A cyber campaign using fake accounts impersonating Iran International journalists and staff continues to target media figures and analysts, according to the broadcaster, which warned earlier this month that the operation was aimed at stealing information and compromising devices.
The broadcaster said in a statement published on Sunday that the operation involved accounts created on messaging platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram that falsely presented themselves as managers, reporters and producers working for the network.
“The main objective of these deceptive contacts is to make fraudulent interview requests or distribute malicious links designed to hack devices, steal sensitive information and conduct phishing attacks,” the statement said.
Iran International attributed the operation to hackers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, describing the activity as a coordinated effort aimed at individuals who regularly interact with the network.
According to the statement, the fake accounts have contacted a range of public figures and invited them to participate in interviews or engage through links sent via messaging applications.
The broadcaster urged journalists, experts, activists and guests appearing on its programs to verify the identity of anyone claiming to represent the network before responding to messages.
It advised recipients to confirm the authenticity of contacts through official communication channels, including email addresses using the Volantmedia.net domain.
The network also warned users not to click on links sent through suspicious messages, particularly those related to unfamiliar online interview platforms, identity verification requests or file attachments.
Iran International called on anyone receiving such messages to block and report the accounts involved and to notify local security authorities of suspected phishing attempts.
The broadcaster said it condemned what it described as unlawful actions targeting the security of activists and freedom of expression.
“Security and privacy for our experts and guests remain a priority,” the statement said.
Iran International added that it would pursue technical and legal action regarding the cyber campaign through international channels.
The repeated deaths of Caspian seals along the shores of the Caspian Sea have become a persistent environmental concern, with experts still unable to identify a definitive cause despite years of investigations, according to a report by Iran's Shargh newspaper.
What was once an occasional discovery has turned into a recurring pattern. Seal carcasses continue to wash ashore across the Caspian coastline, prompting authorities and environmental organizations to record the losses while searching for answers.
Researchers increasingly view the deaths as the result of multiple pressures rather than a single cause. Climate change, declining water levels, industrial pollution, overfishing, accidental entanglement in fishing nets and the possible spread of disease have all been cited as contributing factors.
The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) is the only marine mammal native to the Caspian Sea and one of the region's most distinctive species. Found nowhere else in the world, it plays a key role in maintaining ecological balance by feeding on small fish and other aquatic organisms.
Environmental experts regard the species as an indicator of the sea's overall health. A decline in seal numbers can point to broader problems, including pollution, shrinking fish stocks and disruption of the marine food chain.
The species is also part of the shared natural heritage of the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea — Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Its survival is closely linked to the environmental future of a region where millions depend on fishing, tourism and coastal industries.
Deaths across the Caspian
The crisis attracted international attention in 2022 when around 2,500 dead Caspian seals were found along Russia's Dagestan coast in one of the largest recorded die-offs involving the species.
Scientists examined a range of possible causes, including disease outbreaks, oxygen depletion, environmental contamination and natural gas emissions from the seabed. No definitive explanation emerged.
The event was not isolated. Hundreds of dead seals had previously been recorded along the Dagestan coastline, suggesting that large-scale mortality events are becoming a recurring feature of the Caspian ecosystem.
Researchers also point to climate change as a growing threat. Caspian seals rely on ice in the northern part of the sea to breed and raise their pups. Rising temperatures and shrinking winter ice cover have reduced the availability of suitable breeding habitat, placing additional pressure on an already vulnerable population.
Population in decline
Conservation estimates indicate the Caspian seal population has fallen by more than 90 percent over the past century. Once numbering above one million animals, the population is now believed to have dropped below 100,000.
The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, reflecting concerns about its long-term survival.
Amir Sayad Shirazi, director of Iran's Caspian Seal Conservation Center, told Shargh that pollution remains one of the most significant threats facing the species.
Because the Caspian Sea is shared by five countries and functions as a closed body of water, environmental damage in one area can affect the wider ecosystem, he said.
Russia halted commercial hunting of Caspian seals in 2020, eliminating one source of mortality that had previously resulted in thousands of deaths annually. Yet unexplained die-offs continue to undermine conservation efforts.
For conservationists, the fate of the seal increasingly mirrors the condition of the sea itself, making its survival a test of whether the region can protect one of its most distinctive ecosystems.
Sellers of Iranian crude to China have cut prices after Iran began shipping millions of barrels out of Hormuz following an interim peace deal with the United States, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Spot cargoes of Iranian Light crude for July arrival were being offered at discounts of $2.50 to $5 a barrel to Brent benchmark prices, the report said, citing people directly involved in the trade.
That compared with a discount of about $1 a barrel before the deal.
Iran has increased the amount of crude it openly sends through the Strait of Hormuz to the highest level since the war began, as regional shipping activity picked up while Tehran and Washington worked toward a lasting peace deal, Bloomberg said in a separate report.
Around six million barrels of Iranian crude were aboard three US-sanctioned supertankers - Elva, Virgo and Vigor - that entered the chokepoint early Monday, it said, citing ship-tracking data.
The vessels were signaling destinations in waters off Singapore, where Iranian crude is known to be transferred to ships that often deliver the oil to refineries in China, it added.
The Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States may strengthen the Revolutionary Guards, weaken Persian Gulf security and deepen China's access to Iranian energy. Above all, however, it leaves Iranians to face the Islamic Republic on their own.
Paragraph 2 of the MOU effectively enshrines the abandonment of the Iranian people by committing both sides to "refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs."
This clause stands in direct contrast to many of President Trump's previous statements regarding the Iranian people and his repeated condemnations of the regime's brutality.
In 2017, Trump described Iranians as "a proud people" forced to submit to extremist rule. In 2018, he tweeted: "Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!"
Following the June 2025 strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, he posted: "If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change? MIGA."
In January 2026, he urged Iranians to continue protesting and "take over your institutions," adding that "help is on its way." The following month, during major opposition demonstrations, he again appealed directly to Iranians: "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take."
Today, however, the MOU represents a dramatic reversal of those positions. The agreement abandons a population Trump repeatedly encouraged to reclaim its country and signals that the United States is no longer willing to support internal pressure against the regime.
The contrast is particularly striking because it comes after a period in which Iran was arguably more vulnerable than at any point in decades.
Following military setbacks, economic pressure and growing domestic dissatisfaction, the regime faced mounting challenges both externally and internally. Yet rather than using that leverage to pursue broader political change, Washington appears to have chosen accommodation.
Trump now speaks of Iran's leaders as "very smart" and "strong," describing them as pragmatic negotiating partners. According to PBS NewsHour, a US official said Iran would be rewarded for "acting like a normal country."
That raises a fundamental question: after 47 years of repression, terrorism, hostage-taking, regional destabilization and the deaths of many Americans linked to Iran and its proxy network, is Tehran now being offered normalization without accountability?
The agreement appears poised to provide sanctions relief, access to frozen assets and expanded oil sales. Much of that oil is likely to flow to China. Additional revenue could strengthen the IRGC, reinforce domestic repression and increase support for armed allies such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
Supporters of the agreement argue that diplomacy is preferable to conflict and that negotiated limits are better than perpetual confrontation. Yet history suggests that agreements with the Islamic Republic are only as effective as the enforcement mechanisms behind them and the willingness to use them.
If substantial benefits are delivered before key obligations are fully verified, leverage disappears while risks increase.
This concern is not new. When President Obama declined to support Iran's Green Movement following the disputed 2009 election, many critics viewed the decision as both a betrayal of democratic values and a missed strategic opportunity to weaken the regime from within.
The current debate echoes many of the same arguments. But what Trump has done may prove even more consequential.
After authorizing actions that significantly degraded Iran's nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile capabilities and military assets, he achieved what many previous administrations were unwilling or unable to attempt.
Yet by rapidly transitioning from maximum pressure to accommodation, he risks transforming a major tactical victory into a strategic mistake.
At the moment Iran appeared most vulnerable and many Iranians seemed most willing to challenge the regime, the United States chose not to prioritize support for opposition movements or increase pressure on the IRGC from within.
Whether such efforts would have succeeded is unknowable, but abandoning them entirely removed a source of leverage that would have, at the very least, strengthened America's negotiating position.
A different strategy would have required a sustained effort to explain to the American people why supporting the aspirations of ordinary Iranians serves both value-based American principles and long-term US security interests.
Genuine stability in the Middle East is unlikely to emerge solely from agreements with authoritarian rulers. Lasting stability comes when governments enjoy legitimacy among their own populations, especially populations that are likely to be among the most pro-American in the Muslim world.
Instead, the administration chose strategic impatience. In doing so, it not only disheartened many Iranians who hoped for greater international support, but also created uncertainty among Gulf allies and Israel.
Several regional and foreign-policy experts argue that Persian Gulf states may now reassess the reliability of American security guarantees and adapt accordingly.
The art of diplomacy is not surrendering hard-won leverage before a final agreement is fully negotiated and enforceable.
A 60-day ceasefire could easily become months of inconclusive negotiations while Iran replenishes its finances, strengthens the IRGC, suppresses domestic dissent and supports regional proxies.
But one thing is already clear: the agreement's most overlooked consequence is not what it says about centrifuges, missiles or sanctions. It is what it says about the people of Iran and American assurances.
For years, American leaders, including President Trump, spoke of supporting Iranians seeking freedom from Islamist authoritarian rule. The MOU signals a different set of priorities.
By pledging noninterference in Iran's internal affairs while offering the regime a pathway toward normalization and economic relief, Washington appears to have chosen engagement with Tehran over support for political change.
Whether that choice ultimately produces peace or merely postpones a larger confrontation remains to be seen. But for millions of Iranians who believed the United States stood with them against their oppressors, the message of this agreement is unmistakable: they are now largely on their own.
The Israeli army revealed on Friday that it had discovered an Iranian-financed and -designed Hezbollah tunnel in the heart of Majdal Zoun in south Lebanon that can be used to launch drones into Israel.
The aerial projectiles can reach the densely populated cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, according to an Israeli military official.
The disclosure marks the second time this month that Israel has reported discovering an Iranian-built tunnel for the US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, and could impact the high-level talks in Switzerland on Sunday between the US and Iranian governments. A central security concern for Israel and Arab Persian Gulf states is the eradication of Iran’s ballistic missile and drone warfare systems.
Israel’s government is deeply worried about Iran securing billions of dollars in sanctions relief from the Trump administration that could be used to finance Hezbollah and its subterranean military outposts across southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) permitted a small number of foreign journalists, including Iran International, to embed with its soldiers in south Lebanon to inspect the tunnel, which contains over 50 attack drones and a room packed with eight tons of mines and bombs.
An IDF spokeswoman said, “This is Iranian equipment and facilities and proof that Hezbollah is another proxy of Iran.” She added that it is “one of the biggest tunnels found in southern Lebanon. Rocket launchers and UAVs were found.”
Intense clashes unfolded between Hezbollah and Israel during the journalistic embed with the IDF. Israel’s military said five soldiers were killed, including the commander of the IDF’s 52 Battalion, Lt. Col. Dor Gadalia Ben Simhon. Israel’s second war with Lebanon since October 2023 began when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel in response to the joint US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28.
According to the IDF, the tunnel was discovered less than 10 days ago, and the capture of Majdal Zoun resulted in the elimination of eight Hezbollah fighters.
The new tunnel—located a mere 20 meters from a mosque in the center of the town—contains four launch pads to fire the sophisticated attack drones into the Jewish state. “To build a tunnel with a launch site is an Iranian method,” a military spokesman noted. He added that “Hezbollah tunnels are good but not as good [as Iranian].”
The military spokesman said that the “Iranians have a very high ability to build underground. They built tunnels in Iran and in Yemen for the Houthis.”
In early June, the Persian-language spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, “The Israeli military is revealing an asset from the underground tunnel network of the Hezbollah terrorist organization that was built with the design and financing of the Iranian terrorist regime in the Beaufort Heights.”
The IDF said that the new tunnel is “over 200 meters long and more than 25 meters deep, containing four launch shafts and 12 rooms, including living quarters and rooms used to store explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, and UAVs.”
An IDF spokesman said the tunnel contains “high-level infrastructure and it is Iranian standards.”
Majdal Zoun is located roughly seven kilometers from Israel’s border. The IDF escorted reporters on Humvees for the 35-minute drive to reach the town. According to an IDF military official, the Shiite town had a population of 2,000 and “Hezbollah has great support in the village.” Since cross-border fighting began in October 2023, Majdal Zoun has become a ghost town.
Hezbollah fighters returned to the town to re-open the tunnel after it was sealed by the IDF two years ago. The tunnel and its strategic location on high territory make it a valuable stronghold of Hezbollah’s military apparatus, according to the IDF official.
The IDF official said, “It took them [Hezbollah] ten years to build it [the tunnel].”
The IDF transport of journalists to Majdal Zoun passed the Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura—the location of UNIFIL’s headquarters. An IDF official blasted the UN operation UNIFIL for failing to disarm Hezbollah, as mandated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
UNIFIL is an abbreviation for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The military official said that “UNIFIL is not helping at all. They are trying to hide their support for Hezbollah. UNIFIL tells Hezbollah about IDF vehicle routes.”
The IDF official said the army recently discovered a Lebanese worker for UNIFIL is also a Hezbollah terrorist. The military official also alleged that a Lebanese hotel serving Hezbollah printed identification badges for both Hezbollah and the UN.
When asked about the IDF allegations, a UNIFIL spokesman told Iran International that “I have no information,” adding that “Since today is a UNIFIL holiday, I can’t do the full check. Not everyone is working—only critical ones.”
Iranian rights lawyer Javad Alikordi has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, HRANA reported, more than six months after his arrest in connection with a memorial for his brother, rights attorney Khosrow Alikordi, who died under suspicious circumstances.
The rights group said Branch 1 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court sentenced Alikordi to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion to act against national security” and 13 years for “propaganda against national security” under Iran’s newly hardened espionage-related legislation.
Under Iran’s sentencing rules for multiple convictions, if the ruling is upheld, Alikordi would serve the longest prison term handed down in the case, which is 13 years.
Alikordi, who is being held in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, was also sentenced to two years of exile in Saravan, in the underprivileged Sistan and Baluchestan province, and a two-year ban on leaving the country.
HRANA said he was arrested by security forces at his workplace in Mashhad in December 2025, days after the death of his brother Khosrow who was a prominent lawyer who represented jailed protesters, political prisoners and bereaved families seeking justice for relatives killed during Iran’s 2022 protests.
Khosrow Alikordi was found dead in his office in Mashhad under unclear circumstances in December. Iranian authorities cited cardiac arrest, but fellow lawyers, activists and some relatives of victims he represented questioned the official account and called for an independent investigation.
Javad Alikordi, a lawyer, university lecturer and former member of the Sabzevar City Council, had also represented political prisoners and families of slain protesters.
He was arrested after protesting the detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi and other activists during Khosrow's memorial.
Rights groups say he has faced repeated judicial pressure over his legal and human rights work.