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Iran Says Swiss National Who Died in Prison Had Photographed Military Sites 

An Iranian woman walks past a mural of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a mural of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
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Iran Says Swiss National Who Died in Prison Had Photographed Military Sites 

An Iranian woman walks past a mural of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a mural of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

A Swiss national who Iranian authorities said took his own life while in an Iranian jail after being arrested on suspicion of espionage had taken pictures of military sites, Iran's judiciary spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Switzerland had demanded detailed information on the reasons for the arrest of the 64-year-old man, who had been travelling in Iran as a tourist, and a full investigation into the circumstances of his death earlier this month.

"The person had entered the country from Dogharoun (bordering Afghanistan) in October as a tourist in a car fitted with various technical equipment meant for different purposes," the judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said.

The spokesperson said the detainee had hanged himself with a piece of cloth after turning off his cell's light and placing himself out of the view of security cameras.

"After passing through several provinces, he entered Semnan province and was arrested while being in a military-restricted zone," Jahangir said. "He was arrested on charges of taking pictures of the military zone and collaborating with hostile states."

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have in recent years arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.

Rights groups accuse Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Iran denies this.

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World

North Korea Conducts Engine Test for Missile Capable of Targeting US Mainland

This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 29, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a combustion test of a solid-fuel rocket engine at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 29, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a combustion test of a solid-fuel rocket engine at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
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North Korea Conducts Engine Test for Missile Capable of Targeting US Mainland

This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 29, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a combustion test of a solid-fuel rocket engine at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 29, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a combustion test of a solid-fuel rocket engine at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday.

The test likely indicates Kim is intent on enlarging and modernizing an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland.

The report on Sunday from Korean Central News Agency came days after Kim delivered a speech at North Korea's Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power and accusing the US of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East.

Kim watched the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fiber material, according to KCNA, which reported the engine's maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September.

A push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating US defenses, observers say.

KCNA did not report exactly when or where the test occurred.

The test was conducted as part of the country's five-year military escalation program. The plan's objectives include upgrading “strategic strike means,” KCNA reported.

The reference is understood to mean nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the continental US.

Kim said the latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” KCNA reported.

In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the US mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection prior to liftoff more difficult. The country's older liquid-fuel missiles must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long.

Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim's high-stakes diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In a ruling Workers' Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for dialogue with Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

World

Venezuela’s Maduro Thanks Supporters in First Online Post from US Prison

A supporter of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores reacts while gathering with others in support of Maduro and Flores on the day they attend a hearing in a Manhattan federal court, more than two months after US military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A supporter of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores reacts while gathering with others in support of Maduro and Flores on the day they attend a hearing in a Manhattan federal court, more than two months after US military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 26, 2026. (Reuters)
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Venezuela’s Maduro Thanks Supporters in First Online Post from US Prison

A supporter of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores reacts while gathering with others in support of Maduro and Flores on the day they attend a hearing in a Manhattan federal court, more than two months after US military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A supporter of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores reacts while gathering with others in support of Maduro and Flores on the day they attend a hearing in a Manhattan federal court, more than two months after US military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to New York, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 26, 2026. (Reuters)

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, captured by US forces in a nighttime raid in January, said Saturday that they feel "steadfast" and "serene" in their first social media post from prison.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost three months, after American commandos snatched the pair from their compound in Caracas, and they have reportedly been without access to the internet or newspapers.

"We are well, steadfast, serene and in constant prayer," the pair said in a message shared on Maduro's X account, though it was unclear who made the post on their behalf.

"We have received your communications, your messages, your emails, your letters and your prayers. Every word of love, every gesture of affection, every expression of support fills our souls and strengthens us spiritually."

A source close to the Venezuelan government told AFP that Maduro reads the Bible and is referred to as "president" by some of his fellow detainees in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison known for unsanitary conditions.

He is only allowed to communicate by phone with his family and lawyers for a maximum of 15 minutes per call, the source added.

His son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," has said in public appearances that his father is well, calm, and even exercising in prison.

Maduro, who has declared himself a "prisoner of war," had not spoken since being arraigned in New York on January 5.

"We feel a deep admiration for our people's ability to remain united in difficult times, to express love, awareness, and solidarity, within Venezuela and beyond our borders," the couple added in Saturday's post.

During a one-hour hearing on Thursday, the judge rejected a defense motion over Maduro and his wife's apparent inability to afford their legal bill without aid from the Venezuelan government. Neither spoke during the court appearance.

Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges of "narco-terrorism" conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

The January operation deposed Maduro, who had led Venezuela since 2013, forcing the oil-rich country to largely bend to US President Donald Trump's will.

Delcy Rodriguez, who had been Maduro's vice president since 2018, is now at the helm and grappling with leading a country saddled with the world's largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.

Since Maduro's ouster, Rodriguez has enacted a historic amnesty law to free political prisoners jailed during his tenure and reformed oil and mining regulations in line with US demands for access to her country's vast natural wealth.

This month, the State Department said it was restoring diplomatic ties with Venezuela in a sign of thawing relations.

World

Yemen's Houthis Enter Iran War with Attacks on Israel, While US Marines Arrive in Region

Iranian officials and journalists make their way through debris at car service center in eastern Tehran that was hit by a missile strike, on March 28, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Iranian officials and journalists make their way through debris at car service center in eastern Tehran that was hit by a missile strike, on March 28, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
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Yemen's Houthis Enter Iran War with Attacks on Israel, While US Marines Arrive in Region

Iranian officials and journalists make their way through debris at car service center in eastern Tehran that was hit by a missile strike, on March 28, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Iranian officials and journalists make their way through debris at car service center in eastern Tehran that was hit by a missile strike, on March 28, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /

The risk of an expanded Iran war grew as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday launched their first attacks on Israel since the start of the conflict, as additional US forces reached the Middle East.

Washington has dispatched thousands of Marines to the Middle East in the month-old war. The first of two contingents arrived on Friday on an amphibious assault ship, the US military said on Saturday.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that US officials said the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, possibly involving raids by Special Operations and conventional infantry troops. Whether President Donald Trump would approve plans for deploying ground troops remained uncertain, the Post reported.

Reuters has reported the Pentagon was considering military operations that could include deploying ground troops in Iran.

LEBANESE JOURNALISTS, RESCUE WORKERS HIT

The war, launched on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the world economy with the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday the US could achieve its aims without ground troops ‌but that it ‌was deploying some to the region so Trump would have "maximum" flexibility to adjust strategy.

The Pentagon was also expected to ‌deploy ⁠thousands of soldiers from ⁠the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which hosts talks from Sunday with the Turkish and Saudi foreign ministers on ways to ease regional tensions.

Israel carried out a wave of attacks on Tehran on Saturday, targeting what Israel's military said was Iranian government infrastructure.

It also hit targets in Lebanon, resuming its war against Iran-backed Hezbollah, killing three Lebanese journalists in a strike on a media vehicle, Lebanon's Al Manar TV reported, as well as a Lebanese soldier. A follow-up strike on the rescue workers sent to assist them also caused fatalities.

Israel's military said it had targeted one of the journalists, accusing him of being part of a Hezbollah intelligence unit and saying he had reported on locations of Israeli soldiers.

Iran kept up attacks on Israel and several Gulf states ⁠after hitting an air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday and wounding 12 US military personnel, two of them ‌seriously, in one of the most serious breaches of US air defenses so far.

Air defenses shot ‌down a drone near the residence of the leader of the Iraqi Kurdish ruling party, Masoud Barzani, in Erbil, security sources told Reuters early on Sunday. Security sources said ‌on Saturday that another drone attack had targeted the home of the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Israel, which regularly faced missile attacks from ‌the Houthis before the war, confirmed a missile had been fired at it from Yemen. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

HOUTHI STRIKES MAY MEAN NEW THREAT TO SHIPPING

The attack pointed to a potential new threat to global shipping, already hit by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, previously a conduit for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The group carried out a second strike on Israel, said Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, vowing more strikes to come.

The Houthis ‌have shown an ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, as they did in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.

With US midterm elections ⁠due in November, the increasingly unpopular war ⁠has weighed on Trump's Republican Party. He has appeared eager to end it soon, while also threatening escalation.

Demonstrators took to city streets across the US on Saturday in anti-Trump rallies described by organizers as a call to action against the war on Iran.

Trump has threatened to hit Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz. But he extended a deadline he had imposed for this week, giving Iran another 10 days to respond.

Iranian threats to attack ships in the strait have kept most oil tankers from attempting the waterway. Iran has agreed to let an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels pass through the strait, with two ships permitted to transit daily, said Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Israel has targeted Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which has evacuated staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast, said the attacks threatened nuclear safety.

Pezeshkian said Iran would "retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centers are targeted".

Iranian attacks were reported in multiple areas across the Gulf, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

An Iranian airstrike hit the Israeli village of Eshtaol, near Jerusalem. Seven people were hospitalized, Israel’s ambulance service said. Aluminium Bahrain said its facilities were targeted in an Iranian attack on Saturday, Bahrain's state news agency reported.

In Iran, media said at least five people were killed in a US-Israeli attack on a residential unit in the northwestern city of Zanjan, and in Tehran, the Iran University of Science and Technology was struck.