Iranian Chief of Staff Warns Opposition of Similar Fate to Saddam Hussein

Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
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Iranian Chief of Staff Warns Opposition of Similar Fate to Saddam Hussein

Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)
Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri during an annual conference of Iranian diplomats in Tehran last month. (Tasnim News Agency)

Major General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) organization will have a fate that would be a lesson for the opposition.

He threatened the opposition and MEK with a fate similar to that of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

This came in parallel with Iran's Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri threatening to bring MEK for an international crimes trial, adding that up to 700 indictments are being prepared against the group.

ISNA News Agency quoted Montazeri as saying that an international criminal trial will be held for “these criminals soon”, during a recent speech for him at the headquarters of Iran's Islamic Republican Party which was bombed on June 28, 1981.

The Iranian authority accuses MEK of standing behind the explosion.

The Iranian government was targeted in the past weeks with activities that MEK claimed responsibility for including hacking Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s computer system.

Amid a struggle over power, there has been tension between MEK supporters and other Iranian opposition factions and parties.

This concurs with Iran's successful restoration of diplomat Asadollah Assadi, who was given a 20-year jail term by a court in Belgium after being convicted with a foiled bomb plot in France in 2018.

Brussels and Tehran struck a deal to swap prisoners. Three Europeans were released by Iran in return for Assadi as part of the swap in which Iran released Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week.

Upon the release of Assadi, Iranian officials stated that they are working on bringing back a former Iranian official who was convicted by a Swedish court for a lifetime imprisonment last year for his role in torturing and executing political prisoners from the left-wing parties including MEK in the 1980s.

Iran considers that the sentence against Hamid Noury stems from “political motives”.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and MEK group held the West responsible for the challenges they are facing. Last week, France banned a rally on July 1 called for by the NCRI.

On June 20, Albanian authorities raided a location where MEK members have been residing for a decade, as part of a deal signed following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Amid Tirana’s denial, NCRI announced one member dead.

The Albanian authorities further revealed the confiscation of 200 computers.

Iran commemorated the chemical attack against Sardasht, in the west of the country, on June 28, 1987. Iran accuses the Iraqi air force of launching mustard gas, injuring more than 8,000.

Baqeri slammed the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein saying that he "went to hell" in the worst possible way. He assumed a similar fate for the MEK, which must be a lesson to the opposition that turned its back on the country and the nation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement that Iran wouldn’t forget or forgive the crime of Sardasht, accusing some Western countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Netherlands, and the US of providing practical support to equip the regime of Saddam Hussein with chemicals.

 



Iran, US Race to Find Crew Member of Crashed American Fighter Jet

A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026.  US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran, US Race to Find Crew Member of Crashed American Fighter Jet

A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026.  US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS

Iranian and American forces raced each other Saturday to recover a crew member from the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane and US media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other was still missing.

Iran's military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot of that plane was rescued, reported AFP.

The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.

US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the loss of the F-15, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The president has been briefed."

President Donald Trump told NBC the F-15 loss would not affect negotiations with Iran, saying: "No, not at all. No, it's war."

On Saturday, there were fresh strikes on Israel, Lebanon and Iran, as well as on Gulf states.

An AFP journalist saw a thick haze of grey smoke covering Tehran's skyline after hearing several blasts over the capital. It was not immediately clear what had been targeted.

- 'Valuable reward' -

A spokesperson for the Iranian military's central operational command earlier said "an American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force's advanced air defense system".

"The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing."

An Iranian television reporter on a local official channel said anyone who captured a crew member alive would "receive a valuable reward".

Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said a pilot's training would likely kick in before he or she parachutes to the ground.

"My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don't want to be captured," he told AFP.

Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, mocked the Trump administration.

He wrote on X: "After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from 'regime change' to 'Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?'

"Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses."


Explosion Hits Pro-Israel Center in the Netherlands

Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Explosion Hits Pro-Israel Center in the Netherlands

Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)

A blast hit a pro-Israeli center in the Netherlands, police said Saturday, adding it caused minimal damage and no injuries.

A police spokeswoman told AFP no one was inside the site run by Christians for Israel, a non-profit, in the central city of Nijkerk when the explosion went off outside its gate late on Friday.

An investigation was ongoing.

The incident comes after a string of similar night-time attacks on Jewish sites in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium in recent weeks that has heightened concerns in the wake of the war in the Middle East.


Iran Says Strike Hit Close to Its Bushehr Nuclear Facility, Killing a Guard and Damaging a Building

Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
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Iran Says Strike Hit Close to Its Bushehr Nuclear Facility, Killing a Guard and Damaging a Building

Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)

Iran’s atomic agency says an airstrike has hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It is the fourth time the facility has been targeted during the war.

The agency announced Saturday’s attack on social media.

The US AP’s military pressed ahead Saturday in a frantic search for a missing pilot after Iran shot down an American warplane, as Iran called on people to turn the pilot in, promising a reward.

The plane, identified by Iran as a US F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing. It was the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, and could mark a new turning point in the campaign.

The conflict, launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28, has rippled across the region. It has so far killed thousands, upended global markets, cut off key shipping routes, spiked fuel prices and shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to US and Israeli airstrikes with attacks across the region.