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Mohsen Rezaei Appointed as Secretary of Iran's Top Security Body

FILE PHOTO: Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
FILE PHOTO: Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Mohsen Rezaei Appointed as Secretary of Iran's Top Security Body

FILE PHOTO: Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
FILE PHOTO: Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Iran has changed its secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, appointing former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei as second-in-command on the body that coordinates the country's security and foreign policy.

Rezaei is more of an outspoken public figure than his predecessor, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr. The appointment was announced late on Sunday by President Masoud Pezeshkian's deputy director of communications, Reuters reported.

Zolqadr had only been appointed as SNSC secretary in late March, after his predecessor, Ali Larijani, was killed in an air strike during the war pitting Iran against the US and Israel.

No reason was given for the change and it was not immediately ⁠clear if it ⁠would herald any change in policy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that Iran and Oman were "very close" to an agreement on a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz — which has been all but closed during five months of war — but reopening it would depend on other conditions, including ⁠US compensation to Iran.

Zolqadr meanwhile had listed other demands including ending US threats against Iran, stopping aggression against Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, lifting a blockade and sanctions on Iran and freeing Iranian assets.

The SNSC, formally chaired by the elected president, coordinates security and foreign policy, and includes top military, intelligence and government officials in addition to representatives of the supreme leader who has ultimate say over all matters of state.

Rezaei, 71, commanded Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps from 1981 to 1997, ⁠including during ⁠much of the Iran-Iraq war. He later served as secretary of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council for more than two decades and as vice president for economic affairs from 2021 to 2023 under hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.

He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Tehran but has spent much of his career in Iran's security and political establishment.

A decree from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday also appointed Rezaei as his representative on the SNSC, joining fellow hardliner Saeed Jalili, with the decree citing Rezaei's "valuable experiences,” including his role during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

In the same decree, Khamenei appointed Zolqadr as his political adviser.

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World

Trump's Border: Quiet, But Few People are Happy

Border patrol is now picking up fewer than 10 people every day in this section of the frontier, down from 2,000 during the last administration. Olivier Touron / AFP
Border patrol is now picking up fewer than 10 people every day in this section of the frontier, down from 2,000 during the last administration. Olivier Touron / AFP
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Trump's Border: Quiet, But Few People are Happy

Border patrol is now picking up fewer than 10 people every day in this section of the frontier, down from 2,000 during the last administration. Olivier Touron / AFP
Border patrol is now picking up fewer than 10 people every day in this section of the frontier, down from 2,000 during the last administration. Olivier Touron / AFP

Between the hundreds of migrants arriving every day to seek asylum, chases of those fleeing, and the encounters with drug traffickers, Jason Mercado was overwhelmed during his time working for the US Border Patrol under Joe Biden.

"It's peaceful now," the retired agent says as he stands in front of the enormous wall that separates the United States from Mexico, near the town of San Luis, Arizona.

On the eve of the midterm elections, this arid region in the Southwest serves as proof that Donald Trump kept his central campaign promise: to restore order at the border, reported AFP.

In the sector around San Luis, the Border Patrol now apprehends fewer than 10 people per day -- a sharp decline from the up to 2,000 per day under the last administration.

This drop, which began during the final months of the Biden presidency, accelerated under the Republican billionaire's aggressive anti-immigration offensive.

Now filing an asylum claim at the border has become extremely difficult; migrants apprehended near the wall are almost never released while awaiting a hearing; and high-profile, forceful operations targeting undocumented immigrants across the United States have served as a deterrent.

Mercado's former colleagues tell him that during their patrols, things are "very quiet."

"One or two of them said the word 'boring,'" says the 56-year-old, a Republican voter, with a smile.

- Relief -

In the small town of San Luis, the sense of relief is palpable, even among Democrats, who sometimes struggled with the scope of the humanitarian crisis.

Churches and community organizations provided food and shelter for thousands of people in transit, while the hospital in Yuma, the county seat, was completely overwhelmed, and the federal government still owes it millions.

"Our tax dollars were going toward all of that," says Georgina Escamilla, speaking in Spanish in her Mexican restaurant.

"They were giving money to people coming from other countries, while those who live here receive no help," adds the 63-year-old, who leans to the left politically.

Yet, the return of calm masks a new sense of unease among the residents of this agricultural region -- one of the country's primary producers of lettuce and other vegetables.

"With Trump, we've shot ourselves in the foot," complains Ricardo Vasquez.

The 58-year-old farmworker is frustrated that he now has to pay more than 20 percent more for diesel, a cost he attributes to the conflict in Iran initiated by the president.

"The country wasn't doing so badly before he arrived, and now, with fuel prices, it feels like we're being slapped in the face, because everything is going up," he grumbles.

In his fields of lettuce and broccoli, Mike Pasquinelli no longer has to worry about the destruction caused by migrants fleeing the police -- incidents that previously wiped out portions of his harvest.

However, the surge in the cost of diesel and fertilizers, driven by the conflict in the Middle East, is eating into his bottom line.

- 'Uncertainty' -

"We're probably gonna have about a 20 percent reduction in profits... compared to last year," sighs the farmer, who serves as president of the Yuma Fresh Vegetables Association.

He has also had to contend with a drop in orders, stemming from tensions linked to the trade war with Canada, a major destination for his vegetable exports.

"There's been a lot of uncertainty on the foreign market, especially with the tariffs and retaliation between countries," he says.

"Most of the market has stabilized, but we've had some ups and downs."

This instability has also taken a toll on the logistics sector, another key employer in the region.

In his refrigerated warehouses, located right up against the border wall -- in an area through which dozens of trucks pass -- Mario Jauregui is fed up with "always playing the guessing game."

Tariffs, which have been repeatedly imposed and then lifted, have cut the volume of fruit his clients ship between Mexico and the United States by a fifth.

His industry is also facing setbacks because the Trump administration has stopped issuing commercial vehicle permits to certain foreign drivers.

"It's become so uncertain... nowadays that when we wake up the first thing that we do is look at the news," the conservative business owner grumbles.

"I don't think that that's a way to manage a country."

At 66, he has always voted Republican.

But with the November 3 election approaching, he finds himself hoping that Trump's Republican Party loses its congressional majority.

"I would much rather have a Democratic Congress and a Republican president," he says with a sigh. "We need to learn our lesson."

World

North Korea Fires 'Around a Dozen' Ballistic Missiles into East Sea

A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
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North Korea Fires 'Around a Dozen' Ballistic Missiles into East Sea

A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo
A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, September 20, 2026. Ahn Young-joon, AP Photo

North Korea fired "around a dozen" short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, Seoul's defense ministry said, less than a week after South Korea proposed talks over a growing border row.

The launches follow a slew of recent weapons tests by Pyongyang, including a new precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to employ AI technology.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said its military detected "around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea towards the East Sea", the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles flew about 250 kilometers, and "South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact specifications", Seoul's military said, adding it had stepped up surveillance of possible additional launches.

The Japan Coast Guard had earlier urged ships in the area to be vigilant.

Seoul's National Security Office, meanwhile, said the launches violated UN Security Council resolutions, labelling them "serious acts that do nothing to help manage the current situation".

Thursday's missile flurry comes against the backdrop of growing tensions over a landmine explosion along the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas that saw three South Korean soldiers wounded.

A joint Seoul-UN investigation earlier this month concluded that North Korea planted the landmines over a year ago.

Seoul accused Pyongyang of "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement" and demanded an apology, something the North has mockingly dismissed.

- 'Show of force' -

"This should be seen as a fairly high-level show of force," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.

"North Korea is demonstrating that it has the capability to completely destroy major South Korean and US military facilities," he said.

Pyongyang was also sending a political message, Lim added, by "showing off its overwhelming military power and warning Seoul not to interfere with its efforts to fortify the border".

Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the North would place loudspeakers on standby along the border "within days" and had put unspecified "new counter means" on alert.

Both countries have occasionally turned to loudspeakers blaring propaganda across their shared border and other psychological warfare methods.

South Korea days later proposed military talks with the North to "mutually confirm the precise location" of their border and discuss restoring communication channels, but Pyongyang has yet to respond.

The DMZ is one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers, and landmine incidents have previously heightened tensions between the two countries.

Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war, as the Korean conflict ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty.

The ratcheting tensions come as US President Donald Trump's recent overtures to North Korea have raised concerns that Seoul -- an ally of Washington -- could be sidelined in potential nuclear talks involving Pyongyang.

In his most recent comments, Trump seemingly downplayed the possibility of a summit while insisting his relationship with Kim Jong Un was "very good".

In October, North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles a day after Trump suggested the two might meet this year.

World

UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
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UN Rights Chief Wants Next Israeli Govt to 'Change Course Massively'

n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)
n Israeli bulldozer demolishes the house of Palestinian prisoner Ibrahim Abdul Karim Daoud at the West Bank village of Beita, 28 October 2026. (EPA)

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday he hopes a new Israeli government will "change course massively" and respect international law, as the country's political future hung in the balance after hard-fought elections.

"The message is: don't continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that's what we have frankly seen in the current environment," he told reporters in New York.

"Israel has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively," the Austrian diplomat added.

Earlier this week, Turk warned that Israel's military occupation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raised serious concerns of "ethnic cleansing."

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law," he said in a statement Monday.

With more than 85 percent of ballots counted in Israel's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority, making Israeli Arab parties possible kingmakers.

The Tuesday vote was the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.