An Iranian lawmaker backed Tehran's plans to target Israel and warned that any Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would legitimize Tehran advancing toward nuclear weapons development.
“If Israel conducts a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, it effectively grants us the permission to move toward developing nuclear weapons," Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s parliament, told Didban news website in Tehran.
Fifty percent of Iran’s industrial parks have ceased operations due to power outages, according to the employers' representative in the Supreme Labor Council, as the electricity cuts further hamper the economy.
“Several power plants are out of operation, and some industries have shut down. We faced power issues in the summer, and now in winter, we are dealing with both electricity and gas shortages,” said Ali-Asghar Ahaniha in an interview with the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim on Saturday.
The energy crisis, marked by widespread electricity shortages and gas deficits, has disrupted industries across the country. Aging infrastructure, international sanctions, and poor management have compounded the problem, leading to the shutdown of approximately 80 power plants.
During the winter, Iran faces a daily shortfall of at least 260 million cubic meters of gas, further straining the electricity supply.
Iran has vast oil and gas reserves, much of which it cannot tap due to US-led sanctions which stall investment and technology improvement.
Ahaniha highlighted the strain caused by the crisis, noting employers are under immense pressure during the year-end period due to bonuses and additional costs.
“In a year dubbed the 'Year of Production Leap,' the lifeline of production and industry must be preserved. When the wheels of industry turn, employment and people's income flourish,” he said, criticizing the ministry of energy for prioritizing residential consumption over industrial needs.
The crisis has caused significant losses in industrial regions, where power cuts have resulted in damages amounting to hundreds of billions of rials. Ahaniha also criticized recent electricity and gas price hikes, arguing that industries have filed complaints against the ministry of energy, saying the increases were unlawful.
Iran’s electricity shortage was estimated at 14,000 megawatts during the summer. Heavy state subsidies have encouraged inefficient energy consumption, while geopolitical tensions and sanctions have hindered infrastructure investments.
A suicide bomber attacked the front of a police headquarters in Bandar Lengeh in southern Iran on Saturday night, killing the head of the port city's military intelligence, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported.
Captain Mojtaba Shahidi Takhti succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, and one accompanying officer identified as Captain Javad Chatr-Sahar was also injured, the report said citing the local governor.
The bomber was positioned on the two police officers' exit route and triggered the explosion with a remote control, the report by Tasnim said.
Security forces promptly arrived at the scene after the incident and confirmed the attacker was also killed, governor Foad Moradzadeh said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
Jaish Al-Adl militants who seek to break away from Iran operate more in Iran’s southeast rather than its central coast.
Radical Sunni Islamic State militants have also launched repeated deadly suicide attacks against state and military targets in the Shi’ite theocracy.
Shahidi Takhti and the other officer injured in the attack "were immediately transported to the hospital," governor Moradzadeh added. However, the former succumbed to the injuries despite the efforts of the medical team.
The condition of injured officer Chatr-Sahar is currently reported as stable, a local judiciary official was quoted as saying.
Iran’s defense minister announced a surprise series of military drills starting Saturday to show the Islamic Republic would not crumble easily like Bashar al-Assad's Syria.
"They are signaling that Yemen and Iran are next after Syria. But the truth is, it is their turn next, as these powers won’t leave them alone," Aziz Nassirzadeh said in remarks carried by Iranian media.
The United States, he said, employs Israel - a "70-year-old cancerous tumor" - to exploit the Middle East's resources, in familiar rhetoric for top Tehran officials.
“We have no issues on the hard warfare front. We are building power by all means and will remain prepared.” Nassirzadeh said, speaking on Friday during a ceremony commemorating Razi Mousavi, a Revolutionary Guards commander killed in Syria last year.
The drills, described as a display of Iran’s strengthened defensive capabilities, come in response to growing regional tensions and threats by Israeli officials to strike Iran directly if their Yemeni Houthi allies keep up missile attacks.
Earlier this week, Gholamali Rashid, commander of IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters had mooted plans for “powerful defensive and offensive drills” in the coming weeks.
The announcement follows threats by Iranian officials that Tehran would launch True Promise 3, a third retaliatory attack against Israel in response to its October airstrikes on Iran.
However, after the fall of al-Assad’s in Syria, Tehran’s rhetoric on direct retaliation has subsided, with a focus now shifting to defensive readiness.
Nassirzadeh remarked: “We no longer have a presence in Syria, but even our statements instill fear in the enemy, leading them to issue warnings against us. Their fear stems from the strength of the resistance.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has previously vowed to reclaim Syria from opposition forces and encouraged Syrian youth to resist the new government. However, Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Sheibani recently issued a warning to Iran, urging it to avoid interference in the country’s affairs.
The military drills starting Saturday are seen as part of Iran’s efforts to bolster its defensive posture as military setbacks abroad put the home front into focus.
Iran has plunged into multiple crisis in recent weeks, with energy shortages and a rapidly falling currency, creating a sense of weakness amid popular discontent.
Italy is negotiating for the release of a journalist detained in Iran via a potential exchange for an Iranian citizen arrested in Milan at the request of the United Sates, according to Italian daily La Repubblica.
“The subject of Italy’s negotiations with Iranian officials has been the release of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi in exchange for Cecilia Sala,” the daily reported.
Although La Repubblica linked Sala’s case to a potential swap involving Abedini, sources in the Italian Foreign Ministry denied he was part of the negotiations. Some officials also ruled out financial exchanges.
Cecilia Sala, 29, a newspaper journalist and podcaster, has been jailed in Iran on unknown charges for over a week.
Her arrest is widely seen as retaliation for the arrest of Abedini, whom US authorities say provided materials for a deadly Iran-linked drone attack on US troops in Jordan.
He was apprehended at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on December 16 and investigators found in his luggage electronic components linked to the US charges.
Earlier this month, the US Justice Department charged Abedini and another Iranian, Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi - who was arrested in the United States - with conspiring to export sensitive US technology to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Iran last week summoned a senior Italian diplomat and the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, over the US and Italian arrest of the two Iranians, Iranian media reported.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani are leading diplomatic efforts, supported by Italy’s External Intelligence and Security Agency (AISE), Italian news outlets reported.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially kept Sala’s arrest confidential, aiming for a quiet resolution, the newspaper reported. Her detention has again highlighted Iran’s use of foreign detainees as leverage in international negotiations.
'Hostage-taking'
The International Federation of Journalists called for Sala’s immediate release, with secretary-general Anthony Bellanger condemning Tehran’s tactics as political leverage.
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi echoed the criticism, describing Sala’s detention as hostage-taking and extortion and warning that such practices would persist without stronger Western policies.
Prior to her detention, Sala had reported on contentious topics in Iran, including widespread defiance of mandatory hijab laws and the presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian.
As diplomatic talks continue, the case highlights broader tensions over Iran’s exploitation of detainees for political gains, a practice condemned by rights groups and Western nations.
Iran’s armed forces have threatened a forceful response to any aggression on the country.
“The powerful Armed Forces of Iran, with full strength and complete readiness, are always prepared to deliver a decisive and crushing response to any threat,” said the General Staff of the Armed Forces in a statement on Saturday.
The recent overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dealt a significant blow to Iran's influence in the Middle East.
As a key ally and conduit for Iranian support to groups like Hezbollah, Assad's government was central to Iran's proxies. His fall disrupts these alliances and supply routes, diminishing Iran's regional leverage.