Explosions, fires reported in Iran’s religious cities of Mashhad and Qom

Of those, 169 were for drug-related offences, 153 for murder, 12 for security-related charges, and nine for rape.

Among those executed in April on security-related charges, seven were accused of ties to dissident political or religious groups, and one was accused of espionage for Israel.

Only two of the April executions were officially announced by the Iranian authorities.

Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International.

On Saturday, over 300 global figures—including UN experts, Nobel laureates, former ambassadors, judges, and human rights leaders— issued an urgent appeal for United Nations intervention to stop what they called a “campaign of politically motivated executions” in Iran.

Eighteen more victims of the Rajaei port explosion have been identified using DNA from relatives, said Reza Raeoufian, head of Iran’s genetic identity database.
He said 29 families came forward after the Legal Medicine Organization issued a call for DNA samples.
Samples from 11 families did not match any of the unidentified remains.
Authorities had previously identified 36 bodies through other scientific methods. The confirmed identities now stands at 54 out of 70 reported dead.

“Hajj is a duty whose very structure is political,” Ali Khamenei said during a meeting with Hajj officials in Tehran. “It brings people together at a specific time and place, and this gathering has an inherently political nature.”

He added that the pilgrimage should serve the interests of Muslims, with the greatest benefit being unity among Islamic nations. “If Muslims were united, Gaza and Palestine would not suffer like this.”

While calling for Muslim solidarity, Khamenei implicitly warned Riyadh against rapprochement with Israel, saying that cooperation with Washington and Tel Aviv amounted to “oppression.”

His remarks follow reports of renewed Saudi-Israeli contacts brokered by US officials following the Gaza war.

The speech comes just weeks after Khamenei told visiting Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman that closer ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia would be mutually beneficial and should overcome hostile interference.

However, the tone of his latest address contrasts with that message, returning to the combative rhetoric that has historically strained Iran-Saudi ties—especially over the politicization of Hajj.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly warned against using the pilgrimage for sectarian or political activity, implementing strict rules to prevent disruptions.

Since the Gaza war, multiple pilgrims wearing the Palestinian flag have been removed from the holy site.

According to regulations released by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in August, pilgrims are forbidden from bringing any prohibited items, such as pictures, books, flags, slogans, political publications, or other banned materials, into Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Gazette.

The kingdom’s 1987 clash with Iranian demonstrators during Hajj led to hundreds of deaths and a long diplomatic rift, which only began to heal with a China-brokered rapprochement in 2023.

Air pollution in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas has increased following recent explosions, said Hormozgan Medical Sciences University head Pejman Shahrokhi.
Preliminary assessments detected toxic gases and particles, prompting public health concerns. Shahrokhi said the Health Ministry had investigated the issue and concluded the pollution did not exceed critical danger levels. However, officials have urged vulnerable residents—particularly the elderly, children, and those with underlying conditions—to remain indoors when possible and to wear masks outdoors.
“The contamination is ongoing,” Shahrokhi said, adding that monitoring efforts continue in coordination with health and emergency services.

“We are raising children whose minds are set on leaving the country,” Pezeshkian said in a public address. “We must raise children whose thoughts are rooted in their land and who devote their efforts to building this nation.”

“The goal is not to hand our science and art to the Americans,” he added. “True achievement is when this knowledge serves our own country.”

Iran is grappling with a growing exodus of professionals and students, particularly from the medical sector, amid mounting economic hardship.

Authorities have recently empowered the passport and immigration police to monitor elite migration in coordination with the National Elites Foundation, which operates under the presidency.