Iran State TV Hacked with Image of Khamenei in Crosshairs

Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
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Iran State TV Hacked with Image of Khamenei in Crosshairs

Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)
Moments from the hacking of the Iranian news channel by the "Edalat-e Ali” group on Saturday evening (Reuters)

Hackers supporting Iran's wave of women-led protests interrupted a state TV news broadcast with an image of gun-sight crosshairs and flames over an image of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in footage widely shared online on Sunday.

In other anti-regime messages, activists have spray-painted "Death to Khamenei" and "The police are the murderers of the people" on billboards in Tehran, said AFP.

"The blood of our youths is on your hands," read an on-screen message that flashed up briefly during the TV broadcast Saturday evening, as street protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, again rocked Tehran and other cities.

"Police forces used tear gas to disperse the crowds in dozens of locations in Tehran," state news agency IRNA reported, adding that the demonstrators "chanted slogans and set fire to and damaged public property, including a police booth".

Anger has flared since the death of Amini on September 16, three days after she was arrested by the notorious morality police for an alleged breach of the Iranian republic's strict dress code for women.

"Join us and rise up," read another message in the TV hack claimed by the group Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice).

It also posted pictures of Amini and three other women killed in the crackdown that has claimed at least 95 lives according to Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.

Another 90 people were killed in Iran's far southeast, in unrest on September 30 sparked by the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police chief in Sistan-Baluchestan province, said IHR, citing the UK-based Baluch Activists Campaign.

One Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps member was killed Saturday in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, and a member of the IRGC's Basij paramilitary force died in Tehran from "a serious head injury following an armed attack by a mob," IRNA said -- in killings that raised the death toll among security forces to 14.

- Bloody crackdown -
Iran has been torn by the biggest wave of social unrest in almost three years, which has seen protesters including university students and even young schoolgirls chant "Woman, Life, Freedom".

In Amini's hometown Saqez, Kurdistan, schoolgirls chanted and marched down a street waving their hijab headscarves in the air, in videos the Hengaw rights group said were recorded on Saturday.

Gruesome footage has emerged from the state's often bloody response, spread online despite widespread internet outages and blocks on all the major social media platforms.

One video shows a man who was shot dead at the wheel of his car in Sanandaj, Kurdistan's capital, where the province's police chief, Ali Azadi, later charged he was "killed by anti-revolutionary forces".

Angry men then appear to take revenge on a member of the feared Basij militia, swarming him and beating him badly, in another widely shared video.

Yet another video clip shows a young woman said to have been shot dead in Mashhad in the country's northeast.

Many on social media said it evoked images of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman who became an enduring symbol of the Iranian opposition after she was shot dead at protests in 2009.

- 'Not afraid anymore' -
In the face of the violence and the online restrictions, protesters have adopted new tactics to spread their message of resistance in public spaces.

"We are not afraid anymore. We will fight," read one large banner placed on an overpass of Tehran's Modares highway, seen in images verified by AFP.

In other footage, a man with a spray can is seen altering the wording of a government billboard on the same highway from "The police are the servants of the people" to "The police are the murderers of the people".

Several water features in the Iranian capital were said to have been colored blood-red, although the head of city's municipality parks organization Ali Mohamad Mokhtari insisted that "this information is completely false".

Iran has accused outside forces of stirring up the protests, as solidarity rallies have been worldwide. The United States, European Union and other governments have imposed new sanctions on Iran.

Iranian army commander Abdolrahim Mousavi said the force "will not permit any interference and aggression by any foreign powers in the country's internal affairs", IRNA reported Sunday.

IRNA also said students at universities in Tehran and in Bushehr in the country's south organized gatherings to condemn "the actions of rioters".

Iranian pop singer Shervin Hajipour -- who was arrested after his song "Baraye" went viral online and became a protest anthem -- appeared back in an Instagram video Sunday for the first time since his release.

In a short message, the 25-year-old denied links to any "movement or organization outside the country" and said his song was only meant to "express solidarity with the people".



Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
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Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)

Iran will not accept any agreement ending its conflict with the US unless there is certainty that the Iranian people's rights ⁠are secured, top negotiator ⁠Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday according to state media.

"There ⁠is no trust in the enemy's words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before we fulfill our commitments in ⁠return," ⁠he added after taking an oath as the re-elected speaker of parliament alongside its presidium.

Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.


Ukraine Says it Received New IRIS-T Launcher from Germany

FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
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Ukraine Says it Received New IRIS-T Launcher from Germany

FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa

Ukraine received a new Iris-T air defense launcher from Germany on Saturday, President Volodymyr ⁠Zelenskiy said on ⁠Sunday, asking for more ⁠provision of air defense ammunition.

"We also need missiles for air defense systems to have sufficient capabilities ⁠to ⁠repel Russian attacks," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

On Sunday, Ukraine's military said it had struck Russia's Saratov oil refinery overnight, causing ⁠a large fire ⁠to break out at ⁠the facility.

The military said in a post on Telegram that it had also hit the ⁠Lazarevo ⁠oil pumping station in Russia's Kirov region.


Japan Rejects 'New Militarism,’ Accuses China of Rapidly Arming

Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's defense minister, speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Chia
Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's defense minister, speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Chia
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Japan Rejects 'New Militarism,’ Accuses China of Rapidly Arming

Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's defense minister, speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Chia
Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's defense minister, speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Sunday rejected accusations of "new militarism" by Tokyo and criticized China for rapidly expanding its military with little transparency, underscoring mounting tensions between the two countries.

China continues to increase its defense spending at a high level, Koizumi said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, adding: "China's external approach and military activities are matters of serious concern for Japan and the international community at the same time."

Rebutting criticism that Japan was embracing new militarism, he said: "Think about it. There's a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers. Japan has neither of such ⁠weapons, and yet ⁠Japan is labelled 'new militarism'?"

Koizumi said Japan's record since World War Two "speaks for itself", citing its adherence to international law and commitment to the United Nations Charter, alongside efforts to uphold a "free and open international order."

In May, China's foreign ministry called on Asia-Pacific countries to be vigilant and "jointly resist the reckless actions of Japan's neo-militarism".

At the Singapore forum, Chinese delegate Major General Meng Xiangqing also criticized Japan.

"I deeply doubt whether ⁠a country that has not thoroughly eradicated the toxic legacy of militarism is qualified to talk extensively about defense cooperation on international occasions, and whether it can win the trust of the international community, especially the Asian countries it once invaded," he said.

Ties between Japan and China sank to their worst level in years after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could draw a Japanese military response.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, over the objections of Taipei's government.

Koizumi said he was "sad" he could not meet his Chinese counterpart at the dialogue, Asia's premier defense forum, but insisted Japan remains open to ⁠engagement. "We keep ⁠the door open," he said, reaffirming Japan's commitment to dialogue with China and other regional players to foster stability.

For the second year running, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has given the free-wheeling Singapore security meeting a miss, skipping opportunities to meet his counterparts.

Koizumi said Japan is "determined" to play a new role in defense equipment cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and aims to tangibly strengthen deterrence in the region.

"We seek a region that can stand against coercion. We seek a region that is not misled by falsehoods. We seek a region that is not influenced by pressure," he said.

In April, Tokyo unveiled its biggest overhaul of defense export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions on overseas arms sales and opening the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons.