US to send thousands more troops to Middle East amid pressure on Iran - WaPo

Iranian authorities have ordered asset confiscations and carried out arrests as part of a crackdown on individuals accused of acting against national security, officials said on Wednesday.

In the western province of Hamedan, the prosecutor said orders had been issued to identify and confiscate the assets of 36 people accused of links with what he described as hostile actors.

He added that similar orders had also been issued for 13 others, for whom criminal cases had been opened and were being reviewed in special branches.

Separately, police in Hormozgan province said five people, including three men and two women, were arrested in connection with alleged contacts via social media with foreign-based media outlets.

Two vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz and are heading toward Iranian ports, despite a US maritime blockade, Guards-affiliated Fars news reported on Wednesday.

The report said a bulk carrier carrying food supplies entered the Persian Gulf and is sailing toward Imam Khomeini Port.

It also reported that a very large crude carrier under US sanctions transited the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Wednesday and entered Iranian waters with its tracking system active.

Ships linked to Iran are increasingly using “spoofing” and other deceptive tracking tactics in and around the Strait of Hormuz following the start of a US naval blockade, the New York Times reported, citing maritime experts.

The activity includes vessels going “dark” by switching off transponders or transmitting false identification data to avoid detection, the report said.

“Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using ‘zombie’ or random identification,” Ami Daniel, chief executive of maritime intelligence firm Windward, told the newspaper.

The shift suggests operators are becoming more cautious and testing enforcement limits as the blockade disrupts normal shipping patterns, according to the report.

Such tactics, previously used by Russia-linked vessels to evade sanctions, could make it harder to track ship movements and add to uncertainty in the waterway, it said.

Israeli authorities charged a woman from the northern city of Nazareth on Wednesday with spying for Iran, police and the Shin Bet security agency said.

Shomua Abu Abed was detained in March and had been passing information to a foreign agent since October in exchange for cryptocurrency, according to a joint statement.

She allegedly carried out multiple missions, including photographing security sites, Israeli military bases and the Haifa oil refinery, and transmitting information about an Israeli citizen described as a former security official.

Two remotely operated improvised explosive devices detonated in Tehran early on Wednesday, slightly injuring three people, including a member of the Basij paramilitary force, Iranian state media reported.

A third improvised explosive device was discovered and defused, the reports said.

Mohammad Balideh, a Revolutionary Guards commander for Tehran region 10, said the situation was under control.

“Nothing extraordinary happened here, just a limited explosion on the street at the hands of traitorous and unpatriotic elements, with no fatalities or serious damages,” he told Hamshahri newspaper.