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Iran Arrests Actress for Wishing Netanyahu Quick Recovery

Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
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Iran Arrests Actress for Wishing Netanyahu Quick Recovery

Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)

Iran has arrested actress Shohreh Ghamar over charges of “spreading psychological insecurity in society” after she wished Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a quick recovery.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim and Fars news agencies declared that the actress was arrested for publishing content that supports rioters, offending officials, wishing a quick recovery for the Israeli prime minister, backing the Zionist entity, and provoking chaos in the street.

Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib as saying that the Iranian judiciary is looking into several cases related to psychological security on the Internet.

When asked if he was monitoring the internet himself, he replied, “I can’t be a minister if I don’t.”

The actress was arrested days after posting a story on her four-million-follower Instagram page and wishing the Israeli PM a quick recovery. She wrote on his picture, "I prayed a lot for your health. Stay alive."

Last week, Netanyahu underwent a heart procedure. He left the hospital and resumed work.

Weeks before, the actress published another post criticizing the officials for threatening to eradicate Israel. She urged them to feed the hungry people in Kurdistan and Baluchistan first.

Dideban website - close to reformists - revealed that the actress took part in a propaganda video in favor of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the latest elections. The video went viral on Telegram.

Journalist and political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi criticized the arrest of Ghamar, saying on his Telegram account that the recovery wishes are in fact “prayers for the destruction of Israel”.

Zeidabadi stressed that Netanyahu is bringing the Hebrew state closer to instability and collapse like no other leader and if he dies, then a moderate politician would replace him and work on an international coalition against Iran.

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World

US Suspends Flights at El Paso Airport for 'Special Security Reasons'

FILE - A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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US Suspends Flights at El Paso Airport for 'Special Security Reasons'

FILE - A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The top US aviation agency said Tuesday it is stopping all flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days over unspecified "security reasons."

The flight restrictions are in effect from 11:30 pm on Tuesday (0630 GMT Wednesday) until February 20 for the airspace over El Paso and an area in neighboring New Mexico's south, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas" covered by the restrictions, the FAA said in a notice, citing "special security reasons" without elaborating.

El Paso International Airport in a social media post said all flights, "including commercial, cargo and general aviation," would be impacted by the move.

The airport, which is served by major US airlines like Delta, American and United, encouraged travelers to "contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information."

In a separate statement to the New York Times, it said that the restrictions had been issued "on short notice" and that it was waiting for guidance from the FAA.

World

Russia Says It Won’t Breach Limits of Expired Nuclear Treaty if US Does the Same 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
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Russia Says It Won’t Breach Limits of Expired Nuclear Treaty if US Does the Same 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacts during a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. (EPA)

Russia will keep observing the missile and warhead limits in the New START nuclear treaty with the United States, which expired last week, as long as Washington continues to do the same, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

The 2010 treaty ran out on February 5, leaving the world's two biggest ‌nuclear-armed powers ‌with no binding constraints on their ‌strategic ⁠nuclear arsenals for ⁠the first time in more than half a century.

US President Donald Trump declined a formal proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to voluntarily abide by the New START limits for another year. ⁠Lavrov said Moscow would stick ‌to the limits ‌itself for now anyway.

"Our position is that this ‌moratorium on our side that ‌was declared by the president is still in place, but only as long as the United States doesn't exceed the said limits," ‌Lavrov told parliament's lower house, the State Duma.

The treaty's expiry has ⁠spurred ⁠fears of a three-way arms race involving Russia, the US and China, which has far fewer warheads than the other two countries but is arming rapidly.

Some analysts say, however, that Russia is keen to avoid the cost of such a contest at a time when its state budget is feeling the strain from its four-year-old war in Ukraine.

World

After Vance Visit, the Kremlin Says Russia Will Develop Ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan 

A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
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After Vance Visit, the Kremlin Says Russia Will Develop Ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan 

A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shows Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) and US Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, 10 February 2026. (EPA/Azerbaijan Presidential Press Service Handout)

Russia intends to further develop its relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after US Vice President JD Vance visited the two South Caucasus nations.

The United States and Azerbaijan signed a strategic partnership, and Vance signed a nuclear deal with Armenia which operates an ageing ‌Soviet-era nuclear ‌power plant and is ‌looking to ⁠commission a new ⁠one.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Azerbaijan and Armenia were sovereign countries who had the right to develop their own foreign policies and that Moscow had deep mutually-beneficial ties with both nations.

"We have ⁠a huge range of bilateral ‌relations with both Baku ‌and Yerevan, covering all possible areas. These ‌include mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, ‌mutual investments, cultural relations, and so on.

"And, of course, we intend to further develop our relations with our partners so that they ‌are beneficial not only for us, but also for them."

Peskov said ⁠Russia ⁠was well placed to tender for any new nuclear power plant in Armenia.

"As the most advanced country in the world in this field, Russia is capable of withstanding the highest level of international competition," said Peskov. "If such competition is demanded by partners, Russia is capable of providing better quality for many years to come at a lower cost."