Alcatel pauses subsea cable repairs in Persian Gulf as Iran plans fees

More than 300 UN experts, Nobel laureates, former senior officials and human rights advocates urged the United Nations to act against Iran’s rising use of executions in a letter organized by Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) on Monday.

The signatories included former UN human rights rapporteur on Iran Javaid Rehman, former International Criminal Court president Sang-Hyun Song, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jody Williams and Oleksandra Matviichuk, former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler and former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss. Current UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy Ana Brian Nougrères also signed the letter.

Addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the letter said dozens of political prisoners and protesters had been executed since March following trials that failed to meet international standards. The group also urged the UN to establish an international accountability mechanism and press Tehran to halt executions and release political prisoners.

Zeraati was stabbed three times in the leg near his home in Wimbledon, southwest London, in late March 2024. He was discharged from the hospital two days later.

Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were arrested in Romania in connection with the attack, and were extradited to Britain on December 17, 2024. They were later charged with allegedly “wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm", a charge they denied at a preliminary hearing in London last year.

On Monday, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told Woolwich Crown Court that “this was no robbery, no fight that got out of control, it was deliberate, planned violence to achieve what it did, that is serious injury to its target."

They had "committed a planned attack preceded by reconnaissance, and which was ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state," he added.

Iran has denied any involvement in the incident.

Atkinson said Zeraati was an “obvious and readily identifiable target for violence” by proxies acting for Iran.

He said posters had been put up in Tehran in November 2022 featuring pictures of journalists including Zeraati under the heading “Wanted: dead or alive.”

Use of criminal gangs

“In recent years, since 2005, the Islamic Republic has turned less to its own operatives and increasingly to use proxies such as criminal gangs to meet their threatened violence on their behalf,” Atkinson said.

“That has included attacks on persons in this country who have become targets of Iranian intimidation and, effectively, terror,” he added.

Atkinson said Zeraati had been subjected to “extensive reconnaissance.”

He said Stana had been arrested a year earlier in the garden of Zeraati’s apartment with another man while in possession of latex gloves, scissors and a mask.

On the day of the attack, Badea and Andrei confronted Zeraati as he crossed the street from his home to his car, Atkinson said. Andrei held him while Badea stabbed him at the top of his thigh before they fled to a getaway car driven by Stana, the prosecutor added.

The men, who were motivated by money, dumped the car and some clothing before taking a taxi to Heathrow Airport and flying to Geneva, Atkinson said.

A third man accused of involvement, David Andrei, was arrested in Romania but is not involved in the trial.

The trial which began on Monday is expected to last more than two weeks.

In a separate incident last month, three defendants were charged over an alleged arson incident near Iran International’s studios in northwest London, with their trial scheduled to begin on January 25, 2027, at the Central Criminal Court.

In a statement, Iran International said the attack highlights increasing pressure on its journalists and their families, particularly following the recent war involving Iran.

The broadcaster said its staff and their relatives have faced threats and harassment, describing the situation as an effort to silence independent reporting.

The United States has accepted suspending Iran’s oil sanctions during ongoing nuclear negotiations, Guards-linked Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team.

Washington’s latest proposed text, unlike previous drafts, accepts waiving sanctions on Iranian oil exports during the negotiation period, the report said.

The source said the proposal involves temporary waivers issued by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) until a final agreement is reached, while Iran insists that all sanctions must be fully lifted as part of any deal.

Iran said vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz must coordinate fully with the newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), adding on Monday that unauthorized transit through the designated waterway would be considered illegal.

The message appeared in the first posts published by the newly launched X account of the PGSA, which the Islamic Republic described as the "legal body" responsible for managing maritime traffic through the strategic strait.

In messages published in Persian and English, the account said it had begun operations “to provide information on the activities of this organization.”

A health ministry public relations official said on Monday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was taken to hospital following the US-Israeli attack and treated for several wounds requiring stitches, including to his leg.

The official said Khamenei did not suffer injuries causing disfigurement or loss of limb.

The remarks appeared to push back on earlier reports that Khamenei Jr sustained serious injuries during US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that killed his father, including wounds requiring multiple surgeries and a prosthetic leg.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since he was announced as new leader, fueling speculation about his condition.