Germany relocates Tehran embassy staff over threat concerns
Germany has temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad due to the current threat situation, a foreign ministry official told Reuters on Saturday.
The embassy remains operational and can be contacted via phone by Germans who are still in Iran, the official said, adding it would continue to advise on possible options for leaving the country by land.
Six B-2 stealth bombers appear to be en route to Guam from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, FOX News reported Saturday, citing flight tracking data and air traffic control audio.
FOX correspondent Lucas Tomlinson posted on X that the aircraft are likely headed to the US Air Force base on Guam, a key forward-operating location in the Pacific amid heightened regional tensions.
Speaking to FOX, Jonathan Ruhe of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America said the deployment would be more significant if the bombers continued on to Diego Garcia — a US-British base within range of Iran — noting that Trump sent B-2s there earlier this year as a signal that military options were on the table.
A video sent to Iran International shows significant damage to the cyber police (FATA) headquarters in Tehran, amid ongoing Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
FATA, which is tasked with policing online activity, has played a key role in surveilling social media and prosecuting citizens over digital content. In recent years, it has launched numerous cases against individuals and businesses for what authorities describe as “unethical” or “anti-state” posts, drawing criticism from free speech advocates.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has named three senior clerics as possible successors in case he is killed in the war with Israel, The New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans.
The unprecedented step reflects the seriousness with which the 86-year-old leader views the current threat environment, as Israeli airstrikes continue to target Iranian military and nuclear assets.
Khamenei, who is now operating from a secure underground location and communicating through a trusted aide, has also named backups for key military positions in case more senior commanders are killed, NYT cited three Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans as saying.
“Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, also a cleric and close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was rumored to be a front-runner, is not among the candidates,” the report said.
The identity of the three clerics has not been disclosed, but the move is seen as an effort to ensure a swift and orderly succession via the Assembly of Experts if the supreme leader is assassinated or dies unexpectedly.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has named three senior clerics as possible successors in case he is killed in the war with Israel, The New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans.
The unprecedented step reflects the seriousness with which the 86-year-old leader views the current threat environment, as Israeli airstrikes continue to target Iranian military and nuclear assets.
Khamenei, who is now operating from a secure underground location and communicating through a trusted aide, has also named backups for key military positions in case more senior commanders are killed, the NYT cited the officials as saying.
“Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, also a cleric and close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was rumored to be a front-runner, is not among the candidates,” the report said.
The identity of the three clerics has not been disclosed, but the move is seen as an effort to ensure a swift and orderly succession via the Assembly of Experts if the supreme leader is assassinated or dies unexpectedly.
As Iran International previously reported, Khamenei was relocated to an underground bunker in Lavizan, northeast Tehran, shortly after the airstrikes began. His close family, including Mojtaba, are also at the facility. The transfer followed internal assessments of vulnerability at top levels of Iran’s leadership.
In a separate report, Iran International learned that Khamenei has delegated key powers to the Supreme Council of the Revolutionary Guards in what officials described as a wartime precaution, allowing critical decisions to proceed should the Supreme Leader become incapacitated.
Police in Cyprus have arrested an Azerbaijani man with alleged ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on suspicion of involvement in a terror-related plot, Cypriot media reported Friday.
The arrest, made in the southern city of Limassol, followed intelligence suggesting the man was planning an imminent attack, according to Phileleftheros, Cyprus’s largest daily newspaper. Authorities said he had been in the country since April.
The suspect was brought before Limassol District Court on Friday and ordered held for eight days pending investigation. Police declined to release further details, citing national security concerns.
