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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.