World
Iran slammed for record surge in executions of regime opponents: 'true face is on display'
A new United Nations report determined that executions surged in Iran during the month of August, leading experts to urge the country’s government to stop the unlawful spree.
“We are deeply concerned by this sharp rise in executions,” U.N. experts, including special rapporteurs on human rights, said in a press release from the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
“According to information received, of the 93 executions in August, only a fraction is officially reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, highlighting the urgent need for transparency,” the experts added.
The U.N. reported that nearly half of all executions carried out last month occurred in response to alleged drug offenses, which the experts stressed went against “international standards.”
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ‘MUST PUT IRAN UNDER PRESSURE’: OFIR AKUNIS
“Countries that retain the death penalty must ensure that individuals are not subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the criminal justice process,” the experts said.
Portraits are exhibited behind a noose as a placard reads “Executions pro day” in front of the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) during a demonstration by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Berlin on Feb. 10, 2024. (Stefanie Loos/AFP via Getty Images)
“Wrongful executions are irreversible. The current implementation of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran leaves us extremely concerned that innocent individuals may have been executed,” the experts added. “We renew our appeal to Iranian authorities to halt executions of all individuals sentenced to death,”
Drug offenses have become a leading rationale for the Iranian government to carry out executions, which have hit an eight-year high, according to Amnesty International. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which counts Iran among its members, limits the death penalty to only the “most serious crimes,” which does not include drug offenses.
GRAHAM URGES BIDEN, ISRAEL TO TAKE ON IRAN AFTER HOSTAGES KILLED, CALLS HARRIS FOREIGN POLICY ‘WRECKING BALL’
The non-profit alleges in a report released earlier this year that Iran’s executions started to increase following the 2022 unrest that resulted from the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died under suspicious circumstances after a clash with Iran’s morality police due to allegedly not correctly wearing her hijab headscarf.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony at Imam Khomeini Husseinya to commemorate Arbaeen in Tehran, Iran on Aug. 25, 2024. (Iran’s Supreme Leader Press Office / HANDOUT/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In the report, Amnesty International characterizes Iran’s use of executions not as a tool of punishment but of intimidation, seeking to “instill fear among the population and tighten their grip on power.”
Iran this year has executed over 400 people, including over a dozen women – putting the country on track to match the roughly 850 executions in 2023, most of which punished political dissidents.
People take part in a demonstration organized by the “Women’s Life Freedom” movement to mark the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death on Sept. 16, 2023 in Paris. (Ameer Alhalbi/Getty Images)
“Never-mind the change at the top: Musical chairs between Iranian presidents has had zero bearing on the plight of the Iranian people to include rights violations and executions at home,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
TOP GENERAL IN FIGHT AGAINST THE TALIBAN SAYS AFGHANISTAN HAS ONCE AGAIN BECOME A ‘CRUCIBLE OF TERRORISM’
“Tehran’s true face is on display here,” Taleblu argued. “A rise in executions including for alleged drug-related offenses is a feature, not a bug, of the vision the Islamic Republic has for order at home.”
“Show trials, forced confessions, and violations of due process feature all too prominently in these death sentence cases,” he added.
Iranian members of the diaspora, activists, gathered in front of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin during the “United Against Executions in Iran” protest on Jan. 27, 2024. (Echo Iran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.N. highlighted the case of Reza Rasaei, an Iranina-Kurdish protester whom authorities punished based on a “confession reportedly obtained through torture.”
The government alleged that Rasaei was involved in the death of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member, and it pursued execution even after co-defendants retracted their testimonies about his involvement and a forensic medical examiner challenging Rasaei’s involvement.
The special rapporteurs serve as part of the Special Procedures group on the Human Rights Council, pursuing fact-finding missions and monitoring “mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.”
new video loaded: Ebola Comes for Congo’s Most Vulnerable Children
transcript
transcript
Ebola Comes for Congo’s Most Vulnerable Children
The arrival of a sick newborn at Saint Nicholas Orphanage in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo set off an Ebola outbreak that quickly spread among the country’s most vulnerable. Local health authorities are now monitoring the children’s home, but at least two babies have already died.
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These Congolese children are re-entering the world after five days of isolation. It’s the first year of their lives, and they’re at the center of a deadly Ebola outbreak. The babies are all orphans who were brought to this hospital after showing symptoms of the virus. They’ve just tested negative and are being taken to a temporary home. But at least two other babies from the same orphanage have died. What happened to them has been a worst-case scenario for health officials trying to stop Ebola from spreading to young children. The alarms went off in late May here at Saint Nicholas children’s home after the arrival of a newborn girl, Patience, who quickly developed a fever. We were given a tour of the orphanage, where nearly 70 children plus their caretakers live. A pediatrician tracked baby Patience’s mother’s case and learned that she had Ebola when she died. Days later, Patience died, too. She was 9 days old. This was one of the last photos taken of her while she was still alive. It’s unclear whether the family knew she could be infected. The relative who brought her to Saint Nicholas declined to talk to us when we reached him by phone. By the time anyone at the orphanage understood the danger, some of the staff had already held and cared for Patience. Soon, more children were showing symptoms of the virus. When we visited the Ebola treatment ward, this 10-month-old seemed to be getting better. Baby Elysée was being cared for by Sister Cecile Nube, one of three staff members at the orphanage who also tested positive. Even while sick herself, Sister Nube stayed by Elysée’s side, feeding her, giving her medicine and watching over her. Elisée died 24 hours after we met her. A reminder of how quickly the disease can turn, especially for babies. Now Saint Nicholas is under quarantine. Every day, contact tracers visit the orphanage, checking the children and their caretakers for fevers. “Some of them today are presenting a little bit higher temperature, but they are OK at the moment.” The concern is that one infection here could quickly become many. “It could have been a recipe of disaster. It’s a very classic situation where Ebola can very fastly devastate the community. They are playing together and they are spending the whole day together. So it’s spreading from one person to the next. And for zero time you’ll see the entire community being infected.” For now, the orphanage remains under watch. It’s still a refuge for children who need shelter and care even as every new symptom raises the fear that the virus could still be spreading.
By Bethlehem Feleke, Michael Anthony Adams, Yasu Tsuji and Jon Hazell
June 13, 2026
World
Mexican authorities discover body in trunk near Iranian soccer team’s World Cup training grounds: report
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Mexican authorities discovered a decomposing corpse with “signs of violence” near Tijuana’s Caliente Stadium, where the Iranian national soccer team is training during the World Cup, according to a New York Post report.
Authorities responded to complaints about a bad smell wafting from a gray Toyota SUV with California plates parked in a grocery store parking lot near the stadium, the Post reported.
“Upon inspecting the vehicle, they found a person wrapped in a black bag in the trunk, showing signs of violence,” a spokesperson for the Tijuana prosecutor’s office told the Post.
According to the report, the car had a damaged back end and was equipped with a license plate holder from a Tijuana car dealership.
HIDDEN TUNNEL DISCOVERED IN TIJUANA MAY HAVE SUPPORTED CROSS-BORDER TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS
Forensic workers inspect a car where a body was allegedly found at a parking lot close to Caliente stadium, where Iran’s national football team trains, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on June 12, 2026. (Guillermo Arias / AFP via Getty Images)
Mexican officials could be seen wearing white jumpsuits while collecting evidence from the car in photos taken from the scene.
Forensic workers inspect a car where a body was allegedly found at a parking lot close to Caliente stadium, where Iran’s national football team trains, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on June 12, 2026. (Guillermo Arias / AFP via Getty Images)
TSUNAMI OF SEWAGE FROM MEXICO BARRELS TOWARD US COASTLINE, OFFICIALS WARN
Tijuana, located just across the U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, California, is frequently rated as one of the most violent cities in the world.
Iran soccer players pose for a team photo before a friendly match against Costa Rica in Antalya, Turkey, on March 31, 2026. (Riza Ozel/AP)
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Iran’s national team is training at Caliente Stadium in preparation for their upcoming World Cup game against New Zealand in Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Monday.
Ahead of attending the long-awaited G7 summit in Évian, US President Donald Trump has announced a peace deal with Iran could be finalised on Sunday, paving the way for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
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“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
Donald Trump also says the US will take Iran’s enriched uranium ‘dust’ when ‘all is calm’.
Trump’s statement, however, ran counter to Iran’s foreign ministry which indicated earlier in the day that the deal would not be signed on Sunday, according to state media reports.
Earlier, Pakistan’s prime minister said on Saturday that a peace deal between the United States and Iran is likely to be finalised within the next 24 hours.
Writing on X, Shehbaz Sharif said: “We are closer to a peace deal than ever before”.
But Trump’s post also contained a warning to the Islamic Republic to fully implement the plan or face serious consequences.
“Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly,” the US president wrote. “If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again!”
Throughout the negotiations Iran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium.
Trump’s post does not mention Israel and the war in Lebanon, nor the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz which so far have been the Iranian leadership’s two key demands for any peace agreement.
Trump appears to offer an olive branch to the Iranian leadership by saying that the “relationship with Iran is a much different and better one than previous administrations had,” and that “we look forward to working with Iran, and the entire Middle East, long into the future,” signalling a significant change in the US messaging after the prior threatening statements.
Trump mentions “hopefully” when he expresses his wish for the process to “work out quickly, easily and smoothly,” given how complicated the peace negotiations have been, and he states that military options remain on the table, calling it “the ultimate alternative,” which he hopes “never to be used again.” Another key Iranian demand has been the assurance that the US and Israel will never attack Iran again.
The status of US-Iran talks aimed at ending the Middle East war will be a dominant concern at the G7 summit, as will the be the war in Ukraine.
Trump to work with Zelenskyy, says official
Trump will take part in a G7 working session with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in France on Tuesday, but no bilateral meeting between the two is scheduled, a senior administration official said.
“On Tuesday morning, President Trump will participate in a working session with G7 leaders and President Zelensky of Ukraine,” the official told reporters Saturday on condition of anonymity.
The G7 summit will take place in Evian on June 15-17, and Trump is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings on its sidelines with French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and India, the official said.
Trump is also scheduled to dine at the Versailles palace west of Paris with Macron on Wednesday evening, after the summit wraps up.
The dinner is a way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in a “landmark of Franco-American friendship where the treaty establishing the independence of the United States was signed in 1783,” according to Macron’s office.
Trump has shifted his attention away from efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February.
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