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Iran Top Court Overturns Rapper Toomaj Salehi’s Death Sentence, Lawyer Says

People hold placards bearing portraits of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who is arrested in Iran, and portraits of children (L), who were killed during the protests in Iran, during a rally in support of Iranian women in Istanbul, on November 26, 2022. (AFP)
People hold placards bearing portraits of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who is arrested in Iran, and portraits of children (L), who were killed during the protests in Iran, during a rally in support of Iranian women in Istanbul, on November 26, 2022. (AFP)
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Iran Top Court Overturns Rapper Toomaj Salehi’s Death Sentence, Lawyer Says

People hold placards bearing portraits of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who is arrested in Iran, and portraits of children (L), who were killed during the protests in Iran, during a rally in support of Iranian women in Istanbul, on November 26, 2022. (AFP)
People hold placards bearing portraits of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who is arrested in Iran, and portraits of children (L), who were killed during the protests in Iran, during a rally in support of Iranian women in Istanbul, on November 26, 2022. (AFP)

Iran's supreme court has overturned Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi's death sentence on charges linked to the country's 2022-23 period of unrest, his lawyer wrote in a post on the X social media platform on Saturday.

"The death sentence of #Toomaj_Salehi was overturned and based on the appeal decision ...of the Supreme Court, the case will be referred to (another) branch for consideration," attorney Amir Raisian wrote on X.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the ruling.

Salehi's songs supported protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish Iranian woman arrested for allegedly wearing an "improper" hijab.

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World

NATO Allies in Talks on 'Best Way' to Re-open Hormuz Strait

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
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NATO Allies in Talks on 'Best Way' to Re-open Hormuz Strait

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday that allies of the military alliance were in discussions on the "best way" to open the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large chunk of the world's oil supply normally passes, AFP reported.

"I have been in contact with many allies. We all agree, of course, that strait has to open up again. And what I know is that allies are working together, discussing how to do that, what is the best way to do it," Rutte told a news conference during a visit to a NATO exercise in northern Norway.

US President Donald Trump has urged other global powers to send warships to escort convoys of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

World

Iran President Confirms 'Assassination' of Intelligence Minister

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Iran President Confirms 'Assassination' of Intelligence Minister

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Wednesday that Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in the war with the US and Israel, blasting a "cowardly assassination".

In a post on X, Pezeshkian did not say who had carried out the attack but earlier Israel's defence minister announced that Khatib had been "eliminated, AFP reported.

"The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, Ali Larijani and Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in mourning," he said, referring to Iran's recently killed security chief and defense minister.

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that the military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Khatib’s killing follows Israel killing top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.

Also on Wednesday, Iran launched strikes toward Israel and neighboring Gulf countries, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.

World

Pakistan Says Pausing Military Operations against Afghanistan Temporarily

Taliban security personnel inspect the site after Pakistani airstrikes hit the Secondary Rehabilitation Services Center in Kabul on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Taliban security personnel inspect the site after Pakistani airstrikes hit the Secondary Rehabilitation Services Center in Kabul on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
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Pakistan Says Pausing Military Operations against Afghanistan Temporarily

Taliban security personnel inspect the site after Pakistani airstrikes hit the Secondary Rehabilitation Services Center in Kabul on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Taliban security personnel inspect the site after Pakistani airstrikes hit the Secondary Rehabilitation Services Center in Kabul on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)

Pakistan is pausing its military operations against Afghanistan temporarily, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Earlier, Afghanistan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani on Wednesday promised retribution for this week's Pakistani airstrike that killed hundreds at a Kabul drugs rehabilitation center.
"We will take revenge," the Taliban government minister said at the mass burial of some of the victims in the capital, calling those behind Monday night's bombing "criminals".
"We are not weak and helpless. You will see the consequences of your crimes," he added.
The Taliban authorities have said that about 400 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in the strike, which was the deadliest attack yet in the recent upsurge in violence between the two neighbors.
Not all victims are being buried in Kabul, as some bodies have been sent for burial in their home provinces, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP earlier.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said on Wednesday that "hundreds" were killed and wounded, in the first independent confirmation of the heavy death toll.
Pakistan has denied Taliban government claims that the center was deliberately targeted and said it had carried out precision strikes on "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure".
The strike has renewed calls for an end to the conflict, which has seen strikes on both sides of the shared border. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring extremists behind attacks on its territory. Kabul denies doing so.