Iranian authorities said three people were killed on Tuesday during a security operation near Zahedan in southeastern Iran, as separate reports pointed to heavy fighting between forces of the Islamic Republic and armed men elsewhere in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Some Iranian officials have privately suggested Tehran could send forces into neighbouring countries if the United States launches new strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the warnings.

The Islamic Republic’s threats to target undersea internet cables in the Persian Gulf drew mockery and criticism from readers who told Iran International that such attacks could deepen Iran’s isolation and damage its own connectivity.

Twelve attacks on commercial vessels were reported in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf between October 5 and 11, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings.

Washington could support the Saudi campaign against the Houthis at little direct cost by lifting political objections to its operations, but deeper military involvement risks appearing to widen the Iran war, senior Middle East analyst Ryan Bohl told Iran International.

Iranian hardliners have backed security chief Mohsen Rezaei’s threat to strike data centers, undersea internet cables and artificial intelligence facilities in the Persian Gulf if the United States and Israel resume hostilities.

A man accused of plotting an attack on Iran International journalists in Britain discussed an “embassy” visit with one contact and told another he had been promised £150,000 and help resolving his criminal case in Iran, a London court heard.

Marco Rubio’s invocation of ancient Persia in a speech championing Western power has given Tehran an opportunity to present itself as a defender of Iranian identity, even as critics recall the Islamic Republic’s own record of disparaging pride in the country’s pre-Islamic rulers.

Meta and Google removed Iran’s “Adam and Eve” matchmaking app and related promotional accounts after an investigation found girls as young as 13 were being listed as prospective spouses, US-based rights group HRANA said Monday.

Footage and images showing men wielding machetes and swords at an IRGC-backed rally in the central Iranian city of Isfahan have renewed scrutiny of the Islamic Republic's history of using unofficial armed groups to suppress anti-government protests.

Moscow would rather live with an Iranian nuclear weapon than with a change of regime in Tehran, senior Russia scholar Mark Katz told Iran International, arguing that a pro-Western Iran is the outcome Russia actually fears.

Iran-based and Iranian-linked actors have used two leading US artificial intelligence platforms to place articles under fake journalist identities and help develop targeting recommendations against US naval forces, according to separate investigations by OpenAI and Anthropic.