Sobia Ameen shoots for Calcutta Times
Iranian intelligence and security agencies deepen crackdown on alleged Mossad agents inside the country. Iranian police arrested a Mossad agent while manufacturing drones west of Tehran. The alleged agent was reportedly providing Iran's sensitive information to Israel. Iran also executed Three more Iranian men this week on alleged charges of collaborating with Israel. Watch this video to know more.
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Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Satellite images capture activity at Iran's Fordow nuclear site after US Strikes
Satellite images show Iran has built a new access road at its Fordow uranium enrichment site and moved in construction equipment that could be used to assess the damage done to the key underground nuclear facility by last month's U.S. airstrike. The imagery captured over the weekend by Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite company, shows a new road up the mountain where the Fordow nuclear facility is located along with a number of vehicles, including what analysts have identified as an excavator and a mobile crane. An analysis of the images by the Institute for Science and International Security, a think tank studying the Iranian nuclear program, said the excavator was likely preparing a staging area to send cameras or personnel down the holes made by American bombs to inspect the damage done to the underground facility. American long-range bombers dropped 12 huge 'bunker buster' bombs on the facility on June 22. The 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons were designed to pierce deep into the mountain before exploding underground, leaving behind holes that can be seen in satellite photos. The Institute for Science in its analysis said it observed no visible activity at Fordow's tunnel entrances, which were filled in. Several of the trucks visible in the satellite images appear to be dump trucks used to haul away debris. The images have been released during an debate over the extent of the damage from the U.S. airstrikes, which followed days of Israeli strikes on the country. President Trump and his administration say the strikes by bunker busters and cruise missiles on the key Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. An initial assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency that surfaced last week said the strikes likely only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a few months. The White House has pushed back on the report. Nuclear experts including former U.S. officials say that a seemingly small setback could significantly shift the diplomatic and military calculus around Iran's nuclear program. One question surrounding the future of Iran's nuclear program is the fate of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the centrifuges used to enrich the fuel. Some of the equipment and material may have been moved from Iran's nuclear sites before the U.S. attack, nuclear experts say. The International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors lost the ability to track Iran's manufacturing of centrifuges because of restrictions imposed by Iran. The restrictions were in response to Trump's withdrawal in 2018 from the 2015 international agreement designed to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA's director general, said on Sunday that Iran could have enough centrifuges spinning in a matter of months, if it decides, to resume enriching uranium. 'It is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage,' he said. 'The industrial capacity is there. Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious. So you cannot disinvent this,' he said in an interview with CBS's 'Face the Nation.' Write to Jared Malsin at
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Who is ‘Robert'? Iran-linked hackers threaten to leak emails stolen from Trump aides, ex-porn star Stormy Daniels
Hackers with ties to Iran have warned to release additional emails stolen from President Donald Trump's inner circle, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Roger Stone, after releasing a previous batch to the media before the US presidential election in 2024. Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency took to X to describe the threats, which were first reported by Reuters, as a 'calculated smear campaign'. This comes as the Trump administration issued a report, warning that 'Iranian Cyber Actors' might target American companies and 'operators of critical infrastructure.' Three days back, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, asserted that US and Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities did not seriously harm the country's nuclear facilities, prompting Trump to announce he was stopping plans to possibly reduce sanctions on Iran. Who is Robert and what we know about Iran-linked hackers group In online chats on Sunday and Monday, hackers using the alias 'Robert' informed Reuters they had approximately 100 gigabytes of emails featuring Wiles, Stone, ex-porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, and others. While they did not reveal the specifics of the content, they mentioned the possibility of selling the emails. In an indictment filed last September against three Iranians in the case of the 2024 Trump cyberattack, the Justice Department claimed that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps manage the hacking campaign 'Robert'. Also Read: Who is Dany De Andrade? World's hottest cop from Florida goes viral as she issues stern warning ahead of Fourth of July Here's what Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Meanwhile, CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy reacted to Reuters report, stating that a "hostile foreign adversary" was 'threatening to illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit and divide.' According to McCarthy, the 'so-called cyber 'attack' is nothing more than digital propaganda and the targets are no coincidence' and its goal is to 'damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants' who have distinguished themselves in the US. 'These criminals will be found and will be brought to justice,' he added. Meanwhile, US Attorney General Pam Bondi denounced the hacking as 'an unconscionable cyber-attack'. FBI Director Kash Patel said that anyone linked to any breach of national security would be thoroughly examined and executed to the greatest extent of the law, according to the White House and FBI. Is Iran a bigger threat than Russia to US? Iran emerged as a bigger threat during the 2024 presidential campaign than Russia, which is well-known for its potent propaganda operations and 2016 cyberattacks of significant US political parties, according to Sam Sabin of Axios. Microsoft discovered a number of Iranian entities that operated vigorous phishing and disinformation activities aimed at influencing the results of the 2024 US presidential election. Before the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, which ended with a ceasefire mediated by Trump following the U.S. military intervention, the hackers told Reuters they had no plans to launch any additional cyberattacks. 'I am retired, man,' the hackers claimed in May.
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Pakistan & North Korea are the 2 countries involved in Nuclear proliferation, says Israeli envoy to India
New Delhi: Two countries are involved in the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction—Pakistan and North Korea—said Reuven Azar, Israel's ambassador to India at ThePrint's Off the Cuff Monday. Azar added that Iran, which had openly promised to transfer such weapons to non-state actors, led to Israel's military strikes against Tehran's nuclear programme. 'Look, you were asking before about what if Iran becomes nuclear. Most of the nuclear countries I know are not proliferating weapons of mass destruction. I know two of them that have been doing that. One of them is North Korea. The second is Pakistan, right? What if you had a country that actually already was planning to transfer a nuclear bomb to the Houthis?' Azar said, while in conversation with Shekhar Gupta, ThePrint's Editor-in-Chief. The Israeli ambassador added: 'This is intelligence that our prime minister exposed only last week. They were planning to transfer a nuclear bomb to the Houthis. Can you imagine that? Yeah, because they are non-state actors. They are non-state actors with more than half a state with them. So this is complicated.' Azar pointed out that Iran, while a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), was seeking to build a bomb, with the goal of 'exterminating' Israel in 2027, through the use of 'missile barrages' and a ground invasion from the 'North and the South'. However, the Israeli ambassador claimed that Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, foiling Tehran's plan. 'What is interesting to see is that Hamas actually foiled the Iranian plan. And there was a document published about two weeks ago that our intelligence caught from Hamas archives, which showed the leader of Hamas was apologising to [Hassan] Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, for attacking Israel without coordinating [with] it. This was on the 7th of October,' said Azar. The strategic situation in West Asia Hamas' attacks had a cascading effect on Iran's security calculus. Tehran, which had painstakingly built a number of proxy forces to surround Israel, was on the back foot, especially following the degrading of Hezbollah's capabilities in Lebanon, by Israel. This led to a perception of 'vulnerability' within Iran, that led it to enrich uranium at very high rates, as it sought to go nuclear with its ballistic missiles, the Israeli ambassador explained in building the context to Tel Aviv's strategy in the past weeks. In the early hours of 13 June, the Israeli military launched Operation Rising Lion—military strikes targeting Iran's nuclear facilities and key personnel. Within the first few days, a number of senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists were killed. Roughly a week later, the US joined Tel Aviv, with its own Operation Midnight Hammer, that struck three Iranian nuclear facilities—Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. US President Donald J. Trump has asserted that the American strikes have 'completely obliterated' Iran's nuclear ambitions. Azar made it clear that Israel's operation had the blessings of the American administration from the beginning. 'The Americans told us, okay, give us 60 days, we'll try to negotiate with the Iranians. But if they don't comply with our demands, go ahead. Not only that, they planned this with us. So on day 61, we attacked. We dealt with two threats that were threats to eliminate our country, to annihilate us. One was the nuclear military threat, and the second, the ballistic missile threat,' Azar said. At the time, Iran was negotiating a deal with the US for its nuclear programme, with the fifth round of talks set to be held on 15 June in Oman. However, following the strikes, Iran pulled out of the deal. The conflict ended after 12 days, with both Tel Aviv and Tehran agreeing to a ceasefire. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had in an address to the Iranians, called for its people to rise up against the current administration. However, Azar clarified that 'regime change' was never a part of Tel Aviv's strategy during Operation Rising Lion. 'Nobody was planning to invade Iran or to take care of a nation of 100 million people. And therefore, as a democracy (Israel), which, you know, is accountable to its people, which actually has a conscription army, we are not in the business of, you know, dragging our people to endless wars to change the political landscape in other countries,' said Azar. The Israeli ambassador added: 'We are not capable of doing it. We don't have the will, okay? So we concentrated on these two goals (ending the nuclear programme and ballistic threat). And of course, you know, I would be very happy if there would be a regime change in Iran, but it depends on the Iranian people.' (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Has Tel Aviv sought US aid to strike Iran's nuclear mountain? What Israeli envoy to India had to say
