International

Iran warns that it will hit Israel’s energy industry if it attacks it

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned this Friday that it will hit Israel’s energy industry if it is attacked by that country, which in turn has promised revenge for the Iranian missile bombing on Tuesday night.

“If the Zionist regime makes a mistake, we will attack all its energy sources, stations, refineries and gas fields,” said the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, in statements collected by media such as Dideban.

“The Zionist regime has only three power plants and a few refineries, but Iran is a huge country,” Fadavi said.

The threats of the elite Iranian military corps occur amid speculation about the possible Israeli retaliation against Iran and the oil sector is one of the possible targets for the economic damage it would cause it, according to Israeli media.

The attack against Israel was “the least of punishments”

Tehran (EFE).- The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that the attack against Israel was “the least of the punishments for the Israeli aggression.”

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Khamenei today led a collective prayer in tribute to the murdered leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah Hassan Nasrala, in which he assured that “the brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate,” in reference to the 200-missile attack on Tuesday night against Israel.

“What our military forces did was the least of the punishments for the aggression of the Israeli regime,” Iran’s highest political and religious authority said at the mosque of Imam Jomeiní in Tehran, where thousands of faithful gathered.

“Every blow to the Zionist regime is a service to all humanity,” he said.

Call for Islamic unity and criticism of the United States

The religious remarked that “every nation has the right to defend its country and territory against the aggressor.”

In this sense, he called on the Muslim world to unite before the enemy, “whose policy is divide and you will defeat.”

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“The policy of the Koran is that Muslim nations must be united,” while stressing that the “enemy of Iran is the enemy of Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Yemen.”

Khamenei reiterated that Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 was legitimate.

“The Al-Aqsa storm was a legal and international measure and a legitimate right of the Palestinians,” who in their opinion have “the right to face any enemy who has destroyed their home and their life.”

And in reference to the murders of Nasrala and an Iranian general a week ago in Beirut, he warned that “Hezbulah and his heroic leader and martyr are the essence of Lebanon’s historical virtues and identity.”

He also pointed to the United States as guilty of tensions in the Middle East.

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“The United States seeks control of the region’s resources through the Israeli regime,” he said.

First collective prayer in 4 years

After the speech, the Iranian supreme leader proceeded to direct his first collective Friday prayer since 2020, when he did so after the death of Qasem Soleimani, former general at the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, murdered by the US in Iraq.

Tuesday’s bombing was the second Iranian missile attack against Israel, since last April it attacked its territory for the first time with another series of missile and drone bombings in response to the death of seven soldiers at the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

After the attack, Israel has assured that it will respond, to which Iran has in turn said that it will reply more strongly.

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International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.