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This evening, at around 11 PM Tehran time, an explosion hit a café in Tehran’s Shahriar city while a birthday party was ongoing inside the café, KurdSat News correspondent in Tehran reported.
The reporter added that the cause of the explosion is not reported yet, and the police have not commented yet. though, gas leak might be the cause, the reporter noted.
In a video published on Iranian social media, the bodies of the killed inside body bags are seen lying in front of the café in Shahriar.
"I accepted the candidacy [of PM] of His Eminence Sayyid al-Sadr in support of his national reform project, and now is the time to step back and apologize, thanks to His Eminence Muqtada Al-Sar, and the National Save the National Salvation Alliance for their trust." Jaafar Al-Sadr, the son of the prominent Shiite cleric Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, said on Twitter.
Jaafar Sadr's withdrawal comes hours after Iraqi MPs from Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc resigned, in an attempt to facilitate forming the next government, Sadr claimed.
Soon, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed Halbusi approved the resignation of all Sadr lawmakers. The former PM candidate keeps a low profile and is the Iraqi ambassador to the UK.
Sadr's move opens the way for fresh elections and dissolution of the parliament, as no single block commands enough majority to form the next long-overdue Iraqi government.
The latest political development in Iraq was the warning of Sadr Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr in recent days when he announced the option of the opposition to form a new government within a coordinated framework.
Earlier, the strong man cleric announced his intention of becoming opposition in the next government, saying if it helped to form the government. Sadr's move leaves the impression on Iraqis and his voters that he is not a hurdle in forming the next cabinet but somebody who truly works to form the next government.
Muqtada has 73 loyal MPs in Baghdad, shy by tens of PMs for the absolute majority constitutionally required to form a cabinet. Other parliamentary blocs and alliances are short of forming the majority, and with Muqtada's move, the prospect of forming the next Iraqi government is unclear.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the attack on Erbil, which injured three civilians, was "a surgical operation, and mission accomplished."
On Monday, Khatibzadeh told a group of reporters in Tehran that "Iraq must not allow its territory to threaten Iran's security." Referring to Tehran's claim that Erbil hosts Israeli spies.
Khatibzadeh's comments came as the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, said, "Iran had not provided any official evidence of Israel's presence in Erbil, saying he was surprised that Tehran had chosen the Kurdistan Region to respond to Israel.
Hussein stated that an Iraqi delegation had visited Tehran and asked the Iranian officials why they did not inform Iraq if they had prior information about the presence of a Mossad base in Erbil.
Iraq's top diplomat said he was shocked that Iran had chosen the Kurdistan Region to retaliate against Israel.
"During its visit to Tehran, Iran had not shown him any evidence about Israeli intelligence presence in Erbil, though Tehran had offered a delegation to investigate the case, still the delegation has not arrived in Erbil," Hussain added. The Iraqi foreign minister was referring to the Kurdish oil tycoon's villa in Erbil destroyed by Iranian ballistic missiles in March.
Tel Aviv and Tehran are directly engaged in the Kurdistan region's capital, Erbil. Usually targeting each other's intelligence agents and spies. Iran claims to have killed Ilak Ron, believed to be at the top of Israel's assassination unit, known as Kidon.
"The enemy, with artillery support, launched an attack on Severodonetsk, which achieved partial success and expelled our units from the city center," the army said in its morning briefing on Facebook, stressing that the battles were "continuing."
Sergey Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of Lugansk, confirmed the exit of Ukrainian forces from the city center, which is the administrative center of the part of the region under the control of Kyiv. On Monday morning, he wrote on Facebook: "The battles continue in the streets. The Russians continue to destroy the city," posting pictures of destroyed or burning buildings. He pointed out that the Russian bombing targeted a chemical factory where civilians were hiding and targeted sewage stations in the city.
Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces blew up a bridge linking the street-stricken Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk to another city across the river, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the situation in Severodonetsk to a grave, which has become the focus of the battle for control of the Donbas industrial region in the east, consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk.
The commander of the Ukrainian army said that the active fighting against Russia extends over 1,000 km, stressing that Russia is not advancing in Lugansk and is again bombing Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy. He added that the security is investigating the suspicion of the presence of 50 collaborators with the Russian army.
For its part, Moscow confirmed on Sunday that it had "destroyed a large warehouse" in western Ukraine for weapons sent from Western countries, at a time when fierce battles are taking place in Severodonetsk in the east of the country, where it appears that Ukrainian forces are facing difficulties in confronting the Russians.
"The Kalibr missiles were launched from the sea, near Chortkev and destroyed a large warehouse of anti-tank missile systems, man-portable air defence systems and missiles supplied by the United States and European countries to the Kyiv system," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian army did not specify the timing of this strike, but the Ukrainian authorities in this small town in the country's West announced that on Saturday evening, it had wounded at least 22 people, including civilians, and damaged a military site.
Commenting on this, President Zelensky said in his evening video message on Sunday that "there was no tactical or strategic target for this strike, as is the case in the vast majority of other Russian strikes, describing the strike as" just terrorism."
In the east, the Ukrainian General Staff announced on Sunday morning that Russian forces were launching attacks on Severodonetsk "without achieving success," noting that Ukrainian soldiers repulsed the Moscow army near Vrobivka, Mykolaivka and Vasevka.
Control of Severodonetsk opens the way for Moscow to another significant city, Kramatorsk, in the Donbas Basin, a predominantly Russian-speaking region that Russia wants to control entirely. Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of this mining-rich region since 2014.
"The situation in Severodonetsk is tough," Lugansk region governor Sergey Gaidai said via Telegram. He added that the Russian forces wanted to "completely close the city" and prevent any passage of men and ammunition, pointing out that he feared the enemy would use "all its precautions to seize the city" within 48 hours.
In the south, in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian presidency said that "the Russians (reinforce) their efforts to destroy basic infrastructure."
At the other end of the front line, in Mykolaiv, an important port on the estuary of the Dnieper River in the south, the Russian advance has stalled on the outskirts of the city, according to a field team of AFP correspondents.
The Ukrainian Operations Command stated that the Russian forces fired missiles at the outskirts of this city, which were "continuous fire aimed at psychologically putting pressure on the civilian population."
The PM decided to suspend the chairman and members of the standing committee of the ninth-grade national examinations and Qasim Akili, director-general of education in Rasafa II, over leaked national exam questions.
Al-Kadhimi stressed that the directorate of education of the region is responsible for overseeing the ninth grade and other grades and can coordinate with the Ministry of Education and the relevant parties.
National exams are regularly leaked before exams start. "I bought the questions for two hundred USD, one and half hours before the start of the exams," a ninth-grader told KurdSat English.
Ninth-grade national exams scheduled for June 2 were delayed indeterminably in all Iraqi governorates except the Kurdistan region after leaked math exam questions. The exam questions were soon posted on social media, available for every student to view before the exams started.
On June 4, Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) announced the arrest of three education ministry employees involved in leaking the questions on direct orders from the prime minister. It is probably the first known case of an intelligence agency involved in securing exam questions. The INIS, in coordination with the interior and education ministries, launched an investigation into the incident.
Though leaking questions have become a phenomenon in Iraq, the PM’s decision is the first to investigate the misconduct.
Kurdistan region deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani said, "today, several police officers in the Sulaimani's judicial court who behaved unprofessionally and inhumanly with several citizens will face legal punishment.
"After learning of the incident and seeing the video recording, the security forces immediately arrested all the violators and will face legal punishment," Talabani said on his Facebook page.
"I apologize to the citizens treated this way, and assure them that the violators will be punished and ask them to file a complaint against the police misconduct," he said.
"The duty of the police and security forces is to raise awareness among their employees on professionalism and respect for the dignity of citizens," Talabani said.
The Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament formed a commission to investigate Turkish attacks on the Kurdistan region, since the last month.
Hussein Al-Amiri, a Security and Defense Committee member, said that “the parliamentary committee discussed in detail the continuous aggression of Turkish forces on border towns, villages and cities within Iraqi territory, which have resulted in the loss of life and property.”
Recent Turkish attacks have resulted in the evacuation of villages and settlements across the Turkish-Kurdistan Region border.
“The committee has set up a research commission. This commission will soon visit the areas assaulted by the Turkish forces and prepare a detailed report for the Parliament,” Al-Amiri added.
Turkey has conducted two operations since 2022. It has established more than 50 military bases spread across the Turkish-Kurdistan Region border.
"1,800 Peshmergas were killed, 103,690 wounded, and 47 went missing in the fighting to liberate the areas under the control of ISIS," the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative in the Iraqi National Coordination Committee, Dindar Zebari, said.
In the KRG's war against IS, lasting from2014 to 2018, the region's politics, economy and society went through a dramatic change.
The peshmerga forces shouldered most of the burden in the global war against IS, and still, many of the wounded suffer from their injury.
According to the Kurdistan Regional Government, 3,552 people are released. One thousand two hundred seven women, 339 men, 1,500 girls and 956 boys. The government works continuously to bring back the captives home.
In an agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Germany, Berlin has received over 1,000 Yazidi women in its health centers.
On Saturday, a high-level PUK delegation led by President Bafel Jalal Talabani visited the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region.
Bafel Jalal Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was greeted by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani on Saturday.
The meeting, attended by Dr. Khasraw Gul, Darbaz Kosrat Rasul, and Rizgar Ali, PUK politburo executives, stressed the importance of supporting the Kurdistan Regional Government, and its reform agenda to further serve the citizens. In the meeting, solving the region’s problems was discussed.
President Bafel Jalal Talabani confirmed his support for the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Acting Iraqi Electricity Minister Adel Karim said over 60 billion dinars had been spent on the electricity sector since the liberation process in 2003, the electricity sector has not improved to meet the country's needs.
He added that Iraq currently produces 19,000 megawatts of electricity. To supply 24/7 power to citizens, Iraq needs an extra 13,000 megawatts of electricity.
He noted that the food security law had allocated 2 billion and 700 million dinars for the electricity sector, which can solve the electricity problem to an extent.
Iraq faces electricity shortages in the summertime as its usage soars due to rising temperatures.
The final results of the demand survey, conducted by the Ministry of Electricity in the governorates and autonomous administrations of the Kurdistan region, determine the share of electricity for the regions, Sulaimani, Halabja, Garmian, and Raperin will be given 31.78 percent electricity. Meanwhile, Erbil and Duhok will receive 68.18% of electricity, compared to the previous 66 percent.
Most electricity is produced in Sulaimani power plants. Still, the least electricity is supplied, while the governorate of Sulaimani has a population of almost 3.5 million, over half of the Kurdistan region's total population.
Omid Ahmad, the spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, said that since 2015, there has been inequality in the distribution of electricity between the provinces since then, the Ministry of Electricity wants to reach an equal point for electricity distribution.
For example, in March this year, the number of electricity customers in Erbil was about 639,000, and in Duhok was 390,000. Both provinces shared 58% of the total subscribers, but 66% of the region's electricity was allocated to them. Meanwhile, there are 698,000 electricity customers in Sulaimani and 37,000 in Halabja, both provinces make up 42% of total electricity customers, and only 34% of electricity was allocated to them, which is a 16 percent reduction.
The problem of resource allocation between Sulaimani, Erbil, Duhok, and Halabja governorates in the Kurdistan region is a pressing issue where many are left without proper power and energy due to unequal distribution of resources from Erbil.
According to a statement issued by the Erbil governor's office, 50 gas stations have been punished in the past nine days. Legal action was taken against 42 gas stations in May.
"We assure the citizens of our city that the inspection teams and committees monitoring gas stations would continue to take necessary legal action against gas station owners selling bad gasoline to citizens and modify the quality of gasoline," the governor's office said.
He called on citizens to inform the Erbil Governor's Office as soon as possible if they come across any violations in gas stations, whether it is the sale of lousy gasoline or quality change.
"We would like to inform gas stations owners that we will publish the names and locations of the punished gas stations," the statement said.
Since 2020, energy prices have increased to record high levels. In 2020, the cost of Muhasan or midgrade gasoline, a gasoline with a 95 percent octane rate, doubled in two years. In 2020 it was sold at 600 Iraqi dinars per liter but is now sold at 1200 Iraqi dinars per liter.
The US-backed Kurdish-dominated Syrian democratic forces have cooperated with Damascus since early 2011. The Syrian regime maintains a military base in SDF's stronghold in Al-Hasaka.
Al-Assad said in an interview with the "Russia Today" channel that "the Turkish invasion of the areas controlled by his forces will face popular resistance in the first stage.
He added that "the Syrian army is ready for direct military confrontation with the Turkish army when the appropriate military conditions are available." He noted that its forces "inflicted heavy losses on the Turkish army during the confrontation with it two years ago."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced a Turkish military operation with the aim of "cleansing" the Manbij and Tal Rifaat regions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) north of Aleppo and completing the establishment of the "safe zone" along his country's southern border with Syria, at a depth of 30 kilometers.
The confrontation that al-Assad spoke of took place in the Idlib countryside at the end of February 2020. Still, it clearly showed the weakness of his forces in the first confrontation he waged against the Turkish army without the Russian air cover, according to the leader of the Syrian opposition, Brigadier General Fateh Hassoun.
Hassoun told Al-Modon that this battle "came with the direct support of the Iranian militias, with the aim of storming opposition-controlled areas in the countryside of Idlib," explaining that it "began with an air raid attributed by Russia to the regime's warplanes, targeting a gathering of the Turkish army, which left 33 people dead in the area." The Turkish army launched Operation Spring Shield against them.
According to Hassoun, the previous battles conducted by the Turkish army with the participation of the National Army were "initially successful, and the loss of the Assad regime was self-evident."
For his part, the military and strategic analyst, Brigadier General Ahmed Rahal, said that Assad was "embarrassed" due to SDF's repeated requests for his participation in repelling Turkish operations, pointing out that the term "popular resistance" that Assad singled out during the interview to resist the Turkish army meant SDF forces.
Rahal told Al-Modon that "apart from the fact that Assad has lost his decision to wage a direct battle against the Turkish army, any bullet he fires at the Turkish forces will mean a new experience for his forces with the nightmare of the Turkish Bayraktar aircraft."
On Sunday, the commander-in-chief of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, confirmed that "the SDF will coordinate with the Syrian government forces to repel any Turkish invasion of northern Syria," noting that his forces "are open to working with the regime's forces to fight against Turkey."
In an interview with Reuters, Abdi said, "More military coordination with Damascus will not threaten the semi-autonomous rule in the areas under the control of his forces in northeastern Syria," calling on the regime's army to "activate its air defenses against Turkish planes to defend Syrian territory."
Last night the Kurdistan Region Security Council blamed the Iraqi Hezbollah militia for carrying out a drone attack against Erbil. The attack was carried out using a kamikaze drone that destroyed two vehicles on Erbil Pirmam Road.
Top Mossad assassination commander killed, Iranian media reported. It is not the first time that Iran claims to have targeted Mossad agents in the KDP-controlled Erbil.
Erbil has been attacked numerous times since 2020, especially after the assassination of top Iranian foreign general Qassem Soleimani, on January 3, 2020. The Capital of Iraqi Kurdistan has been hit by Katyusha rockets and drones in the past two years, usually by pro-Iranian Iraqi militia. However, the recent attacks are distinguished by their audacity, targeting residential areas and public roads.
On March 13, the Islamic Republic of Iran fired 12 ballistic missiles at Erbil, demolishing a villa owned by a Kurdish oil tycoon. Iranian state media said Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps attacked Israeli "strategic centers" in Erbil, suggesting it was revenge for recent Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria.
The two IRGC members slain in the Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, were identified as Col. Ehsan Karbalaipur and Col. Morteza Saeednejad. Iranian media claimed that Israeli agents operated in the villa.
The recent attack came weeks after assassinating IRGC colonel Hassan Sayad Khodayari, who has been the highest-profile killing of an Iranian official since the murder of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020, in an operation that involved robots, where Israel was blamed for the incident.
Assailants assassinated Khodayari on motorcycles near was assassinated steps from his home on Tehran's Mohahedin-e Eslam Street. Israeli television channel Kani quoted a security source saying that Tehran was chosen as the center of the attack to ensure that no target could escape Israeli hands.
Earlier Times of Israel reported that several Israeli intelligence officers in Urmia, East Kurdistan, obtained a confession from a man who intended to carry out several terrorist acts in Turkey and Europe. The man took orders from Khodayari.
In the Erbil attack, Iran claims to have killed Ilak Ron, believed to be at the top of Israel's assassination unit, known as Kidon. It is possible that Ron is the man who interrogated the Iranian intelligence agent in Urumia.
Iranian Radio Farda quoted Israeli Wi-Net, saying that the Israeli intelligence agency was aware of Khodayari's plots and had already foiled them. Several terrorist acts against Israelis were planned in Cyprus, Latin America, Africa, and Turkey.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday he knew who was involved in the killing and would take revenge soon. The recent attack blamed on pro-Iranian Iraqi militia was an answer to Raisi's calling.
Although Tehran backs forces in proximity to Israel, such as Hamas, the confrontation between Israel and Iran seems to have shifted from the levant into Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurdistan is currently under immense financial and political pressure, both within and without.
Since 2017 Iran-backed militia have been stationed only kilometers away from Erbil city center. After the failed 2017 independence referendum, the Kurdistan regional government lost 51 percent of the territory it controlled to the Iraqi militia.
Erbil is home to many Iraqi dissidents and some people who support Israel. An Erbil-based man runs a Facebook page named Levi in Erbil. On September 24, 2021, the first-ever conference for normalization with Israel was held in Erbil.
The Erbil Conference hosted more than 300 Iraqi delegates from all across Iraq, including tribal and religious leaders, who called for the normalization of ties between Baghdad and Tel Aviv following the examples of Bahrain, Morocco, the UAE, and Sudan in 2020.
However, reactions against the conference varied. Muqtada Sadr called for arresting the participants and condemned the meeting.
Shortly after IRGC's ballistic missile attack on Erbil on May 26, the Iraqi council of representatives passed a law criminalizing all relations with Israel and the death penalty for anyone who made such efforts.
Israel and Iran have come toe to toe in Erbil. Mossad and Iran's ministry of intelligence are directly engaged, slaying each others' agents and spies. As the prospect of a renewed Iranian nuclear deal with the west is small, the struggle might only intensify.
Three rockets were fired at a Turkish military base in Bashiqa, one missile exploded inside the military base, and two fell outside the base.
The rockets were fired at the military base in the Shalalat area near Mosul.
Since evening, 13 rockets have flown towards the Turkish military outpost, KurdSat News correspondent reported.
This morning, the mashhad-Yazd passenger train was derailed due to a mechanical failure on the Siah Abbasabad-Rizo railroad. Investigation into the incident has begun.
A member of the Civil Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly said their commission wants to carefully investigate the Mashhad-Yazd train crash.
According to ISNA, a deputy passenger of the Railway Company of the Islamic Republic of Iran said, last night at 19:20, the Mashhad-Yazd passenger train started its journey with 348 passengers. At 5:30 in the morning, the train crashed, when five passenger cars of the train collided with a mechanical excavator.
Iran's public transport is in jeopardy because the US-led sanctions have deprived the Islamic republic of obtaining the necessary equipment to replenish its public transport.
Recent Israeli cyberattacks have also targeted Iran's critical infrastructure. Although, Israel has traditionally targeted Iran's nuclear facilities. In April 2021, an Israeli cyber attack shut down Iran's main nuclear facility after an hour-long blackout.