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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)
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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".

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World

High-Stakes US Mission in Zagros Highlands Rescues F-15 Airman from Iran

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
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High-Stakes US Mission in Zagros Highlands Rescues F-15 Airman from Iran

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said US forces had safely recovered a second colonel — part of the crew of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran — concluding a 36-hour rescue operation in the middle of the Zagros highlands that involved dozens of aircraft and hundreds of special operations forces, according to US officials and informed sources.

“The United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!” Trump said on Truth Social.

“He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” he added.

Trump said at his direction, the US Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the world, to retrieve him.

“This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation,” he said.

The injured officer was rescued following two days of risky operations, after the officer’s F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down during a night mission in southwestern Iran.

The first crew member was rescued on Friday by two Blackhawk helicopters that were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, two US officials told Reuters.

In a separate incident, an A10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over the Arabian Gulf, with the pilot ejecting, the officials said. The degree of any injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear.

The governor of Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said anyone who captured or killed the crew “would be specially commended,” Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported.

Two-day race

The rescue followed a life-or-death race between US and Iranian forces to reach the airman, a weapons system officer, that stretched over two days, officials told The New York Times on Sunday.

Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos rescued the weapons systems officer in an operation that involved hundreds of special operations troops and other military personnel working deep in enemy territory, current and former US officials said.

After ejecting from the F-15E, the officer hid in a mountain crevice. His location was initially unknown to the United States, but US officials found his hiding place via a beacon he was carrying.

The CIA also initiated a deception campaign to try to confuse Iranian forces and convince them the airman had already been rescued and was moving out of the country in a ground convoy.

After confirming the airman’s identity and that he was alone, senior military officials waited until dark to launch a rescue mission, which included Special Operations helicopters loaded with commandos.

US aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away from where the airman was hiding. US commandos also opened fire to keep Iranian forces away from the rescue site as they converged on the airman.

But they did not engage in a firefight with enemy forces. US officials described the territory where the airman was hiding as strongly opposed to the Iranian regime and said it was unclear how close Iranian forces ever got to the site.

Planes destroyed

The airman was taken by helicopter to a sandy, austere airstrip inside Iran that Special Operations forces had previously developed for possible rescues or other contingencies.

The plan was to immediately load the airman and the rescue force onto two C-130 aircraft that were supposed to carry them out of danger to an airfield in Kuwait. But, in a final twist, the nose gear of at least one, and possibly both, of those planes got stuck in the sandy dirt at the airstrip, military officials said.

Hours passed. Efforts to free the stuck wheels failed, so the commandos called in three replacement aircraft.

Officials in the Pentagon and at Central Command waited anxiously. The success of a dangerous mission, which had seemed nearly complete, was suddenly once again uncertain.

Eventually the commandos and the injured weapons system operator were reloaded onto three newly arrived replacement aircraft. After the rescue team left, American warplanes bombed the two disabled planes rather than let them fall into Iranian hands.

As the sun was rising, the three planes launched in succession from the remote airstrip. The plane carrying the rescued airman went first followed by the others.

“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said on social media.

Iran’s version

In return, Iran's military claimed the US operation was “completely foiled.”

Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari told state media US forces had used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province, which lies to the northwest of the area where the airman ejected.

He said the aircraft had been taking part in “a deception and escape mission... under the pretext of recovering the pilot of a downed aircraft.

Iranian state media broadcast images of the charred wreckage of what appears to be a plane in a desert area, while officials claimed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters had been destroyed.

In the footage, two charred propellers and engines can be clearly seen, with specialized open-source geolocating experts claiming the images were taken about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the city of Isfahan.

Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Ghalibaf said: “If the United States gets three more victories like this, it will be utterly ruined.”

World

Airstrikes on Iran Kill More Than 25 as Trump's Deadline to Open Strait of Hormuz Looms

16 March 2026, Undisclosed location: A US Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, assigned to the 'Wizards' of Electronic Attack Squadron 133, is signaled to hold for launch on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury on March 7, 2026. Photo: Navy /U.S. Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
16 March 2026, Undisclosed location: A US Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, assigned to the 'Wizards' of Electronic Attack Squadron 133, is signaled to hold for launch on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury on March 7, 2026. Photo: Navy /U.S. Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Airstrikes on Iran Kill More Than 25 as Trump's Deadline to Open Strait of Hormuz Looms

16 March 2026, Undisclosed location: A US Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, assigned to the 'Wizards' of Electronic Attack Squadron 133, is signaled to hold for launch on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury on March 7, 2026. Photo: Navy /U.S. Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
16 March 2026, Undisclosed location: A US Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, assigned to the 'Wizards' of Electronic Attack Squadron 133, is signaled to hold for launch on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury on March 7, 2026. Photo: Navy /U.S. Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israel and the United States carried a wave of attacks Monday that killed more than 25 people in Iran. Tehran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz loomed.

Explosions rang out into the night in Tehran and low-flying jets could be heard for hours as the capital was pounded. Thick black smoke rose near the city's Azadi Square after one airstrike hit the Sharif University of Technology grounds.

Two people were found dead in the rubble of a residential building in Haifa, according to Israeli authorities. The search was ongoing for two more even as new Iranian missile attacks hit the northern Israel city early Monday.

Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates both activated their air defense systems to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones, as Tehran kept up the pressure on its Gulf neighbors. Iran's regular attacks on regional energy infrastructure and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is shipped in peacetime, has sent global energy prices soaring.

Under pressure at home as consumers are growing increasingly concerned, Trump gave Tehran a deadline that expires Monday night, Washington time, saying if no deal was reached to reopen the strait the US would hit Iran's power plants and other infrastructure targets and set the country “back to the stone ages.”

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he threatened in a social media post, adding that if Iran did not open the strait “you'll be living in Hell.”

Trump's deadline to open Hormuz strait looms but no signs of Tehran backing off Tehran has shown no signs of backing down off of its stranglehold on shipping through the strait, which was fully open before Israel and the US attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war.

Following Trump’s expletive-laced posts on Easter Sunday, Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called the threats of targeting Iran’s infrastructure “reckless.”

“You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” Qalibaf wrote on X. “The only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”

Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose to $109 in early Monday spot trading, some 50% higher than it was when the war started.

Iran has let some vessels through the strait since the war began, but none belonging to the US, Israel or countries perceived as helping them. Some have paid Iran for passage and the overall flow of traffic is down more than 90% over the same period last year.

Beyond Trump's military threats, diplomatic efforts are still underway to see if a solution can be reached to open the waterway.

Oman’s Foreign Ministry said that deputy foreign ministers and experts from Iran and Oman met to discuss proposals to ensure “smooth transit” through the strait.

Egypt said that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had spoken with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and with Turkish and Pakistani counterparts. Russia said that Araghchi also spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Airstrikes kill more than 25 across Iran

One of Monday's morning airstrikes targeted Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, where Iranian media reported damage to the buildings as well as a natural gas distribution site next to the campus.

It wasn’t immediately clear what had been targeted on the grounds of the university, which is empty of students as the war has forced all schools into the country into online classes. However, multiple countries over the years have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran’s ballistic missile program, which is controlled by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

A strike near Eslamshar, southwest of Tehran, killed at least 13 people, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. Five others were killed when a residential area in the city of Qom was hit, and six more were killed in strikes on other cities, the state-run IRAN daily newspaper reported.

Three more people were killed when an airstrike hit a home in Tehran, Iranian state television reported.

War's death toll in the thousands

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but its government has not updated the toll for days.

In Lebanon, which Israel has invaded by ground, more than 1,400 people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there while targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 US service members have been killed.

World

South Korea President Says Regrets 'Reckless' Drones Sent to North

A combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency released via KNS on January 10 shows wreckage of a drone that Pyongyang said originated from South Korea. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File
A combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency released via KNS on January 10 shows wreckage of a drone that Pyongyang said originated from South Korea. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File
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South Korea President Says Regrets 'Reckless' Drones Sent to North

A combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency released via KNS on January 10 shows wreckage of a drone that Pyongyang said originated from South Korea. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File
A combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency released via KNS on January 10 shows wreckage of a drone that Pyongyang said originated from South Korea. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret to Pyongyang Monday over drones sent into North Korea earlier this year, actions he called "irresponsible".

Seoul initially denied any official role in the January drone incursion -- with authorities suggesting it was the work of civilians -- but Lee said a probe had revealed government officials had been involved, said AFP.

The North warned in February of a "terrible response" if it detects more drones crossing the border from the South, prompting Seoul to investigate the claims.

Pyongyang said it downed a drone carrying "surveillance equipment" in early January.

Photos released by state media showed the wreckage of a winged craft scattered across the ground alongside grey and blue components that allegedly included cameras.

"It has been confirmed that a National Intelligence Service official and an active-duty soldier were involved," Lee told a cabinet meeting.

"We express regret to the North over the unnecessary military tensions caused by the irresponsible and reckless actions of some individuals."

He added that South Korea's constitution bans private individuals from conducting acts that could "provoke the North".

"Such actions, even when deemed necessary for national strategy, must be approached with extreme caution," he said.

Lee has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office last year, criticizing his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.

His repeated overtures, however, have gone unanswered by the North.

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, is standing trial over charges that his administration sent drones into the North to provoke a backlash and create a pretext for declaring military rule.

Yoon was impeached and ousted from office in April last year and has been sentenced to life in prison over his declaration of martial law.

- 'Most hostile state' -

Lee's expression of regret follows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un labelling Seoul as the "most hostile state" in a policy address in March in which he vowed to "thoroughly reject and disregard it".

Kim also reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining the country's nuclear arsenal, describing it as an "irreversible course".

During Yoon's presidency, relations between Seoul and Pyongyang hit rock bottom, with the North sending balloons filled with garbage, including animal manure, in response to propaganda leaflets send northward by South Korea-based activists, many of them North Korean defectors.

The two Koreas technically remain at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and both enforce mandatory military service for men.