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Iran’s armed forces are at peak readiness and capable of responding swiftly to any threat, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces said on Tuesday.
Speaking during a visit to a missile unit in central Iran, Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari said missile forces were actively deployed and fully prepared to defend the country.
“We have five missile bases in the Ground Forces structure and are fully prepared for any threats, operating under the command of the Commander-in-Chief,” he said, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
The UN Security Council is set to convene later this month to review the implementation of Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo is expected to brief the Council on the secretary-general’s report concerning compliance with the resolution.
Ambassador Samuel Žbogar of Slovenia, the Security Council’s facilitator for Resolution 2231, is also scheduled to present a report on the Council’s activities related to the resolution.
A representative of the European Union, in its role as coordinator of the JCPOA’s Joint Commission, will provide an update on the agreement’s implementation by its signatories.
The session is tentatively scheduled for June 24.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut on Tuesday for meetings with Lebanon’s top officials, while calling for a new chapter in bilateral ties and expressing support for Lebanon’s territorial integrity.
“I hope that, in light of the new regional conditions and Lebanon’s new circumstances, a new chapter of respectful relations between Iran and Lebanon will begin,” Araghchi said at Rafic Hariri Airport.
Araghchi also met with his Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Rajji, and is also scheduled to meet the country’s president, parliament speaker and prime minister during his visit.
Lebanon elected Joseph Aoun as its new president in January 2025 — a figure backed by the United States who is now working to strengthen the army and counterbalance Hezbollah's influence after the Iran-backed militant group was severely weakened by Israel last year in a spate of high-stakes military operations.
Lebanon’s new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said in late May that "the era of exporting the Iranian revolution is over," adding, "We will not remain silent in the face of weapons outside the control of the state."
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Lebanon’s army has largely disarmed Hezbollah in its southern strongholds — in part with the help of Israeli intelligence.
The country’s new government continues enforcing a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, which began last year but has seen both sides alleging scores of breaches from the other.
Araghchi made no mention of these developments in his remarks and instead said that Iran would continue to support Lebanon against Israel, while stressing that this support does not amount to interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
“Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are of great importance to us and to the entire region,” he said. “We have supported Lebanon’s sovereignty at all stages, and we will continue to do so against the Zionist regime’s occupation — this is simply the support of a friend for its friends and not an act of interference.”
“No country in the region has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of other regional countries,” he added.
Karim Masoumi, a member of Iran’s parliament, called for regular joint meetings between parliament, the judiciary, and the nuclear negotiating team.
He told ISNA that transparent updates on the progress of negotiations—without revealing sensitive details—would build public trust and reinforce the position of negotiators.
He framed public support as essential to safeguarding national interests while pursuing diplomacy with strength. “National unity means all segments of society share a common goal: the dignity of Iran and the welfare of its people.”
The BBC on Monday accused Iran of stepping up pressure on journalists working for its Persian language service by intimidating their families in Iran, calling the moves a "sharp and deeply troubling escalation."
BBC Persian staff members' relatives in Iran are being subjected to arbitrary interrogations, travel bans, passport confiscations and threats of asset seizures, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement.
“These acts are clearly designed to exploit family ties as a means of coercion,” Davie said, adding Tehran authorities were “pressuring our journalists to abandon their work or return to Iran under false pretences.”
Iranian authorities have targeted its Persian language journalists covering the country over the past decade, the BBC says, prompting the broadcaster to lodge urgent complaints with the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 and again in 2022.
The British public broadcaster is preparing to lodge a new complaint with the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures, according to its statement on Monday.
In recent years, other journalists from other Persian-language outlets including those from Iran International have reported similar attempts at intimidation.
In May 2025, British authorities arrested and charged three Iranian nationals—Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori—under the UK's National Security Act.
They are accused of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance activities targeting Iran International journalists inside the United Kingdom.
The threats against Iran International staff have become a recurrent issue, dating back to 2022 when London's Metropolitan Police revealed plots against staff in London. In 2023, the threats reached a climax with the UK's MI5 saying it could no longer protect the team, forcing a temporary relocation to the US.
In March 2024, Pouria Zeraati, the television host of the "Last Word" program on Iran International, was stabbed by a group of unidentified individuals as he exited his residence in London.
Journalism watchdog Reporters Without Borders said last year that Tehran was carrying out "systematic targeting of journalists reporting on Iran from abroad, in an effort to silence them."
"London, home to major Persian-language broadcasters, has been a hotspot for such attacks because of the large number of Iranian journalists based there," the group added.
