Khamenei downplays port blast, calls for patience

Iranians in nine Canadian cities held candlelight vigils on Saturday to express solidarity with the families of victims of the Bandar Abbas explosion.

Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his wife and daughter when Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020, addressed a Toronto vigil attended by politicians and Iranian-Canadian cultural figures.

Esmaeilion criticized Iranian officials for downplaying the severity of the port disaster, saying that change would not come through sorrow but through protest.

The United States will never lift all sanctions on Iran, but will instead only offer piecemeal concessions, a member of Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Sunday.

Abolfazl Zohrevand told the Didban Iran news website that the US has started negotiations with the nuclear issue to then move on to regional and missile matters, ultimately aiming to destabilize Iran's internal situation.

The first operation on Saturday led to the arrest of five men—aged between 29 and 46— in coordinated raids across Swindon, west London, Stockport, Rochdale, and Manchester, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Four of the men were identified as Iranian nationals and detained under the Terrorism Act of 2006. A fifth man, whose nationality was not disclosed, was arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. All remain in custody as searches continue at multiple addresses across England.

“We are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated. We are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

Officials have not disclosed the nature of the suspected target or whether any weapons or materials were seized, citing operational sensitivity.

In a separate investigation, police arrested three more Iranian nationals in London on the same day as part of a counter terror investigation. The men were detained under Section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which authorizes arrests based on suspected “foreign power threat activity.”

The two operations were not connected to each other, police said.

The arrests come as UK intelligence services warn of sustained threats linked to Iran.

In October, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said authorities had disrupted 20 “potentially deadly” plots tied to Tehran since January 2022.

“Iranian state actors make extensive use of criminals as proxies—from international drug traffickers to low-level crooks,” McCallum said in a public statement.

It comes as the Iran-backed group continues almost daily aerial attacks on the Jewish state amid the ongoing war in Gaza, in spite of warnings from the US that Iran will be held accountable for the Houthis' military actions.

A statement from the Israeli military said: "Following the sirens that sounded in a number of areas in Israel, several attempts were made to intercept the missile launched from Yemen. A fall was identified in the area of Ben-Gurion Airport. The incident is under review."

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz suggested there will be a military response.

"He who harms us is harmed sevenfold," he said on Sunday.

Data from the Israeli military in January said that 40 surface-to-surface missiles have been fired towards Israel. Until that point, there had been one fallen projectile and two partial interceptions.

Another 320 UAVs had been fired towards Israel, over 100 of which intercepted with two effective hits until that date. The remainder fell in open areas, failed to reach Israeli territory or caused no significant damage.

Former minister of defense, Benny Gantz, was quick to point the blame at Iran which has long backed the group financially and militarily.

"It is Iran that is firing ballistic missiles at the State of Israel, and it must bear responsibility," he wrote on X.

The Houthis began strikes on Israel amid the Gaza War in a bid to force Israel into a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

The Yemeni militia has not only launched air strikes on Israel, but launched a maritime blockade in the Red Sea region, which has since seen 174 attacks on the US Navy and 145 attacks on global shipping, according to the US State Department.

At least three international seamen have been killed in attacks.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran had continued to support Yemen's armed Houthi movement despite an explicit warning from Washington and vowed unspecified consequences for Tehran.

Pete Hegseth wrote on X: "Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the US Military is capable of — and you were warned."

"You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing."

Iran maintains that it does not direct the Houthi actions in the Red Sea region. However, the Houthis began targeting international commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Muslim nations to blockade Israeli trade in November 2023.

In March, Khamenei responded to the same threats of retaliation for Houthi actions from US President Donald Trump. "The Yemeni nation has its own motivation and the resistance groups in the region have their own motivations. Iran doesn't need proxies," Khamenei said.

Rescue operations at Rajaei port have ended despite a significant number of people still missing following the recent explosion, Hormozgan province's Red Crescent announced on Sunday.

A group of families of victims and missing persons blocked access to the port's pier on Saturday, protesting the slow pace of body identification.