Israel Destroyed 90 Percent of Iranian Capacities in Syrian Territories

Smoke rises from a fire in a container storage area, after Syrian state media reported an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port of Latakia, Syria, in this handout picture released by SANA on December 7, 2021. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Smoke rises from a fire in a container storage area, after Syrian state media reported an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port of Latakia, Syria, in this handout picture released by SANA on December 7, 2021. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
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Israel Destroyed 90 Percent of Iranian Capacities in Syrian Territories

Smoke rises from a fire in a container storage area, after Syrian state media reported an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port of Latakia, Syria, in this handout picture released by SANA on December 7, 2021. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Smoke rises from a fire in a container storage area, after Syrian state media reported an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port of Latakia, Syria, in this handout picture released by SANA on December 7, 2021. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

The Israeli military has destroyed about 90 percent of Iran's military infrastructure and attempts to entrench itself with Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militias in Syria, three officials in the Israeli army said.

According to the officials, Israel has in recent years succeeded in almost completely curbing Iran's ability to transfer weapons to Syria, to manufacture weapons on the country's soil and to establish a base in it with pro-Iranian forces.

There have been talks on Wednesday about Israel halting raids in Syria in the past months out of fear of a Russian response.

However, last Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an Israeli airstrike near Damascus destroyed an Iranian-backed drone manufacturing and weapons storage site.

According to the sources, the plan of the former commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by the Americans in 2020, has failed due to the Israeli army’s continued air campaign against the forces in Syria.

The security officials emphasized that the army severely damaged Iran's smuggling routes from the sea, air and even from the land from Iran to Syria.

As a result of the attacks, the ability of the Syrian army to produce weapons and ammunition has also been damaged since the Iranians and Hezbollah used the same factories for the production of their weapons.

The focus of the attacks in recent years has also been to stop the smuggling of components for CERS – the Centre D’Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques (CERS) in Masyaf that is used by Iran to produce advanced missiles and weapons for its proxies.

According to sources in Israel, Syrian President Bashar Assad has realized that in the coming years he will not be able to regain territories occupied by the Kurds, including the Turks, and instead is focused on reducing the activity of Iran and Hezbollah in his country, with an emphasis on the Syrian Golan Heights.



North Korea Vows Nuclear-armed Navy as US Ally Drills Open

Kim Jong Un has vowed my North Korea's navy a nuclear force. KCNA / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
Kim Jong Un has vowed my North Korea's navy a nuclear force. KCNA / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
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North Korea Vows Nuclear-armed Navy as US Ally Drills Open

Kim Jong Un has vowed my North Korea's navy a nuclear force. KCNA / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
Kim Jong Un has vowed my North Korea's navy a nuclear force. KCNA / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

Leader Kim Jong Un vowed to build North Korea's navy into a nuclear-armed force, state media reported Monday as US allies' maritime drills kicked off.

This week's maneuvers involving Japan, South Korea and the United States were established in 2023 in what officials called an effort to deter Pyongyang's missile and nuclear threats, said AFP.

Kim's comments came at the commissioning of the Kang Kon -- a warship that partially capsized when launched in May 2025 -- in the port city of Wonsan on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

"We should make sure that the diversified and effective operation of nuclear combat systems is conducted for an actual war through developing our navy into a nuclear armed force," Kim reportedly told the ceremony.

"Once ordered anytime, the new-generation destroyer should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies as it is a force involved in the state nuclear counteraction system," he said.

Photos released of Kim showed him accompanied by his daughter, Ju Ae, who is reportedly designated as a successor to her father.

Kim oversaw in July a test of the Kang Kon -- one of two 5,000-ton class warships launched last year -- just over a year after it was damaged during its launch.

Kim's reference to a "nuclear-armed navy" suggests the vessels could serve as launch platforms for tactical nuclear-capable cruise missiles, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University.

Kim also said North Korea was carrying out an "important plan" to strengthen its navy that would be demonstrated to the world "in eight months".

That could foreshadow the unveiling of a major strategic asset, such as a new submarine capable of carrying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), Lim said.

By deploying the Kang Kon in the East Sea, Pyongyang is also seeking to keep the joint maritime exercises and deployments of nuclear assets "directly and within range", Lim said.

This week's US allies' drills, dubbed Freedom Edge, are set to run to Friday in international waters east and south of South Korea's Jeju Island.

The maneuvers have pushed ahead despite President Donald Trump curtailing another set of drills with South Korea as the US leader aims to reopen diplomacy with Pyongyang about its nuclear program.

Despite Trump's overtures, North Korea has shown little sign of reciprocating, firing missiles and condemning the downsized drills as well as Washington's approval of arms sales to South Korea and plans to fund programs documenting human rights abuses in the North.


Iran Raises Price of Petrol as US Applies Economic Pressure

 Vehicles pass a banner showing a portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP)
Vehicles pass a banner showing a portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Raises Price of Petrol as US Applies Economic Pressure

 Vehicles pass a banner showing a portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP)
Vehicles pass a banner showing a portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP)

Iranian authorities on Sunday announced they were raising the price of petrol for heavier consumers, as the United States steps up sanctions seeking to isolate the country's economy.

Iran's quota system prices petrol in three tiers -- 1,500 tomans per liter for a consumer's first 60 liters in a given month, 3,000 tomans per liter for their next 50, and 5,000 tomans per liter after that. The toman is an informal unit equivalent to 10 Iranian rials.

On Sunday, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the price for the third tier would double to 10,000 tomans (about 4.5 US cents).

"The rate will increase to 10,000 toman rials from the morning of September 8," Mohajerani said in remarks carried by state media.

"Different numbers were mentioned in expert meetings, but because the president had promised the people, the rate of 10,000 tomans was set," she added.

She later clarified that the price of the first and second tiers would not be changed.

Iran, a major oil producer with some of the world's cheapest fuel, has for years heavily subsidized petrol, making any changes to pricing politically sensitive.

The development comes as the Iranian currency was trading on the black market Sunday at more than 2.2 million rials to the US dollar, according to websites that track the rate.

Before the start of the Middle East war on February 28, the rial traded at around 1.7 million to the dollar, and in late April it hit what was then a record low of 1.8 million.

Late last month, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out plans for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, hoping to use financial pressure to hasten the end of the war.

The new measures build on a sanctions regime by the US and allies that has been in place since 2018, when President Donald Trump withdrew from an international deal struck with Tehran on its nuclear program.

The United States has also put Iran's ports under a naval blockade, attempting to reduce its oil exports to zero.


Cape Verde in Mourning after Children Killed in Bus Crash

An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
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Cape Verde in Mourning after Children Killed in Bus Crash

An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)

Cape Verde's government announced two days of mourning on Sunday after 25 people, mostly children and teenagers, were killed in a bus crash.

The west African country's leaders joined a Mass on Sunday at a local church on the island of Fogo, where 18 coffins were on display.

Such accidents are rare in the Atlantic archipelago, where roads are generally in good condition.

Officials said the bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep ravine late on Saturday, following an excursion to a village inside a volcanic crater.

The dead included the bus driver, who organized the excursion every year as a present for the pupils he drove to school during term time.

Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho told public television station TCV he had ordered two days of mourning and promised further measures would be taken.

President Jose Maria Neves, meanwhile, said he would order an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident.

"Right now the priority is to show solidarity with the families of the victims," AFP quoted him as saying.

Emergency personnel worked through the night to rescue victims trapped in the wreckage, in a remote, rocky valley.

Seven victims were buried early on Sunday. The rest were set to be buried later in the day, according to public radio network RCV.

Dionisio Semedo, a doctor at the regional hospital on Fogo, told public TV that 12 people were still receiving treatment, two of whom were in serious condition.

He said bodies and injured people began arriving at the hospital on Saturday night, between 11:00 pm and midnight.