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".



War-Related Oil Squeeze a ‘Short-Term Pain,’ US Official Insists

 A customer fuels up with regular gasoline priced at $5.29 at a Chevron gas station in Bellevue, Wash., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A customer fuels up with regular gasoline priced at $5.29 at a Chevron gas station in Bellevue, Wash., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
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War-Related Oil Squeeze a ‘Short-Term Pain,’ US Official Insists

 A customer fuels up with regular gasoline priced at $5.29 at a Chevron gas station in Bellevue, Wash., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A customer fuels up with regular gasoline priced at $5.29 at a Chevron gas station in Bellevue, Wash., Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)

President Donald Trump's top energy official said Sunday that Americans will have to endure the "short-term pain" of higher prices at the pump as US forces conduct their war against Iran.

Now in the third week of a multi-dimensional Middle East conflict that has seen US and Israeli forces pound Iran's military targets, and Tehran responding with missile and drone attacks against several neighboring states, global energy prices have soared.

And concern has swelled that a lengthy blockage by Iran of the critical Strait of Hormuz could send crude prices through the roof.

"President Trump needed to act now... to stop the killing of American soldiers, to stop the destabilization of the region, and to end Iran's ability to threaten energy markets," US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told ABC News talk show "This Week."

He said economic conditions would grow dramatically worse without the ongoing military operation "to defang the Iranian regime" and ensure it can no longer threaten the world with nuclear weapons.

"This is short-term pain to get through to a much better place where the Middle East can no longer be held hostage by the one rogue nation in Iran," Wright added.

The energy secretary also said he predicted the war could end "in the next few weeks, and we'll see a rebound in (fuel) supplies and a pushing down of prices after that."

Since the war began, gas prices have soared in the United States, where Trump in 2024 campaigned relentlessly on a vow to lower fuel costs for Americans. The issue is a critical one for US voters, who head to the polls in November for the country's mid-term congressional elections.

Gas prices have jumped 25 percent in the past month, to $3.70 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.

The Trump administration has stressed other governments should help in a possible effort to unblock the Strait of Hormuz by escorting tankers through the narrow waterway along Iran's coast.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, speaking on Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures," said oil could soon flow through the strait if such escorts -- and shipping insurance -- are worked out.

"Could be a day, could be a week," Duffy said of possible escorts.


Israel Says ‘No Interceptor Shortage’ After Reports of Scarcity as Iranian Missiles Injure at Least 8

15 March 2027, Israel, Tel Aviv: People watch the site of a projectile impact following an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv. (dpa)
15 March 2027, Israel, Tel Aviv: People watch the site of a projectile impact following an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv. (dpa)
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Israel Says ‘No Interceptor Shortage’ After Reports of Scarcity as Iranian Missiles Injure at Least 8

15 March 2027, Israel, Tel Aviv: People watch the site of a projectile impact following an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv. (dpa)
15 March 2027, Israel, Tel Aviv: People watch the site of a projectile impact following an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv. (dpa)

An Israeli military source on Sunday denied media reports that Israel was running low on missile interceptors crucial to its air defenses, adding that the army was "continuously monitoring the situation". 

Citing US officials, news outlet Semafor had reported that Israel had informed the United States that it was "running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors", as the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its third week. 

"As of now, there is no interceptor shortage. The Israeli army is prepared for prolonged combat. We are continuously monitoring the situation," the military source said, in response to media queries. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also dismissed the reports when questioned by journalists earlier on Sunday. 

At least eight people were injured in Israel Sunday following repeated missile launches from Iran, at least two of which contained cluster munitions according to Israeli authorities. 

Israeli police released footage from a CCTV camera in the Tel Aviv area showing an impact on a road, saying that it was from "cluster munitions" that caused "damage at several locations". 

Bomblets and shrapnel from the missile wounded four people in various parts of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service. 

A man in his 60s was hospitalized with moderate injuries to his head from broken glass, while three were treated due to the shock waves from the blast. 

In another barrage shortly before noon, two men aged 62 and 44 reported minor injuries "from pieces of asphalt that struck them as a result of the blast", according to MDA. 

During a salvo toward the Tel Aviv area at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT), a man and a woman in their 80s suffered light injuries, from glass shards and smoke inhalation respectively. 

Another Iranian missile directed at Israel's southernmost city of Eilat was intercepted before reaching the target, without causing injuries. The municipality of Eilat quoted security sources saying it was a cluster missile. 

By late midday on Sunday, seven missile salvos were launched from Iran toward the State of Israel, some of which were intercepted. 

Saar on Sunday accused Iran of targeting civilian areas, during a visit to the northern Arab Israeli town of Zarzir, hit two days prior by shrapnel from an Iranian missile that lightly wounded almost 60 residents. 

"While we are targeting military objectives... the Iranian regime is targeting civilians," Saar said. 

"All the casualties we faced during these two weeks of confrontation... are civilians from Iranian missiles. This is of course a war crime," he added. 

His words were echoed by police superintendent Shlomi Schlezinger while speaking near the site of one of the impacts on Sunday. 

Iran is "always targeting crowded places, with people, the big major cities," he said in central Tel Aviv. 

He attributed the relatively low number of Israeli casualties to civilians' adherence to safety instructions. 

"We have a lot of collateral damage to cars and buildings, as you can see," he said. 

"We're used to, in the last 16 days, to be in shelters and in safe rooms when we have the alarm." 

According to Haaretz, citing security officials, 250 ballistic missiles had been fired by Iran at Israel as of March 13. 

Twelve people have been killed in Israel by missiles or falling debris since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally of figures given by Israeli authorities and first responders. 


Iran FM Sees No Reason for Talks After Trump Says It Wants Deal

09 September 2025, Egypt, Cairo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference in Cairo. (dpa)
09 September 2025, Egypt, Cairo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference in Cairo. (dpa)
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Iran FM Sees No Reason for Talks After Trump Says It Wants Deal

09 September 2025, Egypt, Cairo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference in Cairo. (dpa)
09 September 2025, Egypt, Cairo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference in Cairo. (dpa)

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the United States, pushing back on President Donald Trump's stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war.

"We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people," Araghchi told CBS's "Face The Nation," in an interview aired Sunday.

"We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us.

"There is no good experience talking with Americans."

Trump on Saturday said Iran wanted a deal, but that he was not prepared to make one on current terms, without giving further details.

"We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation," Araghchi said.

He added that Iran was ready to talk to countries who want to negotiate for selected oil tankers to pass through the key Strait of Hormuz export route.

"I cannot mention any country in particular, but we have been approached by a number of countries who want to have a safe passage for their vessels," he said.