Tag: Iran

Ayatollah who once received UK ‘tolerance’ grant issues fatwa for Muslims to avenge Khamenei

Posted on by 2026news

One of two high-profile Shiite religious leaders in Iran who issued fatwas following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, formerly received a religious tolerance’ £15,000 ‘religious tolerance’ grant from Brent Council.

On Sunday, following the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the US and Israel, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi have issued fatwas calling on Muslims worldwide to take revenge.

Hamedani responded in writing to a request from the presidium of the Assembly of Seminary Students and Scholars in Qom, saying that “avenging the blood of the martyred leader of the revolution is obligatory for all Muslims.”

“Without doubt, criminal America and the bloodthirsty Zionists have reached the end of their path, and this time the powerful armed forces will deliver a decisive and unforgettable response,” he warned.

Shirazi issued a fatwa calling Israel and the US the “most wicked enemies of humanity” and “the principal perpetrators of this crime.”

“The people of Iran and the Islamic world are the avengers of the blood of the martyred leader of the Revolution,” he said, adding that “seeking revenge is the religious duty of all Muslims worldwide so that the evil of these criminals may be removed from the world.”

Brent Council alerted to IRGC links

Shirazi, one of the most important religious figures in Iran, launched a representative office on Harrow Road in London called the Babul Murad Centre in 2008.

Via the Centre, Shirazi also had a charity in the UK named International Islamic Link, which received a £15,000 grant from Brent Council, a local government body in London, to promote “religious tolerance” in 2009.

After being alerted to IRGC links, Brent Council stated that it has “not commissioned this [charity] since and have no future plans to fund them.”

Before being investigated by the Charity Commission, Shirazi’s own website featured several pages about his belief that the Holocaust was a myth invented by Jews to gain support for the Zionist project.

The trustees of International Islamic Link claim that there is no current link to Shirazi; organizations such as the Middle East Forum dispute this. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888528

Indian crew member killed after drone boat hits oil tanker off Oman coast

Posted on by 2026news

An Indian crew member was killed after an oil tanker was struck by an unmanned drone boat off the coast of Oman, triggering a fire and forcing the evacuation of all crew on board, officials confirmed on Monday, as hostilities between Israel and Iran continued to escalate across the region.

The Sultanate of Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said the incident occurred about 52 nautical miles northwest of Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat Governorate on Saturday (March 1). The tanker, identified as MKD VYOM, flying the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, was carrying approximately 59,463 metric tonnes of cargo at the time of the attack.

According to officials, the unmanned vessel hit the tanker, causing a fire and explosion in the main engine room. One crew member, an Indian national, died in the incident.

The vessel had 21 crew members on board, including 16 Indians, four Bangladeshis and one Ukrainian. All survivors were evacuated by the merchant ship MV SAND, which sails under the flag of Panama, in coordination with the Maritime Security Centre.

The Royal Navy of Oman has deployed a vessel to monitor the damaged tanker and is issuing navigational warnings to ships transiting the area. Authorities have not yet disclosed who was behind the attack.

Iran has warned vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway to the Persian Gulf, and is suspected of launching multiple maritime attacks as the Middle East war intensified following major US and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic Republic.

This marked the second such attack on cargo vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which has triggered widespread tensions across the Middle East.

Earlier, a Palau-flagged oil tanker Skylight, carrying 15 Indian nationals among its crew, was struck near Oman’s Musandam peninsula, injuring four people.

Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said in a post on X that the strike took place about five nautical miles north of Musandam’s Khasab Port, after which the tanker’s 20-member crew was evacuated. The agency did not specify the weapon used. https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/indian-crew-member-killed-after-drone-boat-hits-oil-tanker-off-oman-coast-2876550-2026-03-02

US fighter jets downed near American embassy in Kuwait, local authorities confirm

Posted on by 2026news

Smoke was seen rising near the US embassy in Kuwait, and firefighters and ambulances were in the area, a witness told Reuters on Monday. This was later confirmed by Kuwait’s Defense Ministry, which clarified that a number of planes had crashed, but all crewmembers had survived.

The embassy issued a security alert on Monday, saying that there is a continuing threat of missile and UAV attacks over Kuwait. People were urged to avoid approaching the embassy and to take cover in their residences.

Kuwait intercepted hostile drones on Monday, the third consecutive day of Iranian retaliatory strikes on neighboring Gulf states in response to US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic.

Blasts heard in Dubai, sirens in Kuwait

A series of loud blasts was heard on Monday morning in Dubai and the Qatari capital of Doha, according to Reuters witnesses. Loud bangs and sirens were heard earlier in Kuwait, according to Reuters witnesses.

No injuries were reported after Kuwait air defenses intercepted most of the drones near the Rumaithiya and Salwa neighborhoods, the state news agency cited the director-general of the civil defense as saying.

Tehran said it would target US bases in the region after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday.

It has also hit a range of civilian and commercial areas across Gulf cities, widening the conflict’s impact on key regional aviation and trade hubs.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-888458

US military aircraft crash in Kuwait

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Saudi refinery targeted as drones intercepted

An oil refinery on Saudi Arabia‘s Gulf coast has been targeted in an attack as Iran launched a new wave of strikes across the region.

A fire broke out at the Ras Tanura refinery, but the blaze was quickly brought under control and extinguished.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said two drones had targeted the facility but had been intercepted, acording to a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency on X.

Saudi state television said authorities had temporarily shut down the refinery near Dammam. https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-updates-us-israel-kuwait-warplanes-crash/live-76179461?maca=en-rss-en-top-1022-rdf