INTERNACIONAL
‘Killing off the country’: Iran executes dozens, arrests 4,000+ in war crackdown
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday accused Iran’s regime of dramatically intensifying its crackdown on dissent in the wake of the February conflict, warning that Tehran has carried out executions, mass arrests, torture and one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns while invoking national security.
In a sharply worded statement from Geneva, Türk said at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges since Feb. 28, as the regime faces mounting scrutiny over what he described as a sweeping assault on fundamental rights.
«I am appalled that, on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict, the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways,» Türk said.
COULD NARGES MOHAMMADI UNITE IRAN’S OPPOSITION? HUSBAND SAYS IMPRISONED NOBEL LAUREATE STILL FIGHTING
A protester holds ‘Stop executions in Iran’ and ‘Free Iran’ placards during the demonstration. Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street in protest against executions in Iran and in support of freedom for Iran. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Since the start of the conflict two months ago, the U.N. said nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges. It’s estimated that some 40,000 people were killed by regime forces during January’s uprising.
Türk warned that Iran’s broad use of vaguely defined national security laws has enabled authorities to fast-track prosecutions, deny legal counsel, and rely on coerced confessions.
«Even where national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited where strictly necessary and proportionate,» he said, calling on Tehran to halt executions, impose a moratorium on capital punishment, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained.
For many Iranian dissidents, the findings reflect an already dire reality.
A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: (L to R) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father as its supreme leader on March 9, 2026. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
«It is bad,» Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the Iran So Far Away Substack, told Fox News Digital. «They’re completely killing off the country.»
On Saturday, it was reported that Iran had executed another athlete, a 21-year-old karate champion. Sassan Azadvar Joonqani was detained in January during the anti-regime protests and was executed by the regime on Thursday, according to a report in Euronews.
Wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi was executed by the regime in March for alleged illegal actions in January’s protests against the authorities. (The Foreign Desk)
Last month, Iran executed another athlete, 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi, for protesting against the regime, Fox News Digital reported.
Türk’s office said detainees have reportedly faced enforced disappearances, torture, mock executions, and televised confessions, with ethnic and religious minorities including Bahá’ís, Zoroastrians, Kurds and Baluch Iranians facing particular risk.
RUBIO REVOKES IRANIAN OFFICIALS’ US TRAVEL PRIVILEGES OVER DEADLY PROTEST CRACKDOWN KILLING THOUSANDS
Ali and Kiana Rahmani accept the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 on behalf of their mother, imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, at Oslo City Hall in Norway on Dec. 10, 2023. (Javad Parsa/NTB/Reuters)
Among those cited by the U.N. was imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, whose condition sharply worsened Friday after what her family described as a catastrophic health crisis following months of being denied specialized care.
According to a statement from the Narges Foundation that was published Friday, Mohammadi was urgently transferred by ambulance from Zanjan Prison to a hospital after suffering two episodes of complete loss of consciousness in a single day, accompanied by severe cardiac distress. The foundation said prison doctors determined her condition could no longer be managed on-site after what her family called a «last-minute» transfer that may have come dangerously late.
Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, told Fox News Digital earlier this week that her physical condition had already become increasingly dire after what he described as a violent arrest and deteriorating prison treatment. «She has sustained severe trauma and urgently requires medical attention.»
Rahmani previously said Mohammadi’s medical team and outside specialists had pushed for treatment in Tehran due to her history of multiple heart procedures, while authorities allegedly blocked those recommendations until her condition became life-threatening. Despite her physical decline, Rahmani said, «Spiritually and mentally, Narges remains steadfast.»
IRAN’S KHAMENEI LASHES OUT AT PROTESTERS AS NATIONWIDE ANTI-REGIME UNREST GROWS
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP) (UGC via AP)
The U.N. statement, combined with Mohammadi’s emergency hospitalization, has intensified scrutiny of Iran’s prison conditions, which Türk described as marked by overcrowding, medical neglect, and severe human rights abuses.
Türk also cited dire prison conditions, including overcrowding, shortages of food, water and medicine, and denial of medical care.
The U.N. further highlighted reports of lethal violence in detention facilities, including claims that security forces killed at least five detainees in Chabahar Prison after protests over suspended food distribution.
But while dissidents welcomed the U.N.’s unusually forceful language, some also questioned whether condemnation without action can meaningfully alter conditions, especially as Iran this week was elevated to a vice-chair role on a U.N. nuclear nonproliferation committee.
«The reason why Iranians just don’t trust, don’t like and don’t want to know from the U.N.,» Zand said, is what she described as its repeated failure «to rise to the occasion of responding to the regime and holding their feet to the fire at the right time… with the right amount of pressure.»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Iranian diaspora activists gathered in front of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on Jan. 27, 2024, to protest the increase in death sentences by Iran’s Islamic Republic rulers. The demonstration was organized by the Echo Iran group. (Echo Iran/Middle East Images/AFP)
While she said the latest statement itself was important, Zand argued many view such condemnations as hollow when paired with what they see as institutional legitimacy granted to Tehran.
«They’re making a statement… fine,» she said. «But what are they gonna do about it?»
war with iran, iran, persecutions, united nations, terrorism
INTERNACIONAL
El cisma en la Iglesia: el Papa León XIV excomulgó a obispos lefebvrianos por desafiar su autoridad
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
TEL AVIV: As Israel marks 1,000 days since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, children — many still coping with the psychological effects of the war — are beginning their summer vacation, with some navigating the uncertainties of traveling abroad amid rising antisemitism and others grappling at home with the anxieties of living in a society shaped by nearly three years of war on multiple fronts.
Lilach, 47, of Kibbutz Eilon, jut over a mile and a half from Israel’s border with Lebanon in the Western Galilee, told Fox News Digital she hopes her children — Yuval, Amit, and Yoni — will finally be able to enjoy a normal summer.
During the war, there was always concern about leaving home. The kids were barely in school and spent most of their time indoors in front of screens,» she said.
«I hope they can now spend time with their friends and enjoy activities together. Tomorrow, Yoni is going to an amusement park. I just want them to have fun, be with their friends and enjoy being kids again,» she added.
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT KILLED ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE OCT. 7 ATTACKS
A woman reacts as the community of Kibbutz Kfar Aza commemorates their members who were killed, taken hostage and who died in captivity, following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas terrorists, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel, Oct. 16, 2025. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, Lilach said, her children have had only one uninterrupted year of school.
«It was hard. They would start school, attend for a month or two, then classes would stop because of the war with Iran or fighting with Lebanon, and then resume. It was difficult to get back into a routine each time. It felt like starting a new school year over and over again,» she said.
People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Despite the repeated disruptions, Lilach said her daughter Amit graduated from high school thanks to her determination and private tutoring. Yoni, however, who has attention deficit disorder, struggled with spending weeks at home during the fighting and will move to a smaller classroom next year to receive additional support.
Evacuated with her family a day after the Oct. 7 attacks, Anat, 50, of Kibbutz Yiftah in the Upper Galilee, less than two miles from Israel’s border with Lebanon, told Fox News Digital that her children changed schools three times before the family returned home in February 2025. During Israel’s recent war with Iran, they were again out of school for about six weeks.
An Israeli school security officer watches on as students enter school (Eitan Elhadz/TPS)
«Every day, having my 10-year-old log on to Zoom for online classes was a challenge. It was very difficult to maintain a routine and continuity in her learning,» Anat said.
With the family hoping to travel abroad this summer, Anat said she has tried to shelter her children from the tidal wave of antisemitism that has emerged globally over the past three years of war.
«We don’t talk at home about people around the world who hate us. We love everyone, and we don’t talk about hate, period. For them, traveling is something wonderful that they can’t wait for,» she said. «Despite how difficult it has been, our children are strong. They have grown up quickly because of everything they’ve been through and know how to cope. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves—we’re fighters.»
EXPERTS URGE EXTREME CAUTION ON IRAN’S ‘CROWN JEWEL’ HEZBOLLAH — TERROR GROUP WITH US BLOOD ON ITS HANDS
Israeli school kids on an outing on June 30, 2026. (Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL)
Nufar Bar Lipshatz, a developmental psychologist in the Northern District of Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest healthcare provider, said many children continue to show signs of trauma.
According to data she cited from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, 25,274 children had been officially recognized as victims of hostile acts between Oct. 7, 2023 and the end of 2025. She also referenced a joint study by the Goshen organization and the Israeli Pediatric Association showing that 84% of Israeli children exhibited signs of emotional distress by late 2023 following the cross-border terror assault from Gaza and Hezbollah’s entry into the war from Lebanon the following day.
«We see many symptoms that are connected but manifest differently in each child, whether it’s a child who can’t speak, wets their pants, or develops [nervous] tics,» Bar Lipshatz said. «Trauma is real, and children can’t always express it with words, so they act it out. They reenact running to shelters, their father being deployed, war, aggression and kidnappings during play.»
Protesters attend an anti-Israel demonstration in Leipzig, Germany Jan. 17, 2026. (Christian Mang/Reuters)
She recalled treating a girl who became unable to ride her bicycle because she constantly looked over her shoulder, checking whether someone was behind her.
While summer vacation may offer temporary relief, Bar Lipshatz warned that long breaks from routine can reinforce anxiety.
«We know from research that children need stability and routine because it helps them feel safe. During school breaks, children may feel safer because they are avoiding situations that trigger stress, but over time they are also avoiding facing their fears,» she said. «We need to give parents and children the tools to cope with stress because it will not disappear simply by staying at home.»
Bar Lipshatz, who also works with autistic children, said travel itself can be challenging because unfamiliar sounds and crowded environments may trigger traumatic memories.
SIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER
«When you go on vacation, you go to places with lots of people and noise. What we think could be fun can actually become a trigger,» she said, recalling a trip to Romania where bear-warning sirens in a national park sounded identical to Israel’s missile alerts.
She noted that one of her young patients told her she feared traveling abroad because, despite the war, Israel felt more predictable than an unfamiliar country.
In a bid to maintain a sense of routine and help students catch up on lost time, the Israeli Ministry of Education told Fox News Digital that it will continue operating throughout the summer through programs serving approximately 1.12 million students, supported by an investment of about $270 million.
Soldiers carry Oster’s coffin during his funeral on Wednesday in Tel Aviv. (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)
For the first time, middle school students will participate in summer programs focused on artificial intelligence, STEM subjects, mathematics, science, and English. The ministry said the highest participation rates are in northern and southern communities affected by the war.
It also said it will continue providing emotional support through its Psychological Counseling Service, expand psychological services for students in need, and keep its «Voice for All» support hotline operating throughout the summer.
«The education system will continue to support Israeli students during the summer vacation to ensure educational, emotional and social continuity for every student who needs it,» the ministry said.
FROM HOMEROOM TO HATE: HOW JEWISH STUDENTS ARE FACING A NEW KIND OF PRESSURE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Children affected by the war are also attending summer camps such as those led by OneFamily, an organization that supports victims of terrorism and war and their families.
More than 400 children — each of whom has lost an immediate family member to terrorism or war, most since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — will take part in OneFamily’s annual summer camp from July 8 to July 13 in the Golan Heights, where they will spend time with other children who share similar experiences of grief and loss.
A central focus of the camp is helping children build resilience while learning to cope with their grief. This year, the organization’s founding director, Chantal Belzberg, received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
Israeli children at the OneFamily summer camp, July 2025. (Meir Pavlovski)
Activities include swimming, competitions, sports, but also therapeutic group dialogue circles. On the last night, some campers share stories about their lost loved ones and their own journey to healing, followed by a big concert.
«Children who have lost a parent, both parents or siblings to terrorism or acts of war don’t always want to go to therapy. But when you bring them together with other children who have experienced the same loss, it gives them strength and creates a therapeutic environment,» Belzberg told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«They come to have fun, and through the activities they meet other children who have gone through the same thing. That’s when they begin to talk. Traditional support services are not always places where children want to go,» she continued.
«We bring them together so they meet children who truly understand them. They realize they are not alone and can build a community where they don’t feel isolated. One of the greatest challenges after trauma is isolation,» she added.
anti semitism, israel, conflicts, terrorism, war with iran
INTERNACIONAL
Francisco, papa argentino: “El corrupto no conoce la fraternidad, conoce la complicidad”
En el vasto andamiaje del pensamiento contemporáneo, pocas figuras han diseccionado las dinámicas del poder con la crudeza conceptual de Jorge Bergoglio. Mucho antes de convertirse en el Papa Francisco, el entonces arzobispo de Buenos Aires ya orbitaba alrededor de una obsesión que combinaba la teología pastoral con la sociología de las instituciones: la naturaleza destructiva de la corrupción. Sobre este asunto dejó un gran aforismo: “El corrupto no conoce la fraternidad, conoce la complicidad”.
Detrás de esta línea hay una tesis filosófica que define la corrupción como la negación absoluta del lazo social y la instauración de una mafia del espíritu. Aunque el mundo la escuchó con resonancia global el 23 de octubre de 2014, cuando el Papa Francisco la pronunció en el Aula del Sínodo de la Ciudad del Vaticano ante los miembros de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Penal, la idea ya había sido gestada casi una década antes en el ruidoso escenario de la crisis argentina.
La matriz conceptual de esta declaración se encuentra en Corrupción y pecado: algunas reflexiones en torno al tema de la corrupción, un breve pero filoso ensayo publicado por Jorge Bergoglio en el año 2005. En aquellas páginas, escritas bajo el pulso de una sociedad que aún suturaba las heridas políticas y económicas del cambio de siglo, el cardenal se propuso delimitar una frontera invisible pero insalvable para la Iglesia católica: la sutil distancia que separa al pecador del corrupto.
Cuando en 2014 se paró frente a los máximos penalistas del mundo, no lo hizo para hablar exclusivamente de códigos o procedimientos técnicos, sino para describir la psicología del criminal de cuello blanco. Fue en ese contexto de debate sobre los abusos del poder punitivo y la criminalidad económica donde la frase cobró su dimensión definitiva. ¿Por qué el corrupto es incapaz de la fraternidad? Para el Papa Francisco, la fraternidad requiere una simetría moral y la aceptación de la vulnerabilidad del otro.
En su concepción, el hermano es un igual con quien se comparte un destino común. El corrupto, atrapado en una paranoia de impunidad, es incapaz de mirar al otro sin calcular su utilidad. La complicidad es, entonces, la siniestra parodia de la amistad. Mientras que la amistad libera, la complicidad encadena; mientras que la fraternidad se funda en la transparencia, la complicidad exige el secreto compartimentado. Los hombres libres se asocian para construir; los cómplices, para encubrir.
En la arquitectura mental que Jorge Bergoglio describe, el corrupto no tiene amigos, tiene socios; no genera redes de contención, sino pactos de silencio. Quien no entra en la transa colectiva no es un disidente: es un enemigo directo que amenaza la estabilidad del sistema. Esta idea no es un satélite periférico en su producción intelectual; es el centro de gravedad de su geopolítica y sus encíclicas más disruptivas. El pensamiento bergogliano se hamaca siempre entre dos polos: la comunión y la fragmentación.
A diferencia del pecador común, que experimenta la culpa y el peso de su caída —vía que el pensamiento católico clásico explora en obras que van desde las Confesiones de San Agustín hasta la literatura existencialista de Graham Greene—, el corrupto analizado por Jorge Bergoglio ha anestesiado su conciencia. El corrupto no se siente en falta; se siente un ganador. Vive en un estado de autosuficiencia donde la impunidad, y su consiguiente autopreservación, ha sido internalizada como un derecho adquirido.
En última instancia, al denunciar que el corrupto solo conoce la complicidad, el Papa Francisco despoja a la corrupción de su ropaje meramente financiero. Nos advierte que el verdadero peligro de este flagelo no es el dinero que se desvía, sino la degradación antropológica que produce: la transformación de una comunidad de hermanos en una asociación ilícita de cómplices. Esas palabras tan simples y a la vez tan profundas vuelven a sonar hoy cuando —lo vimos estos días— la corrupción sigue enquistada.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, conocido como el Papa Francisco, nació en Buenos Aires, Argentina, el 17 de diciembre de 1936. Hijo de inmigrantes italianos, se graduó como técnico químico antes de descubrir su vocación religiosa y unirse a la Compañía de Jesús en 1958. Su carrera eclesiástica avanzó con rapidez: se desempeñó como provincial de los jesuitas en Argentina y, en 1998, asumió como arzobispo de Buenos Aires, cargo desde el cual se convirtió en una figura central de la Iglesia latinoamericana.
Su liderazgo cercano, su estilo de vida austero y su constante preocupación por las periferias marcaron su gestión pastoral en el país, consolidando un perfil profundamente enfocado en la justicia social y el cuidado de los sectores más vulnerables. El 13 de marzo de 2013 hizo historia al ser elegido como el papa número 266 de la Iglesia católica, convirtiéndose en el primer pontífice jesuita y el primero proveniente de América. Adoptó el nombre de Francisco en honor a San Francisco de Asís.
A lo largo de sus doce años de pontificado, impulsó reformas estructurales en la curia romana, abogó por la transparencia financiera e instaló debates globales a través de encíclicas fundamentales como Laudato si’ (sobre el cuidado del medio ambiente) y Fratelli tutti (sobre la fraternidad y la amistad social). Tras un prolongado deterioro de su salud debido a afecciones respiratorias, falleció a los 88 años el 21 de abril de 2025 en su residencia de la Casa de Santa Marta, en la Ciudad del Vaticano.
“No debería estar en el Mundial”: la cruda confesión de un goleador tras ser clave en la heroica remontada de su selección
Calendario de Anses para julio 2026 confirmado para jubilados, AUH y asignaciones
Hablaron los youtubers argentinos luego de su detención durante el Mundial: “Nosotros fuimos a trabajar”
El cisma en la Iglesia: el Papa León XIV excomulgó a obispos lefebvrianos por desafiar su autoridad
El Gobierno prepara una reunión de la mesa política para la semana que viene y define el envío de los cambios a la ley de Inocencia Fiscal
Juicio por Loan Peña, en vivo: todas las declaraciones y las últimas noticias, hoy 2 de julio
Exigen que Adorni renuncie a su cargo en el directorio de YPF
Tras haber dejado su cargo de jefe de Gabinete, Manuel Adorni también renunciará como director de YPF
Shipping giant warns Strait of Hormuz chaos is ‘new normal’ as Tehran shifts 4M barrels
Javier Milei irá a la cumbre del Mercosur en tensión con Brasil y con Venezuela como telón de fondo
POLITICA1 día agoCon la incorporación de Santilli al Gabinete, el Gobierno relanza su estrategia para las elecciones 2027
- ECONOMIA3 días ago
Exportadores y el sindicato de aceiteros acordaron un aumento de sueldo para todo 2026
- ECONOMIA2 días ago
Comcast’s Breakup Is Overdue. It Shouldn’t Rush Into a New Marriage.
