Judge Is Stabbed to Death in Southern Iran 

An Iranian woman walks past a wall painting of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 21 May 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a wall painting of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 21 May 2025. (EPA)
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Judge Is Stabbed to Death in Southern Iran 

An Iranian woman walks past a wall painting of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 21 May 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a wall painting of Iran's national flag in Tehran, Iran, 21 May 2025. (EPA)

A judge was stabbed to death on his way to work in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz on Tuesday morning, state media reported.

A report by the official IRNA news agency called the killing a “terrorist act,” adding that two unidentified assailants are still at large. It identified the judge as Ehsum Bagheri, 38, who worked for the city's judicial department.

Bagheri in the past worked as a prosecutor in the revolutionary court, which deals with security and drug smuggling cases.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack

Iran has witnessed other killings of judges in the past.

In January, a man fatally shot two prominent hard-line judges in Iran’s capital Tehran, both of whom allegedly took part in the mass execution of dissidents in 1980s.



Fighter Jets, Refueling Aircraft, Frigate: UK Assets in Mideast

A Eurofighter Typhoon at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
A Eurofighter Typhoon at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
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Fighter Jets, Refueling Aircraft, Frigate: UK Assets in Mideast

A Eurofighter Typhoon at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
A Eurofighter Typhoon at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

Britain is deploying extra fighter jets and other assets to the Middle East amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

Below, AFP takes a look at the UK's military presence in the region.

'Contingency support'

Starmer told reporters travelling with him on his plane to Canada for G7 talks on Saturday that Britain was "moving assets to the region, including jets... for contingency support".

The jets are Eurofighter Typhoon planes, according to Britain's defense ministry.

Additional refueling aircraft have also been deployed from UK bases, according to Downing Street.

Royal Air Force fighter planes are already in the region as part of Operation Shader, the codename given to Britain's contribution to the international campaign against the ISIS group.

RAF Typhoon jets aided Israel in April 2024 when they shot down an unspecified number of drones fired by Iran, as confirmed by the UK's then-prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Starmer, Sunak's successor, refused to speculate whether the UK would become directly involved this time in the conflict between the arch foes, which entered their fourth day on Monday.

Iran threatened to target American, British and French bases if Western countries intervened to stop Iranian strikes on Israel.

Tehran also urged London, Paris and Berlin to pressure Israel to stop its deadly attacks on Iran.