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Iranian Navy Reveals Cutting Edge Missile Boat as Regional Tensions Escalate
The Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a missile boat unveiled by the Iranian regime. Photo: Screenshot
Iran’s armed forces have showcased a new arsenal of deadly naval weaponry as fears of a regional conflagration pitting the State of Israel against the Tehran regime and its regional allies intensify.
The main vessel on display at an unveiling ceremony on Sunday in the port city of Bandar Abbas was a cutting edge missile corvette, described by industry outlet Defence Blog as a “futuristic missile boat equipped to accommodate various drones and speedboats.”
Named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi Islamist militia commander who was killed alongside Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Jan. 2020, the new vessel was hailed by Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiria of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “mobile maritime city ready to carry out ocean missions, ensuring the sustainable security of sea communication lines and providing aid to the commercial and fishing fleets of the Islamic Republic and regional countries.” The ship is equipped with a range of weapons, including anti-ship cruise missiles, 20mm Gatling guns, and surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.
Speaking at the ceremony, the IRGC’s commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, warned Iran’s adversaries that the Islamic Republic now possessed significant naval warfare capabilities.
The new hardware also includes 100 fast-attack crafts equipped to carry missiles with a range of over 100 miles.
In the three months since Hamas terrorists backed by Iran carried out a pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that took the lives of more than 1,200 people, the Iranian regime has doubled down on its goal of eliminating the Jewish state, with key regional allies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen respectively firing missiles at towns in northern Israel and targeting shipping in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports.
At a ceremony on Sunday marking the anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination, Brig.-Gen. Iraj Masjedi of the IRGC pledged that the regime would support Hamas and other terrorist organizations until the “total elimination” of Israel was achieved.
Urging Palestinians to exact further “harsh revenge” against Israel, Masjedi said that Iran’s “enemies, the Americans and the Zionists, should know that the Islamic forces will not shy away from defending their rights and their lands against the Zionists.”
The post Iranian Navy Reveals Cutting Edge Missile Boat as Regional Tensions Escalate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UK Plans to Provide Medical Treatment for Children in Gaza
Displaced Palestinian children wait to receive free food at a tent camp, amid food shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
i24 News – The United Kingdom is preparing to launch a new initiative aimed at offering urgent medical care to children from Gaza, with up to 300 expected to be transferred to the UK for specialized treatment through the National Health Service (NHS).
Each child will be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and in some cases, siblings. The Home Office will oversee biometric and security checks ahead of their arrival.
The plan is part of a broader humanitarian effort and will be formally announced in the coming weeks.
A government spokesperson said, “We are moving forward with our plans to evacuate more children in need of urgent care, including welcoming them to the UK for specialized treatment, when it is in their best interest.”
The initiative complements the work of the NGO Project Pure Hope, which has already helped three Gaza children receive private medical care in the UK. So far, about 5,000 children have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt and Gulf states.
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Iran’s army chief says Israeli threats remain, state media say
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami attends a meeting in the Iranian Army’s War Command Room at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on June 23, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
The commander-in-chief of Iran’s military, Amir Hatami, said on Sunday that threats from Israel persist, according to state media.
In June, Israel and the US launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during the so-called 12-day war, in which Tehran retaliated against Israel with several barrages of missiles and drones.
“A 1 percent threat must be perceived as a 100 percent threat. We should not underestimate the enemy and consider its threats as over,” Hatami said, according to the official IRNA news agency, adding that the Islamic Republic’s missile and drone power “remains standing and ready for operations.”
Last month, Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz warned that his country would strike Iran again if threatened.
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Ben-Gvir Joined by Thousands for Prayer at Temple Mount
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks at a convention in Jerusalem, Jan. 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – On the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av, which mourns the destruction of the First and Second Temples, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount, joining thousands of Jewish visitors expected to visit and pray throughout the day.
Under Ben-Gvir’s policy, Israeli police have allowed Jewish visitors to sing, pray in the eastern section of the mount, and even prostrate, a significant shift from the longstanding status quo that prohibits overt Jewish worship at the flashpoint site.
Videos from Sunday morning showed dozens of Jewish worshippers singing and dancing openly on the mount. Police did not intervene. In one incident, an Arab man who shouted at a group of Jewish visitors was removed and arrested by security forces.
Associates of Ben-Gvir hailed the moment as “a monumental change that hasn’t happened in a thousand years,” adding that his policy is to ensure freedom of worship for Jews at all sites in Israel, including the Temple Mount. “There is no law permitting racist discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount or anywhere else in Israel,” they said.
The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest. It houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The site remains one of the most sensitive and contested in the region, with tensions often flaring over perceived changes to the fragile status quo.
Ben-Gvir’s visits and policies have drawn sharp criticism from Arab states, international actors, and Israel’s own security establishment, which has warned that shifts in worship policy at the site could inflame tensions and endanger national security. The move has also been condemned by ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders, who oppose visiting the site on religious grounds.
Despite the criticism, Ben-Gvir has maintained that Jewish worship at the Temple Mount is a matter of basic rights and national sovereignty.