Daily says strike on Israeli nuclear sites is one order away
The Revolutionary Guards-linked Javan newspaper wrote Wednesday that Iran’s ballistic missiles are aimed at Israel’s hidden nuclear facilities and are “only one executive order away” from launch.
The paper said any attack on Iran’s atomic infrastructure would bring swift and overwhelming retaliation.
Iranian authorities executed Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkour, a protester detained during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, who was convicted of charges including "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" following a deadly incident in the southwestern city of Izeh.
The execution was announced on Wednesday, coinciding with the birthday of Kian Pirfalak, a 10-year-old boy who was killed during a violent episode in Izeh in November 2022.
Iranian officials had initially accused Kourkour of involvement in the child’s death, but later revised the charges without formally exonerating him of the killing.
According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, he “was sentenced to death and executed for drawing a weapon with intent to kill and intimidate the public, spreading corruption on earth through committing crimes by firing a military weapon, and forming and joining an armed group in rebellion against the state."
Kourkour’s execution proceeded despite widespread concerns raised by human rights groups and denials of wrongdoing by the victim’s family.
Disputed case and international outcry
Kourkour was arrested in December 2022 during a raid in the village of Persourakh near Izeh. The judiciary accused him of involvement in the shooting incident in the Izeh market on November 16, 2022, which resulted in the deaths of at least seven people, including Kian Pirfalak.
In April 2023, Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz convicted him on charges including enmity against God, corruption on earth, disturbing public order, and mass murder, sentencing him to death three times.
Although Iran’s Supreme Court initially overturned the death sentences in March 2024 and referred the case back for review, following procedural steps, the court reaffirmed the death penalties, which were ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have criticized the legal proceedings, citing denial of legal representation, allegations of forced confessions, and the use of capital punishment as a political tool.
The family of Kian Pirfalak, whose death became a symbol of the 2022 protests, has consistently rejected the state’s narrative implicating Kourkour.
His mother, Mahmonir Molaei-Rad, and father, Meysam Pirfalak, have both publicly held security forces responsible for the shooting that killed their son and left the father severely injured.
In a widely circulated video, Meysam Pirfalak said: “We have no complaint against Mojahed Kourkour. We saw with our own eyes that security forces opened fire on our car.”
Kourkour is the 11th person executed in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International, in what the rights group says is the government's ongoing campaign of mass suppression of dissent.
The hardline daily Farhikhtegan wrote that Ali Khamenei, despite believing the US is hostile and talks are futile, does not oppose negotiations.
The paper, tied to Islamic Azad University, said his position aligns with the concept of “heroic flexibility,” a tactical approach that allows for engagement without signaling trust or concession.
Russia said on Wednesday it is prepared to help remove excess nuclear material from Iran to support a renewed nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington.
“Russia is ready to offer its services to remove excess nuclear material from Iran’s territory to help the United States and Iran reach a deal,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025.
The editor-in-chief of Iran’s unltra-conservative Keihan newspaper, accused IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi of working for Israel’s Mossad and called on authorities to deny him entry to the country.
“Documents have emerged exposing your covert ties with the Mossad,” Hossein Shariatmadari, wrote on Tuesday, saying Grossi’s cooperation with Israeli intelligence had been unveiled.
Shariatmadari demanded that Iran lodge an international criminal complaint against Grossi.
“The least punishment for this identified agent of the Zionist regime is, first, to deny him entry to Iran, and second, to prosecute him internationally for spying for Mossad,” he said.
"The IAEA has again confirmed that Iran continues to move ahead with uranium enrichment, which has reached dangerous levels. This is only the latest in a series of violations to Iran’s nuclear obligations," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch said in a post on X on Tuesday.
"I continue to support President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against the Iranian regime, as well as his efforts to negotiate with them toward an outcome that will put an end to their enrichment for good," the top senator added.
