CENTCOM chief postpones congress testimony over Mideast tensions - Reuters

“People see the children of officials—those who just a few years ago couldn’t even afford a motorcycle—now owning ships, planes and industry monopolies. It raises serious questions,” national security committee member Mohammad Mehdi Shahriari was quoted as saying by Iran’s labour news outlet, ILNA.

“This behavior has created widespread distrust in society,” the relative moderate and Iran's former envoy to Germany added.

The remarks come amid a growing backlash over the arrest of the son and daughter-in-law of Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader, Kazem Sedighi, in a high-profile corruption case.

The couple were detained by the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence unit for alleged misconduct related to property transfers.

“One of the public’s main grievances with the system is the perception of discrimination,” Shahriari said.

“When there are economic hardships, people expect everyone to bear the burden equally. But when they see that’s not the case—when they see privilege and monopoly—they react.”

Sedighi is an appointee and close associate of supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Apart from leading the capital’s Friday prayers, he heads the state body promoting behavior deemed Islamic—the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice—which includes Iran’s police chief and the ministers of intelligence and interior.

The cleric first came under fire in March 2024, when a whistleblower accused him and his sons of unlawfully acquiring a $20 million plot of land in Tehran. He apologized publicly—to the supreme leader and the Iranian people—once his claim of innocence was proved to be false.

Sedighi was neither prosecuted nor formally investigated.

“What added insult to injury was that he remained Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader,” Shahriari said, linking what he described as growing mistrust and a broader sense of discrimination and unequal treatment.

“If legal action is taken fairly and equally, people will have confidence in the judiciary,” he concluded. “But when people see that there is discrimination and the hardships are not shared equally, frustration builds.”

"IAEA board meeting has adjourned for evening. Speakers still on list before the vote on Iran non-compliance," The Wall Street Journal's correspondent Laurence Norman said in a post on X on Wednesday.

"Session to continue tomorrow at 0930 CET so no vote (on Iran) tonight," he added.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that the United States is in no position to demand that Iran dismantle its nuclear program, stressing that Tehran will not surrender to pressure while maintaining its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.

“We are holding talks with the US and Europe based on the Supreme Leader’s policy, but that doesn’t mean we will submit to coercion,” Pezeshkian said. “We are standing our ground so that no one can bully us or commit injustice against us.”

“Who says we have to bring our research to zero? And then wait around to see when they might allow us to produce or import a certain medical isotope in nuclear energy?”

“Who says we don’t have the right to pursue scientific research on a given subject? Why? Who are they to tell us we’re not allowed to research and must dismantle everything?” he asked.

Pezeshkian said Iran will not bow to any imposed process but is not seeking a nuclear weapon. “The Leader has clearly said this is a matter of belief—we will not produce nuclear weapons. You are free to inspect all you want.”

The US embassy in Baghdad is set to be evacuated due to increased security threats in the region, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing an Iraqi security source and a US official.

“The State Department is set to have an ordered departure for (the) US embassy in Baghdad. The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the US military is standing by if help is requested,” one American official was quoted as saying.

The development comes after Iran’s Defense Minister warned earlier in the day that Tehran would target US military bases in the region if tensions with Washington escalate or nuclear talks collapse.

"Based on our latest (security) analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq," Axios journalist Barak Ravid quoted a State Department official as saying.

Iraq's state news agency, citing a Baghdad government source, said "steps related to evacuation of US diplomatic presence are not only for Iraq, but several states in Middle East."

Iran's mission to the United Nations on Wednesday criticized the commander of US Central Command for mooting a potential attack on Iran the previous day.

Asked by congressman on Tuesday whether the military would use "overwhelming force" if Tehran does not permanently renounce its nuclear ambitions, Lieutenant General Michael Kurilla responded, "Yes."

"Threats of 'overwhelming force' won’t change facts: Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and U.S. militarism only fuels instability," the mission wrote on X.

"CENTCOM’s legacy of fueling regional instability, through arming aggressors and enabling Israeli crimes, strips it of any credibility to speak on peace or non-proliferation. Diplomacy—not militarism—is the only path forward."