Attack hits border crossing between Iran and Iraq, official says

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout entered its 36th day on Saturday, surpassing 840 hours since access to the global internet was cut on February 28, NetBlocks said.

“The measure remains in place, entering day 36 after 840 hours, isolating the general public as authorities explore ways to give chosen users access via a tiered whitelisting system,” said the internet monitoring group.

A strike hit near the perimeter of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday morning, damaging an auxiliary building but not affecting operations, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported.

The report said the strike hit near the plant’s fence at about 8:30 a.m. local time and a member of the security staff was killed.

Initial assessments showed no damage to the plant’s main sections and operations were not affected, according to the report.

It added that this was the fourth attack on the Bushehr plant during the ongoing war.

100%

A key border terminal in western Iran was targeted on Saturday morning, a provincial security official said, as reports of multiple blasts near frontier crossings emerged.

The deputy governor for security in Khuzestan said the Shalamcheh crossing in Khorramshahr was hit, while earlier reports pointed to explosions in Mehran, another major crossing linking Iran to Iraq.

Shalamcheh and Mehran are among Iran’s main transit routes with Iraq, widely used for trade and cross-border movement.

In recent days, the presence of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces inside Iran had drawn attention among citizens, with the groups previously involved in suppressing nationwide protests in January.

There will be no leniency for those undermining “the public’s psychological and physical security,” Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Saturday.

He said anyone whose actions disrupted public security and served the interests the “aggressor enemy” would face the law in the firmest possible manner.

The judiciary chief said those involved would face decisive action under existing laws, including legislation covering espionage and cooperation with hostile countries.

The Strait of Hormuz has become a strategic advantage for the Islamic Republic under the new security conditions and will not return to its previous state, an Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday.

“No country will have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without the permission of the Islamic Republic,” Abbas Goudarzi said.

Goudarzi added that Iran would defend what he called its strategic position with “full military power.”