Tanker hits mine, catches fire south of Hormuz - state media
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said Sunday that an oil tanker struck a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz, causing an explosion and fire in the vessel’s engine room, according to a statement carried by state media.
“An illicit oil tanker exploded and caught fire in its engine room after hitting a naval mine in the southern Strait of Hormuz,” the navy said in the statement.
It said the tanker had switched off its positioning and navigation systems and was attempting to leave the strait through what it described as an unauthorized southern route.
“If ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf switch off their navigation and identification systems, they will be dealt with severely and decisively,” the navy said.
Retirees from Shush and Haft Tappeh hold a protest in southwestern Iran on October 18, 2026.
Retirees staged protests in several Iranian cities on Sunday over soaring living costs, inadequate pensions and healthcare problems, with some demonstrators also chanting against government corruption, repression and executions.
Social Security and steel industry retirees gathered in Tehran, Rasht, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Shush and Ahvaz, demanding higher pensions, payment of overdue benefits and improved access to healthcare.
Videos obtained by Iran International showed protesters chanting slogans including "Our enemy is right here, they lie when they say it's America" and "Cut back on one case of embezzlement and solve our problems."
In Tehran, retirees gathered outside the headquarters of the Social Security Organization, Iran's state pension and social insurance body, chanting "High prices, embezzlement — this is your economy," according to Pezhvak-e Kar Iran, a labor news outlet affiliated with the Iran Labor Confederation Abroad.
In the northern city of Rasht, demonstrators also condemned executions, chanting "We swear by the blood of our comrades, we will stand until the death sentences are overturned."
More than 70 political prisoners have been executed since December 2025, while at least 20 others face execution on politically motivated charges.
The US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran group said in an October 9 report that at least 2,003 people had been executed over the preceding year, a 29% increase from the previous 12-month period.
In the western city of Kermanshah, retirees protested the declining purchasing power of their pensions, chanting "Where are the oil dollars? We bear the inflation" and "War and sanctions are excuses; our lives are the evidence."
Protesters also demanded the release of imprisoned workers, teachers and protesters, including labor activist Nahid Khodajoo, who was arrested at her home by security forces about two weeks ago. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
In the central city of Isfahan, retired steelworkers marched to the provincial governor's office, demanding free and continuous healthcare, payment of overdue benefits and pensions equivalent to 90% of the salaries of comparable active workers.
Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency reported that repeated promises by officials to address the steelworkers' grievances had not been fulfilled.
In the southwestern city of Shush, retired workers from the Haft Tappeh sugarcane complex protested low pensions, inflation, unemployment, housing shortages and the suppression of independent labor organizations, according to the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Syndicate.
"We will fight, we will die, we will win our rights," protesters chanted.
In nearby Ahvaz, retirees gathered outside the provincial Social Security headquarters, demanding overdue pension increases and protesting rising prices.
"Our expenses are in dollars, but our salaries are in rials," demonstrators chanted, according to the Iranian Retirees Council. Other slogans included "No to executions" and "Unity against poverty and corruption."
Retirees told ILNA that pensions below the poverty line had made it increasingly difficult to afford basic necessities, including food, medicine and medical care.
Iran's base monthly minimum wage stands at approximately 166.3 million rials ($63 at the October 18 free-market exchange rate), excluding additional allowances.
Years of inflation and the declining value of the rial have eroded purchasing power, fueling recurring demonstrations by retirees and workers demanding higher wages, improved healthcare and payment of outstanding benefits.
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
Iran's parliament speaker said a "Persian Gulf Data Authority" was coming and urged regional governments and investors to withhold resources from AI companies involved in military operations, amid threats by Iranian hardliners against digital infrastructure across the region.
"The Persian Gulf Data Authority is coming," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X Sunday.
"To governments, funds, and firms in the region: you are kindly advised to give no resources to any AI or data company aiding invasions or killing children. No finance, equity, land and energy."
Ghalibaf did not explain how the proposed authority would operate, what powers it would have or how Iran could enforce restrictions on companies operating elsewhere in the region.
Hardliners threaten regional digital infrastructure
Last week, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that undersea communications cables, data centers and artificial intelligence facilities could become targets if war with the United States and Israel resumed.
"If war breaks out, many cables, data centers and artificial intelligence facilities, valued at $2 trillion, will be within range," Rezaei said, according to Iranian state media.
He said American technology assets in the United Arab Emirates and around the Strait of Hormuz had not yet been included among Iran's targets but could be struck in a renewed conflict.
The following day, Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper and the supreme leader's representative at the publication, endorsed Rezaei's warning.
In an article titled "Well Done, Brother Mohsen!", Shariatmadari called for using undersea fiber-optic cables running through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to pressure Washington and its allies.
He claimed that damaging the cables could disrupt more than 80 percent of commercial, banking, military and AI-related communications, an estimate that has not been independently verified.
The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency also backed threats against AI infrastructure, arguing in an article titled "Why Is Artificial Intelligence on the Target List?" that attacks on AI centers could undermine US technological competition with China, deter investment and put pressure on American stock markets.
Shariatmadari had previously urged Iran's military and Islamic Revolutionary Guards on September 3 to disrupt or sever international fiber-optic cables beneath the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
In May, Tasnim proposed imposing licensing and annual renewal fees on foreign operators of undersea internet cables passing through the strait.
It also called for major technology companies, including Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, to operate under Iranian law and proposed granting Iranian companies exclusive control over cable maintenance and repairs.
Previous threats against technology companies
Iran's Revolutionary Guards had already threatened major American technology companies operating in the Middle East during the war earlier this year.
On March 31, the IRGC published a list of 18 companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple, Oracle, Nvidia and the UAE-based artificial intelligence company G42, warning that their regional operations could be targeted.
The Guards accused American technology and AI companies of assisting US military operations against Iran and warned employees to leave their workplaces.
The threats followed Iranian drone attacks in early March that damaged Amazon Web Services data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Amazon said two facilities in the UAE were directly struck, while a nearby drone strike caused physical damage to its infrastructure in Bahrain.
The company reported structural damage, power disruptions and cloud service outages affecting customers across the region.
The Persian Gulf has become an important hub for American technology companies expanding their cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations, with the UAE among the countries hosting major investments in data centers.
Undersea fiber-optic cables are also critical to the region's digital infrastructure, carrying international internet traffic and supporting financial transactions, cloud computing and government communications.
US President Donald Trump speaks next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival for meetings at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Washington could “soon finish the job” against Iran unless Tehran changed course, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to strike Iran without US support and vowed to bring down Tehran’s government.
“Unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, after saying Iran had been “systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially.”
Addressing the people of Israel directly, Trump pointed to Tehran’s long-standing slogans of “Death to Israel, Death to America,” saying it had only been a matter of time before Iran sought to act on such threats.
He endorsed Netanyahu for re-election in Israel’s October 27 parliamentary vote, calling him a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and an “even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He said that if Israel were led by “anyone other than Bibi,” the United States would have to take on the work against Iran itself, adding that he was “not inclined to do so.”
Trump gave Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” for re-election and praised him as “Strong, Brave, and Brilliant.”
Netanyahu thanked Trump on X, saying: “Together we will complete the mission!”
Israelis will vote on October 27 in the country’s first national election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. The prime minister is not directly elected but emerges through coalition-building in the 120-seat Knesset.
Trump did not say what further action against Iran he had in mind. Earlier this month, he said the United States would not attack Iran before the November 3 US midterm elections and said Washington and Tehran were having “productive discussions.”
His latest comments come after he and Netanyahu discussed the possibility of a new military operation against Iran, according to Axios, which reported last week that the Israeli leader raised concerns about intelligence suggesting Tehran was trying to rebuild its nuclear program.
Netanyahu says Israel can strike Iran without US support
Separately on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to launch a preemptive strike against Iran without US support and that his objectives regarding Tehran did not depend on Washington’s approval.
“The objectives I set do not depend on American approval,” Netanyahu said as he presented an updated national security doctrine, according to Israel Hayom. “To the extent necessary, we will also act independently. We have done so before, and if necessary, we will do so again.”
Netanyahu described confronting Iran as his “life’s mission” and identified a nuclear-armed Iran as Israel’s greatest security threat. “We are prepared to take the initiative,” he said. “We must prevent the enemy from delivering the first blow.”
He said “90% of the job is done,” pointing to Iran’s economic crisis, recent protests and what he described as the government’s weakened position.
“We must bring this regime down once and for all,” Netanyahu said. “That is the directive I have given to all the security agencies.”
Iranian officials raised the possibility of a shift in nuclear policy and threatened retaliation against further US-Israeli attacks, while Tehran outlined its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
The developments came after Iran's parliament approved a new defense minister with longstanding ties to the Revolutionary Guards' missile program, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for eliminating what he described as the Iranian threat.
Nuclear doctrine comes under scrutiny
Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may take a different position on nuclear weapons from his late father, Ali Khamenei, whose religious ruling opposed their development, Iranian lawmaker Ahmad Naderi said.
“From Mojtaba Khamenei's conduct, my understanding is that his fatwa will be different,” Naderi told.
Naderi separately expressed his own support for acquiring an atomic bomb, saying he had advocated the move for more than a decade and believed Iran should pursue what he called ultimate military deterrence.
Calls for nuclear deterrence have become more prominent among Friday prayer leaders and representatives of the supreme leader, Naderi added.
The remarks came after US Vice President JD Vance said Washington had achieved a decisive military advantage over Iran but could not consider the conflict finished without a firm commitment that Tehran would not rebuild its nuclear program.
Vance also linked US involvement to energy security, warning that Iranian control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could increase gasoline prices.
Hormuz proposal remains unresolved
Iran's seven-day proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz remains under consideration, with Tehran reviewing Washington's comments, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
“Our conditions are completely clear and were presented to the United States in the form of a seven-day plan,” Araghchi said.
Under the proposal, the strait would reopen on the sixth day if Washington met Iran's conditions, with negotiations resuming on the seventh, Araghchi added.
The conditions were fair and had previously been accepted by the United States, he said.
New defense minister threatens retaliation
Iran's parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi for the post of defense minister with 237 votes in favor and 15 against.
Akhlaghi, a sanctioned veteran of Iran's missile industry, replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed during the opening day of US-Israeli strikes in February.
The new minister warned that any further American attack would bring casualties among US personnel stationed in the region.
“If he drops one bomb, he should see how many of his people he will have to carry out horizontally (dead),” Akhlaghi said, referring to President Donald Trump.
Iran's armed forces have also prepared a new operational plan for any renewed attack, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said.
The plan would be more destructive than those used during the previous wars and would not follow familiar patterns, Rezaei added.
Army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami separately urged the new defense minister to accelerate military modernization, citing the impact of recent wars and international sanctions.
Israel presses for further action
The complete elimination of what Israel considers the Iranian threat remains a central objective for the remainder of Trump's presidency, Netanyahu said in an interview with Life, Liberty & Levin.
Netanyahu argued that military and economic pressure should continue and called for the eventual removal of Iran's current political leadership.
The Israeli prime minister also said Tehran is pursuing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States and seeking nuclear warheads for them.
Separately, Iran's hardline Kayhan newspaper urged strikes against Israeli nuclear facilities if Washington attacked the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz.
The warning followed Trump's suggestion that US forces could target the fortified site.
The statements underscored the competing priorities shaping the confrontation: Washington's demand for guarantees against renewed Iranian nuclear activity, Tehran's conditions for restoring maritime access, and continuing threats of military escalation from both sides.
Iran's new Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi attends an official meeting, with the Islamic Republic's flag behind him.
Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, a sanctioned veteran of Iran's missile industry with ties to the Revolutionary Guards, became defense minister on Sunday, following his predecessor's killing in the war with the United States and Israel.
Akhlaghi secured 237 votes in favor and 15 against in a virtual parliamentary session attended by 277 lawmakers.
He replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed on February 28 during the opening day of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The ministry had since been overseen by acting minister Majid Ebn al-Reza.
Unlike several previous defense ministers who rose through military command positions, Akhlaghi built his career inside Iran's weapons manufacturing establishment, overseeing industrial organizations involved in missile production, aerospace technologies and military procurement.
His name has appeared on international sanctions lists since 2007, reflecting his longstanding involvement in institutions central to Iran's ballistic missile program.
From engineering to missile production
Born on September 10, 1958, in Rasht, northern Iran, Akhlaghi studied chemical engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology before earning a master's degree in strategic management from Malek Ashtar University of Technology, an institution affiliated with the Defense Ministry.
He entered Iran's defense industries in the early 1980s and spent more than four decades in technical, industrial and managerial positions, according to Iranian state-linked media.
Much of his career has involved solid-fuel missile propulsion systems and the management of industrial facilities associated with ballistic missile development.
Solid-fuel propulsion allows missiles to remain stored for extended periods and reduces preparation time before launch, making it a significant component of Iran's missile capabilities.
Akhlaghi previously headed the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, a subsidiary of the Aerospace Industries Organization involved in Iran's ballistic missile program.
In November 2014, then-Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan appointed him managing director of the Aerospace Industries Organization, replacing Mehdi Farahi.
Iran's new Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi (right) is welcomed by acting Defense Minister Majid Ebn al-Reza during a meeting with senior military officials.
He later became head of the Defense Industries Organization, which produces conventional weapons and supplies military equipment to Iran's armed forces.
Akhlaghi's role in the Fateh-110 missile project
Akhlaghi's close relationship with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a founder of the Revolutionary Guards' missile program, was central to his involvement in developing Iran's missile industry.
Akhlaghi worked closely with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, widely known as the father of Iran's ballistic missile program. Tehrani Moghaddam oversaw the development of the Revolutionary Guards' missile arsenal before he was killed in a November 2011 explosion at a military facility near Tehran.
Iran's IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency, citing The Eternal Man, a biography by Masoumeh Sepehri, reported that Akhlaghi approved $10 million in equipment purchases and production facilities for the Fateh-110 missile despite uncertainty over whether the project would succeed.
The account, based on an interview with a senior missile designer, describes Akhlaghi's direct involvement in financing infrastructure used to produce missiles for the Revolutionary Guards.
Pezeshkian also referred to Akhlaghi's association with Tehrani Moghaddam during Sunday's parliamentary session, crediting figures such as the two men with developing Iran's military capabilities.
Nearly two decades under international sanctions
Akhlaghi's involvement in Iran's missile industry brought him under international sanctions long before his appointment to the cabinet.
The United Nations Security Council included him in Resolution 1747, adopted on March 24, 2007, identifying him as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group.
The group had previously been sanctioned over its involvement in Iran's ballistic missile program.
The US Treasury Department also placed Akhlaghi under sanctions in 2008.
US State Department information about his activities identified him as a senior figure in missile-related industrial operations and described his participation in negotiations to purchase equipment for the missile industry.
In 2020, the first Trump administration sanctioned him in connection with his position as director of the Defense Industries Organization.
Iran's new Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi addresses lawmakers during a virtual parliamentary session.
The European Union has also included Akhlaghi on its sanctions lists, identifying his senior roles within both the Defense Industries Organization and the Aerospace Industries Organization.
Britain imposed sanctions on him in 2023, citing his involvement in activities connected to the development of systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
His name was also included in UN sanctions lists following the reimposition of international sanctions in September 2025.
The measures have made Akhlaghi one of the more extensively sanctioned figures to enter Pezeshkian's cabinet, with restrictions linked to his work in institutions involved in missile development and weapons production.
Missile production and air defenses top priorities
Akhlaghi outlined plans to expand weapons production, strengthen air defenses and rebuild military industrial facilities during his parliamentary confirmation session.
His proposed program includes developing new military technologies, improving production efficiency and increasing cooperation with universities and technology companies.
Akhlaghi also proposed shortening the development cycle for certain new defense technologies to a maximum of six months.
The program envisages increasing the share of production outsourced to companies outside the Defense Ministry to 75 percent in the Iranian year beginning in March 2026 and more than 85 percent the following year.
Highly classified weapons production would remain within facilities controlled by the ministry.
Akhlaghi has also identified continued support for armed groups aligned with the Islamic Republic across the region as a ministry priority.
His agenda builds on programs developed under Nasirzadeh, with adjustments intended to address the damage and military requirements arising from the recent wars.
Akhlaghi portrayed Iran's military capabilities as having frustrated US and Israeli objectives during the latest conflict.
"These capabilities have brought the American-Zionist enemy to the point of desperation in the recent war and placed it in a strategic deadlock," Akhlaghi told lawmakers.
His remarks came as the Defense Ministry faces the task of replacing damaged infrastructure and restoring weapons production capacity following months of military confrontation.
Warning to Washington over possible strikes
Akhlaghi also delivered a warning to the United States on the sidelines of Sunday's parliamentary session.
Asked about the possibility of Washington using the GBU-43 bomb, commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs, against Iran, he said the Defense Ministry had prepared measures to respond.
"The US president should be thinking about how to get his forces out of our region alive. If he drops one bomb, he will have to see how many of his troops he will have to take out of the region horizontally (dead)," Akhlaghi told reporters.
The remarks followed warnings by US officials about the possibility of further military action against Iranian facilities.
Iran's new Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi secured 237 votes in favor and 15 against in parliament's confidence vote.
President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of striking the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, while US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned of severe military consequences if negotiations with Iran fail.
A sanctioned missile official takes charge after the war
Akhlaghi's appointment follows the war with the United States and Israel, which killed senior Iranian military officials and exposed vulnerabilities in the Islamic Republic's military infrastructure and air defenses.
Pezeshkian told lawmakers that the new minister had the backing of the army, the Revolutionary Guards and other military and security institutions.
The president also referred to Akhlaghi's presence on US sanctions lists and expressed hope that he would remain alive to continue his work.
The decision to appoint an official sanctioned for nearly two decades over his involvement in Iran's ballistic missile program points to the leadership's continued reliance on the same military-industrial establishment that oversaw the development of its missile arsenal.
Akhlaghi now faces the task of rebuilding military production capacity and expanding weapons manufacturing at a time when Iran's missile program remains a major source of confrontation with Washington and European governments.
