Latest news with #Yazd
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Yahoo
France warns against ignoring Iran travel advice following teenager's disappearance
French authorities have warned its citizens to take government travel advice seriously after a French teenager went missing in Iran. Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German citizen was on a bicycle journey across Europe and Asia on his way to Japan when he disappeared in Iran. 'Since Monday, 16 June, we haven't had any news from him,' a missing poster created by his friends on Instagram said. France urges its citizens to avoid travel to Iran and has done so since mid-April. The minister for French nationals abroad, Laurent Saint-Martin, told RTL on Monday that the teenager's disappearance was 'worrying'. "It is worrying because Iran has a deliberate policy of taking Western hostages," he added. "I can assure you that consular protection is the right of every French citizen (...) in a foreign country. But (...) if we often strongly advise against travelling to certain countries, it is precisely so as not to find ourselves at risk." However, Mr Saint-Martin did not say specifically that the Iranian authorities were holding the man, who went missing a few days after Israeli planes struck targets in Iran. Mr Monterlos documented his travels on his social media page, sharing his impression of each country he visited. He reached Tehran back in December, but flew back to France to spend Christmas with family, before returning once again to the country, landing in Varzaneh on 24 May, Le Parisien reported. He journeyed through the country to Yazd, Abarkuh, and then Shiraz on 3 June. In an Instagram post, local media said the traveller jokingly mocked the travel recommendations given by the French government, listing off reasons why you shouldn't visit. "The weather is bad all the time," he said, with a bright blue sky in the background. "Architecturally speaking, you won't see anything beautiful except historical monuments that will dazzle your eyes," he also jokes. In early June, Mr Monterlos wrote on his social media that his visa would expire later on in the month. 'I still have to leave the south for the north, and on June 25 I will be in Afghanistan,' he wrote. After Afghanistan, he planned to continue his journey to China, making a few detours to other Southeast Asian countries, before finally reaching Japan. A statement on the French Diplomacy website says: 'We are in contact with the Iranian authorities on the subject of our citizen's disappearance. 'His disappearance is troubling and we are in touch with his family. Once again, we urge all French citizens to avoid travel to Iran.'
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
France warns against ignoring Iran travel advice following teenager's disappearance
French authorities have warned its citizens to take government travel advice seriously after a French teenager went missing in Iran. Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German citizen was on a bicycle journey across Europe and Asia on his way to Japan when he disappeared in Iran. 'Since Monday, 16 June, we haven't had any news from him,' a missing poster created by his friends on Instagram said. France urges its citizens to avoid travel to Iran and has done so since mid-April. The minister for French nationals abroad, Laurent Saint-Martin, told RTL on Monday that the teenager's disappearance was 'worrying'. "It is worrying because Iran has a deliberate policy of taking Western hostages," he added. "I can assure you that consular protection is the right of every French citizen (...) in a foreign country. But (...) if we often strongly advise against travelling to certain countries, it is precisely so as not to find ourselves at risk." However, Mr Saint-Martin did not say specifically that the Iranian authorities were holding the man, who went missing a few days after Israeli planes struck targets in Iran. Mr Monterlos documented his travels on his social media page, sharing his impression of each country he visited. He reached Tehran back in December, but flew back to France to spend Christmas with family, before returning once again to the country, landing in Varzaneh on 24 May, Le Parisien reported. He journeyed through the country to Yazd, Abarkuh, and then Shiraz on 3 June. In an Instagram post, local media said the traveller jokingly mocked the travel recommendations given by the French government, listing off reasons why you shouldn't visit. "The weather is bad all the time," he said, with a bright blue sky in the background. "Architecturally speaking, you won't see anything beautiful except historical monuments that will dazzle your eyes," he also jokes. In early June, Mr Monterlos wrote on his social media that his visa would expire later on in the month. 'I still have to leave the south for the north, and on June 25 I will be in Afghanistan,' he wrote. After Afghanistan, he planned to continue his journey to China, making a few detours to other Southeast Asian countries, before finally reaching Japan. A statement on the French Diplomacy website says: 'We are in contact with the Iranian authorities on the subject of our citizen's disappearance. 'His disappearance is troubling and we are in touch with his family. Once again, we urge all French citizens to avoid travel to Iran.'
Khaleej Times
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Two Iran Guards killed while defusing explosives after conflict with Israel
Two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed July 6 while attempting to defuse explosives in an area of the country's west hit by Israeli strikes last month, Iranian media reported. Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war sparked by an Israeli bombing campaign on June 13. The strikes, according to Israel, were aimed at preventing the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied. Tasnim news agency, citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that "two members of the Guards were killed Sunday in Khorramabad while clearing the area of explosives left by the Zionist regime's aggression." The Israeli strikes during the war killed key commanders of Iran's armed forces, including Guards, as well as top nuclear scientists. Separately on Sunday, the Fars news agency reported the death of an Iranian soldier in Yazd, central Iran, from injuries sustained during one of Israel's attacks. The strikes during the war killed more than 900 people across Iran, its judiciary has said, while retaliatory Iranian missile barrages killed at least 28 people in Israel, according to official figures. A ceasefire between the two arch-foes took effect on June 24. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the war broke out, state media reported, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran. Iran announced the reopening of its airspace on Thursday, including over Tehran, which had been closed since the first day of the war.
BBC News
23-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
BBC Verify Live: What satellite images tell us about damage in Iran
Update: Date: 10:34 BST Title: How we're tracking developments in Iran-Israel conflict Content: Emma PengellyBBC Verify journalist Iranians wave national flags during a demonstration in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday As we've been reporting, overnight on Saturday the US confirmed it had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran in an operation that it says was months in the planning. Among the key outstanding questions are: We'll be monitoring user-generated content appearing on social media and satellite imagery for further developments. After the US attack, Israel and Iran continued to exchange fire on Sunday. In Yazd, central Iran, we verified a video of large explosions. According to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim news agency, nine people were killed in the attack. The amount of footage coming out of Iran remains relatively sparse. BBC journalists are unable to report from inside Iran due to restrictions by the country's government, making it difficult to assess the damage. Also, with internet monitoring organisation Netblocks continuing to report, external an 'internet shutdown' in the country, access to social media videos and images has been very limited. Update: Date: 10:08 BST Title: ICYMI: Satellite images of Iran show craters at Fordo after US bombing Content: Benedict GarmanBBC Verify senior journalist Satellite imagery that we looked at on Sunday shows the aftermath of US strikes on Iran's underground nuclear enrichment facility at Fordo. High-resolution images from Maxar Technologies taken 22 June show six craters - likely the entry points for US munitions - as well as grey dust and debris scattered down the mountainside caused by the strikes. We previously wrote about the type of "bunker buster" munitions required for a strike on a deep underground facility like this: a bomb called a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). On Sunday, the Pentagon confirmed they were used as part of its operation. Senior imagery analyst at McKenzie Intelligence Services, Stu Ray, told BBC Verify: "You will not see a huge blast effect at the entry point as it is not designed to detonate on entry but deeper down into the facility." He added that it looks like three separate munitions were dropped on two separate impact points, and that the grey colouration on the ground appears to show concrete debris blown out by the explosions. Ray also said the tunnel entrances appear to have been blocked off. As there are no visible craters or impact points near them, he suggests this may have been an Iranian attempt to "mitigate against deliberate targeting of the entrances by aerial bombardment". It's uncertain how much damage the strikes have caused to the nuclear site itself. In the days leading up to the strike, Iran seem to have been taking actions to anticipate them, as we reported earlier. Update: Date: 09:56 BST Title: Monday at BBC Verify Content: Johanna ChisholmBBC Verify Live editor Good morning from the team in the BBC's newsroom in London. You join us more than 24 hours after it was confirmed that the US had carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. This coming more than a week after the conflict between Israel and Iran escalated. We spent Sunday analysing satellite images, which begin to show the damage from those US strikes - we'll bring you more of that in our next few posts. We're continuing to track developments in the Middle East today, as we try to get a clearer picture of how those strikes have impacted Iran's nuclear programme. Our fact-check team is also across the government's new 10-year industrial strategy - which could see energy bills slashed by up to 25% for more than 7,000 UK businesses - and is set to be unveiled later today.
Al Arabiya
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israeli strikes on Iran's Yazd kill 10 Revolutionary Guard Corps
At least 10 Revolutionary Guard reported killed in Israeli strikes on Iran's Yazd province, according to Tasnim news. Developing...
