Canada welcomes EU move to label IRGC as terrorist entity

Newly obtained satellite images show renewed activity at two of Iran’s key nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel last year, raising fresh questions about Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Images from Planet Labs PBC show new construction and movement at the Natanz enrichment site and the Isfahan nuclear complex, both of which suffered damage during the 12-day war in June 2025.

The activity appears to include newly built roofing structures and efforts to cover or secure previously hit buildings, suggesting work to stabilize or restore parts of the sites.

Open-source analysts have previously noted signs of activity at Iran’s nuclear facilities, but the latest satellite photos offer some of the clearest indications yet of sustained work since the attacks.

Iran has not publicly explained the activity and continues to restrict access for international inspectors, limiting independent verification.

The activity comes against the backdrop of longstanding concerns over Iran’s nuclear stockpile, including estimates by international inspectors that Tehran holds roughly 400 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60%, a level close to weapons-grade.

The Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites were among facilities hit during US strikes in June 2025, attacks Washington said were aimed at degrading Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned on Friday the Islamic Republic is fully prepared to deter any threat and would respond forcefully to hostile actions, including by striking targets inside Israel if necessary.

“Any move that indicates hostile intent from the enemy will be met with a proportionate, effective, and deterrent response,” Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV channel quoted Shamkhani as saying.

“This proportionate response includes striking deep into the Zionist entity.”

“We have uncovered the enemy’s operational plan, we have full oversight of it, and we will direct strikes at the appropriate time to the points that chokes the plan,” he added.

The Council of the European Union has approved a decision to prioritize human rights violations in Iran across all UN human rights forums in 2026, including at the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.

According to the EU Council conclusions, the bloc will pursue a coordinated and sustained approach through UN mechanisms, including special rapporteurs and investigative bodies.

This includes backing UN fact-finding missions and urging accountability for deadly crackdown. The EU has framed this approach as part of a broader effort to uphold international human rights law globally, though Iran has become one of its most urgent test cases.

The controversy began earlier this week when Kattan, who has more than five million Instagram followers, reposted a video related to the unrest in Iran.

The footage showed supporters of the Islamic Republic burning images of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and U.S. President Donald Trump—content critics said closely resembled state propaganda.

Many Iranians, both inside the country and in the diaspora, reacted with anger. Videos soon began circulating online showing users smashing, burning, or discarding Huda Beauty products in protest.

Some clips took a more satirical or graphic approach, depicting Kattan covering killed protesters with makeup, applying cosmetics to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, or appearing dressed as a cleric.

Others showed palettes and lipsticks dumped into garbage bins, gestures meant to signal rejection of the brand and what critics saw as Kattan’s misstep.

Kattan deleted the original Instagram story within hours, but the backlash continued and soon extended to prominent figures in the beauty community.

Nicknames such as “Mullah Beauty” and “Ayatollah Huda” quickly spread online, underscoring the belief among critics that the post amplified regime talking points rather than the voices of protesters.

Naz Golrokh, a US-based Iranian influencer with more than nine million Instagram followers, was among the first high-profile figures to call for a boycott. “If you can’t stand with innocent people, at the very least, don’t spread lies against them,” she wrote, urging her followers to stop purchasing Huda Beauty products.

Her post—showing a pile of destroyed cosmetics—received more than one million likes, becoming a rallying image for the campaign.

Iranian-American celebrity hairstylist Henry Zador also joined the boycott, posting videos of himself discarding Huda Beauty products and urging others not to underestimate their collective commercial influence.

“If Iran’s revolution succeeds and all major cosmetics companies enter the market, Huda Beauty will have no place in that large market,” Zador told Iran International.

Calls for accountability soon reached major retailers, with some users urging chains such as Sephora to reconsider carrying the brand unless Kattan addressed the criticism publicly.

Even Kattan’s sister and longtime collaborator, Mona Kattan, unfollowed her on social media amid the backlash. Mona, who has 3.8 million followers, has been more openly supportive of Iranian protesters, highlighting divisions within the beauty community over how to respond to the unrest.

Jehan Hashem, an Iraqi influencer with 15.5 million followers, also posted stories of unfollowing Kattan and expressing solidarity with Iranians.

Kattan later posted a series of messages denying support for the Islamic Republic and saying she did not feel qualified to take a public position on what she described as a complex internal political situation.

She also cited past US military interventions, including in Iraq, as shaping her reluctance to endorse foreign involvement.

For many critics, that framing deepened the backlash. They argued that labeling the uprising an “internal issue” minimized the scale of state violence and echoed language long used by Iranian officials to deflect international scrutiny. Others said that if she felt insufficiently informed, she should not have posted at all.

The episode follows earlier controversies involving Kattan over social media commentary on geopolitical issues, a history that has made critics quicker to scrutinize her public statements.

Huda Beauty is widely considered one of the largest cosmetics brands in the Middle East.

While no official data exists on its market share in Iran, the scale of engagement with the boycott—including visible participation by Instagram users inside the country—suggests it could have a tangible impact on the brand’s standing there.

US House Representative Pat Fallon said on Friday Iran’s ruling system caused decades of death and hardship for Iranians and others beyond the country’s borders, accusing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of presiding over a repressive theocracy.

"For DECADES, the Ayatollah's regime has done nothing but inflict death and hardship on the Iranian people and on innocents abroad. His despotism is a cancer to the region. The US stands with the people of Iran against Khamenei's theocratic repression," he posted on X.