Tanker approached by six small boats south of Aden – UKMTO
A tanker traveling east in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor was approached by six small boats about 50 nautical miles south of Aden, Yemen, on Monday, UK Maritime Trade Operations said.
One boat came within five cables of the tanker, prompting its armed security team to fire warning shots, UKMTO said. The other five boats remained about one nautical mile away.
Authorities were investigating, and vessels were advised to transit with caution and report suspicious activity.
Yemen’s armed forces said on Monday that they struck the runway at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.
The military said Iran had insisted on violating Yemeni territory.
Yemen’s defense ministry urged civilians, airport workers and aid organizations to stay away from the airport and its surroundings, saying civilian safety was a priority.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attends a joint press conference at Villa Madama in Rome, Italy, June 12, 2025.
Iranian threats against Italian leaders are unacceptable, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Iran International on Monday.
“It is unacceptable. Italy is not fighting against Iran, so we do not understand this attack against Italy,” Tajani said on the sidelines of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.
On Saturday, Tehran municipality-affiliated newspaper Hamshahri published an image of 13 world leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, claiming they were on the Islamic Republic’s revenge list.
Tajani said Italy supported democracy, peace and freedom of navigation, describing any effort to block the Strait of Hormuz as a major mistake.
“Freedom of navigation is crucial for us,” he said. “On this, we support the American position, not the Iranian position.”
Plastic bags, bottles and other household waste cover the bank of a river in Iran.
Plastic waste has become a major environmental challenge in Iran, with poor enforcement of waste management regulations allowing single-use plastics to pollute natural areas and water resources, the country's environment chief said on Sunday.
More than two decades after Iran adopted its Waste Management Law in 2004, large parts of the legislation remain unenforced, leaving serious shortcomings in the management of household, medical, agricultural and industrial waste, Department of Environment chief Shina Ansari said.
“Plastic waste, particularly single-use plastics, has become a serious problem for nature, coastlines, tourist areas and water resources,” Ansari said. “Studies show that microplastics are entering the food chain, water resources and even drinking water, posing a serious threat to human health and the environment.”
Plastic consumption has become a growing environmental concern in Iran, driven largely by the widespread use of shopping bags, disposable tableware, drink bottles and food packaging. A 2024 review of municipal waste found that plastics account for about 7% of Iran’s waste stream by weight.
Enforcement gaps persist
Regulations governing waste disposal and recycling exist, Ansari said, but have only been implemented sporadically, leaving many environmental problems unresolved.
A 2022 regulation intended to reduce plastic bag consumption required manufacturers to phase out bags thinner than 25 microns and imposed obligations on large retailers. Ansari said the measures, like many environmental regulations, have not been properly enforced.
Plastic waste washes ashore along a beach on Iran's coastline, highlighting persistent marine pollution caused by mismanaged waste and plastic debris entering coastal waters.
Many countries, she added, have introduced taxes, restrictions or bans on single-use plastic bags even before negotiations on a global plastics treaty are completed.
Short-lived use, long-term pollution
Around 95% of plastic bags in Iran are used only once, typically for between 12 and 20 minutes, before being discarded.
The problem is compounded by weak waste separation and recycling systems. Research on Iran’s plastic-waste sector points to gaps in regulation, enforcement, funding and technology, while informal collectors continue to play a major role in recovering valuable materials. As a result, much plastic waste is buried, openly dumped or left uncollected rather than being processed through an effective circular recycling system.
The bags can remain in the environment for 400 to 500 years before decomposing, contributing to long-term pollution of land and waterways, Ansari said.
The environmental effects are also increasingly visible. Researchers have detected microplastics in landfill areas, along Iran’s Caspian coast and in seawater, sediment and fish from the Persian Gulf.
An Iranian doctor in this file photo checks a patient's blood pressure during a medical examination at a healthcare facility in Iran.
Patients in Iran are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for medical advice as healthcare costs outpace household incomes, prompting concerns from a public health expert that the technology could undermine treatment and trust between doctors and patients.
Unchecked reliance on AI for self-diagnosis and self-treatment risks compromising patient safety because the technology cannot replace physical examinations, diagnostic tests or clinical judgment, epidemiologist Hamid Soori told Khabar Online on Monday.
“Uncontrolled self-treatment and complete trust in AI recommendations, when there has been no physical examination, no diagnostic testing and many factors related to the illness have not been considered, could create a major challenge and dangerous consequences for public health,” Soori said.
The warning comes as AI-powered chatbots and search tools become a common first stop for many Iranians seeking explanations for symptoms before visiting a doctor. While the technology has expanded public access to health information, specialists say many users overestimate its reliability for diagnosing or treating medical conditions.
Healthcare costs fuel self-treatment
Soori said the problem is particularly acute in Iran, where many households struggle to keep pace with rising medical costs, encouraging more people to delay or avoid professional care.
“This situation is worse in countries where treatment costs are not proportionate to people's incomes,” he said. “Self-treatment has existed for years, but the arrival of AI could intensify its consequences.”
He warned that patients who arrive at clinics convinced by AI-generated advice may already have delayed treatment or taken inappropriate actions based on incomplete or inaccurate information.
Doctor-patient trust at risk
Beyond the clinical risks, Soori said greater dependence on AI could alter the relationship between physicians and patients.
“When patients come to doctors with information and recommendations generated by AI, in addition to the risk of worsening and complicating their illness and algorithmic errors, it may reduce trust in physicians' recommendations and disrupt the doctor-patient relationship,” he said.
He added that, like many emerging technologies, AI can be highly beneficial but also carries risks when it is widely accessible to people with limited medical knowledge.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said in response to the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham that “Azrael is just,” referring to the angel of death in Islamic tradition.
Esmaeil Baghaei accused the late senator of building his political life around war, violence and support for mass killings in the Middle East.
“The death of this hot-tempered and foul-mouthed senator will certainly not grieve any free human being,” Baghaei said.
Baghaei did not explain how his assertion that “Azrael is just” applied to the deaths of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders killed in the conflict.
The remark appears to apply a theological standard selectively, celebrating the death of an adversary while portraying the deaths of Iranian leaders as crimes demanding vengeance.
