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Millions hit streets in Iran as Quds Day rallies begin across country Millions of people took to the streets across Iran on Friday to mark International Quds Day, expressing support for Palestinians and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza, according to Iranian state media. IRNA reported that crowds gathered in cities across the country on the last Friday of Ramadan, chanting slogans and carrying banners in solidarity with Palestinians during the annual demonstrations. Millions of Iranians have poured into the streets across the country on the last Friday of Ramadan to mark International Quds Day, expressing unwavering support for the Palestinian people and denouncing the ongoing Israeli regime’s atrocities in Gaza.https://t.co/k1BN51kK9I pic.twitter.com/nFUU4A5b9i March 13, 2026

TEHRAN, Mar. 13 (MNA) – Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters announced on Friday that Iraqi Resistance forces have targeted one of the US refueling aircraft.

TEHRAN, Mar. 13 (MNA) – Iranians in cities and towns nationwide are set to pour into the streets on Quds Day, voicing unwavering support for Palestine and denouncing Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank.

Iran-backed group says it shot down US refuelling aircraft in western Iraq The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) claimed responsibility for downing a US KC-135 refuelling aircraft in western Iraq. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the IRI, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, said it targeted the aircraft with air defence systems, causing it to crash. The claim contradicts US Central Command (CENTCOM), which reported on Thursday that two aircraft were involved in an incident in “friendly airspace”.   “This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” CENTCOM said.

Iran has released video it says shows the moment one of its explosive-laden boats struck a US-owned oil tanker in Iraq.

Israeli army issues expulsion orders for southern Lebanon The Israeli army has issued a forced evacuation order for Lebanese residents south of the Zahrani River, instructing them to flee north. The army's Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X that "any building used by Hezbollah for military purposes may become a target," warning residents that "any movement south may put your lives at risk". #عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى سكان جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/W7vedTLPVs March 12, 2026 >

TEHRAN, Mar. 12 (MNA) – Local media in the occupied Palestinian lands have reported that the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah fired over 200 missiles at occupying regime of Israel on Thursday night.

Cooking gas shortages in Gaza force families to burn wood and plastic, exposing mothers and children to dangerous smoke.

TEHRAN, Mar. 12 (MNA) – The office of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric, has extended his congratulations to Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as the new Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

After narrowly escaping death in her border village, Myriam Nohra is among the people in south Lebanon imploring the army for protection from the war between Israel and Hezbollah. In Christian-majority Qlayaa, which overlooks a vast green plain separating Lebanon and Israel, hundreds of people buried their parish priest Father Pierre Rai on Wednesday, two days after he was killed by Israeli shelling while inspecting the site of an attack.

Alan West recalls a high-level meeting prior to the Iraq war. Plus letters from Spencer Hines and Margaret Squires At the final meeting prior to the invasion of Iraq between UK chiefs of staff (of which I was one), the then prime minister Tony Blair, the defence secretary, senior Ministry of Defence officials and the foreign secretary, in the Old War Office building in March 2003, I asked what the plans were for phase four of the war that was about to start (ie what were the plans for actions after we had won). We were told by the prime minister that the Americans had this all in hand. I asked if we could see their plans and was told we would. I saw nothing before or after the war started. Beating Iraq was clearly going to be relatively easy – what happened then was much harder and not clear. The same seems to be true of Donald Trump’s war against Iran. Alan West Labour, House of Lords Continue reading...

UK government loses appeal over Kneecap terror charges Imran Mulla on Wed, 03/11/2026 - 16:16 Singer Liam Og O hAnnaidh had been accused of showing support for Hezbollah at a London gig Liam Og O hAnnaidh (R) arrives for a press conference with bandmate JJ O Dochartaigh (L) at the Conway Mill in Belfast on 11 March 2026 (AFP) Off The British government has lost an appeal against a court's decision to throw out a terrorism charge against a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was initially charged over allegations that he waved the flag of Hezbollah during a concert in London in November 2024.  The Lebanese group is a proscribed organisation in the UK and the 28-year-old was charged last May under the Terrorism Act, which says it is a criminal offence to display an article which arouses reasonable suspicion that someone supports a proscribed organisation. After a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Judge Paul Goldpsring ruled in September that Og O hAnnaidh had been charged after the six-month limit to bring the charge, which could only be dealt with by the magistrates' court, ended. The charge was thrown out.  On Wednesday, the High Court in London ruled that Og O hAnnaidh would not face a new terror trial. The judgement said it agreed with the ruling last September. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Afterwards at a press conference in Wesr Belfast, Og O hAnnaidh said: "This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about terrorism... it was always about Palestine. "Your attempts to label me a terrorist have failed because I was right and, yet again, Britain was wrong." “This is a story about Palestine and us is a distraction from the real story,” said Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh as he left a London court on Wednesday, where he’s facing a terrorism charge for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag during a gig in London last November. pic.twitter.com/B8jUn9RkpD August 22, 2025 Addressing the governmenr, Og O hAnnaidh said: "We said we would fight you in your court and we would win, we have three times now. Your own High Court has ruled against you. "I will not be silent, Kneecap will not be silent, the people of west Belfast will not be silent. Kneecap has denied the charges against its band member, and accused the UK government of using it to distract from Israeli crimes in Gaza.  UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

The US president might learn that starting wars is much easier than ending them, writes the BBC's international editor.

Israeli attacks never stopped, and the mechanism meant to police violations had no power to stop them.

US dropped charges against Turkey’s Halkbank in Hamas hostage deal, court documents show Ragip Soylu on Wed, 03/11/2026 - 12:55 Washington settled multibillion dollar Iran sanctions case because Ankara helped Trump to secure a Hamas hostage deal, documents say Halkbank is one of Turkey's biggest banks (AFP/File) Off Washington has dropped a multibillion dollar case against Turkish state lender Halkbank for violating sanctions against Iran after Ankara helped secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in 2025. The revelations were made in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York court filings reviewed by Middle East Eye on Wednesday. In 2019, US prosecutors charged Halkbank with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions through money service providers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the UAE. Prosecutors said the bank secretly transferred $20bn in restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash for the benefit of Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds. Court filings reveal that US Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan agreed to sign a deferred prosecution agreement with Halkbank, under which the charges would be dropped in exchange for reforms at the bank. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In an official statement, the bank said it would not pay any judicial or administrative fines. The move is another indication of the strong rapport between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump, who, according to sources, promised in September to resolve the issue amicably. Court documentation and US official documents suggest the settlement was directly tied to diplomatic talks between Turkey and the United States over the Gaza war. Turkish arms subsidiary rebrands after sales to Israel sparks Iran war backlash Read More » A court document dated 6 March 2026, and signed by US Attorney Clayton, said that Trump, along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had engaged in complex multilateral efforts, including  with Turkey, to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “The national security and foreign policy interests furthered by the Agreement are unique and extraordinary: the Agreement is an important component of multilateral international efforts to secure the release of dozens of living hostages and hostage remains, as well as to achieve the cessation of military hostilities resulting from the October 7, 2023, terror attacks that had been ongoing for two years,” the document said. It added that a US commitment to resolving the Halkbank matter on mutually agreeable terms was an important part of those diplomatic discussions aimed at obtaining the release of all hostages. “As has been publicly reported, those diplomatic discussions between the United States and the Republic of Turkiye led to assistance from Turkiye that was instrumental in the ceasefire agreement and Hamas’s commitment to release all remaining hostages,” the deferred prosecution agreement said. The US District Court for the Southern District of New York is expected to approve the deal at a hearing this week. US-Iran Tensions Ankara News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Lebanon’s prime minister mulls sacking army chief over Hezbollah disagreements Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is considering removing his army chief due to disagreements over how to confront Hezbollah in the midst of Israel’s latest war on Lebanon, sources have told Middle East Eye. Shortly after Hezbollah opened fire on Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader - and, it argues, pre-empt an Israeli attack - Salam on 2 March banned the armed movement from pursuing any military activities. Since then, Israeli attacks have rained down on Lebanon - killing more than 570 people - and US officials have piled pressure on the Lebanese state to follow through with Salam’s declaration. That US pressure appeared to ratchet up on Monday, after an Axios report suggesting Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal had resisted cabinet pressure to confront Hezbollah militarily. Read more: Lebanon’s prime minister mulls sacking army chief over Hezbollah disagreements A Lebanese soldier stands guard near a hotel after it was hit in an Israeli air strike in Hazmieh, east of Beirut, 4 March 2026 (Ibrahim Amro/AFP)

The strike in a densely populated area appears to be another attempted assassination, with no information yet on target.

TEHRAN, Mar. 10 (MNA) – Nechirvan Barzani, the head of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, on Tuesday congratulated Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s new leader.

Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon are driving thousands of families to flee again, and some longtime Hezbollah supporters are now openly blaming the group

Hezbollah targets Israeli forces in Upper Galilee Hezbollah confirmed that it had fired missiles at a gathering of Israeli military forces near the Manara kibbutz, in the Upper Galilee.