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Thursday, September 10, 2026

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Tag: Illegal Land Grabs

Tehran’s Chronic Mismanagement and Illegal Land Grabs Drive UNESCO Forests Toward...

November 22, 2025

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An English-language digital media outlet with a spotlight on the global Iranian community. #kayhanlife

By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh DALLAS/WASHING

By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh
DALLAS/WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States may hit Iran‘s Pickaxe Mountain, urging Tehran to be cautious.

“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” Trump said in a speech at the midterm Republican convention.

Pickaxe Mountain, located near Iran‘s heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a fortified site with two deeply buried tunnel complexes.

Trump has been threatening strikes on Pickaxe Mountain since at least mid-July.

The rise in oil and gas prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has become a major issue for Trump and his Republican Party in the lead-up to the midterm U.S. elections in November.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and ⁠Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and [Persian] Gulf states that host U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Trump also said he thought the war was going to end immediately after the midterms, alleging Tehran was trying to influence the elections that will determine whether the Republicans retain control of Congress.

Pickaxe Mountain lies 220 km (140 miles) south of Tehran and 2 km from the Natanz complex.

The Natanz site, where two of Iran‘s uranium enrichment plants were located, was struck in March as part of the U.S.-Israeli military attacks on Iran. Israel also hit Natanz during last year’s 12-day Israel-Iran war.

The tunnel facility under construction at Pickaxe Mountain was not targeted in either of those wars, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, a U.S.-based think tank focused on nuclear non-proliferation.

By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed DUBAI/BAGHDAD,

By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed
DUBAI/BAGHDAD, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi could face a credibility crisis if Iran-backed Shi’ite militias fail to heed his call to hand over their weapons to the state.

After a July meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, Zaidi pledged to disarm the powerful groups by September 30, the same date scheduled for the withdrawal of the remaining U.S.-led international coalition forces from Iraq.

But he faces strong resistance from Iran‘s proxies in Iraq, who have supported Tehran by attacking U.S. targets in the Middle East war.

In 2025, several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq indicated they were prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the U.S. Trump administration.

But their pledges never materialized, leaving Zaidi with the delicate task of trying to rein in these groups, who report to Iran‘s elite Revolutionary Guards, after he took office in May.

Zaidi, a multimillionaire, has received far more support from a U.S. president than many of his predecessors. But, like all Iraqi leaders, he also needs the backing of Iran, which has steadily gained vast influence in the country through its ties to Shi’ite militias and politicians. So he has to tread cautiously.

On August 17, special forces reporting directly to the prime minister arrested the intelligence chief of Harakat al-Nujaba, an Iran-aligned faction that the U.S. has designated a terrorist organisation, on accusations of involvement in drone attacks against U.S. interests, according to a security document reviewed by Reuters and three government sources.

The detention, which lasted 48 hours, triggered threats of retaliation from the group and prompted intervention by senior Shi’ite politicians who helped defuse tensions.

A week later, Iraqi special forces arrested four militia members, including a local commander, over allegations they facilitated attacks on U.S. interests, underscoring the political and security obstacles facing the prime minister’s disarmament campaign.

By Francois Murphy VIENNA, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The

By Francois Murphy
VIENNA, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation board of governors has passed a resolution reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years for breaching its non-proliferation obligations, diplomats said on Wednesday.

The resolution follows a previous one passed on June 12 last year — the day before Israel started bombing Iran‘s nuclear facilities, soon followed by the United States — that found Iran in “non-compliance” with those obligations. Reporting it to the council for that breach required another resolution.

While the Security Council is unlikely to take concrete action against Iran since its allies Russia and China are permanent, veto-wielding members, the move is an escalation in a diplomatic standoff between Iran and Western powers.

Iran warned on Monday it would retaliate if the resolution passed.

By Samia Nakhoul, Mubasher Bukhari and Parisa Hafe

By Samia Nakhoul, Mubasher Bukhari and Parisa Hafezi
ANKARA, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Pakistan has delivered a Saudi warning to Iran to rein in its Yemeni Houthi allies after they stepped up attacks on the kingdom, in a coordinated effort to prevent the crisis from spiralling, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources said.

The Houthis struck an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities on Tuesday, wounding 73 people, in one of the biggest attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in February.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday that Saudi warplanes carried out 54 airstrikes across various Yemeni provinces over the past 12 hours, adding that they would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.

The escalating conflict, which represents a second theatre of war to threaten global energy supplies, comes as Iran and the United States wage their biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping in the [Persian] Gulf region since their war began.

Pakistan’s warning to Iran carries significant weight because of its defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

WASHINGTON , Sept 9 (Reuters) – President Donald T

WASHINGTON , Sept 9 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday predicted that the war with Iran will end “immediately after” the U.S. midterm elections in November because Tehran was trying to influence the vote but would not be able to hold out more in the face of U.S. economic pressure.

“I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer. They’re desperate to try and affect the election,” he told reporters before departing for the Republican National Convention in Dallas.

Trump’s war with Iran has recently entered its seventh month with no immediate end in sight. On Wednesday, Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers. The renewed fighting sent the price of oil surging with benchmark Brent crude future breaching $100 a barrel for the first time since July.

Trump’s approval ratings recently sank to a record low due to frustration from voters over the Iran war and deepening cost-of-living crisis. Midterm elections, due to be held on Nov. 3 this year, are typically a referendum on the occupant of the White House.

Oil prices would also come down right after the election, Trump said on Wednesday, once the war is over, while acknowledging diplomatic talks are still a possibility but not preferred.

“Yes, a negotiation could possible happen, but it’s not something we’re looking at,” Trump said.

(Steve Holland and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Caitlin Webber)

Sept 9 (Reuters) – Western powers have submitted a

Sept 9 (Reuters) – Western powers have submitted a proposed resolution to the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors that would report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years for breaching its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency say the text proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany is almost certain to pass, with a vote expected later on Wednesday or on Thursday.

Continues on kayhanlife.com as a free article.

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