UAE condemns renewed Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Jordan
The United Arab Emirates condemned renewed Iranian missile and drone attacks on Bahrain and Jordan on Tuesday, calling them a flagrant violation of both countries’ sovereignty.
The UAE foreign ministry said the attacks threatened regional security and stability and reaffirmed Abu Dhabi’s full solidarity with Bahrain and Jordan.
It also backed measures taken by both countries to protect their security and stability.
Iranian lawmakers attend a parliament session in Tehran on July 13, the first plenary meeting in more than four months, chaired by Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei.
Iran's parliament voted two outspoken critics of negotiations with the United States out of senior posts on its National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday, a day after lawmakers returned to the chamber for the first time in more than four months.
Mahmoud Nabavian lost his position as the committee's first deputy chairman, while Ebrahim Rezaei was replaced as the committee's spokesperson, according to the committee's annual leadership vote.
Ebrahim Azizi was elected committee chairman, Abbas Moghtadaei and Amir Hayat-Moghaddam were chosen as first and second deputy chairmen, Hassan Ghashghavi was elected spokesperson, and Behnam Saeedi and Yaghoub Rezazadeh became the committee's secretaries.
Critics of US negotiations
Nabavian and Rezaei had emerged as two of parliament's most vocal opponents of negotiations with Washington during and after the conflict with the United States and Israel.
Nabavian repeatedly argued that any agreement with Washington would amount to an "absolute loss" for Iran and said the country's experience of negotiations had only brought "broken promises, deception and benefits for the enemy."
He also criticized Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Earlier this month, Nabavian also vowed to oppose what he described as a "coup," accusing unnamed political rivals of trying to sideline hardline forces.
Rezaei also said Iran was not intimidated by what he described as threats from US President Donald Trump and that the country was "ready to fight any evil."
Nabavian also came under scrutiny after reading excerpts on state television from what he described as secret correspondence from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on negotiations with the United States. The broadcast was cut off as he continued speaking.
Nabavian said Khamenei had repeatedly objected to the course of the talks and set conditions that were not reflected in the Iran-US memorandum of understanding, including securing compensation from the United States, preserving Iran's uranium enrichment program and maintaining exclusive Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. He also said Khamenei wanted Iran to begin charging some ships to transit the waterway.
State broadcaster IRIB later said Nabavian's references to classified correspondence could warrant legal action. Ghalibaf adviser Amir Ebrahim Rasouli subsequently called on authorities to identify the source of what he described as confidential state information provided to Nabavian.
The committee reshuffle came a day after parliament returned to session, with Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei presiding instead of Ghalibaf.
More than 250 lawmakers attended the session, during which legislators chanted slogans calling for revenge for the killing of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials killed in US and Israeli strikes.
Hardline lawmakers affiliated with the Paydari Front had spent months criticizing Ghalibaf for parliament's inactivity, accusing him of preventing lawmakers from meeting in order to avoid parliamentary action against negotiations with the United States. They also repeatedly called for Araghchi's resignation over the talks.
Ghalibaf's office said at the time that the suspension of parliamentary sessions had followed instructions from security authorities.
US military personnel and contractors in the Middle East were targeted in a coordinated phone-tracking campaign before and during the Iran war, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing telecom data, cybersecurity experts and officials familiar with the matter.
“Iran absolutely has capabilities to get real-time, immediate, and continuous location information,” Gary Miller, a senior research fellow at cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab, told the FT.
“It would surprise me very much if Iran were not using SS7, or mobile network access in the region, to track US users.”
Iran's foreign ministry condemned Britain's decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under its new state threats legislation, calling the move irresponsible and a violation of international law.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said the IRGC was an official branch of Iran's armed forces responsible for defending the country's sovereignty and security, and described the British decision as politically motivated.
The ministry accused Britain of interfering in other countries' internal affairs while alleging London had supported groups it described as “terrorist.”
Iran said it reserved the right to take reciprocal measures in response to what it called Britain's "unlawful" action.
US military personnel and contractors in the Middle East were targeted in a coordinated phone-tracking campaign before and during the Iran war, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing telecom data, cybersecurity experts and officials familiar with the matter.
“Iran absolutely has capabilities to get real-time, immediate, and continuous location information,” Gary Miller, a senior research fellow at cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab, told the FT.
“It would surprise me very much if Iran were not using SS7, or mobile network access in the region, to track US users.”
Telecom networks under pressure
Middle Eastern telecom networks, according to the report, blocked repeated requests known as SS7 pings, which can reveal the approximate location of phones roaming outside their home networks.
Two cybersecurity experts who reviewed the data told the FT the activity appeared to be part of a coordinated effort to locate specific devices.
The tracking attempts came in the build-up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February and continued during the early days of the conflict, when Iran launched missile and drone attacks on US forces and military installations across the region.
A person familiar with the matter told the FT that Persian Gulf officials suspected Iran or allied groups had exploited roaming agreements with regional mobile operators to track US personnel.
Separately, a US official speaking anonymously said actors linked to Iran were also believed to have used commercial advertising databases to locate phones in Iraqi Kurdistan.
US lawmakers renew security concerns
US Central Command told Congress in April that it had received multiple threat reports about adversaries exploiting commercial location data to monitor or target US personnel deployed in the region.
However, Centcom said it had taken force-protection measures to safeguard its forces, while a US official told the FT there was no evidence that data tracking had played a significant role in attacks.
At least some blocked tracking attempts could be linked to an Iranian mobile operator based on a shared technical fingerprint.
“This appears to be very specific user targeting,” Miller told the FT. “They are targeting specific devices.”
The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately respond to the newspaper's request for comment.
The report also said Iran was suspected of using commercially available advertising technology to identify hotels housing US government employees and contractors.
Advertising identifiers assigned to smartphones can enable devices to be tracked without directly compromising the phones themselves.
US lawmakers cited by the FT said the findings underscored longstanding concerns about the military's exposure through commercial location data.
Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator, said he had warned successive administrations for years about the national security risks, while Republican Representative Pat Harrigan said legislation was needed to prevent technology companies from selling location data linked to government employees.
German security authorities are investigating indications of possible surveillance activities and preparations for attacks linked to the Iran war, German-language newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday, citing the Interior Ministry.
A ministry spokesperson said federal security agencies were closely monitoring developments related to the Middle East and were examining various leads concerning suspected reconnaissance activities or preparations for possible attacks.
The spokesperson said the agencies were working closely with Germany's regional authorities and international partners to continuously assess the threat environment.