Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz has responded to Iran's warning against the Jewish state's possible offensive in Lebanon, saying the Islamic Republic deserves to be "destroyed".
"Iran threatens today to destroy Israel if Israel fully responds to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon," Katz said in a post on his X account on Saturday. “My response to Iran is clear: A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed."
Katz's comments came in response to Iran's mission to the United Nations which warned that any “full-scale military aggression” by Israel in Lebanon against Hezbollah would trigger an "obliterating war."
The Israeli top diplomat also made it clear that if Hezbollah does not cease its attacks from Lebanon, Israel will retaliate with full force.
"If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and residents can return to their homes,” Katz said.
The situation has been tense along the Lebanese border following a series of attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) retaliated by targeting several Hezbollah positions after the group launched attacks on northern Israel.
The confrontation is part of a broader conflict involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance," which includes not only Hezbollah but also Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq.
The axis has actively targeted Israel since October 7, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
Iran itself launched missile and drone strikes on Israel on April 13, following an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus that killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Although Iran’s strike was largely repelled with the help of the United States and other allies, it marked a new level of escalation in the region.
Based on official tallies, significant drops in voter engagement were recorded in Tehran (capital city) and in Kordestan and Kermanshah provinces, all of which were epicenters of recent anti-government protests, as well as in restive Sistan-Baluchestan province, which saw a dramatic 23-percent decrease in turnout.
The nationwide protests, ignited by the death in custody of Kurdish Mahsa Amini, saw Kordestan (Kurdistan) among the first to rise up against the clerical rulers.
In the presidential vote, Kermanshah recorded a mere 19.5 percent participation rate, 28.8 percent less than the 2021 turnout. Greater Tehran and Kordestan also recorded a 23-percent turnout, down from 26 percent and 37.4 percent respectively in 2021.
These regions, at the forefront of protests, reflect citizens’ frustration over systemic corruption, economic hardships, repression and lack of political freedoms.
Voter turnout In Sistan-Baluchestan in southeastern Iran nosedived from 62.8 percent in 2021 to just 40 percent in 2024. This marginalized and underrepresented region faces severe socio-economic challenges and repression.
During Bloody Friday on September 30, 2022, security forces killed around 100 protesters and injured hundreds more. The government has repressed the weekly protests following Friday prayers, leading to the arrest of many Baluch Sunnis.
The northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan also saw significant decreases of 24.8, 18.5 and 19.4 percent, respectively, while Khuzestan's turnout dropped by 20.4 percent.
The only province that showed a minor increase was Qom, home to Iran's biggest Shia seminary, which saw a three-percent increase in turnout.
The June 28 presidential election marked the lowest voter turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic, with only 39.92 percent participation. This breaks the previous record set during the last election, in which the late President Ebrahim Raisi won with a turnout of 48 percent.
Activists and officials have highlighted that the low turnout is a clear sign of the public's discontent with the ruling autocracy, demonstrated through the widespread boycott of the election.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who scored the lowest number of votes in the election, said on X, "Greetings to all of you who came to vote on June 29, and respect to all of you who did not believe us and did not come. Your presence and absence are full of messages that I hope will be heard. Your message is clear and unambiguous.”
On February 5 a number of the outlet’s journalists were arrested during a raid by security agents at their office in Tehran’s Argentina Square.
Security forces locked down and detained all 30 staff inside the building for 14 hours, confiscating their mobile phones and laptops.
Fardaye Eghtesad’s deputy editor-in-chief, Behzad Bahmannejad, a video journalist, Nikan Khabazi, and Ali Tasnimi were arrested according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the raid and the arbitrary detention of Fardaye Eghtesad’s journalists urging Iran to “cease the practice of arbitrarily locking up members of the press.”
According to CPJ Bahmannejad, Asgari, Khabazi, and Tasnimi were detained for 4 days inside the outlet's newsroom. HRANA further reported the four journalists were transferred on February 9 to an undisclosed location.
On 21 February, the non-profit rights group Defense of the Free Flow of Information (DeFFI) reported that Bahmannejad and Asgari were released from Tehran’s Shahpoor Intelligence Detention Center while video journalists Tasnimi and Khabazi remained under temporary detention.
