Iran on Tuesday condemned an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha, calling the bombing of the Tehran-backed group's negotiating team a dangerous escalation to simmering Middle East tensions.
The Israeli military had earlier taken responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted what it called the "senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization" and that steps were taken to reduce civilian harm.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian strongly condemned the attack as an "illegal, inhumane, and anti-peace action", saying it shows Israel "recognizes no limits to crime and terror, and destroys every attempt at diplomacy."
He called on the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and other international bodies to respond to what he called a blatant aggression with immediate, decisive, and practical action.
"Attacking an independent country is a clear violation of national sovereignty and the UN Charter," Pezeshkian said, more than two months after Iran attacked a US base in Qatar during its 12-day war with Israel.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also said "this action by the Israeli regime is a continuation of the crimes it has committed by violating all norms and international rules."
"This action is extremely dangerous and criminal; a blatant violation of all international laws and regulations, an infringement of Qatar’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an attack on Palestinian negotiators."
Hamas has long based its political leadership in the gas-rich Persian Gulf state, which has traditionally served as a mediator in regional conflicts.
Khaled Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Iran, said the attack it described as an assassination attempt had failed and showed US perfidy.
“As always, the US government does not honor its commitments and consistently paves the way for the Israeli regime’s terrorist actions by creating the illusion of negotiations and offering superficial proposals," Qaddoumi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
"This time too, while the leadership of the movement was reviewing what was called the American plan in Doha, the occupying forces attacked the movement’s headquarters in a country that is one of the most important mediators, with US coordination.”
Hamas's ceasefire negotiation delegation survived Israeli attack, Reuters reported citing sources. There were no specific official comments on any casualties by Qatar or Hamas.
Negotiations to end the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza had been entering a critical new stage, with US President Donald Trump urging Israel and Hamas to agree to a prisoner exchange and ceasefire.
'Chieftains'
Speaking on X after the Doha attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to stress there was no involvement by the United States, whose Mideast military hub is in Qatar.
"Today's action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation," he said. "Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility."
Netanyahu on Monday visited the site of a deadly shooting by Palestinian gunmen on a bus in Jerusalem in which six people were killed, vowing to crush the Jewish state's enemies.
Iran and its regional affiliates have suffered multiple blows at the hands of its arch-foe in the regional conflagration which erupted since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
A 12-day surprise Israeli campaign against Iran in June battered the Islamic Republic's military and nuclear infrastructure and killed hundreds of civilians and military personnel along with several top nuclear scientists.
32 Israelis were killed in Iranian counterattacks.
US attacks on three key Iranian nuclear sites capped off the war, and a retaliatory missile salvo caused damage deep inside a US airbase in Qatar, destroying a cutting-edge communications hub.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei this month sought Qatari mediation in talks with the West, multiple sources told Iran International, as Tehran signals rare flexibility on its enriched uranium as part of efforts to avert looming UN sanctions.
Zahra Behrouzazar told an event at Iran University of Medical Sciences that a “Suicide Prevention Command Center” had been formed in Tehran province and would be expanded nationwide.
“Each of us is responsible for reducing suicide and our hope is that suicides will reach zero. This is an ambitious goal and requires a national program,” she said, according to state news agency IRNA. She described suicide as “a form of violence against oneself” and said prevention requires both “structural reforms and changes in mindset”.
Behrouzazar said Iran’s Social Emergency service -- a crisis intervention network run by the State Welfare Organization -- had been “65% effective” in its interventions and operates a 24-hour response in 378 cities.
“We cannot place all the burden on the Social Emergency; the supportive role of families matters,” she added.
Hassan Mousavi Chelek, the Welfare Organization’s deputy for social health, told the same conference the Social Emergency has worked on suicide prevention since 1999 and now runs fixed centers, mobile teams and the 123 hotline around the clock in 378 cities, IRNA reported.
He said interventions related to suicidal thoughts and attempts had increased fivefold between 2021 and 2024, which he said showed both need and growing public trust in the service.
Azarakhsh Mokri, a psychiatrist and associate professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, said social factors “more than medical illness” drive suicide risk, citing loneliness, unemployment and relationship breakdowns. He urged broader use of data and new technologies in prevention and cautioned against “over-medicalizing” suicide, IRNA reported.
The policy announcements come amid a spate of reported cases. Local rights outlet Haalvsh said on Monday that a farmer in Kahnuj, southeastern Iran, died by suicide at a local agriculture department office following alleged economic pressures, and that an internal-medicine specialist at Saravan’s Iranmehr Hospital was found dead in her dormitory after taking medication.
Also on Monday, a 26-year-old janitor who set himself on fire outside the governor’s office in Shadegan, southwestern Khuzestan province, died of his injuries, rights activists said.
In a separate report, a student collective said a female student died by suicide at Mohaghegh Ardabili University, calling for better campus support; the university has not issued an official statement.
Last year, a senior official at the prosecutor-general’s office said Iran records roughly 130,000 suicide attempts annually with about 7,000 deaths, and that suicide is the third-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24, according to reports from September 2024.
The official, Gholam-Abbas Torki, added that while Iran’s overall suicide mortality rate -- around 6.6 to 9.1 per 100,000 depending on the estimate -- is below the global average, it has been on an upward trend and requires scientific and coordinated prevention.
Iran’s government said on Tuesday it does not currently have access to its stockpiles of enriched uranium following June’s 12-day war that devastated the country’s nuclear facilities, as its foreign minister traveled to Egypt for talks with the UN nuclear watchdog.
“In regard to uranium, we do not have access to it. It is in a location where access does not exist,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters at her weekly press briefing, without giving details of where the material is being held.
Her remarks came as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Cairo for meetings with Egyptian officials and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The talks are expected to focus on a new framework for nuclear inspections after Iran suspended cooperation with the agency in July.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed late on Monday that “negotiations on the new protocol for Iran’s safeguards obligations will be finalized” during the Cairo meeting.
He said three rounds of technical talks had already produced a draft text that is now in its final stage.
Tasnim, citing an informed source on Tuesday, reported: “Today’s meeting between Abbas Araghchi and Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director general, is significant and will be held in Egypt within hours.”
The unnamed source added: “Although nothing has been finalized yet, a potential agreement between Iran and the Agency is possible.”
Voicing skepticism over progress in the Cairo talks, Laurence Norman, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, reported on Tuesday that he had learned “there is no agreement in place between Tehran and the agency, and the situation remains unclear.”
Mohajerani also referred to Iran’s complaint that IAEA inspectors had removed confidential documents from the Fordow enrichment site earlier this year.
“In early May, two documents accessed by inspectors were transferred to Vienna. After Iran submitted a written protest, the authorization of those two inspectors was revoked and their cooperation with Iran ended,” she said.
The government spokeswoman added that Iran’s future cooperation with the IAEA will be shaped by a law passed by parliament in June curbing the agency’s access, but stressed that any decision on leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) “will ultimately be made by the system as a whole.”
On Monday, the watchdog's chief dismissed allegations that IAEA data had been misused to enable attacks on facilities, calling the allegation “an absurd narrative.” The agency, he said, had never shared confidential inspection information and was discussing additional measures to reassure Iran that safeguards data remained secure.
Rafael Grossi also told governors that Iran’s suspension of cooperation under a new domestic law cannot override its binding international commitments.
Several Iranian sources told Iran International that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei instructed President Masoud Pezeshkian to seek mediation through the emir of Qatar to ease tensions with the West.
The diplomatic push comes as Britain, France, and Germany triggered the so-called “snapback” mechanism at the United Nations aimed at restoring all sanctions on Iran, citing Tehran’s refusal to meet Western demands over its nuclear and missile programs.
In a paper assessing the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) September quarterly reports, ISIS said the attacks “destroyed or made inoperative all of Iran’s installed centrifuges… at Iran’s three enrichment sites,” and severely damaged Iran’s ability to manufacture centrifuges and uranium hexafluoride feedstock.
The group, led by nuclear expert David Albright, added that Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan held enriched uranium stocks before the strikes, but the IAEA has lost on-site visibility since inspectors withdrew for safety reasons in late June and Iran later suspended cooperation.
The IAEA’s reporting showed Iran’s stock of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 reached 440.9 kg (uranium mass) on the eve of the June 13 bombardment, with additional inventories of 20%, 5% and up to 2% material also on hand.
The agency said the 60% stockpile -- considered highly enriched uranium -- requires verification every 30 days under standard safeguards practice and that “its verification… is overdue” because inspectors have not had access for more than two and a half months.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the Agency’s Board of Governors on Monday that Iran’s new domestic law curbing access “may create obligations domestically,” but “it cannot do so for the IAEA.”
He added that Iran’s NPT safeguards agreement remains in force and that inspection work must fully resume without delay. He said technical talks in Tehran and Vienna had made headway toward a practical arrangement, adding: “It is my sincere hope that within the next few days, it will be possible to come to a successful conclusion.”
ISIS said the IAEA reported Iran was in the process of declaring a new Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant (IFEP) at the Nuclear Reactors Fuel Company site before the war.
The think tank assessed the IFEP to be inside Esfahan’s mountain tunnel complex and said US strikes destroyed tunnel entrances and ventilation systems; while Iran has restored limited access to at least one portal, the plant “does not appear to be ready for operations.”
The IAEA planned a design-information visit on June 13 but canceled it as the attacks began.
Before the strikes, the IAEA counted “125 full-sized cascades” at the three declared enrichment plants, totaling more than 20,000 IR-1, IR-2m, IR-4 and IR-6 machines. ISIS estimated the installed total was closer to 22,000, including about 14,700 advanced centrifuges.
Based on satellite imagery cited by the IAEA, Fordow “suffered very significant damage,” Natanz’s underground halls were “extensively damaged,” and the above-ground pilot plant at Natanz was destroyed early in the conflict, ISIS said.
Since June 13, the IAEA said it has received no nuclear-material accountancy reports, no updated design information questionnaires, and has had no access to safeguarded sites other than the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
It reported a “loss of continuity of knowledge” over inventories of enriched uranium, as well as over centrifuge and heavy-water production since Iran halted JCPOA-related monitoring in 2021.
Grossi said only standard measures under Iran’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement were under discussion, because Tehran is not applying the Additional Protocol.
He also rejected claims that IAEA data had enabled attacks on Iranian facilities, calling such allegations an “absurd narrative,” and reiterated that the agency does not share confidential inspection information with any state.
European powers have moved to reimpose UN sanctions via the “snapback” mechanism, while Tehran has demanded international condemnation of the strikes on its nuclear sites.
Haalvsh, which monitors events in the southeastern province, said around 120 Afghan nationals, including women, children and elderly people, came under fire on September 8 in the border district of Golshan.
The group said Iranian forces used both heavy and light weapons, including a DShK heavy machine gun, without issuing a warning.
According to Haalvsh, the bodies of five of the dead were left at the scene, and one of the wounded lost a leg after being hit by heavy gunfire. It also released the names of those hospitalized in Saravan, adding that the condition of three was critical.
The rights group said about 40 others were detained by border forces.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) described the shooting as “a violation of fundamental human rights,” citing the direct fire on unarmed migrants, including women and children, and the use of heavy weapons. HRANA said the failure to provide timely medical treatment and the collective arrests also breached international law.
Haalvshadded that similar incidents have occurred before. In October 2024, Iranian border forces fired on groups of Afghan migrants, leaving dozens dead, injured or missing.
According to HRANA’s annual monitoring, 484 civilians in Iran were shot by security forces in 2024, with 163 killed and 321 wounded.
The reported incident comes amid an intensified crackdown on Afghan migrants in Iran. Late in August, an Interior Ministry official said Tehran expelled 1.8 million undocumented migrants in the past year, most of them Afghans, and intends to remove at least 800,000 more under a government plan.
The United Nations has warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as deportations accelerate. UN experts urged Iran and Pakistan in July to halt forced returns, saying nearly 1.9 million Afghans had been sent back since the start of 2025.
Iran hosts millions of Afghan nationals, many of whom fled decades of war and instability.
In a video interview, Safavi, a political science professor at Tehran University, repeatedly referred to the possibility of Khamenei’s killing, describing such scenarios as “disruptive and hostile acts” that Israel might pursue independently of US approval.
“If the issue of access to the number one or number two person in the country arises, they will carry it out at any cost, even at the risk of war,” Safavi said. “If Israel does this without America’s permission, the US will face a fait accompli, and Iran will be forced to think through its response.”
Former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said last week that eliminating Khamenei should be part of Israel’s plan in any future conflict. Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, have also issued warnings aimed at the Supreme Leader, amid heightened rhetoric between Tehran and Tel Aviv following their 12-day war in June.
Safavi said US President Donald Trump had once claimed he stopped Israeli plans to target Khamenei during the June conflict. Trump later boasted he had “saved” the Iranian leader from what he called a “very disgraceful and humiliating death.”
While Safavi said war with Israel remained possible, he warned of what he called a more dangerous scenario of “gradual humiliation and erosion” if Iran did not respond to escalating threats.
“The worst scenario is not war. The worst scenario is being worn down,” he said.
Safavi also voiced rare criticism of Khamenei’s long-held stance on Washington, urging Iran to pursue what he called “comprehensive negotiations” with the United States that go beyond uranium enrichment.
“The nuclear deal was a single-issue agreement, and that is why it failed,” he said. “We need comprehensive talks with America.”
Rahim-Safavi, his father and Khamenei’s longtime military adviser, has himself said another war with Israel may be inevitable, but could be the last. “We soldiers always plan for the worst-case scenario,” he said in August.
