Iran says it shared evidence of alleged sabotage at nuclear sites with IAEA

The two were detained by the Revolutionary Guard's Intelligence Organization two weeks ago on charges of misconduct and collusion, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported.

"The case of the accused is being pursued with great care and sensitivity, and the judiciary will handle the case in a fully professional and independent manner," the report said citing an informed source. "The violators will receive a firm response, and the final results will be officially announced after the completion of legal procedures."

Sedighi, known to critics as “the weeping sheikh,” was accused last year of illegally appropriating public land in northern Tehran.

Leaked documents indicated that he and his associates had seized a 4,200-square-meter garden originally owned by a seminary. The property, estimated to be worth $20 million, was reportedly transferred to an entity controlled by Sedighi and his family.

After initially denying the allegations and claiming that his signature on the documents had been forged, Sedighi’s defense unraveled as more evidence emerged.

Eventually, he issued a public apology addressed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, revealing that the land had been returned to the seminary. Despite the scandal, Sedighi continued serving as the interim Friday Prayer Imam of Tehran.

In the case of Sedighi's son and daughter-in-law, "have the collusions taken place independently of their father's position as the Friday Prayer Leader appointed by the Supreme Leader and head of the Promotion of Virtue Headquarters"? asked BBC Persian journalist Hossein Bastani.

"What happened to Kazem Sedighi’s own 1,000-billion-toman land grab case?" Bastani added in a post on X.

Sedighi’s case has triggered widespread backlash, particularly on Iranian social media platforms. Many Iranians have expressed frustration over what they see as a lack of accountability and transparency among high-ranking officials and clerics.

“The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has prepared a list of countermeasures to be taken in the event of a possible anti-Iran resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors,” the organization’s spokesperson said in a televised interview.

“One part of our response is technical, and the other concerns the nature of our cooperation with the Agency. Certainly, the UN nuclear watchdog should not expect Iran’s broad and sincere cooperation to continue after such a move," Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

He warned that a resolution by the Board of Governors could prompt Tehran to activate a new scenario in its nuclear program and escalate its nuclear activities again.

The spokesman recalled that past warnings were ignored, leading Tehran to increase its 60 percent uranium production sevenfold, launch 20 cascades of centrifuges, and install new generations of centrifuges.

While acknowledging that the mere adoption of a resolution does not automatically trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism under the nuclear deal, he stressed that Security Council decisions are ultimately political, not legal.

Kamalvandi said the challenges facing the country’s nuclear program are not technical but political in nature. “These challenges, which have intensified in recent years, stem from political pressure aimed at forcing Iran to abandon its achievements."

He dismissed the notion that Iran had ceased cooperation with the IAEA, noting that about 120 inspectors are still accredited for work in Iran, with 70 of them actively operating out of a special Iran office created by the agency.

“No other country has such an office under the direct supervision of the IAEA director general,” he said, adding that 22 percent of the agency’s inspections over the past year were conducted in Iran.

He also responded to renewed IAEA concerns about past nuclear activities at sites like Marivan and Lavizan (also known as Shiyan), where the agency suspects that natural uranium in metal disc form may have been used to produce neutron sources with explosive triggers. He said that these cases had already been investigated and closed back in 2014.

“The IAEA cannot prove diversion of nuclear material toward military use because Iran does not possess enriched uranium at weapons-grade levels,” he said. “So instead, it tries to build a narrative that there was once a military dimension to our program.”

Iran and the United States are facing a deepening deadlock in nuclear negotiations, increasing the risk of military conflict, senior analyst Morad Vaisi wrote Sunday in a piece for Iran International.

Vaisi outlined ten key developments that have “darkened the prospects of reaching an agreement and made war more realistic.” He pointed to intensified rhetoric between leaders, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling Iran’s enrichment program “none of their business,” and Donald Trump responding that Iran would “never be allowed to enrich uranium.”

Vaisi wrote that no new rounds have taken place since the fifth session in Rome, describing the halt as “a clear indication of a sharp decline in the trajectory of the talks.”

Although the US briefly paused the imposition of new sanctions through a directive, it quickly reimposed them after Khamenei’s remarks, targeting financial networks tied to Iran.

Trump’s appointment of Admiral Brad Cooper as CENTCOM commander also signaled heightened readiness, Vaisi wrote, citing his experience within the region.

Vaisi added that growing European pressure on Israel over the Gaza conflict may push the Jewish state to shift the focus by escalating tensions with Iran, especially as Israeli officials warn that future opportunities to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities may be limited.

“The last hope to avoid a military confrontation,” he wrote, “may rest on a possible visit by Vladimir Putin to Tehran.”

Former British army commander Richard Kemp has urged US President Donald Trump to take immediate military action against Iran, warning that diplomacy will only serve to delay the inevitable.

In an article published by The Telegraph on Sunday, Kemp argued that Tehran is using negotiations to buy time. “Iran will do everything it can to spin out talks with the US, doing its best to lead the negotiators along while manipulating Europeans to throw a lifeline,” he wrote.

Kemp said Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities, including replacing Russian-supplied air defenses damaged in Israeli strikes last October, and is further hardening and dispersing its nuclear facilities. He argued that Tehran has repeatedly violated both the 2015 nuclear deal and its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Even if a deal is agreed, it won’t be worth the paper it’s written on,” Kemp wrote. “Whatever obfuscation it comes up with, Iran will not voluntarily surrender its nuclear weapons program.”

He called on Washington to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a green light to act against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and to provide full support.

The ban has now spread to at least 25 cities, including Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan, Kerman, Boroujerd, Robat Karim, Lavasanat, and Golestan, according to a report by Tehran-based reformist-leaning outlet Faraz News on Sunday.

While no national legislation has been passed, judicial authorities are enforcing the ban through local directives and police orders, citing various articles of Iran’s Penal Code and Constitution.

These include Article 638 on public morality, Article 688 on threats to public health, and Article 40 of the Constitution, which prohibits harm to others.

Several prosecutors across various provinces announced the new bans over the weekend.

Kashmar, a city in northeastern Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, is among the latest to implement the ban.

“Dog walking has been prohibited in this county in order to safeguard public hygiene and the physical and psychological safety of the public,” the city’s public prosecutor said on Sunday.

Khalkhal’s public prosecutor Mozaffar Rezaei in northwest Iran’s Ardabil province announced the ban came into effect on June 6. “Offenders will face consequences if they are seen walking dogs in parks, public spaces, or carrying them on their vehicles,” Rezaei said in remarks to Islamic Republic News Agency (ILNA) published Sunday.

"In addition to the financial and physical damages, religious rulings and cultural considerations must be taken into account, as this practice reflects the promotion of a Western lifestyle," he added.

In Ilam, western Iran, authorities imposed a dog walking ban on Saturday, warning that anyone seen walking dogs in parks, public areas, or transporting them in vehicles would face legal action. Police have also been instructed to impound vehicles involved in violations, according to provincial judicial chief Omran Ali Mohammadi.

In Isfahan, central Iran, the ban was announced last week by Mohammad Mousavian, the city’s public prosecutor who also ordered police to impound vehicles carrying dogs and shut down pet shops and unauthorized veterinary clinics.

A group of animal rights activists gathered outside the governor’s office in Isfahan on Sunday, calling for an end to what they described as municipal dog culling.