we ⁠do not call a breach of international law a breach of international law," Steinmeier, a former foreign minister from the center-left Social Democratic Party, said in a speech at the foreign ministry.

"We must address this with regard to the war in Iran. For, in my view, this war is contrary to international law," he said, adding he had little doubt that the ⁠justification of the imminent nature of an attack on US targets did not hold water.

Calling the war unnecessary and a "politically disastrous mistake", Reuters quoted Steinmeier as saying that Trump's second term marked a rupture in German foreign relations as profound as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Just as I believe there will be no going back in relations with Russia to before February 24, 2022, so too do I believe there will be no going back in transatlantic relations to before January 20, 2025," said Steinmeier.

Germany had to apply lessons it learned in extricating itself from "excessive dependencies" on Russia and apply them to the US, ⁠particularly in ⁠defense and technology, which translate to power, he said.

Germany has stressed the importance of creating alternatives to US-dominated technology as concerns grow over US access.

China returned to being Germany's top trading partner in the first eight months of 2025, overtaking the US as higher tariffs weighed on German exports. Trade between the US and Germany amounted to more than 163 billion euros ($190 billion) over that period.

The recent spat between the Pentagon and Anthropic over safety guardrails surrounding the latter's artificial intelligence could be a wake-up call, or even an opportunity, for Europe, said Steinmeier.

"Europe as a technology hub has talent, markets, opportunities and, importantly, ethical standards. We should build on these," he said.

World

Iran Arrests 466 People Accused of Online Activity Undermining National Security

A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Arrests 466 People Accused of Online Activity Undermining National Security

A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)

Iranian police arrested 466 people accused of online activities aimed at undermining national security, state media reported on Tuesday, in one ‌of the biggest ‌security sweeps ‌since ⁠the start of ⁠the war with Israel and the United States.

Iranian media have reported more ⁠than 1,000 ‌arrests ‌over the course of ‌the month, pertaining ‌to individuals accused of filming sensitive locations, sharing anti-government content online, ‌or "cooperating with the enemy".

A police statement ⁠said ⁠the arrests followed intelligence and technical monitoring in recent days, alleging the individuals were connected to “enemy” networks seeking to create internal instability.

World

Iran Media Says Energy Infrastructure Attacked

A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
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Iran Media Says Energy Infrastructure Attacked

A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)

Iranian media reported on Tuesday that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.

"As part of the ongoing attacks carried out by the Zionist and American enemy, the gas administration building and the gas pressure regulation station on Kaveh Street in Isfahan were targeted," said the Fars news agency.

The facilities in central Iran were "partially damaged", added Fars, which was Iran's only news outlet to report the incident.

It said an attack also targeted the gas pipeline of the Khorramshahr power plant, in the country's southwest.

"A projectile hit the area outside the Khorramshahr gas pipeline processing station," Fars reported, quoting the governor of the city bordering Iraq.

It did not specify the extent of the damage.

Trump told AFP on Monday that "things are going very well" with Iran, shortly after announcing talks with Tehran and a five-day pause on targeting the country’s power plants.

Trump's abrupt shift on Iran came hours before the expiration of a two-day ultimatum under which he threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media however said on Monday that there were no negotiations underway towards ending the war.