The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for a pair of explosions in Iran that killed at least 84 people during commemorations for a former Iranian commander slain four years ago in a U.S. airstrike.
At least 103 people have died and more than 170 others were injured in two explosions set off during commemorations of the fourth anniversary of the death of Qasem Soleimani, a former commander of the elite Quds Force killed in January 2020 in an air strike by U.S. forces near Baghdad.
Dawood Abdullahi, a Kurdish prisoner of conscience, has been executed in Iran's Qazalhasar prison, local media reports said, after spending more than 14 years in prison.
Iran’s judiciary announced on January 1 that five unidentified people had been executed after being convicted of multiple armed robberies “that rendered roads unsafe and spread fear among people.”
The Iranian destroyer Alborz – a 51-year-old warship – has entered the tense Red Sea through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iranian state media reported on January 1.