IRGC Conducts Maneuvers Simulating an Attack on Israel

An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
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IRGC Conducts Maneuvers Simulating an Attack on Israel

An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)
An image from the IRGC video of a missile test in the Gulf of Oman (IRGC Media)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted naval drills, including missile maneuvers simulating an attack on an air base in Israel.

IRGC Commander Hossein Salami warned against attacking Iranian ships, threatening double attacks in response to any attack.

Iranian media quoted Salami as saying that the IRGC would win any war it enters, whether military or electronic.

He assured that the force stands prepared for potential conflict, underscoring the IRGC's cyberspace prowess and ability to counter enemy actions in this domain.

Salami said, "In the event of a naval conflict and our ships being targeted, we will respond with equal or greater force."

The Commander's warning comes amid escalating maritime tensions as a result of attacks launched by the Houthi group against commercial ships in the Red Sea since last November.

On Tuesday, the IRGC announced it had conducted a maneuver simulating a surface-to-surface ballistic missile attack on Israel's Palmachim airbase south of Tel Aviv.

According to Iranian television, Palmachim was the "main base for F-35 fighter jets" in Israel.

Meanwhile, the Commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, warned that any error in the enemies' calculations would cost more than its achievements.

Rashid said the enemies are aware they are being monitored, asserting that Iranian forces are ready to make them pay the price if they make the mistake of attacking Iran.

Any of the enemy's tactical actions will become a strategic failure, said Rashid.

On Monday, the IRGC commander announced the successful firing of a long-range ballistic missile from the warship for the first time, in a move that may increase concerns about the security of navigation in the region.

Iranian television broadcast pictures of the operation, saying that an IRGC vessel launched ballistic missiles "for the first time" while it was in the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean, according to Agence France-Presse.

Iranian media quoted Salami as saying that the operation to launch the long-range ballistic missile from a ship "was completed successfully."

He added: "Our ships can be anywhere in the oceans."

"There is no safe place for forces that want to threaten our security."

Iranian television explained that the two missiles launched from the ship ranged from at least 1,700 kilometers and landed in a desert in central Iran.



Italy Slams NATO Chief's Comments on Iran War Flights

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of a Defense Ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of a Defense Ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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Italy Slams NATO Chief's Comments on Iran War Flights

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of a Defense Ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte holds a press conference ahead of a Defense Ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Italy on Wednesday criticized comments by NATO chief Mark Rutte on the politically sensitive issue of US forces using bases in Italy during the Iran war.

Responding to President Donald Trump's criticism of NATO allies for not supporting the US, Rutte told Fox News that Europe was in fact a "platform of power projection for the United States".

"Five hundred US planes took off from US bases in Italy to support (Operation) Epic Fury. So this is massive," Rutte told the network ahead of an expected meeting with Trump.

He said there were between 4,000 to 5,000 sorties by US planes from European bases during the conflict.

Italy's defense ministry in a statement said Rutte's words gave "a completely misleading message by confusing the type of flights that were authorized".

It said Italy had allowed only "technical and logistical, non-kinetic" US flights during Epic Fury under existing agreements with the United States.

"On the occasions when a request was put forward that fell outside this scope, as is well known, Italy did not grant authorization," the statement said.

Authorization for any use of the bases for combat missions has to come from the government which in turn needs to get the go-ahead from parliament.

Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have sparred publicly in recent months after the US president criticized Italy for not helping US action in Iran.

He said Meloni was doing "poorly in Italy" and suggested this was linked to her refusal to let the United States use Italian "landing strips or runways" during the conflict with Iran.

Trump also revived his long-running complaint that the United States spends heavily to protect "so-called" NATO allies, saying Washington contributes hundreds of billions of dollars to defend Italy and others.


ISIS Suspect Killed in Raid Ahead of Ankara NATO Summit

The prosecutor's office had on Tuesday confirmed issuing warrants for 241 people, with anti-terror police arresting 209 people in early morning raids in and around the city. (AFP file)
The prosecutor's office had on Tuesday confirmed issuing warrants for 241 people, with anti-terror police arresting 209 people in early morning raids in and around the city. (AFP file)
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ISIS Suspect Killed in Raid Ahead of Ankara NATO Summit

The prosecutor's office had on Tuesday confirmed issuing warrants for 241 people, with anti-terror police arresting 209 people in early morning raids in and around the city. (AFP file)
The prosecutor's office had on Tuesday confirmed issuing warrants for 241 people, with anti-terror police arresting 209 people in early morning raids in and around the city. (AFP file)

Police shot dead a man suspected of ties to ISIS group militants during a raid on a district near Ankara, security sources told Turkish media Wednesday.

The incident occurred during police raids early Tuesday, two weeks before the July 7-8 NATO summit in the capital Ankara that world leaders from 32 nations, among them US President Donald Trump, will attend.

The shooting happened in Sazagasi, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, during a simultaneous operations that saw police arresting more than 200 people, the DHA and IHA news agencies reported.

The suspect, M.K., was shot dead when a police special force unit raided an address where he was staying with his wife N.K.

IHA news agency said the pair had opened fire first on police, prompting a shootout.

"The police carried out an operation here, but I don't know who the suspects are supposed to be linked to," local neighborhood leader Nuri Demir told AFP by phone.

"We saw ambulances transporting wounded, but I don't know anything else," he added.

Contacted by AFP, neither Ankara's provincial governorate nor the Ankara public prosecutor's office would make a comment on the incident.

The prosecutor's office had on Tuesday confirmed issuing warrants for 241 people, with anti-terror police arresting 209 people in early morning raids in and around the city.

Of the total number wanted for arrest, 56 were identified as ISIS suspects, while 185 were identified as belonging to several far-left organizations branded terror groups by Ankara.

It was not immediately clear on Wednesday whether police had managed to round up any of the remaining 32 suspects.


Australia Spy Chief Warns of Iran Terror Threat

Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Australia Spy Chief Warns of Iran Terror Threat

Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025. (Reuters)

An Australian citizen living in Iran who was a senior member of its Revolutionary Guards orchestrated a major antisemitic firebomb attack in Sydney, Australia's spy chief said Wednesday.

Giving an annual threat assessment, Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said he was also concerned that an Iranian group active in Europe could conduct further attacks or an assassination in Australia.

ASIO has come under scrutiny after 15 people were killed in an antisemitic mass shooting at Bondi Beach in December, with an independent inquiry into antisemitism noting a drop in the share of funding for counter-terrorism investigations.

In his Canberra speech, Burgess defended the agency as it faced "concurrent, cascading, and compounding threats", and revealed details of investigations into two antisemitic firebombings traced to Iran.

An Iran-based Australian citizen orchestrated the 2024 firebombing of a Bondi restaurant, Lewis' Continental Kitchen, in the first major antisemitic attack in Australia, he said.

"This person is a senior agent of the IRGC Quds Force, running its networks around the world," he said, referring to the Guards' foreign operations branch.

A former Australian resident living in Iraq but working for Iran had directed another major firebomb attack, on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, he said. Australia expelled Iran's ambassador last year over the attack.

- State hackers -

An Australian crime figure was arrested in January after pressure from Australian and Iraqi police.

"Iran recruited him through a complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups. Valuing his high wealth and criminal connections, the IRGC protected him and supported his illegal enterprises," Burgess said.

Iran continued to view Australia as a target, and could "conduct or inspire acts of arson, vandalism or even assassinations on Australian soil".

The Bondi Beach attack, allegedly by father-and-son killers, was shocking but not surprising in the context of a deteriorating global and domestic security environment, he said.

There were "misunderstandings" about how ASIO allocates resources, he added.

The number of officers working on counter-terrorism doubled between 2005 and 2025 and the agency was using new tools including artificial intelligence.

ASIO had foiled 31 major terrorism plots since 2014, and its cases had become more complex as people became radicalized in online chat rooms not prayer halls, within weeks, and at a younger age.

Burgess said state hackers had penetrated a critical infrastructure network, and outlined how a particular nation had sought to coerce eight people, including five Australians, to return to their place of birth to silence them.

Foreign spies were seeking to recruit Australians to reveal official secrets about AUKUS, the country's security partnership with Britain and the United States.

"What's more important: the liberty and agency of an individual, countering antisemitism, the availability of critical infrastructure or defending AUKUS? I don't believe we can prioritize the major threats -- you must deal with all of them," he said.