Diaspora rallies mark third anniversary of Woman, Life, Freedom

Iran had 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% before the Israeli and US airstrikes in June, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

While the international community has been pressing Iran to disclose the whereabouts of the near weapons-grade stocks, The Jerusalem Post says Mossad knows their location and could intervene if Tehran tried to make any new dangerous moves with the uranium.

On Thursday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that Iran’s inventory of highly enriched uranium is buried under rubble following the strikes.

Araghchi’s comments came after the UN nuclear watchdog warned that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is “a matter of serious concern,” saying the agency has no visibility country’s activities since the June strikes on its nuclear facilities.

However, unnamed Israeli defense officials cited by the Jerusalem post believe that even if Iran immediately began rebuilding the bombed components of its nuclear program, it would take roughly two years before it could attempt to produce a nuclear weapon.

Female Mossad agents in Iran

Dozens of female Mossad agents were deployed inside Iran during Israel’s June strikes on Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs, The Jerusalem Post report said citing unnamed sources.

The report added Mossad Director David Barnea viewed the women’s role during the 12-day conflict as “very substantial.”

While their exact activities remain classified, the Post said that the spy agency has increasingly assigned women to all types of missions, from surveillance to kinetic operations.

The report added that Barnea sent hundreds of agents, including Iranian dissidents recruited by Mossad, into operations in Iran simultaneously. Targets included radar platforms, ballistic missiles, and sites struck by Israeli jets.

“Unfortunately some at home prescribe fake remedies. They say: ‘do not chant death to America, stop enrichment, halt missiles, and the problem will be solved," said Mehdi Fazaeli.

"These prescriptions, especially at this time and after past experiences, are not only very simplistic but even foolish,” he added in an interview with the Gurads-linked Fars News Agency on Saturday night.

His remarks came after a coalition of 27 reformist organizations urged the Islamic Republic to signal readiness to suspend enrichment and allow full International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring in exchange for lifting sanctions.

In their words, “Iran’s social fabric was deeply wounded, with public life overshadowed by despair and anxiety.” The group said such a step could lead to “comprehensive, direct negotiations with the United States and normalization of relations.”

Khamenei ruled out direct talks with Washington in late August. “Those who say, ‘Don’t chant slogans against America, they’ll get upset and become hostile toward you,’ are superficial. Those who argue, ‘Why don’t you negotiate directly with the United States and solve your problems?’ are, in my view, also superficial. That’s not the reality of the matter; this issue cannot be resolved,” he said at the time.

'No pressure on Khamenei'

Fazaeli dismissed remarks that decisions had been forced on Khamenei, saying those who describe the leadership as passive or subject to misleading reports were either ignorant or acting with ulterior motives.

“At present, the leadership itself is the most important element and pillar of the country’s power,” he added, describing Khamenei’s approach as “revolutionary rationality, a balance of realism and ideals.”

The remarks followed weeks of conservative criticism of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s moderate government, accusing it of showing weakness toward Israel and of pushing Khamenei into agreeing to ceasefire arrangements.

Earlier in July, armed forces chief Abdolrahim Mousavi said a devastating strike on Israel had been prepared on Khamenei’s orders but was shelved when a truce took effect.

The debate sharpened after Israeli and US strikes in June on sensitive nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to negotiate a limited arrangement with the IAEA to restore inspector access.

Known as the Cairo agreement, it was signed by Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Egypt while parliament was in recess, despite a law requiring suspension of cooperation with the agency.

Araghchi insists the Cairo accord safeguards Iran’s interests and is consistent with the law suspending cooperation. He said it recognizes Tehran’s security concerns, guarantees Iran’s rights, and “creates no access” for inspectors at this stage.

Any monitoring, he said, would only be discussed later with approval from the Supreme National Security Council.

While hardliners accuse the government of forcing concessions on the leader, Fazaeli’s remarks made clear that decisions—whether concessions or escalations—rest with Khamenei himself.

Javad Mortazavi, who ran a marriage registration office in Behbahan, was in a temporary marriage with his secretary for several years before she married another man.

After her marriage, Mortazavi invited the husband to his office, laced his drink with sedatives, and fatally stabbed him in March 2023, HRANA said.

The cleric was put to death in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.

In a 2023 report, Iranian newspaper Etemad said that Mortazavi had invited the woman’s husband to his office under the pretext of handing over a marriage certificate and killed him by poisoning his coffee.

The report said another account suggested he first drugged the man unconscious and then stabbed him to death on a street in Behbahan.

Some reports claimed Mortazavi even led the funeral prayer over the body before burying the victim in a deserted area, according to Etemad.

At least 818 people, including 21 women, have been executed in Iran this year in Iran according to HRANA.

Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International.

Panahi added that she continues to live on through acts of defiance and calls for freedom, as he marked the third anniversary of her death which ignited nationwide protests.

“When they took her life, a veil of lies was lifted and a generation rose up that decided to remain silent no longer,” Panahi said in a post on Instagram.

“With killings and intimidation, they wanted to impose silence, but a greater cry echoed. Since that day, nothing has been the same…We are no longer those former people. The blood of Mahsa and hundreds of others does not allow anything to appear normal again."

“Mahsa has not died; she lives in every defiant glance, in every image that breaks censorship, in every cry demanding freedom. She breathes in the eyes of the girls who have let their hair fly in the wind,” he said.

Panahi, who has faced imprisonment and a 15-year travel ban for his outspoken criticism of the Islamic Republic, received the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year in May.

In his acceptance speech, he urged unity among Iranians striving for democracy: "Let's set aside our differences. The important thing now is the freedom of our country, so that no one would dare to tell us what to wear or what film to make."

Panahi, one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors, was arrested in July 2022 after he protested against the arrest of two fellow filmmakers who had voiced criticism of the authorities. He was sentenced to six years in prison before being released on bail in early 2023.

Among the tasks Elimelech Stern was given was to place a sheep's head in a box of flowers in front of the home of Israel’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ronen Shaul, in June amid the war with Iran.

The court heard that the 22-year-old was in contact via the Telegram app with a handler named Anna Elena, who paid him in cryptocurrency.

"The defendant went to stores and asked to buy a sheep's head, but it was not available. He informed 'Anna' that he could not find an animal's head, and 'Anna' told him to buy a whole sheep," the indictment said. In the end, Stern pulled out of the task fearing the legal repercussions.

The court ruled that Stern was aware that he was talking to a foreign agent.

For other tasks such as hanging adverts given to him, which included flyers with hands covered in blood, with a caption that read, “It will go down in history that children were killed [in Gaza], let us stand on the right side of history”, the young man recruited two additional Israeli citizens whom he paid.

The investigation found that he agreed to carry out most of the tasks, with the exception of murder and burning a forest.

The indictment said that Stern was also asked to break a car window, or set fire to a car during a demonstration -- and to send a video of it. The handler promised him $500 for each window he broke, and $3,000 for each vehicle he set on fire.

"The defendant asked 'Anna' whether to go to the demonstrations on the right or left side of the political map, and 'Anna' replied that it did not matter. She also suggested that he break the glass of a store window during a demonstration in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem," the indictment said.

The case is among the first to reach court after a wave of espionage cases surfaced in Israel since the Gaza war, in which dozens of Israelis were accused of taking money to spy for Iran.

In some cases, they involved plotting to murder top political, security and military officials.

Stern's lawyer requested a probationary service memorandum at the hearing on Sunday to see if it was possible to give him only community service.

Israeli courts have previously convicted citizens of contacts with Iranian intelligence. In 2019, former cabinet minister Gonen Segev was sentenced to 11 years in prison after admitting to spying for Iran.

More recently, in April, 72-year-old Moti Maman received a 10-year sentence after acknowledging contact with an Iranian agent.