Kuwait says detained infiltrators admitted links to Revolutionary Guards
Kuwait's interior ministry said on Tuesday that a group of men detained after allegedly trying to enter the country by sea admitted during questioning that they belonged to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The ministry said the men told investigators they had been tasked with infiltrating Bubiyan Island aboard a rented fishing boat to carry out hostile acts against Kuwait, according to state news agency KUNA.
Kuwait's defense ministry said earlier that authorities had arrested four infiltrators who tried to enter the country by sea.
The interior ministry said the group exchanged fire with Kuwaiti armed forces, wounding one service member, while two other suspected infiltrators fled.
Bubiyan Island lies in northeastern Kuwait near the Iraqi border.
Hezbollah’s secretary-general said on Tuesday that an Iran-US agreement would be the strongest available path to stopping war with Israel.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem called on Lebanon to pull out of direct negotiations with Israel, saying the talks served Israel’s interests and amounted to free concessions by Lebanese authorities.
He warned that Hezbollah would not leave the battlefield, adding that the group’s weapons were an internal matter and not part of any negotiations with Israel.
Australia sanctioned seven Iranian individuals and four entities on Tuesday over what it called the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on protesters and women and its destabilizing activity through missile and shadow-banking networks.
The Australian foreign ministry said the measures targeted senior officials and entities involved in violence against women and children, mass arrests, torture, forced confessions, internet restrictions and the wrongful detention of foreign nationals.
It said the sanctions were also aimed at parts of Iran’s shadow banking system, which it said helps fund groups such as Hamas, support Tehran’s ballistic missile program and enable other destabilizing activity.
Among those sanctioned was Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari, who Australia said is also deputy commander-in-chief of the Law Enforcement Forces, one of the entities listed over its role in the crackdown.
Australia also sanctioned Ruhollah Momen Nasab, saying he was responsible for deploying 80,000 forces to surveil women and girls in schools, universities, public spaces and online and enforce mandatory hijab rules.
Another listed individual was accused of establishing neighborhood intelligence databases through door-to-door data collection and patrols to identify and punish opponents of the Islamic Republic, while others were sanctioned over the wrongful detention of foreign nationals, the government said.
The sanctioned individuals were Momeni, Momen Nasab, Majid Feiz Jafari, Ghorban Mohammad Valizadeh, Mohsen Ebrahimi, Nasser Zarringhalam and Mansour Zarringhalam.
The listed entities were the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Seraj Cyberspace Organization, an IRGC-established cyber outfit accused of recruiting and mobilizing pro-Islamic Republic internet users to spread disinformation and attack opponents online; and the exchange firms Berelian Exchange and GCM Exchange.
“Australia continues to stand with the brave people of Iran against a brutal, oppressive regime,” the government said.
The announcement was made alongside new UK sanctions targeting 12 individuals and entities linked to Iran over what Britain called hostile activity, including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilize the United Kingdom.
The United States also imposed sanctions on Monday on three individuals and nine companies accused of helping Iran ship oil to China, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would expand its Iran sanctions to include those responsible for obstructing freedom of navigation.
Australia said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has imposed more than 230 sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities, including more than 100 linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said on Tuesday that Iran had been largely cut off from the global internet for 74 days, with the disruption passing 1,752 hours since Feb. 28.
"Today is the 74th day that Iran has been largely cut off the global internet," NetBlocks said in a post on X, adding that the outage began on Feb. 28.
The group said the restrictions had continued as advances in science and technology took place elsewhere, while Iranian authorities had arrested and executed technologists.
A Bahraini court sentenced a woman to life in prison after convicting her of communicating with Iran's Revolutionary Guards with intent to carry out hostile acts against the kingdom and harm its national interests, Bahrain's public prosecution said on Tuesday.
The prosecution said the woman used a social media account to post photos and coordinates of key sites and facilities in Bahrain and shared content that harmed the kingdom's military, political and economic standing.
Authorities said the account also promoted what the prosecution described as Iranian attacks against Bahrain.
The woman admitted to the charges during questioning, prosecutors said, adding that she told investigators she used her social media account to assist those targeting Bahrain by sharing images and coordinates of vital sites alongside messages indicating they could be targeted.
The prosecution said the court also ordered the confiscation of seized items. It did not identify the woman or say when the alleged acts took place.
Bahrain-Iran tensions
The ruling comes days after Bahrain said it had arrested 41 people allegedly linked to a group tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the ideology of Velayat-e Faqih, or Guardianship of the Jurist – the doctrine underpinning the Islamic Republic’s system of clerical rule and giving Iran’s supreme leader ultimate religious and political authority.
Authorities said legal proceedings were underway and investigations were continuing.
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani on Saturday accused Tehran of interfering in the kingdom's internal affairs after the arrests, calling it a violation of international law and good neighborly principles. Iran has not publicly responded to the accusations.
Israel has sent an Iron Dome battery and personnel to operate the air defense system to the United Arab Emirates, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday.
Huckabee made the remarks at an event in Tel Aviv and did not give further details. Israel and the UAE did not immediately comment.
The Iron Dome is Israel's short-range air defense system designed to intercept rockets and drones.
