Israel kills IRGC intelligence chief, Iranian state media says
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency has confirmed the death of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi and his deputy Hassan Mohaqiq.
It added that a third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed in the strike in Tehran. They were reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already stated earlier that Kazemi and Mohaqiq had been killed.
Israel and Iran launched attacks on each other for the third day in a row on Sunday, killing scores of civilians, and raising fears of a wider conflict.
As the death toll continues to rise, both sides have threatened to unleash even greater force.
At least 14 people have been confirmed dead in Israel. Iranian state media announced on Sunday that the death toll of Israel's attacks on Iran had climbed to 224 since Friday, adding that the majority were civilians.
For the first time, Iran also launched a daytime barrage against Israel. At least one of the missiles launched on Sunday evening hit a building in the coastal city of Haifa, injuring four people, bringing the number of wounded across the country to 15.
Israelis have now been told they can leave shelters, after the missile attack caused several light injuries and damage in both the north and south of the country.
In Iran, images from the capital showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against its oil and gas sector.
Meanwhile, US-Iran nuclear talks were called off on Sunday, and a US official says that President Donald Trump has rejected a plan by the Israelis to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Euronews
12 minutes ago
- Euronews
Verifying videos claiming to show Israeli and Iranian strikes
As Israel and Iran exchange fire for the fourth consecutive day, unverified footage of missile and drone attacks targeted at both countries is spreading virally online. Euronews' fact-checking and verification team, Euroverify, has been taking a closer look at some of those videos in order to verify their authenticity and corroborate the location of strikes. Verifying such footage is crucial in this conflict. It allows us to debunk false reports and ensure the footage used in our reporting is authentic. Videos generated using artificial intelligence and falsely claiming to show Israeli and Iranian strikes are spreading virally online. This video, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, claims to show destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes on Iran. But our analysis shows that the video has been clearly generated using AI. A closer look reveals that artificial-looking rays are emanating from one of the cooling towers. A fire truck can also be seen on the precipice of a crater while some of the emergency workers seem to disappear into thin air. Other AI-generated videos spreading virally claim to show damage caused to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport by an Iranian strike. Euroverify detected several versions of the videos circulating on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. But the video is clearly the work of AI, and is being shared widely by known disinformation accounts. While Iran's semi-official state media Mehr has reported that Iranian strikes struck Ben Gurion airport in Israel's largest city on Sunday, those reports have not been verified. We also detected online users falsely linking old videos of unrelated events to the current strikes. A video showing what appears to be a residential building engulfed in flames was shared by Al Jazeera's Arabic profile on X, with the caption: 'Massive fires in Tel Aviv sites as a result of the Iranian missile attack.' But a reverse image search shows that the same video was first circulating online in early May, meaning it cannot show damage caused by the current exchange of fire. A Facebook user shared the video on 10 May, claiming it shows the impact of an airstrike of fire between India and Pakistan. A brief but intense exchange of fire between those two countries took place from 7 to 10 May, but we were unable to verify whether the video in question shows damage resulting from those attacks. Another widely shared image claims to show an explosion at an Iranian oil refinery caused by an Israeli strike. We used a reverse image search to find that the picture in fact comes from a video showing a November 2020 explosion at a petrochemical plant in Ilam, Iran. The explosion was widely covered by Iranian media, and has no link to the ongoing conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Israeli strikes have nonetheless struck key energy infrastructure including the South Pars gas field in southern Iran and the Shahran oil depot in Tehran. A football pass between a prisoner and a magistrate. A volleyball match between penitentiary wardens and regular citizens. It may sound like an unlikely sporting event but this unprecedented initiative at Rome's Rebibbia prison saw inmates break the monotony of the daily routine and take part in a mini-Olympiad known as the "Games of Hope" Within the walls of one of Italy's most crowded prisons - Rebibbia is home to 1,550 inmates, an unexpected space opened up. Not an escape or a celebration, but a gesture of trust. Four teams, made up of inmates, agents, magistrates and regular citizens, shared the field, crossing the lines that separate them every day. It may have been a small event, only 28 of the prison's inmates took part, but it was full of meaning. The games were a collaboration between the John Paul II Foundation for Sport, the Department of Prison Administration (DAP) and the magistrates' network, Sport and Legality. And even after its debut instalment, the games are being hailed as one of the most significant initiatives to take place in Italy's prison system in years. And it is no coincidence that the event debuted in Rebibbia, where on 26 December Pope Francis opened a Holy Door at the prison, part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope and a sign of hope and inclusion for all, including those who are incarcerated. The Games of Hope featured four sports teams competing in various events, including football, volleyball, athletics, table tennis, table football and chess. "Like all crazy ideas, that of the Games of Hope was born during the Paris Olympics, where we presented the book Father Henri Didon - A Dominican at the Origins of Olympism. It is to him that we owe the Olympic motto, 'Citius Altius Fortius.' We thought of bringing Olympic values to where it is hardest to enter, to prison," said Daniele Pasquini, the president of the John Paul II Foundation for Sport. In the north-eastern quadrant of Rome, between the suburbs of Pietralata and Casal de' Pazzi, Rebibbia stands as an island in itself. It is not just a prison, but an entire citadel of detention. Its modern form was created in 1971 as a response to the overcrowding of the Regina Coeli prison. Today, it houses around 2,700 people, making it one of the largest and most complex detention centres in Italy. The facility is divided into four main sections: the New Complex Raffaele Cinotti, the Third House, the Reclusion House and the Women's Institute. In total, about 1,927 men and 352 women are housed there, with the percentage of foreign inmates close to 13% among men and over 40% among women. Those numbers speak of a fragmented prison population, often marked by people from the margins of society and feeling a sense of personal fragility. More than half of the inmates are in the prison for crimes such as theft, robbery and fraud. Around 40% are in prison for more serious crimes, like assault and murders. But one of the most significant data concerns drug addiction: 30-35% are imprisoned for drug-related crimes or have a history of addiction that has influenced their life choices. Behind every statistic lies a story. Small-time drug dealers convicted as big-time traffickers, women entering a guilty plea to protect a violent or guilty partner, and young people with no real alternative other than the street. For many, prison is not an exception, but a passage already foreseen in the script of their lives. Rebibbia too suffers from the overcrowding that afflicts the entire Italian prison system. On a national level, with a regulatory capacity of approximately 51,000 places, the prison population exceeds 62,000. In mixed cells, there is a lack of living space, activities are reduced and access to care is often minimal. In this context, the Games of Hope were much more than a sporting event. The president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malagò, who took part in a game of table tennis, said: "It was an amazing initiative and it was important to be there, to touch, to see with one's own eyes, beyond all expectations. I really liked the idea of this multidisciplinary tournament." Today in Italy, more than 60% of people who leave prison end up back behind bars. However, for those who manage to secure a stable job, recidivism rates drop to 1%. That is why moments like the Games of Hope have a value that extends far beyond the day itself: they offer genuine opportunities for responsibility, meaningful relationships and dignity. "The Games of Hope represent a moment of encounter between institutions, the prison world and civil society, and the beginning of a path to be taken together," said the judge for preliminary investigations at the Court of Velletri, Fabrizio Basei, founder of the magistrates' network Sport and Legality. Rebibbia is a place that concentrates the contrasts of our time: justice and revenge, punishment and possibility, despair and humanity. It was the prison of Cosa Nostra boss Totò Riina, but also the prison-workshop of writer Goliarda Sapienza. Inside, the shadows are many, but there is no lack of light. And sometimes that light starts with a half-day of sport.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Who was among Iran's top military officials killed in Israeli strikes?
Since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict on Friday, Israel has killed several high-ranking members of the Iranian leadership. While 16 were confirmed dead, more than 20 senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other top commanders were among those targeted in Israel's attacks. Who are the top military officials killed so far? Euronews brings you the list. Chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces since 2016, Bagheri was killed in an Israeli missile strike on Thursday night, at the very onset of Israel's attack on Iran. He was one of the highest-ranking officers in the Iranian military, ranking second only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He coordinated Iran's armed forces—both the regular army and paramilitary units—and played a central role in shaping the regime's military doctrine. Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Salami was also close to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Salami was one of the hardest on Iran's rivals, notably Israel and the United States. A combatant in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and an early member of the Revolutionary Guards, Salami served as the organisation's deputy for nine years before becoming its commander in 2019. Rashid was deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the IRGC's Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, responsible for coordinating joint military operations. A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, too, he welcomed the fact that Iran had regional allies opposed to Israel and the US, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen. Hajizadeh was the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force. He led Iran's missile program and was responsible for the April 2024 missile attack on Israel. Head of intelligence for the Revolutionary Guards, Kazemi was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first announced his death that evening during an interview on US TV channel Fox News. Tehran confirmed the news a few hours later. Some other brigadier generals and senior officers were killed, including Mohsen Bagheri, Davood Shekhian, Mohammad Bagher Taherpour, Mansour Safarpour, Masoud Tayeb, Khosro Hassani, Mohammad Jafari and Javad Jarsara. In addition, sources have told domestic media in Israel that as many as 14 top nuclear scientists were also killed in Israel's targeted attacks since Friday. The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation was among the prominent scientists whose death has been confirmed. He also previously served as a member of the Iranian parliament. In 2010, he survived an assassination attempt that Iran attributed to Israel—an accusation Israel neither confirmed nor denied. A German court has sentenced a Syrian doctor to life imprisonment for killing two people and torturing nine others in his homeland between 2011 and 2012. The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court delivered the verdict after a trial that lasted almost three and a half years. The 40-year-old defendant, identified only as Alaa M due to German privacy law, was accused of committing crimes against perceived opponents of the Assad regime at military hospitals in Homs and Mezzeh at the start of the Syrian civil war. The man, who later worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in northern Hesse, was detained in Germany in 2020 and was charged with murder, torture and crimes against humanity. Alaa M pleaded not guilty, alleging that he was the victim of a conspiracy. However, the Frankfurt court established that the particular gravity of his guilt, meaning that he is unlikely to be released after 15 years, as is often the case in Germany when people receive life sentences. Christoph Koller, the presiding judge, told the German news agency dpa that the doctor had sadistic tendencies. 'Above all, the accused enjoyed harming people that seemed inferior and low-value to him,' Koller said. "No torturer can be certain of impunity, no matter where he is," he added. Koller said the Syrian doctor's sentencing would not have been possible without the willingness and courage of witnesses to share the details of their suffering. Alaa M travelled to Germany in 2015 and worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in clinics in Hessisch Lichtenau (Werra-Meißner) and Bad Wildungen (Waldeck-Frankenberg). His trial began in 2022, two years after his arrest, which occurred after witnesses recognised him from a documentary about Homs.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Khamenei, Iran's political survivor, faces ultimate test
Khamenei, Iran's top leader since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, has ruled in the face of sanctions, near constant international tensions as well as protests that were ruthlessly repressed, most recently the 2022-2023 women-led uprising. With Khamenei aged 86, the issue of succession was already looming large in Iran. But his moves now will have a decisive impact on the future on the system of which he has been a pillar since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the shah. Meanwhile, his own physical survival could be at stake, with a senior American official saying Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei but Israel is still not ruling out such a move. "Khamenei is at the twilight of his rule, at the age 86, and already much of the daily command of the regime is not up to him but to various factions who are vying for the future," said Arash Azizi, senior fellow at Boston University. "This process was already underway and the current war only accelerates it," he told AFP. 'Self-inflicted dilemma' Israel's success in killing key Iranian figures, including the army chief and head of the Revolutionary Guards, has illustrated how Israeli intelligence can track Iranian leaders and raised the question of whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could give an order to seek to kill Khamenei himself. The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since taking up the position and made his last foreign visit to North Korea in 1989 while still president, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy. "It is possible that they might have a regime change plan of their own, either by supporting or semi-supporting a coup inside the regime or by continuing to kill at the highest level hoping that this leads to a fundamental shift in posture toward Israel or something of a regime change," said Azizi. Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Khamenei faced a "self-inflicted dilemma" and already lacked the "physical and cognitive acumen to lead Iran into a high-tech war". "A weak response to Israel further diminishes his authority, a strong response could further jeopardise his survival, and that of his regime," he said. 'Prided himself' While keeping up the rhetoric of confrontation with the US and Israel and backing proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Khamenei long kept Iran out of direct conflict with its foes. But the current strikes appear to represent a sudden end to this strategy. "He has prided himself on deterring conflict away from Iran's borders since he assumed the supreme leadership in 1989," said Jason Brodsky, policy director of US-based United Against Nuclear Iran. "So Khamenei has badly miscalculated." Brodsky said the nearest comparison to the current situation were the attacks against leaders blamed on the opposition in the early 1980s which saw the then president killed and Khamenei himself wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt. "It will be an experience that Khamenei will undoubtedly draw upon in the current context," Brodsky told AFP. "But what we are witnessing today is on a completely different level of magnitude. And it's occurring at a pace that threatens to overwhelm the capacity of Tehran." The scale of Israel's first attacks overnight Thursday to Friday, ahead of what were supposed to be a new round of talks in Oman on the Iranian nuclear programme, took the leadership by surprise at a time when it has been on the lookout for any further protests amid economic hardship. "Indeed, the strikes have intensified already simmering tensions, and many Iranians want to see the Islamic republic gone. Crucially, however, most of them do not want this outcome to come at the cost of bloodshed and war," said Holly Dagres, senior fellow at The Washington Institute. 'Stay strong' In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu suggested that "regime change" could be the outcome of the Israeli strikes, while insisting that it would be for the Iranian people to bring this about. "It could certainly be the result as the Iran regime is very weak," he said, claiming that "80 percent of the people would throw these theological thugs out". Asked if there was an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei that had been vetoed by Washington, Netanyahu replied: "We do what we need to do, we will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States". The Iranian opposition, both in exile and inside the country, remains riven by division. One of its most prominent representatives Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and who has warm relations with Israel, has told Iranians: "Stay strong and we will win." So far, however, there have been no reports of mass protests, although some Persian-language television channels based abroad have broadcast images of groups shouting anti-Khamenei slogans.
