Tehran to rename street honoring Sadat’s assassin amid thaw with Egypt

“During his police interrogation, it became clear that Iranian officials had recently contacted the minor, a resident of Tel Aviv, via the Telegram app, and asked him to perform several tasks in exchange for a sum of money,” a statement said on Tuesday.

The case mirrors dozens of others uncovered since the Gaza war, involving the arrests of Israelis for what the state alleges are Iranian-backed plots, some with aims to assassinate top military and political figures.

Suspects are recruited via social media, initially offered payment for seemingly innocuous tasks like spraying graffiti, then progressed to more serious activities, including intelligence gathering on the country's nuclear and defense facilities.

“The minor … sprayed graffiti in the Tel Aviv area and in return received sums of money. In addition, the minor was asked to photograph the Iron Dome system, but ultimately did not carry out this task," the police added.

He is now under house arrest.

Oded Ailam, a former head of counter-terrorism at Mossad, said that the legal system’s failings are making the deterrence strategy for Israel more challenging amid a wave of plots in the country.

“The Shin Bet does impressive work uncovering and thwarting these plots time and again. But once a case reaches the courtroom, the system falters. Weak evidence claims, outdated legal frameworks, and lenient sentencing all contribute to a breakdown in deterrence,” he wrote in a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

“Today’s espionage doesn’t involve trench coats and dead drops, it happens on Facebook, paid in dollars. Yet the legal response still treats it like a relic of another era.”

The warning follows overnight strikes on Monday, which for the first time saw Israel's navy target Yemen's Hodeidah Port in retaliation for continued strikes against Israel in the wake of the Gaza war, and a maritime blockade in the Red Sea.

"We warned the Houthi terrorist organization that if they continue to fire at Israel, they will receive a powerful response and enter a naval and air blockade. That's what we did today - and we will continue to do so in the future," Katz said.

According to the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV, Israel targeted the docks of Hodeidah port with two strikes.

Israel's military said: “The port has been struck by the IDF over the past year and continues to be used for terrorist purposes," saying it has been used to transfer weapons for the group, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by countries including the US.

The Houthis have become a serious force in the region. The Council of Foreign Relations says that “Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement has become one of the Middle East’s most potent non-state actors since Israel’s war against Hamas reignited in 2023”.

The Israeli military told Iran International that over 43 missiles have been launched against the Jewish state since January alone.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Yemen’s Houthis have launched missiles, rockets, and drones toward Israel and enforced a maritime disruption in the Red Sea, in what it describes as support for Palestinians in Gaza. One of the most recent projectiles narrowly missed Israel’s main airport last month.

“Over the past year and a half, the Houthi terrorist regime has been aggressively operating under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies, undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of naval navigation,” the Israeli military said, warning of further strikes to come.

On Tuesday morning, Nasruddin Amer, from the Houthis' media authority, said on X that the latest strikes have "no significant impact on our operations in support of Gaza, nor on preparations for escalation and expansion of operations deep inside the Zionist enemy entity [Israel]".

Such an attack "might have an amalgamating effect which would make a determination on the part of Iran to go to a nuclear weapon or to abandon the treaty on non-proliferation. I’m telling you this because they have told me,” Grossi said.

The IAEA chief emphasized the difficulty any military operation would have of destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities.

“Certainly this program runs wide and deep. And when I say deep, I know what I’m saying. So many of these facilities are extremely well protected. This would require a very, very devastating force to affect it.”

The United States and Iran are locked in high-stakes negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program, and US President Donald Trump has mooted an attack if they fail.

Israel struck multiple targets inside Iran in October and has repeatedly vowed to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, which it views as an existential threat.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons but its arch-nemesis Israel and Western countries doubt its intentions.

Grossi said Iran needed to the let the nuclear watchdog do its job by allowing more inspection and explaining past behavior.

"I am in a constant dialog, especially with the foreign minister (Abbas) Araghchi," Grossi said. "(They say) they have nothing happened. If this is the case, then they should allow us to do our job and to get as much access as we can."

Western powers may push for a resolution finding Tehran non-compliant with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations at the upcoming quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors this week.

Iran has warned of an unspecified strong response to any such move and has accused the IAEA of being swayed by its Western adversaries.

The United States accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon as part of the shadowy Amad Project scrapped in 2004, an effort Washington says was overseen by Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research.

"There are areas of real concern and we need to get to the bottom of a number of things," Grossi said, without referring to any specific issues.

"Over the past few years ... we discovered traces of enriched uranium in places that were not supposed to be having any nuclear activity. So my question here - this is not an accusation - It's just a very logical question: if we found these traces there, what was going on?"

The IAEA would likely play a central role in verifying and overseeing any nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States, as it did with an international deal US President Donald Trump scrapped in 2018.

Hawks in Israel and the United States have said Iran's lack of full disclosure on past activities calls into question its commitment to any future deal.

"For years ... we have been getting some answers, and these answers have not been satisfactory," Grossi added. "Please do not believe that we are naive."

Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence services had obtained a large cache of sensitive material from Israel, including documents related to the Jewish state's nuclear and strategic facilities.

The intelligence operation yielded a “significant intelligence achievement,” the Supreme National Security Council's said in a statement, adding that a detailed database of Israeli targets is now at the disposal of Iran’s armed forces.

“In the event of aggression, the (Israeli) regime’s hidden nuclear facilities will be targeted,” the statement said.

The council emphasized that this intelligence gain was part of “a smart, quiet strategy” by the Islamic Republic in response to what it described as hostile media and political pressure.

It further praised what it described as "the tireless and unassuming efforts of the armed forces aimed at building operational capabilities tailored to the weaknesses and strengths of the Zionist occupying regime (Israel) and its supporters."

Iran's intelligence and operational readiness, the statement added, now allows Iran’s forces to immediately retaliate not only against nuclear threats but also against any act of sabotage targeting Iran’s economic or military infrastructure.

Iran’s intelligence minister said on Sunday the documents will soon be made public. However, Israeli security experts have cast doubt on Tehran’s claims of obtaining sensitive Israeli intelligence as exaggerated or psychological warfare.

Asher Ben-Artzi, a former head of Israel’s Interpol, told Iran International, “I know that the relevant information is well-guarded in Israel and it does not seem to me that hackers can access it."

He warned that the intelligence may not be as significant as claimed. “Iran wants to tell the world that their intelligence personnel are professionals, but they probably think that their use of disinformation will increase their achievements,” he said.

In 2018, Israel said it had stolen Iran's nuclear documents including 55,000 pages and 55,000 digital files from a warehouse in Tehran's Shourabad area through an intelligence operation.

During his weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also reaffirmed Tehran’s right to uranium enrichment and warned of potential retaliatory steps if the West continues what it described as politicized pressure tactics.

“The American proposal does not reflect the outcomes of previous negotiations and cannot be considered a product of mutual understanding... It lacks the give-and-take required in a bilateral process,” Baghaei said.

“Any proposal that fails to consider the rights and interests of the Iranian nation—whether in peaceful nuclear energy including enrichment, or in providing effective guarantees for lifting cruel sanctions—is unacceptable to us ...

“We recommend that the American side seize this opportunity and review it seriously, as accepting it would benefit the United States.”

Earlier in the day, Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that Iran is expected to deliver a formal written response to the US proposal within the next two days.

Warning over IAEA resolution

Addressing the possibility of a resolution against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting which started on Monday, Baghaei accused the agency of yielding to political pressure from the US and the three European countries known as the E3, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

In March, the E3 issued a joint statement expressing concerns over Iran's nuclear activities, including unprecedented enrichment levels, advanced centrifuge deployment, lack of transparency and threats to non-proliferation.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always based its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency on its commitments under the NPT and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement,” Baghaei said.

“Unfortunately, the Agency, under the influence of political pressure, drafted what it called a ‘comprehensive report,’ which European countries then exploited to push for a resolution.”

He warned that “a confrontational response will certainly not lead to more cooperation.” Iran, he added, has prepared a series of steps and measures and will act in coordination with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and relevant bodies.

“No country has the right to dictate terms to Iran regarding its enrichment rights or issue licenses in this regard,” Baghai said, affirming that uranium enrichment is “an inseparable part of Iran’s indigenous nuclear fuel cycle and scientific identity.”

Referring to Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said, “This right is explicitly recognized for all signatory countries and is non-negotiable.”

The latest IAEA report, leaked to Western media late last month, concluded that Iran now possesses over 400 kg of 60%-enriched uranium—enough, if further enriched, to build approximately 10 nuclear weapons.

The report also cited ongoing Iranian non-cooperation on safeguards and expressed serious concern over the country’s continued enrichment at levels with no civilian justification.

No sanctions relief so far, Iran says

Baghaei dismissed recent reports that sanctions on Iran had been lifted. “As I said last week, the claim that sanctions have been halted is simply not true. In fact, a new set of sanctions was imposed just this week. This shows once again that the US is not serious.”

He criticized the “inconsistent and contradictory behavior of the United States, which simultaneously claims to seek dialogue while imposing fresh sanctions,” adding that such actions only increase Iran’s mistrust.

Iran’s nuclear posture

When asked about international concerns over a possible shift in Iran’s nuclear posture, Baghaei said that the country’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

“Even the IAEA’s latest report, despite its politically-motivated framing, does not mention any deviation from peaceful objectives,” he added.

No deal without sanctions relief

On whether Iran had addressed sanctions in the five previous rounds of talks, Baghaei said, “We have consistently emphasized the necessity of lifting oppressive sanctions in both the media and negotiations. How can an agreement be imagined without addressing this fundamental and legitimate demand?”

Sanctions since 2018 when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA nuclear deal, have since crippled Iran's economy with inflation at record highs since the founding of the Islamic Republic.

“The main demand of the Iranian nation—besides preserving nuclear achievements—is the effective removal of sanctions. If a proposal ignores these two core principles, it not only lacks seriousness but is also unacceptable to us," he added.

Snapback mechanism and security council

Baghai also downplayed the likelihood of the so-called “snapback” mechanism being triggered at the UN Security Council as the October deadline draws closer and the threat of the reimposition of sanctions looming.

“There is no legal basis or justification for the continued presence of Iran’s nuclear issue on the Security Council’s agenda after October 2025. Any move to the contrary is purely political.”

He added that the US and its allies had previously taken Iran’s file to the Security Council in 2006 “without any such mechanism, using fabricated pretexts.”

Iran accuses Europe of abandoning diplomacy

Baghaei said while efforts have been underway by Tehran, diplomatic dialogue with Europe is failing: “European opposition cannot be a motivation for cooperation. While we engaged in dialogue and held several rounds of talks, unfortunately the European side neither offered constructive proposals nor remained committed to the diplomatic path.”

Referring to the IAEA resolution being prepared by European countries and supported by the US, he warned, “All of these parties will be responsible for the consequences. Sadly, this behavior reflects a continuing confrontational and uncooperative approach.”

Addressing Trump’s recent executive order restricting entry to citizens from 12 countries including Iran, Baghai said it was another move to drive a wedge between the two nations, amid the sensitive nuclear talks.

“The US decision is based on a discriminatory and racist outlook, and is entirely rejected from both human rights and moral perspectives," he said.

“For us Iranians, this action is yet another clear sign of the depth of hostility the American government harbors toward the Iranian people. It violates fundamental principles of equality and justice, and the international community must respond decisively.”