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Iran's First Drone Carrier Joins Revolutionary Guards' Fleet

An Iranian woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 05 February 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 05 February 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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Iran's First Drone Carrier Joins Revolutionary Guards' Fleet

An Iranian woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 05 February 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 05 February 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have taken delivery of the country's first ship capable of launching drones and helicopters at sea, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.
Amid military exercises lasting from early January to early March, Iran's armed forces have unveiled new weaponry as Tehran braces for more tensions with Israel and the United States under President Donald Trump.
"The Revolutionary Guards took action to transform a commercial ship... into a mobile naval platform capable of carrying out drone and helicopter missions in the oceans," said Navy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Alireza Tangsiri.
"The addition of this ship to our fleet is an important step in increasing the defense and deterrence capability of Iran in distant waters and in maintaining our national security interests," Tangsiri added.
The Shahid Beheshti, a former container vessel, is equipped with a 180-meter (590-ft) runway and is able to operate without refueling for up to one year, Reuters quoted Tasnim as saying.
The ship is different from previous Revolutionary Guards warships because it can launch and retrieve larger drones such as the Qaher, a miniaturized drone version of a local fighter jet.
The warship also holds fast-attack crafts and unmanned submarines, in addition to short-range anti-ship cruise missiles.
Last month, Iran's conventional navy received its first signals intelligence ship.

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World

British Man Held in Ecuador after Woman's Body Found in Suitcase

Police officials stand behind crime scene tape. — AFP/File
Police officials stand behind crime scene tape. — AFP/File
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British Man Held in Ecuador after Woman's Body Found in Suitcase

Police officials stand behind crime scene tape. — AFP/File
Police officials stand behind crime scene tape. — AFP/File

A British man has been arrested in Ecuador after the body of a woman was found inside a suitcase despite him telling The Sun newspaper that he was watching England game at the time.

Local authorities told the British news agency, PA Media, that Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith is alleged to have caused the death of 36-year-old Natalia Villalba in an apartment in the Chico neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia, on June 18.

But the 46-year-old from Bournemouth reportedly rang The Sun a day before his arrest and said: “I was watching England versus Croatia on a big screen in an Irish bar, so it wasn’t me.”

He added, “After the match I went into the shopping center, I mooched about, bought an ice cream, and came back later for the later games.”

England’s World Cup match took place on June 17.

The Sun reported that the suspect made a second call to its newsdesk on Friday, before his arrest, with a source telling the newspaper that he was located via the phone calls he had made. The source said there were fears the suspect was trying to buy a ticket to travel to Europe.

A post on the official X account of the Attorney General’s Office in Colombia said Foster-Smith is suspected of beating Villalba to death before placing her body in a suitcase, trying to conceal what happened and fleeing the scene.

Dorset Police are said to have been among the authorities that assisted with locating him before he was held at Quito International Airport in Ecuador.

World

Iran: Supreme Leader Calls for Legal Cases Against US, Israel

People ride past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People ride past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran: Supreme Leader Calls for Legal Cases Against US, Israel

People ride past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People ride past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has called on the judiciary to pursue domestic and international legal cases against the United States and Israel over deaths and damage caused by strikes on Iran.

In a message marking Judiciary Week, he said Sunday that the judiciary must follow up on “the crimes of international criminals, arrogant powers and global aggressors,” especially in 2025 and 2026.

Khamenei was referring to the 12-day war in 2025 and another one that began on Feb 28.

“What is certain is that the criminals must be seized by the collar and brought to justice for their criminal acts,” he said.

He added that physical and psychological damages “inflicted on each individual of the Iranian nation ... from child killings and war crimes in Minab and Lamerd to attacks on medical centers, is each a legal file that must be pursued in both domestic and international courts.”

He also called for judicial reforms, saying people should see results in faster case processing, stronger rulings, easier access to justice and tougher action against corruption.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since his appointment as supreme leader in March.

World

Father and Son Rescued after Four Days Buried Under Rubble of Venezuela's Earthquakes

Relief workers carry a survivor rescued from a building that collapsed in the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela. (AFP) 
Relief workers carry a survivor rescued from a building that collapsed in the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela. (AFP) 
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Father and Son Rescued after Four Days Buried Under Rubble of Venezuela's Earthquakes

Relief workers carry a survivor rescued from a building that collapsed in the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela. (AFP) 
Relief workers carry a survivor rescued from a building that collapsed in the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela. (AFP) 

A father and his son were pulled out alive from the rubble of a collapsed building on Sunday, four days after the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela.

It was a ‌scene that gave hope to the French and US rescue workers active in the area as they race against the clock to find more survivors.

Rescue workers carried the pair, visibly weakened and both wearing masks, on improvised fabric stretchers through debris-strewn streets to a waiting ambulance, as a crowd gathered around the emergency vehicles ⁠in La Guaira.

The coastal state was hardest hit by the earthquakes on Wednesday that left at least 1,450 dead and thousands missing.

Their rescue came after 12 hours of painstaking efforts by teams that combed through the ruins using specialized search cameras, carefully working through unstable rubble to reach the trapped victims.

“They are extremely weak, as any patient trapped under rubble for four days would be, so we are doing everything possible to rehydrate them and administer various medications during the extraction process, which ‌is ⁠moving very slowly,” said a member of the French Civil Security.

Before extracting the family members, rescuers prepared intravenous drips and cleared debris. Others remained beside the rubble searching for signs of life and communicating with their colleagues among ⁠the remains.

At least 33 people were rescued over the weekend, though tens of thousands remain missing, heightening fears that time is running out to find survivors.

According to ⁠specialists, after 72 hours following an earthquake, the odds of finding victims alive beneath the rubble drop dramatically.