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Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran will respond to any attack against its infrastructure, including by striking Israel, the head of the country's top security body said on Friday, as Tehran and Washington have resumed fighting this week.

"Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters," Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.

Fighting picked up again this week between the US and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalize an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.

The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.

But Iran accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure in order to detract from the funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Bridges and railway links between the capital Tehran and Khamenei's hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on Thursday, were hit, according to Iran.

Iranian authorities say 17 people have been killed in US strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who informed him of the latest American moves in the Gulf.

Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, where Iran's only civilian nuclear plant is located.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so "with even greater force".

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World

Murder, Terror Charges for Suspects in Trump Cage Fight Attack Plot

President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Murder, Terror Charges for Suspects in Trump Cage Fight Attack Plot

President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Eight men accused in an alleged plot to attack a White House mixed martial arts fight hosted by President Donald Trump in June have been indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges, the Department of Justice said.

The suspects, ranging in age from 19 to 32, were accused of planning to used armed drones to attack the event on the White House South Lawn, with snipers firing on "high value targets" in the chaos, AFP quoted prosecutors as saying.

Law enforcement officials said they foiled the plot in the lead-up to the June 14 "UFC Freedom 250" event, which coincided with Trump's 80th birthday and ultimately took place without incident.

It attracted 4,000 fans to the fight in a temporary arena called "The Claw" that towered over the White House.The eight alleged plotters were charged Thursday in a two-count federal indictment in Columbus, Ohio, the Justice Department said.

They were accused of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.The federal charges returned by a grand jury replace initial charges filed by prosecutors in various legal jurisdictions around the country.

Prosecutors said the plotters, who hailed from various states, had met in online chat groups to plan the attack, recruit members and encourage each other to carry out the assault.

The eighth suspect, 21-year-old Charles Scaggs of West Virginia, was arrested this week and had allegedly been assigned to be a sniper, prosecutors said.

The White House is one of the most heavily guarded sites in the world, ringed with anti-aircraft capabilities, blanketed by surveillance, and staffed with specially trained response units.

The "UFC Freedom 250" event kicked off this year's festivities for the 250th anniversary of the declaration of US independence.

Trump has faced several assassination attempts in recent years, most recently in April when a gunman tried to storm a gala dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents' Association that Trump was attending.

World

Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin remained open to achieving Russia's objectives through diplomacy, but that Moscow was carving out a wider buffer ‌zone in ‌Ukraine in ‌response ⁠to Kyiv's escalatory actions.

Kremlin ⁠spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about a Reuters article a day ⁠earlier in which ‌three ‌sources close to the Kremlin ‌told Reuters that ‌Ukraine's recent drone strikes on Russia's oil refineries and ports were strengthening Putin's ‌resolve to keep fighting for now.

Peskov ⁠said ⁠Russia believed that Kyiv had no desire for talks at the moments and that Moscow was therefore continuing its military campaign in Ukraine.

World

WHO Official: Congo Ebola Outbreak Still Spreading Largely Undetected

FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
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WHO Official: Congo Ebola Outbreak Still Spreading Largely Undetected

FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo

Four out of every five new Ebola cases in parts of Democratic Republic of Congo have no known link to existing patients, a senior World Health Organization official said, warning that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times larger than official data suggest.

The figures underscore the challenges facing health workers as they battle to contain the outbreak in the country's northeast, which has so far infected 1,792 people and killed 625, according to government data released on Thursday.

"Eighty percent of the... new patients confirmed are coming outside of known contact lists” in ⁠the heart of ⁠the outbreak in Bunia, Ituri province, WHO Emergencies Director Chikwe Ihekweazu told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.

In areas with fewer cases, like North Kivu province, almost all new cases are coming from the contact lists, he added, a sign of some progress.

WHO estimates based on modelling and test positivity rates suggest the outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, may be between ⁠two and four times larger than the number of confirmed cases, he said.

About 90% of all reported cases remain concentrated in Ituri province, particularly in the health zones of Bunia, Rwampara, Mongbwalu and Nyakunde, where transmission remains intense. But the virus has also spread beyond the epicenter to North Kivu province, South Kivu province and, more recently, Tshopo province.

In Bunia, Ituri's capital and a city of one million, roughly one in two patients tested for Ebola turns out to be positive, a sign of intense, ongoing community transmission, Ihekweazu said.

Preliminary evidence suggests the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus may cause milder symptoms than other types, reducing ⁠risk perceptions among affected ⁠communities and leading some families to care for sick relatives at home before seeking treatment.

While that appears to improve survival rates among patients who reach treatment centers, it also means infected people may remain in the community longer and continue transmitting the virus.

"Patients are out there much longer than we would like," Ihekweazu said. "The longer patients are outside of care, the more likely they are to transmit this illness."

Community deaths also remain a major concern. An analysis of the first 400 Ebola deaths in the outbreak found that roughly 70% occurred outside treatment centers, he said.

Strengthening surveillance remains the biggest challenge for the response, he said.

Authorities this week began training 21,000 community health workers to conduct house-to-house visits, identify suspected cases and encourage people with symptoms to seek care.