Iran conflict widens to Lebanon, Kuwait mistakenly downs U.S. jets
The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday, with no end in sight as Israel atta...
Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the country’s judiciary reported on Wednesday, 7 January, amid an intensifying campaign against alleged foreign agents.
The judiciary’s official media outlet, Mizan, named the executed defendant as Ali Ardestani, saying his death sentence was carried out after confirmation by the Supreme Court and through “legal procedures”.
Ardestani was convicted of providing sensitive information to Mossad, including imagery and details of specific locations, according to official judicial documents cited by state media.
Officials allege Ardestani was recruited online and carried out assignments for Mossad in exchange for payments, handing over information and imagery of targeted sites and individuals. The judiciary said he acknowledged direct contact with Mossad officers during his trial.
Iran and Israel have been entrenched in a decades‑long shadow war, and Tehran has repeatedly executed individuals it accuses of collaborating with Israeli intelligence.
Executions of Iranians accused of spying for Israel appear to have increased this year amid heightened tensions with Tel Aviv, according to reporting by Mehr News Agency and the Jerusalem Post.
Analysts cited by Iran Human Rights note that at least ten individuals alleged to have links with Mossad were executed in 2025, following Israeli and U.S. operations targeting Iranian facilities in June.
Human rights groups have also suggested that Iran’s judicial system often relies on confessions extracted under duress in espionage cases. Iranian authorities reject these claims.
Follow the latest developments and global reaction after the U.S. and Israel launched “major combat operations” in Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has moved into a pivotal constitutional role following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, becoming the clerical member of Iran’s temporary leadership council under Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday, with no end in sight as Israel attacked Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah and Iran kept up its attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. military bases.
The Israeli military has begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran, it said late on Monday. The strikes came after it issued an evacuation warning for residents in Tehran, particularly those residing near state broadcaster IRIB's headquarters.
Iran and its proxies could target the U.S. with attacks in response to the Saturday killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by Israeli and U.S. strikes, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones resulting in a limited fire and some material damage, the kingdom's defence ministry said in a post on X on Tuesday, citing an initial assessment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran may take "some time" but it will not take years.
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