Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)
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Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government would take revenge from "the architects of the conspiracy."

The official IRNA news agency quoted Raisi as saying in a telephone conversation with the family of a deceased Basij officer that the responsible authorities are keen to take revenge from those responsible for this crime.

For his part, the spokesman for National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission, Abolfazl Amouei, said that a group of conservative MPs discussed security developments with officials from the Ministry of Intelligence.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Amouei indicated that recent developments have social foundations, but at the same time, the revolution's enemies seek to destabilize the country.

He added that the lawmakers demanded a strict confrontation with the counter-revolutionary groups.

Judiciary spokesman, Masoud Satayshi, said that former reformist MP Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, faces charges of propaganda against the regime, calling for gatherings, and disrupting public order.

He announced that Hashemi was "temporarily detained."

Hashemi was arrested on the 11th night of the protests, and hours after her arrest, Tasnim Agency quoted an informed source saying that one of the security services had arrested her for "inciting protestors to create chaos."

A member of the Expediency Discernment Council, Mohammad Sadr, warned that the authority "cannot rule by force," noting that the developments following Mahsa Amini's death resulted from accumulated resentment and repeated demands of people, especially the young and women.

Sadr, who ran several times for the Foreign Minister position, told the Jamaran website that "the security vision itself threatens security," calling for a change in the security position of the ruling institution.

Several newspapers criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and its Secretary General Mohammad Salih Hashemi Gulbaigani after he incited state agencies to impose strict veil laws.

The conservative Farheekhtegan newspaper headlined: "The Hate Production Factory," warning that the Commission's head and officials exacerbated social rifts.

Late Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to protest the UK's imposition of sanctions on Iran's morality police over the death of Amini.

The Ministry told the British ambassador that the sanctions imposed by the UK "are distorted and have no value for the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The ambassador was also informed that Iran "reserves its right to take countermeasures," state media added.

This is the third time Iran has summoned the British ambassador since the outbreak of protests last month.

Britain announced sanctions against Iran's morality police in its entirety as well as its chief, Mohammed Gachi, and the head of its Tehran division, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei in response to the violent suppression of protests since the death of Amini in police custody.

Recently, Western countries, including the United States and Canada, imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, accusing them of "suppressing" the protests.

The European Union is also considering imposing "restrictive measures" on Tehran.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, "The world is watching what is happening in Iran."

"These protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights," Sullivan wrote on Twitter.

"We stand with them, and we will hold responsible those using violence in a vain effort to silence their voices."

Meanwhile, reformist Etemad newspaper quoted Iranian-US sociologist Asef Bayat saying people wish to take back the everyday life that has been taken away from them.

Bayat believes this movement seeks life, and the protesters feel that achieving basic demands is being violated by the ruling establishment, unaware of the people's hopes and suffering.

He indicated that former protests focused on economic and living issues. However, the current movement is "comprehensive and unified," able to bring together different classes and nationalities from all over the country.

The Emtedad website quoted Bayat as saying that "women have taken the lead in Iran in the struggle against the authoritarian regime."

He described the uprising in Iran as an all-encompassing movement that has gathered together all Iranians regardless of their social class and ethnicity.



Seoul: Kim Jong Un Entrenches Daughter as Likely Heir

(FILES) This picture taken on November 28, 2025 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 30, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd L) and his daughter Ju Ae (2nd L) watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon Province. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on November 28, 2025 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 30, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd L) and his daughter Ju Ae (2nd L) watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon Province. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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Seoul: Kim Jong Un Entrenches Daughter as Likely Heir

(FILES) This picture taken on November 28, 2025 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 30, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd L) and his daughter Ju Ae (2nd L) watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon Province. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on November 28, 2025 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 30, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd L) and his daughter Ju Ae (2nd L) watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon Province. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has entrenched his daughter as heir apparent ahead of a landmark party conference, a South Korean lawmaker said on Thursday after a briefing from Seoul's main intelligence agency.

The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their "Paektu bloodline" dominates daily life in the isolated country.

Kim's teenage daughter Ju Ae has long been seen as the next in line, a perception stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Ju Ae has now been clearly "designated as a successor", lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said after a parliamentary briefing with the spy agency.

The assessment was made "taking into account a range of circumstances -- including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events", he told reporters, according to AFP.

South Korea's spy agency said last year Ju Ae appeared to be the next in line after she accompanied Kim on a high-profile visit to Beijing.

Photos published ahead of a rare political congress in North Korea this month cemented that perception.

State media showed Ju Ae in January paying respects alongside her father at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of state founder Kim Il Sung and second-generation ruler Kim Jong Il lie in state.

Pyongyang is due to hold a landmark party congress at the end of February -- its biggest political event -- where it is expected to lay out its foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.

The National Intelligence Service said it would closely monitor Ju Ae's attendance, as well as the level of protocol accorded to her.

Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.

Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

North Korean state media have since referred to her as "the beloved child" and a "great person of guidance" -- "hyangdo" in Korean -- a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.

Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited the North in 2013.


Trump Says No 'Definitive' Agreement with Netanyahu, US Talks with Iran to Continue

Image published by the Israeli Prime Minister's website from his meeting with the US President at the White House yesterday
Image published by the Israeli Prime Minister's website from his meeting with the US President at the White House yesterday
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Trump Says No 'Definitive' Agreement with Netanyahu, US Talks with Iran to Continue

Image published by the Israeli Prime Minister's website from his meeting with the US President at the White House yesterday
Image published by the Israeli Prime Minister's website from his meeting with the US President at the White House yesterday

President Donald Trump said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday they reached no "definitive" agreement on how to move forward with Iran but he insisted negotiations with Tehran would continue to see if a deal can be achieved.

Netanyahu, who had been expected to press Trump to widen diplomacy with Iran beyond its nuclear program to include limits on its missile arsenal, stressed that Israel's security interests must be taken into account but offered no sign that the president made the commitments he sought, said Reuters.

In their seventh meeting since Trump returned to office last year, Netanyahu - whose visit was more muted than usual and closed to the press - was looking to influence the next round of US discussions with Iran following nuclear negotiations held in Oman last Friday.

The two leaders spoke behind closed doors for more than two and a half hours in what Trump described as a "very good meeting" but said no major decisions were made and stopped short of publicly accepting Netanyahu's entreaties.

Trump has threatened strikes on Iran if no agreement is reached, while Tehran has vowed to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war as the US amasses forces in the Middle East. He has repeatedly voiced support for a secure Israel, a longstanding US ally and arch-foe of Iran.

In media interviews on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his blunt warning to Iran, while saying he believes Tehran wants a deal.

"There was ‌nothing definitive reached other ‌than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated," Trump said in ‌a ⁠social media post after ⁠the meeting with Netanyahu. "If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference."

"If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be," Trump added, noting that the last time Iran decided against an agreement the US struck its nuclear sites last June.

TRUMP SAYS NO TO IRANIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS, MISSILES

Trump told Fox Business in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that a good deal with Iran would mean "no nuclear weapons, no missiles," without elaborating. He also told Axios he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group as part of a major US buildup near Iran.

Israel fears that the US might pursue a narrow nuclear deal that does not include restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program or an end to Iranian support for armed proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, according to people familiar with the matter. Israeli officials have urged the US not to trust Iran's promises.

Iran has rejected such demands and says ⁠the Oman talks focused only on nuclear issues.

"The Prime Minister emphasized the security needs of the State of Israel in the context ‌of the negotiations, and the two agreed to continue their close coordination and tight contact," Netanyahu's office said in ‌a statement after Wednesday's talks.

The two leaders had also been expected to talk about potential military action if diplomacy with Iran fails, one source said.

Iran has said it is prepared to discuss ‌curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions but has ruled out linking the issue to missiles.

"The Islamic Republic's missile capabilities are non-negotiable," Ali Shamkhani, an adviser ‌to Iran's supreme leader, said on Wednesday. Netanyahu's arrival at the White House was lower-key than usual. The two leaders were shown shaking hands in a photo released by the Israeli Embassy. But unlike previous Netanyahu visits with Trump, a press pool was not allowed into the Oval Office. It was not immediately known why he received such low-profile treatment.

GAZA ON THE AGENDA

Also on the agenda was Gaza, with Trump looking to push ahead with a ceasefire agreement he helped to broker. Progress on his 20-point plan to end the war and rebuild the shattered Palestinian enclave has stalled, with major gaps over ‌steps such as Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw in phases.

"We discussed the tremendous progress being made in Gaza, and the Region in general," Trump said after the meeting.

Netanyahu's visit, originally scheduled for February 18, was brought forward amid renewed US ⁠engagement with Iran. Both sides at last week's ⁠Oman meeting said the negotiations were positive and further talks were expected soon.

Trump has been vague about broadening the negotiations. He was quoted as telling Axios on Tuesday that it was a "no-brainer" for any deal to cover Iran's nuclear program, but that he also thought it possible to address its missile stockpiles.

Iran says its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, while the US and Israel have accused it of past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

During a 12-day war last June, Israel heavily damaged Iran's air defenses and missile arsenal. Two Israeli officials say there are signs Iran is working to restore those capabilities.

Trump threatened last month to intervene militarily during a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran, but ultimately held off.

ISRAEL WARY OF A WEAKENED IRAN REBUILDING

Tehran's regional influence has been weakened by Israel’s June attack, losses suffered by its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, and the ousting of its ally, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But Israel is wary of its adversaries rebuilding after the multifront war triggered by Hamas' October 2023 assault on southern Israel.

While Trump and Netanyahu have mostly been in sync and the US remains Israel's main arms supplier, they appear to be at odds on another key issue.

Part of Trump's Gaza plan holds out the prospect for eventual Palestinian statehood - which Netanyahu and his coalition, the most far-right in Israel's history, have long resisted.

Netanyahu's security cabinet on Sunday authorized steps that would make it easier for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israel broader powers in what the Palestinians see as the heartland of a future state.

The decision drew international condemnation, and Trump on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to West Bank annexation.


Turkish, Greek Leaders Voice Desire to Resolve Issues After Talks

In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Turkish Presidency via AP)
In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Turkish Presidency via AP)
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Turkish, Greek Leaders Voice Desire to Resolve Issues After Talks

In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Turkish Presidency via AP)
In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

The leaders of Türkiye and Greece voiced their desire to resolve longstanding maritime disputes hobbling ties during discussions in Ankara on Wednesday, as the NATO allies and historic rivals try to build on warming relations.

The neighbors have been at odds over a range of issues for decades, primarily maritime boundaries and rights in the Aegean, an area widely believed to hold energy resources and with key implications for airspace and military activity.

Following years of heightened tensions, a 2023 declaration on friendly relations prompted a thaw in rhetoric, though their maritime issues have remained unresolved and the two sides still disagree over ‌regional matters.

Speaking at ‌a press conference in Ankara with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, ‌Turkish ⁠President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said ⁠they had discussed their issues in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean "in an open and sincere way" during the talks.

"While the issues may be thorny, they are not unsolvable on the basis of international law. I saw that we were in agreement with my friend Kyriakos," Erdogan said.

He added that the two countries would continue working to achieve their goal of reaching $10 billion in bilateral trade.

Mitsotakis said he hoped circumstances would allow the sides to solve a dispute on ⁠the demarcation of maritime and exclusive economic zones in the Aegean ‌and eastern Mediterranean.

'IF NOT NOW, WHEN?'

"It is time to ‌remove any substantial and formal threats to our relations, if not now, when?" Mitsotakis said.

"Destiny has ‌appointed us to live in the same neighborhood. We cannot change geography, but we can ‌make it an ally, choosing convergence, dialogue and trust in international law... to build a future of peace, progress and prosperity for our people."

Despite the positive tone, Greece's foreign minister earlier said Athens planned to extend its territorial waters further, including potentially in the Aegean.

Shortly after, Ankara said it had issued ‌a maritime notice urging Greece to coordinate research activities in areas of the Aegean that Türkiye considers part of its continental shelf.

In ⁠1995, Türkiye’s parliament ⁠declared a casus belli — a cause for war — should Greece unilaterally extend its territorial waters beyond six nautical miles in the Aegean, a stance Athens says violates international maritime law. Greece says it wants only to discuss demarcation of maritime zones.

Mitsotakis also said the flows of migrants in the Aegean Sea had decreased by almost 60% last year due to cooperation between the two countries, adding this should be strengthened.

Fifteen migrants died in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Chios last week after their boat collided with a Greek coastguard vessel and sank in the Aegean Sea off the Turkish coast.

Türkiye is a transit country for migrants seeking to reach the European Union via Greece. Ankara says the EU has not fully delivered on commitments under a 2016 migration deal and Athens wants Türkiye to do more to curb irregular crossings.