Iran bars media from citing foreign outlets, offering analysis on US talks

“Many users fall for false promises and suffer serious financial and reputational damage,” said Vahid Majid, head of Iran’s Cyber Police (FATA), in remarks to Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He said the police were taking “consistent and firm action against websites facilitating sigheh, matchmaking.”

Majid added that victims often avoid filing complaints due to concerns over honor and privacy, hampering legal follow-up.

Police continue to track offenders even in the absence of formal complaints, he added, warning that “sigheh-related pages were under full surveillance.”

The remarks followed Iran International's reporting last week that while many of these platforms are indeed fraudulent, some do function. The outlet contacted several Telegram channels and found that in some cases, women responded, sent voice notes, or even agreed to meet in person in case of a cash exchange.

Although the Islamic Republic denies endorsing these services, the investigation pointed to a functioning market where sex work is marketed as religiously-sanctioned contract marriage.

Iranian enrichment

"Once you know how to enrich at any level, all you need is time to be able to enrich at a higher level. And they've already proven the ability to enrich at a higher level. In fact, they have and are doing so now," Rubio said on Tuesday.

"They claim that enrichment is a matter of national pride. It is our view that they want enrichment as a deterrent, they believe that it makes them a threshold nuclear power, and as a result, becomes untouchable," Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "That is the crux of the situation we're facing right now."

"Our hope is that we can encourage them to show them a path towards prosperity and peace that allow them to develop their economy, that allow them, if they want, to have a civil nuclear energy program like other countries around the world have - without enrichment."

Terrorism, missile sanctions

"Obviously we're aware of their sponsorship of terrorism in the region, including the Houthis and Hezbollah and other groups such as these, the militias in Iraq and their efforts to get back into Syria. Right now, the focus at this point of (the talks) has been their enrichment capability and their insistence on enrichment capability," Rubio said.

"Ultimately, I would say that if in fact we have sanctions that are related to the sponsorship of terrorism and a violation of weapons conventions and the like, their long-range munitions—those sanctions will remain. If those aren't part of the deal, then the sanctions will remain as a result of that," he added.

"The focus of the conversations over the last few weeks with (US special envoy) Witkoff and the Iranians has been on this enrichment matter, which is by far sort of the core and most critical matter."

Maximum pressure

"The administration sanctioned 72 entities, 14 individuals, 74 vessels, as well as 18 additional entities, including two Chinese-based oil terminals, 13 vessels," Rubio said.

"I think the maximum pressure campaign is working. We're already seeing a reduction in Iran's ability to fund destabilizing operations across the region ... we're going to continue with sanctions until there's a deal," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"The administration’s maximum pressure campaign has secured the release of the last living American hostage held by Hamas, a pledge by the Houthis to abandon attacks on American ships and forced Iran to beg for talks with the United States," Rubio said earlier in the day in prepared remarks submitted to the committee.

European sanctions

"There's a separate set of sanctions out there, which are the snapback provisions that the E3 in Europe have," Rubio said, referring to Britain, France and Germany - the European signatories to a lapsed 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

"That's on another clock, completely different from ours ... Now, maybe we'll do a deal with Iran and they'll be satisfied with it and not impose their sanctions," he added.

"They are moving forward on their process, independent from ours."

The Telly Awards, established in 1979, honor excellence in video and television across all screens.

Rajabian whose compositions have been featured in several Mercedes-Benz promotional materials, was recognized at the 46th edition of the awards.

His music was featured in teasers for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, the brand's most expensive model, and for Earth Day campaigns.

"The award has previously been given to the creators of teaser music for BMW, Toyota, Meta, Adidas, Apple, and Netflix, as well as to producers of content from The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Fox News, NBC, Bloomberg, Warner Bros., and others," Rajabian said on his Instagram, dedicating the prize to his fans.

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The Iranian artist was honored in 2023 with the United Nations' Minority Artist Award, which recognized his efforts to highlight issues of discrimination and human rights through his art.

"Happiness is a collective event, and unfortunately, no one is happy here [Iran]. The situation has changed completely after the recent protests. No award can be a criterion for determining an artist's artistic value, but it can certainly be a platform for the voice of human rights and artistic freedom,” said Rajabian in a statement on his UN award.

He previously faced imprisonment in Iran for his musical activities, enduring solitary confinement and a hunger strike.

Rajabian was arrested in 2013 for releasing underground music and was charged with “propaganda against the government”. He was put in solitary confinement for three months and then released on bail.

He was again arrested in 2015 for his album The History of Iran Narrated by Setar, a lute-like instrument used in traditional Persian music.

In Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Rajabian began a 40-day hunger strike that led to his release on parole in 2017.

Rajabian was arrested again in 2020 for his album Middle Eastern but did not spend time in jail and was released on bail. He was accused of “encouraging prostitution” because females were singing in the album.

“Iran is the head of the terrorist octopus that promotes terrorist activity directly and through the terrorist organizations it supports against leaders and against all citizens of the state of Israel,” Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

Two Israeli suspects, Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, both 25 and childhood friends, were arrested at the end of April accused of intelligence-gathering missions and placing explosives in the community where Katz lives.

Israel Police said in a statement on Tuesday: “The investigation revealed that during 2025, Roy was in contact with Iranian terrorist elements and carried out a large number of different security missions for them, some of them together with his friend Almog, while the two understood that they were acting under Iranian direction and that their actions were intended to harm the security of the state due to financial gain.”

The police statement said that Mizrahi was communicating with his handler through a dedicated application on a new cell phone he had bought for the operation.

“Later, he was asked by his handlers to move a bag buried in the ground from one point to another, which, according to his understanding, contained an explosive device. Roy carried out the transfer of the bag in accordance with his handlers' instructions,” the statement said.

Israel's Mako reported that after carrying out minor tasks such as photographing street signs, the pair’s activities included trying to install cameras at the minister’s home.

“The more serious task, which came after they successfully completed the first tasks, was purchasing a camera with a SIM card that allows for remote control, and installing it outside the defense minister's home,” the report said.

“First, they installed the cameras throughout Haifa and Nesher and gave the Iranians a code with which they could remotely control the cameras. Another time, they arrived at the driveway outside Minister Katz's house to install the camera - then they saw a Shin Bet vehicle and fled the scene," Mako added.

The case is the latest in a string of plots foiled since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with dozens of Israelis allegedly hired by Iranian operatives to carry out operations targeting the country’s top political and military echelons.

Other targets have included the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar.

In the coming days, the Central District Attorney's Office is expected to file a serious indictment against the two suspects.

The statement, read aloud by parliamentary presidium member Ahmad Naderi during an open session, described the UK’s move as “reckless and hostile”.

“The UK’s potential designation of the IRGC violates fundamental principles of international relations and will provoke lawful, reciprocal action by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Naderi said.

The parliament’s response came amid rising tensions between Tehran and London following the arrest and charging of three Iranian nationals in the UK under its National Security Act.

British authorities allege the men acted on behalf of Iranian intelligence and conducted surveillance targeting journalists from Iran International, a London-based Persian-language broadcaster critical of the Islamic Republic.

The charges follow counter-terrorism raids earlier this month in which eight people, including seven Iranian nationals, were detained.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that the Islamic Republic poses an “unacceptable threat” to Britain’s domestic security.

“We will not tolerate growing state-backed threats in the UK,” Cooper told parliament.

Amid pressure from lawmakers, UK officials are reviewing options to strengthen legal measures against IRGC affiliates.

A government terrorism advisor on Monday proposed new powers to sanction individuals and entities linked to the IRGC, calling for measures to criminalize public displays of support, including insignia, and expand arrest and deportation capabilities under what he termed a "Statutory Alert and Liability Threat (SALT)" notice.

The Iranian parliament’s statement listed a long history of grievances against the UK, including the 1953 CIA- and MI6-backed coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, the occupation of Iran during World War II, the 1917 famine, and British support for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.

“These black marks in British history against the Iranian people are undeniable and shameful,” the statement said.

It also warned that if the UK proceeds with the designation, Iran would respond under Article 7 of a 2020 domestic law mandating reciprocal measures.

According to the law, British military forces and bases in West Asia and the Persian Gulf could be labeled as hostile entities and subjected to retaliatory measures.

“The Revolutionary Guards are a constitutional and sovereign force charged with defending Iran’s territorial integrity,” the statement read. “Labeling them as terrorists amounts to aggression against Iran’s national sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter.”

Lawmakers in Tehran ended the session with chants of “Death to England,” and Parliament Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Haji Babai said: “The British have never stood with the Iranian people. They have always been our enemy.”

The UK has not formally designated the IRGC a terrorist organization, though it has imposed sanctions on many of its commanders and affiliated institutions. The United States added the IRGC to its list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) in 2019.