
Family feared for British couple detained in Iran after Evin prison bombing
The couple were initially held in a 3x3 metre cell in Kerman, southeastern Iran, for at least five months.
Their family endured a "month of torment" in June when the couple went missing, fearing they had been transferred to Tehran 's Evin prison, which was bombed by Israel on 23 June.
Despite the family's fears, the Iranian foreign ministry said on 8 July that the Foremans were still in Kerman, though the British Foreign Office has not yet had direct contact with them.
The family asserts the Foremans are "normal" individuals being held as political prisoners and are urging for their release, while the FCDO continues to provide consular assistance.
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Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen
CAIRO/ATHENS, July 28 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had rescued 10 seafarers from the Greek-operated cargo ship Eternity C which they attacked and sank in the Red Sea earlier this month. The Liberia-flagged Eternity C was the second ship to sink off Yemen this month after repeated attacks by Houthi militants with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades. Another Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas, had gone down days earlier. The strikes on the two vessels marked a revival of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who have hit more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza. The Eternity C crew and three armed guards were forced to abandon the ship following the attacks. Ten people were rescued by a privately led mission, while five more are feared dead mainly due to the attacks. Another 10 people were believed to be held by Houthis, maritime security sources had told Reuters. On Monday, the Houthis group released a six-minute video showing pictures of the 10 seafarers with some of them contacting their families. They also showed testimonies saying that the crew members were not aware of a maritime ban by Houthis against vessels sailing to Israeli ports. They said the vessel was heading to Israel's Eilat Port to load fertilizers. Reuters could not independently verify the footage. In what they called phase four of their military operations, the Houthis said on Sunday they would target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities. Following the recent attacks, Greece said it would deploy a salvage vessel in the Red Sea to assist in maritime accidents and protect seafarers and global shipping.


Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Iran's Supreme Leader 'high' and issuing threats to Israel
By Iran's Supreme Leader spends his days 'sleeping and high on substances' in his hidden bunker, according to insiders within Israel's national intelligence agency. A Mossad-linked X account last week shared the new information on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a series of attacks on his leadership. 'How can a leader lead when they sleep half the day and spend the other half high on substances? Water, electricity, life!' the account wrote. 'Consuming drugs and conversing with spirits are not desirable traits for someone leading a country,' a second post read earlier this month. It comes after Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Khamenei to stop threatening the existence of his people from his underground bunker. 'I want to convey a clear message to Khamenei the dictator,' Katz recently said. 'If you continue to threaten Israel, our long arm will again reach Tehran and with even greater force — and this time to you personally. Do not threaten, lest you be harmed.' A ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Iran since late June, following days of fiery attacks from both sides after Israel's surprise strikes wiped out top Iranian military figures and nuclear scientists. At the height of the 12-day conflict, there were widespread reports that Khamenei was hiding out in a bunker amid increased concerns for his safety. At this point, Israel had dismantled and destroyed Khamenei's senior network, wiping out key leaders and allies of the Supreme Leader. Mohammad Bagheri, the commander in chief of Iran's military and second highest commander after Khamenei, was among the first casualties identified after the strikes. Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was also killed, along with Gholamali Rashid, the deputy commander in chief of the armed forces. General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the airspace unit of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy intelligence chief of the Armed Forces and Gen. Davood Sheikhian, the commander of air defense, were also wiped out. Simultaneously, bombs exploded at the homes of nine scientists, killing them instantly and at the same time. While the Mossad has not formally confirmed the X account's affiliation, two intelligence agents recently said the account appears authentic. 'Some of the information it has shared could only have come from Mossad,' said Beny Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies. The accountholder urges supports who are 'contacting us through private messages, for your own security, please ensure you are using a VPN.' Khamenei has been accused of abusing drugs in the past, despite declaring illicit substances 'un-Islamic' in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. Iranians face the death penalty for drug related offenses. In 2022, an Iranian academic publicly claimed the Supreme Leader had a drug habit. 'Many viewers do not know this, but Khamenei himself uses drugs,' Nour Mohamed Omara told a television station in Turkey at the time. 'He has a special village in Balochistan, where the drugs used by the leader are produced,' the academic added. 'This village is run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and no one is allowed in.' The same Mossad-linked account has been making efforts to reach and communicate with Iranians who are increasingly disenfranchised with their leadership. After the 12-day Iran-Israel war, the account posted: 'A ceasefire has been put into effect. Now, the extent of the damage is becoming clear. At this moment, the regime is focused on its senior officials, not on caring for its citizens.' 'We stand with you and have formed a team of specialized doctors, including experts in cardiology, diabetes. pulmonary diseases, infectious diseases, oncology, as well as support for pregnant women and psychological assistance.' The account warned Iranians interested in utilizing the services to contact them via a VPN for their own safety.


The Sun
17 hours ago
- The Sun
Iran planning to execute 30,000 in repeat of horror 1988 ‘massacre' as part of desperate crackdown, insiders fear
IRAN'S merciless regime is plotting to kill tens of thousands of prisoners in a repeat of the 1988 massacre, insiders fear. Rattled supreme leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a surge in executions - turning hangings into public spectacles in a chilling warning to dissidents. 9 9 9 It comes as callous mullahs yesterday hanged two political prisoners who had been jailed on trumped-up charges. Mehdi Hassani, 48, and Behrouz Ehsani, 70, were killed in cold blood for daring to oppose the barbaric regime they were forced to live under. Earlier this year, The Sun shared a haunting voice message from dad-of-three Hassani as he lambasted the cruelty of mullahs. Ehsani meanwhile bravely vowed he was "ready" to sacrifice his life in the ongoing fight for freedom for the Iranian people. Iran has repeatedly unleashed lethal force on its own people - especially at times of crisis - in a sickening bid to stamp out rebellion. Glaring vulnerabilities in the regime's grip on power have been exposed after Israel and the US launched a monumental effort to destroy its nuclear threat. Executions and arrests are weaponised to scare dissidents, and it is feared panicked Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a similar plot to the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. The regime was also in turmoil that year after accepting a ceasefire with Iraq. Now, death sentences against those affiliated with the main democratic opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), are being expedited as Khamenei scrambles for control. Chillingly, state-run Fars News Agency - a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - this month issued a public call to repeat 1998's inhumane massacre as the regime fears for its survival. British politicians and leading human rights lawyers have urged the UK government to intervene to prevent such an atrocity. Alongside the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), they also criticised the focus on Tehran's nuclear programme, warning that it has overshadowed the worsening human rights crisis. Baroness O'Loan DBE said: "Those threatening our national security are the same individuals planning atrocities in Iran's prisons. So, we must act, now." Dowlat Nowrouzi, the NCRI's UK representative, told The Sun: "The international community's failure to hold the regime accountable for its atrocities, including crimes against humanity and genocide, has allowed the regime to enjoy impunity. "It is long overdue to hold Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and others accountable for committing these crimes. It comes as one of Iran's longest-serving political prisoners has laid bare the dire situation in a handwritten letter shared with The Sun. Saeed Masouri, who has spent 25 years behind bars, was forcibly dragged from his cell Qezelhessar Prison to solitary confinement. More than 100 armed guards raided the ward Masouri was on, beating prisoners before hauling them across the floor with handcuffs and leg shackles and bags over their heads. Masouri has been exiled to the notorious Zahedan Prison - just days after penning a haunting letter warning a massacre is looming. 9 9 9 9 He wrote: "Just as it happened in 1988, today we fear that the same path is being repeated, albeit with different language and methods. "Back then, it was called the 'Death Committee'; today, it is 'Fire at discretion'. "But this widespread repression and intensification of executions are not signs of strength—they are admissions of the regime's helplessness in the face of truth and the will of the people. "Likewise, this so-called 'fire at discretion' is nothing but an attempt to conceal the depth of infiltration, decay, and structural collapse within the ruling system—failures they now seek to compensate for by exacting revenge on the people of Iran and their prisoners." All contact between political prisoners and their families has now been cut off. Ms Nowrouzi added: "The assault on Mr. Masouri is not an isolated incident. "It is part of a broader campaign of escalating executions, arbitrary detentions, and systematic repression. "The regime, emboldened by decades of impunity and inaction, is now openly signaling its intent to repeat the horrors of 1988. "As Mr. Masouri warned in his message from prison, 'a crime is in progress,' and the world must not remain silent." Iran's calculating mullahs meanwhile are refusing to hand the bodies of slain Ehsani and Hassani back to their grieving families. How Iran is stifling critics after defeat to Israel by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) TYRANNICAL leaders in Iran have demanded citizens act as undercover informants to turn in anyone who dares oppose the regime, insiders say. Panicked mullahs have also ordered "telecom cages" be installed around prisons as the regime wages war against its own people. Political prisoners - largely banished to death row on trumped-up charges - have been subject to extreme torture and a disturbing rate of executions in the face of growing tensions in the Middle East. Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition. The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state - but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled. Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Regime loyalists have been implored to act as informants - compiling detailed reports with photos, times, locations, licence plates and facial features of suspected individuals. Orders were publicised in an official government news outlet - marking a distinct shift in the paranoid regime's usual strategy of covert suppression. Insiders noted it points to the regime's growing perceived threat posed by the PMOI's grassroots operations. The PMOI has long fought for a secular, democratic Iran, and is understood to be gaining traction amid frustration with economic hardship, political repression, and international isolation. Insiders say they are instead planning to secretly bury them in a twisted bid to cover up their actions. Hassani's devastated daughter, who bravely campaigned for her dad's release, wept as she told how they had not been informed of his execution. In a harrowing video message shared with The Sun, she said: "They didn't grant him a final visit before the execution. "None of us knew, not even my father, who had told my sister to visit him on Monday. "I don't know what to say. I fought so hard. I had so much hope, so much… I still can't believe what has happened." Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, has called on the United Nations to take "concrete and effective measures against a regime built on executions and torture". Mrs Rajavi said: "They [Ehsani and Hassani] now join the eternal ranks of those who have given their lives in the struggle for freedom and justice. "In what appears to be a desperate act during the twilight of his rule, Khamenei has perpetrated yet another grave crime - an effort to delay the inevitable collapse of his regime. Ayatollah 'on his heels' by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) IRAN'S merciless regime is "fully on its heels" - leaving the Ayatollah's days numbered, a former US ambassador says. But the West will not be able to topple Tehran's brutal dictatorship, Mark D. Wallace, CEO & Founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, warned. The ex-ambassador to the UN said it will be down to the Iranian people - who have suffered outrageous repression for decades - to finally end the regime's rule. Iron-fist fanatics have used violent and ruthless measures, including executions and torture, in a twisted bid to stamp out opposition and silence critics. The regime's future now appears to be hanging by a thread, however, as it sits in a "combustible state" following the obliteration of its nuclear empire by the US and Israel. Several of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's top military brass were wiped out in the 12-day war - leaving the barbaric ruler vulnerable. Power held by Iran's terror proxies - including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen - has also been severely depleted. Wallace told The Sun: "The regime isn't just wounded, they're fully on their heels." "Far from securing his hold on power, this brutality only intensifies the outrage of the Iranian people and reinforces the determination of Iran's courageous youth to bring an end to this theocratic tyranny. "Honour to these steadfast Mojahedin who, after three years of unwavering resistance under torture, pressure, and threats, fulfilled their solemn pledge to God and the people with pride and dignity." It comes after The Sun reported how Iran's wounded regime massacred defenceless inmates at a prison before blaming their deaths on shrapnel from airstrikes. As Israeli missiles rained down on a nearby military site on June 16, panicked inmates at Dizel-Abad Prison in Kermanshah begged to be moved to safety. But they were instead met with a hail of bullets from the regime's merciless enforcers in a "deliberate and cold-blooded act", a witness said. Meanwhile, sweeping arrests are also plaguing Iran's population - with around 700 people understood to have been detained last month with reported links to a "spy network". Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Insiders believe this year that distressing toll will be much higher. 9 9