Five Iranian Christian Converts Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

A statement posted on the Iranian mission's X account said Hezbollah "has the capability to defend itself and Lebanon."

"Perhaps the time for the self-annihilation of this illegitimate regime has come," it said.

"Any imprudent decision by the occupying Israeli regime to save itself could plunge the region into a new war, the consequence of which would be the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure as well as that of the 1948 occupied territories," the Iranian mission warned.

It also called Israel the "ultimate loser" of the possible war.

The statement came after Israeli officials told the US they are planning to shift resources from southern Gaza to northern Israel in preparation for a possible offensive against Hezbollah.

However, US officials are worried that Hezbollah may overwhelm Israel’s air defense including the Iron Dome.

Tel Aviv has communicated to the US concerns of the vulnerability of Israeli air defense against precision-guided munitions and missiles from Iran-backed Hezbollah, three US officials have told CNN.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that his forces, armed and trained by Iran, can target anywhere in Israel, in the event of a full-blown war.

In his televised speech Wednesday, Nasrallah said “there will be no place safe from our missiles and our drones” in Israel.

One day earlier, the Hezbollah-affiliated outlets had published footage that they claimed were shot by a drone flying over residential and military sites deep in Israeli territory.

The Lebanese group is widely believed to have amassed more than 100,000 missiles, and its leader has repeatedly boasted about weapons that he claims have not been used so far in its eight months of low-key but constant fighting with Israel.

Hezbollah has been firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with fellow Iran-backed militant group Hamas since the Gaza war erupted in October, forcing tens of thousands to flee homes in Israel.

Mitra Ghasem Karimi, whose brother and sister are among those missing, informed Iran International that the families of the others are independently attempting to hire helicopters to search for their relatives.

The vessel had departed from Turkey approximately eight days prior with around 75 individuals from Iran, Syria, and Iraq on board, according to reports from the UN refugee agency and other UN organizations.

The Italian coastguard has recovered 20 bodies from a weekend shipwreck in the Ionian Sea off the southern Italian coastline, with dozens more missing and presumed dead.

Survivors, according to the AP, recounted that the boat's engine caught fire overnight on Sunday, leading to its capsizing off the Italian coast.

The fatalities mark a total exceeding 800 individuals who have perished or gone missing and are presumed deceased while attempting to cross the central Mediterranean this year alone, amounting to an average of five deaths per day, according to reports from UN agencies.

Iranians, known for their extensive history of emigration, primarily since the 1979 revolution, represent a significant portion of migrants embarking on perilous journeys across the English Channel to reach the UK and across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

Dubbed "layette-gate" in 2022, Ghalibaf was embroiled in controversy when his wife, daughter, and son-in-law returned from a trip to Turkey with substantial excess luggage, reportedly including items such as a baby bed and stroller readily available in Tehran.

Critics levied accusations of hypocrisy against Ghalibaf, pointing out discrepancies between his public rhetoric advocating support for domestic products and patience during the country's worst economic crisis while simultaneously allowing his family to travel abroad to purchase luxury goods.

As her father now vies for the presidency in the upcoming June 28 elections, on Tuesday, his daughter Maryam made a televised attempt to clear her family's name, but instead, the public's outrage against Ghalibaf only intensified.

She admitted to her trip to Turkey but vehemently denied the purpose, stating, "I did travel to Turkey, but not to buy layette." In a bid to clear her father's name, she said, "They were unable to criticize him directly, so they fabricated falsehoods about his family."

The saga in 2022 was worsened after the revelation of a video from the 2017 presidential debates showing Ghalibaf admonishing a former minister for traveling to Italy to purchase baby clothes, asserting bleakly, "You think our economy will improve, but it never will!"

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Civil activist Vahid Ashtari, who initially disclosed details of the trip, responded to Ghalibaf's daughter's appeal on Wednesday by sharing airport documents purportedly indicating they were carrying 294 kilograms of luggage.

“Mr. Ghalibaf's daughter said on TV that she went to Turkey, but not for shopping. Here is the image from the Meraj Airlines system that I am sharing for the first time. They should clarify what these 294 kilograms of baggage registered under her husband’s name contained - 20 packages and luggage!” Ashtari wrote on X.

In the interview, Ghalibaf’s daughter also stated that those who fabricated lies about her had been punished. However, Ashtari shared a document purportedly indicating his acquittal in the "layette-gate" case.

Meanwhile, the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency attempted to vindicate Ghalibaf in response to Ashtari's tweet by posting an image, purportedly released by Meraj Airlines, "refuting false rumors about the weight of Ghalibaf's family luggage" and indicating potential "judicial action against these allegations."

The combined weight of the luggage depicted in Tasnim's image for the family amounts to approximately 130 kilograms, a detail that prompted some users to argue that it is still a substantial amount.

It is not the first time Ghalibaf's daughter has been at the center of scandal. In 2016, the Memari News website, owned by prominent whistleblower Yashar Soltani, reported that Lavizan Park in Tehran had been closed for several days for her wedding celebration while her father was mayor of Tehran.

Memari News detailed how the municipal forces of Tehran's fourth district were on alert for the wedding, utilizing municipal resources to illuminate Lavizan Forest Park at the cost of local authorities.

In Tuesday's television interview, Ghalibaf's daughter also denied the allegations as false, stating, "These lies ruined our wedding celebration."

In 2019, Soltani was imprisoned for exposing financial corruption within the Tehran Municipality during Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's tenure and for revealing details about the wedding. Earlier this month, Soltani was rearrested for his reporting on corruption.

Back in 2022, a leaked audio file of IRGC commanders discussing extensive financial corruption involving Ghalibaf during his tenure as Tehran mayor also caused an uproar in Iran, reflecting the deep connections between the IRGC and the country's political echelons.

"Those advocating for the removal of internet filtering should recognize that such decisions are often determined in meetings where government consensus does not necessarily align with majority opinion," said Issa Zarepour, referring to the power security and intelligence organs wield in suppression of information.

He further elaborated, "When making such promises, it's crucial to ensure they can be fulfilled later on. In the previous administrations, filters were enforced on platforms like Viber, WeChat, Telegram, and Twitter. No one can claim they didn't enforce these measures during their tenure."

His refutation appears to address Mostafa Pourmohammadi's recent presidential campaign pledge to remove internet filtering.

"I aim to swiftly eliminate VPNs and filtering due to their adverse security implications and the costs imposed on our nation," Pour Mohammadi, a former justice minister, stated.

Over the past two decades, Iran has implemented extensive censorship measures, blocking tens of thousands of websites. With the rise of social media, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have also been subject to restrictions. Traditional media, books, and films are similarly heavily censored and scrutinized for both adherence to Islamic beliefs and political content.

In circumventing website restrictions and evading filters, individuals utilize VPNs to gain unrestricted access to the Internet. In freer societies, VPNs are predominantly employed to safeguard user anonymity.

“The Australian Government has used the tools available to it to take meaningful action against the IRGC, including through the imposition of targeted financial sanctions,” an Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman told Iran International's Alireza Mohebbi.

“The Government has sanctioned more than 80 IRGC-linked individuals and entities since Iran’s violent suppression of protests in September 2022, including the Commander of the IRGC Quds Force and the IRGC Navy,” the official further explained.

Following Canada's government decision on Wednesday, Australia is facing increasing pressure to follow suit as Australian senators and rights groups have rebuked their government's reluctance to take similar action.

"The Canadian Government's decisive action contrasts sharply with the inaction of the Albanese Government, which has failed to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization in Australia," read a joint statement by lawmakers Claire Chandler, Simon Birmingham, and James Paterson.

Australian-Iranian rights group Ausiran urged Foreign Minister Penny Wong to acknowledge IRGC's role in terrorism, citing threats to global security and Australian citizens.

"Ausiran calls on the Government to prioritize Australian citizens' safety and global peace by joining allies in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization," the letter emphasized.

The Australian Jewish Association (AJA) reiterated its call for IRGC designation, citing its global terrorist activities, including recent plots against Jewish and Israeli targets.

"The IRGC is the largest sponsor and facilitator of terrorism worldwide, impacting victims from Yemen to Ukraine. They coordinate hostility against Israel," stated AJA CEO Robert Gregory. "Their actions result in casualties among our allies, including US soldiers in the Middle East, while they oppress and imprison the Iranian people."

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a former detainee in Iran, also joined the call for Australia to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, asserting, "Australia has no more excuses." She argued that since the US and Canada have taken such steps, Australia should follow suit to address the plight of "thousands of Iranian Australians and other victims of IRGC terror."

Moore-Gilbert was arrested by the IRGC in 2018 and sentenced on espionage charges before being released in a 2020 prisoner exchange.