Iran’s president calls for diplomacy to reduce tensions

Iran faces shortages in areas including energy and fuel that must be managed through careful planning and public cooperation, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday.

Pezeshkian said during a visit to the justice ministry that false information and unrealistic promises would not help resolve the country’s problems and would weaken public trust.

He added that both achievements and challenges should be shared honestly with the public.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei suffered a minor leg injury during US-Israeli airstrikes on the Supreme Leader’s compound, a senior Iranian official said.

Azim Ebrahimpour said Mojtaba Khamenei was in the compound’s grounds at the time of the attack and was lightly hurt by the blast wave from a missile.

He said reports of other injuries were false and speculation about his health was aimed at creating division.

Iran ensures the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz under a new legal framework, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper quoted Iran’s ambassador to Moscow as saying on Monday.

"Iran ensures safety of passage. Based on the security measures and the legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz, ships and vessels can pass through," Kazem Jalali said.

He also said US and Israeli attacks on Iran had failed to achieve regime change, and that the Islamic Republic was more united than before.

Iran executed two political prisoners, Hamed Validi and Mohammad Shahi, on Monday following convictions on security charges.

Iran Human Rights Monitor had earlier warned that the two were at risk of execution after they were transferred to an undisclosed location.

“Such transfers in Iran often signal executions are imminent,” the group warned.

The two were arrested in Tehran last year and were subjected to forced confessions.

“Reports indicate serious due process violations, including torture, forced confessions, lack of transparency, and denial of full legal defense,” according to Iran Human Rights Monitor.

They were later sentenced to death by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj on charges including “enmity against God” (moharebeh), and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

The United States Central Command on Monday released video showing its forces boarding an Iranian-flagged vessel, detailing the operation after the ship’s seizure.

CENTCOM said the footage showed Marines departing the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli by helicopter and rappelling onto the M/V Touska.

It said the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance disabled the vessel’s propulsion after it failed to comply with repeated warnings from US forces over a six-hour period.

The video showed Marines transiting over the Arabian Sea before boarding the ship, according to CENTCOM.