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Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed dozens in a wave of repression following the 12-day war with Israel, activists say, accusing the Islamic republic of using fear to compensate for weaknesses revealed by the conflict.Campaigners have been detained on the street or at home, executions expedited, prisoners transferred to unknown locations and minorities also targeted, according to rights groups.Six men have been hanged on charges of spying for Israel since the start of the conflict, dozens more on other charges and more than 1,000 arrested during or after the conflict on charges related to the war, according to Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based NGO.It said the majority of those detained were people whose mobile devices were searched and content such as footage of Israeli military actions was reportedly discovered.Leading campaigners arrested include the freedom of speech activist Hossein Ronaghi, while other figures such as rapper Toomaj and activist Arash Sadeghi were released after being roughly arrested and interrogated, according to reports.Roya Boroumand, executive director of the US-based NGO Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, said that with the crackdown Iranian authorities were attempting to suppress public discontent over the “humiliating blow” inflicted by Israel, which showed the Islamic republic was “unable to control its airspace and protect civilians”.”Now, to maintain control and prevent its opponents inside the country from organising and mobilising forces, Iran’s leaders are turning to fear. And they may only just be getting started,” she told AFP.- ‘Wounded animal’ -Boroumand recalled that the ceasefire that ended the 1980-1988 war with Iraq was followed by a wave of repression that included the execution of thousands of dissidents.”If unchecked, the violence that targets Iranians today will target others outside Iran’s borders,” she added.Iran’s leaders have faced criticism from inside the country over their apparent failure to prevent the Israeli and US air attacks. There was no working siren or shelter system, with what protection there was dating back to the 1980s conflict with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.Meanwhile, the killing in air strikes of top officials, military officers and nuclear scientists exposed Israel’s deep intelligence penetration of Iran.That has prompted a major hunt for spies.Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said after the start of the war that the trial and punishment of anyone arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Israel “should be carried out and announced very quickly”.Three Europeans, who have not been identified, have also been arrested, two of whom are accused of spying for Israel, according to the authorities.”Like a wounded animal, the Islamic republic is going after every perceived threat in the country with deadly force,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).- ‘Wave of repression’ -The Norway-based Hengaw rights group, which focuses on Kurdish-populated areas of western and northwestern Iran, said 300 people of Kurdish ethnicity had been arrested in the crackdown.”A widespread wave of repression and mass arrests has unfolded across the country,” it said, adding that “Kurdish cities have borne a disproportionate share of these crackdowns” and that detainees have included a “significant number of women and teenage girls”.Non-Muslim religious minorities have also faced pressure.Some 35 members of Iran’s remaining Jewish community, estimated to be just 10,000-strong but recognised as an official minority by the Islamic republic, have been summoned for questioning in recent days, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).Iranian security forces have also raided dozens of homes belonging to members of the Baha’i religious minority during and after the war with Israel, according to the IranWire news website.The Baha’i faith, which has a spiritual centre in the Israeli city of Haifa, is Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority but has no official recognition.

UK police on Monday launched a criminal investigation into remarks made by rap groups Kneecap and Bob Vylan during the Glastonbury festival, as the US revoked visas for the latter after its frontman led an anti-Israel chant.Bob Vylan, a London-based duo which often tackles racism in its tracks, was slammed by international and British politicians after the group led the crowds in chants of “Death to the IDF” — the Israeli military.Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after the show there was “no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech”.Avon and Somerset Police in southwest England said a “criminal investigation is now being undertaken” after reviewing “video footage and audio” of both Kneecap and Bob Vylan.”The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes,” police said in a statement.The BBC apologised for not pulling the live stream of Bob Vylan’s performance at the festival over the weekend.”With hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen,” the broadcaster said.It added that the “antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves”.Media watchdog Ofcom said it was “very concerned” and the BBC had questions to answer. “We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency,” it added.Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel called for the public broadcaster to be investigated over the time it took for the video to be removed from the BBC’s online streaming platform.”I think that the latest (BBC) statement is absolutely pathetic,” Haskel told Times Radio.- ‘Not welcome visitors’ -Controversy descended on this year’s festival before it even began over the inclusion of Kneecap, one of whose members was recently charged under terror legislation. During their show on Saturday, one Kneecap member also wore a T-shirt dedicated to the Palestine Action Group, which is about to be banned under UK terror laws.The chants about Israel’s military were led by Bob Vylan’s frontman who goes by the stage name Bobby Vylan, and were broadcast live on the BBC.Bob Vylan also chanted “free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — an expression which some see as a call for Israel’s destruction, but others say demands an end to Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.The United States on Monday said it would revoke visas for Bob Vylan’s members, ahead of its American tour dates scheduled later this year.”Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X.- ‘Crossed a line’ -Causing a possible political headache for the UK, the Israel embassy issued a statement saying “it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens slammed the chants as “anti-Semitic” and a “disgrace”.Glastonbury’s organisers said the the comments had “very much crossed a line”.”We are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” the festival said in a statement.Kneecap, which has made headlines in recent months with its pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance, also led crowds in chanting abuse against Prime Minister Starmer.Starmer and other politicians had said the band should not perform after its member Liam O’Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence.He appeared in court this month accused of having displayed a Hezbollah flag while saying “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” at a London concert last year.The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Palestinian militants Hamas are banned in the UK, where it is an offence to express support for them.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 48 people on Monday, including 21 at a seafront rest area, as fresh calls grew for a ceasefire in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.The swift resolution of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran has revived hopes for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, where more than 20 months of combat have created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million.US President Donald Trump has recently urged Israel to “make the deal in Gaza”, while key mediator Qatar said Monday that “momentum” had been created by the truce with Iran last week.But on the ground, Israel has continued to press its offensive across the Palestinian territory in a bid to destroy the militant group Hamas. Gaza’s civil defence agency said 48 people had been killed by Israeli forces on Monday, including 21 in a strike on a seafront rest area near Gaza City.”The place is always crowded with people because the rest area offers drinks, family seating and internet access,” eyewitness Ahmed Al-Nayrab, 26, told AFP, recalling a “huge explosion that shook the area”.”I saw body parts flying everywhere, and bodies cut and burned… It was a scene that made your skin crawl.”Another eyewitness, Bilal Awkal, 35, said “blood covered the ground and screams filled the air”. “Women and children were everywhere, like a scene from a movie about the end of the world.”  Approached for comment by AFP, the Israeli army said it was “looking into” the reports. The Hamas government media office reported that photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab was among those killed in the strike.Israeli restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the territory.- ‘Targeting was deliberate’ -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 27 others were killed by Israeli strikes or gunfire across Gaza, including “11 people killed near aid distribution points in the central and southern parts of the territory”.Eyewitnesses and local authorities have reported repeated killings of Palestinians near distribution centres in recent weeks, after Israel began allowing in a trickle of aid at the end of May. Samir Abu Jarbou, 28, told AFP by phone that he had gone with  relatives to pick up food in an area of central Gaza around midnight.”Suddenly the (Israeli) army opened fire, and drones started shooting. We ran away and got nothing,” he said.In the southern city of Khan Yunis, the dead and wounded were rushed to a hospital in an open-top trailer after aid seekers said they were fired on by Israeli forces in nearby Rafah. “The targeting was deliberate, aimed at people as they were leaving,” eyewitness Aboud al-Adwi told AFP.”There was no one among us who was wanted or posed any threat. We were all civilians, simply trying to get food for our children,” he added.AFP footage from Nasser Hospital showed the wounded being treated on the blood-stained floor.The Israeli military said it needed more information when asked for comment on Monday’s deadly strikes and gunfire.It also issued a fresh evacuation order for several areas in and around Gaza City.- ‘No longer any benefit’ -Netanyahu had said on Sunday that Israel’s “victory” over Iran had created “opportunities”, including for freeing hostages.”Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists Monday.Opposition leader Yair Lapid, meanwhile, urged an end to the fighting in the territory, saying there was “no longer any benefit” to the war.Trump had said on Friday that he was hoping for a new ceasefire in Gaza “within the next week”.Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told journalists on Monday that “momentum” had been created by the Iran-Israel ceasefire on June 24.”We won’t hold our breath for this to happen today and tomorrow, but we believe that the elements are in place to push forward towards restarting the talks,” he added. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.

Militants from the PKK will begin laying down their weapons at a disarmament ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan in early July, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported on Monday. The move comes just six weeks after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced it was ending more than four decades of guerrilla warfare in a conflict that claimed over 40,000 lives. Turkey’s Kurdish minority is hoping the PKK’s decision will pave the way for a political settlement with Ankara that will herald a new openness to the Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey’s population of 85 millionCiting two sources in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Rudaw said the move would be both a “trust-building step” and a “goodwill gesture” to advance the reconciliation process with Turkey. According to the sources, the ceremony would take place in Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan’s second-biggest city. Most of the PKK’s fighters have spent the past decade in the mountains of northern Iraq, where Turkey also maintains military bases and has carried out frequent operations against Kurdish fighters.”Between July 3 and 10, a group of PKK members, probably numbering between 20 and 30, will lay down their weapons in a ceremony to be held in Sulaimaniyah,” Rudaw said.- Return to bases -The sources said jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan was expected to issue a new message regarding the resolution process “in the next few days”.”After that, the disarmament process will officially begin,” they said. The PKK decision was in response to a call in February by Ocalan, who has been serving life on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he would, in the coming days, meet a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party, which has played a key role in shuttling messages between Ocalan and Ankara. Quoting one of the sources, Rudaw said that after laying down their weapons, the militants would “then return to their bases, unarmed”, denying reports they would be held in certain cities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”The guerrillas will return to their bases after disarming. It is out of the question for them to go to any city,” the source said.Until now, there has been little detail about how the dissolution mechanism would work but the Turkish government has said it would carefully monitor the process to ensure full implementation.

Israel said Monday it is “interested” in striking peace agreements with neighbouring Lebanon and Syria, a potentially historic shift in the region after decades of war and animosity.With Syria under new leadership after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement weakened, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists his government wanted more normalisation agreements with Arab countries.”Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalisation,” Saar said of the US-brokered deals that Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020, during US President Donald Trump’s first term.”We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbours — to the circle of peace and normalisation while safeguarding Israel’s essential and security interests,” Saar told a news conference in Jerusalem alongside his Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s recent “victory” in a 12-day war against Iran “opens the path to dramatically enlarge the peace accords”.- Golan Heights tensions -Control of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has long been a source of tension between Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war.Saar insisted that the strategic plateau, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the United Nations, “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future peace agreement.Following Assad’s overthrow in December, Israel moved forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarised zone in the Golan, and has carried out hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria.In Lebanon, the clout of militant group Hezbollah has diminished after it had emerged bruised from a conflict with Israel last year, fuelled by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.Israel, however, has kept up strikes against Hezbollah despite a November ceasefire.There was no immediate response from Lebanese or Syrian officials to Saar’s remarks.- US peace call -US officials say the end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran with a ceasefire on June 24 has raised prospects for broader peace efforts in the region.On Sunday, a senior US diplomat called for peace agreements by Israel with Syria and Lebanon in the wake of the Iran-Israel ceasefire and expected there would be discussions about it.Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey who is also a special envoy to Syria, said Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa “has indicated that he doesn’t hate Israel and that he wants peace on that border,” Barrack told Turkish news agency Anadolu.”I think that will also happen with Lebanon. It’s a necessity to have an agreement with Israel,” he added.Pressure has risen on the Israeli government to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip, prompted by Hamas’s deadly attack in October 2023.”Everybody is starting to move back towards the Abraham Accords, especially as the Gaza situation dissipates,” Barrack said.”What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: ‘Time out. Let’s create a new road’,” he added.”The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story.”

The High Court in London rejected a legal challenge on Monday brought by a Palestinian rights group seeking to block the UK from supplying components for Israeli F-35 fighter jets.Israel has used the jets to devastating effect in its bombardment of Gaza.Both sides have been accused of atrocities during a conflict that has killed tens of thousands — the vast majority of them Palestinian civilians, according to figures the United Nations deems reliable.The UK government suspended some export licences for military equipment after concluding there was a risk Israel could be breaching international humanitarian law but made an exemption for some parts for Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth jets.Rights group Al-Haq had asked the High Court for a judicial review, saying the “carve out” was unlawful and alleging the government had misunderstood the applicable rules of international law.It was supported by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and others in its case.Judges Stephen Males and Karen Steyn rejected all of the grounds for challenging the government’s decision, saying the case was really asking if the court could order the UK to “withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration”.”Under our constitution that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive, which is democratically accountable to parliament, and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts,” said the judges, denying permission for a judicial review.Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq, said in a statement to AFP his organisation would “continue to persevere in the UK and beyond until governments are held accountable”. A government spokesperson said the ruling showed that the UK was operating “one of the most robust export control regimes in the world”. – ‘Shocking increase’ -The UK contributes components to an international defence programme that produces and maintains the F-35s for Israel and several other countries.Defence Secretary John Healey had argued a suspension would impact the “whole F-35 programme” and have a “profound impact on international peace and security”.In September 2024, the new Labour government announced it was suspending around 30 of 350 export licences following a review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.But the partial ban did not cover British-made F-35 parts, which include refuelling probes, laser targeting systems, tyres and ejector seats, according to Oxfam.UK-based NGO Campaign Against Arms Trade has said that licensing figures showed the government had made a “shocking increase in military exports to Israel” in the months after the September 2024 announcement of partial suspensions.It said the figures showed the UK approved £127.6 million ($170 million) in military equipment to Israel in single-issue licences from October to December 2024, saying this was more than for the period from 2020 to 2023 combined.Most of the licences were for military radars, components and software, as well as targeting equipment, according to the NGO, which was involved in the case against the government.Israel launched war on Gaza after an attack by militants from Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,500 people in Gaza, an occupied Palestinian territory, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

A French court on Monday sentenced seven Afghans and two Iraqi Kurds to seven to eight years in jail over the fatal capsizing of a boat carrying would-be asylum seekers from France to England in 2022.France and Britain have vowed to crack down on people smugglers who heap migrants on flimsy dinghies to make the dangerous Channel crossing in exchange for thousands of dollars.In the latest such case to go to court in France, a small boat departed France early on December 14, 2022, carrying people from Afghanistan, Albania, India and Senegal. Four people died and four went missing after the dinghy burst a few kilometres (miles) from the English coast.Only one of the bodies was identified — that of an Afghan man. Rescuers saved 39 people from drowning.A court in the French city of Lille sentenced three men to eight years behind bars.They included an Afghan being tried in absentia and thought to be the mastermind of the smuggling operation.It handed the rest seven-year sentences over the disaster.They included two Afghan brothers accused of financing the operation and another Afghan who admitted to summoning passengers for the crossing, although he claimed he did it after being threatened. The court ordered all to pay 50,000 to 100,000 euros ($58,000 to 117,000) in fines, and to leave French territory at the end of their sentences. A tenth man, who is being held in Belgium, is to be tried at a later date.A British court has already sentenced a Senegalese minor who steered the boat to nine years in jail, French prosecutors said.During the trial earlier this month, the prosecutor said the dinghy involved in the accident had been “completely unsuitable for navigation on high seas”.She said the defendants had been benefitting from a “highly lucrative” illegal trade, with migrants paying on average 3,500 euros ($4,000) for the crossing.- Loud bang -According to the investigation, several people heard a loud bang that sounded like the dinghy had been punctured before the departure. The smugglers told the passengers not to worry and that the boat was the only one available for the crossing.But the sea was rough and there were not enough life jackets for all the passengers.Those who died were not wearing any, according to the testimony of survivors. After one or two hours, the boat filled with water and panicked passengers stood up to get the attention of another ship.But the hull of the capsizing boat burst under the weight of the water. All the passengers fell into the freezing sea.The 2022 accident was one of the deadliest in the Channel in recent years.In November 2021, another deadly incident killed 27 people off the French coast, in a case that has not yet gone to court.At least 17 people have died attempting the Channel crossing this year, after a record 78 lost their lives last year.As part of efforts to stem migrant crossings, French authorities intervene on land to try to prevent boats leaving. They also intervene at sea but only to rescue passengers if a boat asks for help.Paris says it is now considering also stopping migrant boats in its shallow coastal waters, though the move raises both safety and legal issues.