UN chief Guterres to discuss Pakistan’s US-Iran mediation efforts

Fadavi said Sunday that his late wife, Parvin Momen Zahmatkesh, founded around 97 Shajareh Tayyebeh schools across southern Iran, from Abadan to Chabahar. He discussed the network immediately after referring to the attack on its Minab school.
An earlier account published by the pro-establishment Fash News website on June 8 explicitly connected the Minab school to Momen Zahmatkesh’s work.
The account portrayed the Minab school as a partial realization of her ambition to create educational complexes, providing corroboration of its place in the network beyond Fadavi’s latest remarks.

From Rastegaran to Shajareh Tayyebeh

The schools were established inside or near IRGC Navy bases and organizational housing developments in southern Iran. Momen Zahmatkesh served as the force’s adviser on family affairs while her husband was its commander.

The Fash News account said she proposed establishing the schools and worked without a salary. It described her as a doctoral student in executive management and said the couple sold their home to help finance the project, subsequently securing support from the Education Ministry and donors.

The report tentatively dated the start of the project to 2013, in southern provinces along the Persian Gulf. The network expanded in the following years, with work continuing into 2025. Some facilities began as a single classroom or an older school or building refurbished with staff and charitable support.

The schools initially operated under the name Rastegaran between 2013 and 2015 before adopting Shajareh Tayyebeh.

The Minab attack

The Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, in Hormozgan province, was struck on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Local authorities subsequently put the death toll at 156, including 120 children.

Reuters reported in March that preliminary US military findings pointed to American responsibility, and the Pentagon elevated its investigation. President Donald Trump said in June that nobody had attacked the school intentionally. UN investigators said in September there were reasonable grounds to believe the US strike constituted a war crime.

A television appearance after rumors

Fadavi’s appearance on Sunday followed unverified social media rumors that he had been detained or sentenced to death for spying for Israel. Separate rumors alleged that his wife had died during interrogation.

He previously commanded the IRGC Navy and served as deputy commander of the Guards before being appointed head of the commander-in-chief’s advisory group in the Iranian month of Dey, spanning December 2025 and January 2026.

His television appearance contradicted rumors that he had been executed. Discussing his wife, he said she had “passed away” during the 12-day war in June 2025. He did not say she had been killed in an attack.

An earlier condolence message from then-IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour, published on June 28, 2025, referred to her suffering from illness in the final years of her life. Pakpour was himself later killed during the 40-day war.

The Fash News account likewise said she had lived with diabetes for years and dated her death to Tir 1404, the Iranian month spanning late June and much of July 2025. It said she was buried in the Fatima al-Zahra section of the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.

Fadavi’s wording differed from the customary official description of people killed in attacks as “martyrs.” The published illness accounts provide a more specific explanation than the unsupported claims circulating online.

Momen Zahmatkesh was born in the Iranian year 1337, corresponding to 1958–59. The couple’s home was on Isar 8 alley in Tehran’s Mahallati neighborhood, where many IRGC commanders lived.

A building on the same alley was bombed during the later 40-day war. Official accounts subsequently referred to it as the site of the deaths of the “Mahallati martyrs.” That later attack was separate from the period in which her death had already been publicly announced.

Educational and business interests

The couple’s involvement in education predated the southern school network. According to Iran International’s Persian reporting, they established the Naqsh-e Kowsar Cultural and Educational Complex in April–May 1997, when Fadavi was deputy commander of the IRGC Navy. Its stated activities included establishing technical and vocational schools for girls.

Momen Zahmatkesh also chaired the board of Shajareh Touba Ferdows, an institution established in 2017.

Private schooling has been an area of activity for other families of senior Iranian officials, including the wife of former parliament speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel and relatives of current Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Her business interests extended beyond education. In October–November 1993, she established the Alaleh Shalamcheh Agriculture and Livestock Company. Fadavi’s father, Mohammadali, joined the company in September–October 1996; both had left its board by 1999.

The enterprise now operates in Kordan, west of Tehran, as the Alaleh horse-breeding complex and riding club, according to the same report.

The contrasting messages came as months of intermittent diplomacy remained stalled and tensions intensified around the strategic waterway, where Iran and the United States have imposed competing restrictions on shipping. Tehran has tied progress to conditions surrounding Hormuz, while Washington has pressed for broader concessions, including on Iran’s nuclear program.

“Our problem with the United States is that every time we come to the negotiating table, war is immediately imposed on us,” Pezeshkian told Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during a meeting in Tehran.

Pezeshkian said negotiations made no sense with an adversary that “every day engages in assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats” and breaks its commitments.

“We have been attacked three times so far following talks, and this shows that they are not seeking dialogue; rather, their goal is to overthrow the Islamic Republic,” he said.

Trump, however, said Monday that he remained open to direct talks with Tehran, keeping a diplomatic path available after saying over the weekend that Iran could resolve the confrontation “the easy way or the hard way.”

The two sides have continued exchanging messages indirectly despite the impasse. Tehran presented Washington through intermediaries with a seven-day proposal aimed at restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iranian officials said Sunday they were reviewing the US response. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran remained serious about diplomacy but was also prepared to defend itself.

The diplomatic standoff coincided with another escalation at sea Monday, when a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire in its engine room. UK Maritime Trade Operations said the crew was battling the blaze and no casualties or environmental impact had been reported.

The strike marked the third tanker hit in two days. UKMTO said Monday it had received delayed reports that two tankers — one carrying liquefied petroleum gas and another crude oil — were struck by unidentified projectiles Sunday.

UKMTO did not attribute those attacks to Iran. But in a separate incident Monday, it said an inbound tanker 11 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, turned back after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hailed the vessel and threatened to target it if it continued.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency separately reported Monday that Iran had targeted 13 tankers it described as “violators” in the Strait of Hormuz over the previous seven days.

The incidents came as the United States intensified enforcement of its naval blockade against Iran. US Central Command said Monday its forces had redirected 130 commercial vessels since resuming the blockade on July 14, disabled three ships that refused to comply and destroyed 13 commercial vessels it said were violating the blockade or were part of the IRGC’s multibillion-dollar shadow network. Pasted markdown

“The US military remains intensely focused on this mission,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said. “We will swiftly act against any vessels trying to run the blockade.”

Washington has also stepped up economic pressure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the rial had fallen to record lows and Iran loaded no crude onto tankers last month, citing the figures as evidence that the US pressure campaign was working.

The military pressure has also continued alongside the diplomatic impasse. Senior members of Trump’s national security team met at Camp David on Friday to discuss the Iran war, with Trump considering renewed major combat operations as negotiations remain stalled, Axios reported.

Iranian officials warned Monday that renewed military action could widen the conflict. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said another attack or “miscalculation” against Iran could open additional fronts.

“Every miscalculation by the enemy against Iran has brought it a heavy defeat,” Rezaei said. “The next mistake will bring new fronts and bigger surprises.”

Sasan Valizadeh, an adviser to the president’s deputy for parliamentary affairs, said Pezeshkian sent the nomination to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf under Article 133 of the constitution, which requires ministers to win a parliamentary vote of confidence. Lawmakers are expected to review Akhlaghi Ketabchi’s program and policies before scheduling the vote.

The Defense Ministry has been run by Majid Ebn-e-Reza since March 2, when Pezeshkian appointed him acting minister after Nasirzadeh’s death on February 28. Ebn-e-Reza, previously the deputy defense minister, has represented the ministry in domestic and foreign meetings but was never nominated for the permanent post.

Akhlaghi Ketabchi is a longtime Defense Ministry official with deep roots in Iran’s missile and aerospace industries. He was listed by the UN Security Council in 2007 as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, a Defense Ministry entity linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. His name returned to the UN sanctions list when earlier sanctions on Iran were re-applied in September 2025.

Then-defense minister Hossein Dehghan appointed him head of the Aerospace Industries Organization in November 2014. The United States also sanctioned him in 2020, identifying him as director of the Defense Industries Organization and citing conventional arms-related activities.

The nomination also raises the question of how the appointment was cleared at the top of Iran’s political system. Defense ministers are formally nominated by the president and confirmed by parliament, but the post is among the sensitive ministries whose nominees have traditionally been coordinated with and approved by the supreme leader beforehand.

That process is less transparent under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since taking office. Decisions, appointments and written messages have continued to be issued in his name, but officials have not said whether or how his approval was obtained for Akhlaghi Ketabchi’s nomination.

The decision followed an emergency meeting of the Mecca defense pact’s committee, which reaffirmed the three countries’ solidarity in confronting attacks against Saudi Arabia and Islamic holy sites, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister said.

The committee agreed to activate “collective deterrence measures” in response to the attacks and those responsible for them, he said.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a joint statement that the three countries had also agreed on the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia. The statements did not detail the forces involved or specify what role they would play.

The move came as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces reported major gains along the Red Sea coast, saying Monday they had retaken Mokha and advanced around the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one day after launching a major offensive to recover territory seized by the Houthis last month.

The armed forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said they had recaptured the port of Mokha, Reuters reported. Military spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili also reported the capture of Dhubab airport and the cutting of the road linking Dhubab to Mokha.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said 100 fighter jets were participating in Operation Yemen Dawn, providing round-the-clock support for ground forces and air cover over Bab al-Mandeb. He said the campaign had destroyed 324 “high-value” Houthi targets.

The Houthis earlier denied reports of government advances around the strait.

Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told Reuters government forces had secured effective control of Bab al-Mandeb, although another government source said fighting continued at a nearby military base.

The offensive follows Houthi advances along Yemen’s western coast and around Taiz. Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi announced the campaign Sunday, setting out ambitions to recover Houthi-held territory and restore state institutions.

Saudi campaign expands toward Sanaa

The government’s stated objectives extend beyond recovering recently lost coastal territory to retaking Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.

“Our armed forces have begun implementing a strategic offensive operation on Sanaa,” al-Nuzaili said Monday. Houthi-run Al Masirah television reported attacks on the capital, although the announcement did not establish that government ground forces had reached the city.

The government’s reported coastal gains came alongside further Houthi advances inland. The Associated Press reported that the group captured Turbah on Sunday, a town on the main road between Taiz and Aden that had served as an important position for government forces defending Taiz.

The Houthis have also continued missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, the attacks that prompted Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad to put their new collective-defense framework into operation.

On Monday, the group’s HOCC agency warned airlines that Saudi airspace was unsafe for civilian flights and would become a “theater of operations” for its forces, according to a statement carried by the Houthi-run Saba news agency.

US backs Saudi right to respond

The activation of the Mecca pact adds another layer to Saudi Arabia’s military response as Washington provides support without directly joining the war in Yemen.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed Saudi Arabia’s right to respond to Houthi attacks in remarks to reporters Monday.

“Obviously the Saudis have come under Houthi attack … and they have a right to defend themselves,” Rubio said. He also said Washington intended to honor what he described as its binding security agreement with Riyadh.

Rubio said neither Saudi Arabia nor Yemen’s internationally recognized government supported continued Houthi control of territory taken from government forces.

About 200 US advisers are working in Saudi planning and operations centers, including on targeting, while Washington is also providing intelligence sharing, planning assistance and aerial refueling, Al Jazeera reported Monday, citing a US official.

The official said, however, that US forces were not participating in the Yemen war and had no specific military objectives there.

At the center of the campaign is Bab al-Mandeb, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Fighting there threatens commercial shipping at a time when the Iran war has also disrupted passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials had previously presented Houthi control of the waterway as a strategic gain against Washington. In remarks reported September 27, Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, described Houthi control of Bab al-Mandeb as another step toward a broader US defeat in the region.

Even if government forces consolidate their coastal gains, the Houthis could still threaten shipping with drones and missiles launched from positions farther inland or elsewhere along Yemen’s coast.

The warnings came during a day that also saw Iran execute two protesters detained during the January uprising, the Revolutionary Guards threaten a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, and Yemeni government forces launch a major offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis.

Netanyahu says Iran is fighting for survival

Iran’s leadership is weaker than at any point since its establishment and is fighting for survival, Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the third anniversary of the October 7 attack.

“The tyranny is weaker than it has ever been since its establishment. It is fighting for its life, and its end is to disappear — or rather, to pass from the world,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu portrayed the October 7 attack as the opening stage of an Iranian-led effort to destroy Israel. He described what he called a three-pronged Iranian strategy involving armed groups surrounding Israel, thousands of missiles aimed at the country and nuclear weapons intended to destroy it.

“That was Iran’s three-pronged plan. But through our combined efforts, we crushed it, stage by stage,” Netanyahu said.

Israel struck Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles and severely damaged its nuclear program, including scientists, facilities and infrastructure, Netanyahu added.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff chief Ali Abdollahi issued his own warning later Monday, saying any renewed conflict would spread beyond Iran and Israel.

“If a new war begins, its fire will engulf everyone,” Abdollahi said.

Iran would respond immediately and without limits if the United States launched another strike, regardless of whether Washington acted before or after congressional elections or at Israel’s urging, Abdollahi added.

IRGC threatens tanker in Strait of Hormuz

The military warnings coincided with a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz, where a tanker turned back after the Revolutionary Guards hailed the vessel and threatened to target it if it continued its inbound transit, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

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  Security meeting, military buildup: US weighs next move on Iran?

The encounter took place 11 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman. The tanker’s master complied with the instruction and reversed course, UKMTO said.

The episode came as energy shipments through Hormuz showed signs of recovery. At least three liquefied natural gas shipments had exited the strait since late last week, extending a rebound in traffic, Bloomberg reported, citing ship-tracking data. Outbound LNG flows nevertheless remained more than 75% below prewar levels.

Iranian lawmaker Hassan Ghashghavi separately warned neighboring countries that their infrastructure could be targeted if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.

“We have told our neighbors that our security is your security, and our insecurity is your insecurity,” Ghashghavi, spokesman for parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said.

Yemen offensive puts Houthis under pressure

Yemen’s government forces opened another regional front on Monday, launching an operation against the Iran-backed Houthis and announcing advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Government forces took control of the strait and Dhubab airport and cut the road between Dhubab and Mokha, military spokesperson Colonel Majed al-Nuzaili said. Hundreds of Houthi fighters were surrounded in Dhubab, he added.

The Saudi-led coalition said it struck 324 targets during the operation and provided air protection over Bab el-Mandeb and air cover for Yemeni government forces.

Yemen’s presidential council earlier announced the launch of “Operation Dawn of Yemen,” which it said was intended to retake Sanaa and restore state institutions.

The developments placed the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, two strategic waterways at opposite ends of the Arabian Peninsula, at the center of Monday’s regional developments.

Executions and economic strain at home

Inside Iran, the judiciary confirmed the executions of Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raisi, two protesters detained during the January 2026 protests.

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  Two more January protesters executed in Iran

The two men were defendants in the Alikhani Square case in Isfahan, in which five others had previously been executed. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld death sentences for 12 defendants in the case in July.

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran Mai Sato condemned Sepahi’s execution and raised concerns about his treatment and judicial process. Sepahi’s lawyer was still seeking a review when the execution was carried out, Sato said.

Prince Reza Pahlavi’s communications office later vowed to pursue accountability for those involved in the executions through fair trials.

Economic difficulties also remained prominent. Workers across several sectors told Iran International that employers were delaying or splitting wage payments and cutting benefits, with some employees taking second jobs to meet everyday expenses.

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  Iranian currency hits another record low under US economic pressure

The combination of military warnings abroad and political, economic and security developments at home kept the possibility of renewed conflict and its consequences at the center of Iran’s news on Monday.