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Iran Holds Funeral for Officers Killed in Embassy Strike

People mourn over the coffins of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members killed in Damascus in a strike blamed on Israel on January 20, during their funeral in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 22, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People mourn over the coffins of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members killed in Damascus in a strike blamed on Israel on January 20, during their funeral in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 22, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Holds Funeral for Officers Killed in Embassy Strike

People mourn over the coffins of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members killed in Damascus in a strike blamed on Israel on January 20, during their funeral in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 22, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People mourn over the coffins of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members killed in Damascus in a strike blamed on Israel on January 20, during their funeral in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 22, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran held a funeral on Friday for seven officers killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria this week, an unprecedented attack for which Tehran has vowed to take revenge.

State television showed demonstrators carrying pictures of those killed and banners with slogans such as "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

The funeral coincided with the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day, during which Iran stages large state-sponsored pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rallies nationwide.

The leader of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, took part in the rally in Tehran, Iranian media reported, Reuters reported.

Among those killed in Monday's airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus was one of Iran's top soldiers, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).

It was the boldest, and deadliest, in a series of attacks that have killed Iranian officials in Syria since December.

Iran vowed harsh retaliation, raising the spectre of a wider war and prompting the Israeli armed forces to suspend leave for all combat units on Thursday, a day after they said they were mobilising more troops for air defence units.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his country would harm "whoever harms us or plans to harm us".

The coffins of two of the killed officers were displayed in the capital, Tehran, to religious mourning chants. Some of those present waved the Palestinian flag. All seven officers were expected to be buried later on Friday.

Iran's Jerusalem Day rallies are held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in support of Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state in territories captured by Israel in a 1967 war.

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World

Netanyahu Skeptical of an Iran Breakthrough

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House February 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House February 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
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Netanyahu Skeptical of an Iran Breakthrough

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House February 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House February 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was skeptical that US nuclear talks with Iran will lead to a breakthrough but described his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House as “excellent.”

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Washington before boarding a plane to return to Israel, Netanyahu said Trump’s terms and Iran’s “understanding that they made a mistake the last time when they did not reach an agreement, may lead them to agree to conditions that will enable a good agreement to be reached.”

While he said he did “not hide my general skepticism” about any deal, he stressed that any agreement must include concessions about Iran’s ballistic missiles program and support for militant proxies.

He added that the conversation Wednesday with Trump, which lasted more than two hours, included a number of other subjects, including Gaza and regional developments but focused on the negotiations with Iran.

World

German Court Rejects Palestinian's Claim over Weapons Exports

A view shows the front of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 5, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
A view shows the front of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 5, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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German Court Rejects Palestinian's Claim over Weapons Exports

A view shows the front of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 5, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
A view shows the front of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 5, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

Germany's highest court on Thursday threw out a case brought by a Palestinian civilian from Gaza seeking to sue the German government over its weapons exports to Israel.

The complainant, supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), had been seeking to challenge export licences for German parts used in Israeli tanks deployed in Gaza.

After his case was rejected by lower courts in 2024 and 2025, he had appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court.

But the court in Karlsruhe dismissed the case, stating that "the complainant has not sufficiently substantiated that the specialized courts misjudged or arbitrarily denied a possible duty to protect him", AFP reported.

While Germany is obliged to protect human rights and respect international humanitarian law, this does not mean the state is necessarily obliged to take specific action on behalf of individuals, the court said.

"It is fundamentally the responsibility of the state authorities themselves to decide how they fulfil their general duty of protection," it added.

The ECCHR called the decision "a setback for civilian access to justice".

"The court acknowledges the duty to protect but only in the abstract and refuses to ensure its practical enforcement," said Alexander Schwarz, co-director of the NGO's International Crimes and Legal Accountability program.

"For people whose lives are endangered by the consequences of German arms exports, access to justice remains effectively closed," he said.

The ECCHR had been hoping for a successful appeal after the Constitutional Court ruled last year that Germany had "a general duty to protect fundamental human rights and the core norms of international humanitarian law, even in cases involving foreign countries".

In that case, two Yemenis had been seeking to sue Berlin over the role of the US Ramstein airbase in a 2012 drone attack.

The complainant was one of five Palestinians who initially brought their case against the German government in 2024.

 

 

 

 

World

2 Israelis Charged with Using Classified Military Information to Place Bets

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
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2 Israelis Charged with Using Classified Military Information to Place Bets

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles during an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Two Israelis have been charged with using classified military information to place bets on how future events will unfold, Israeli authorities said Thursday, accusing the individuals of “serious security offenses.”

A joint statement by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, domestic security service Shin Bet and police said that a civilian and a reservist are suspected of placing bets on the US-based prediction market Polymarket on future military operations based on information that the reservist had access to, The AP news reported.

Israel’s Attorney General’s Office decided to prosecute the two individuals following a joint investigation by police, military intelligence and other security agencies that resulted in several arrests. The two face charges including bribery and obstruction of justice.

Authorities offered no details on the identity of the two individuals or the reservist's rank or position in the Israeli military but warned that such actions posed a “real security risk” for the military and the Israeli state.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan had reported earlier that the bets were placed in June ahead of Israel’s war with Iran and that the winnings were roughly $150,000.

Israel's military and security services “view the acts attributed to the defendants very seriously and will act resolutely to thwart and bring to justice any person involved in the activity of using classified information illegally,” the statement said.

The accused will remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against them, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Prediction markets are comprised of typically yes-or-no questions called event contracts, with the prices connected to what traders are willing to pay, which theoretically indicates the perceived probability of an event occurring.

Their use has skyrocketed in recent years, but despite some eye-catching windfalls, traders still lose money everyday. In the US, the trades are categorized differently than traditional forms of gambling, raising questions about transparency and risk.