Saturday, May 9, 2026

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Trump's post: realDonaldTrump 📡 @VahidOnline

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Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, referencing fiber optic cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz and threatening to disrupt the global digital economy if these cables are damaged, has demanded fees from foreign companies and requiring tech giants like Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft to operate under Islamic Republic laws. Tasnim wrote: "Submarine fiber optic cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz daily carry over $10 trillion in financial transactions (including SWIFT messages, stock market trades, and currency exchanges)." The Guards-affiliated media outlet further demanded "collecting initial licensing fees and annual renewals from foreign companies, requiring tech giants (Meta, Amazon, Microsoft) to operate under Islamic Republic laws, and monopolizing cable repair and maintenance by Iranian companies." Fars, another Guards affiliate, also wrote in a report that dozens of submarine fiber optic cables connecting Asia, Europe, and the Middle East pass through the Strait of Hormuz gateway and threatened that "any damage to these cables could cause widespread disruptions in the internet and digital economy of various countries." @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, said on Saturday, May 9th, hours after holding the "Victory Day" parade in Moscow, that he believes the Ukraine war is coming to an end. Without referring to further details about this war, he told reporters: "I think this matter is coming to an end." The Financial Times reported on Thursday that European Union leaders are preparing for possible negotiations. When Putin was asked if he is ready to enter dialogue with Europeans, he said his preferred option is Gerhard Schröder, the former German Chancellor. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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A video has been released of nighttime gatherings of Islamic Republic supporters in which the singer says that women with "improper hijab" who participate in pro-government rallies are the "apple of their eye" and that people's appearance is not the criterion. The Islamic Republic system has previously arrested women without mandatory hijab and through a bill called "Hijab and Chastity" intended to impose heavy fines and deprivations against them. However, in recent weeks the government has tried to show its social base as widespread by releasing videos and interviews of a number of unveiled women at government rallies. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Lebanese officials announced on Saturday that eight people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon. A highway in southern Beirut was also targeted in an airstrike. These fresh attacks came despite a three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the group backed by [the Islamic Republic in] Iran; a ceasefire that has had little effect in stopping the daily exchange of fire, mainly in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah announced on Saturday that in response to the continued attacks, it had targeted Israeli forces in the north of the country with drones. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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The US Central Command, CENTCOM, announced on May 9, 2026 that America's naval blockade against the Islamic Republic continues to be fully implemented, and forces from this command have so far diverted 58 commercial ships and disabled four vessels to prevent them from entering or leaving Iranian ports. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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The passing of Abdullah Omidvar, one of the two Omidvar brothers who were among the first to travel around the world by motorcycle nearly 70 years ago, in Santiago, the capital of Chile. Abdullah, the younger brother, went to Chile after their journey ended and married there, establishing a film production company in Chile. Abdullah was 21 years old and Isa was 23 years old, in 1954

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Britain's Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it will deploy a destroyer to the Middle East ahead of any international mission to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. A ministry spokesperson told France's news agency: "The advance deployment of the destroyer HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that ensures Britain, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by Britain and France, will be ready to provide security for the strait at the appropriate time." London and Paris announced several weeks ago that military plans to secure the Strait of Hormuz are taking shape and will succeed in restoring the flow of commerce through this vital passage. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Bahrain's Interior Ministry announced on Saturday, May 9th, that it has arrested 41 people who, according to the ministry, were connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Bahrain's state news agency reported, citing the ministry, that security authorities have identified a group linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and added that investigations continue to identify and deal with anyone who has been active in this organization. @ VahidHeadline Ibrahim Azizi, head of the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, on Saturday, May 9th, threatened regional countries including Bahrain in a message posted on the social network X, warning they would face "serious consequences" if they support the US-proposed resolution in the UN Security Council. Azizi called Bahrain a "microscopic country" and wrote: "We warn governments like the microscopic country of Bahrain that are supporting the American resolution about the serious consequences of this action. Don't close the doors of the Strait of Hormuz on yourselves forever!" The mentioned resolution, which has been presented to the UN Security Council with support from the US and Persian Gulf countries, demands that Iran stop attacks against vessels intending to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, announce the exact locations of planted mines, and refrain from collecting any transit fees from passing vessels. @ VahidOOnLine Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry in a statement announced Riyadh's full support for actions that the Kingdom of Bahrain has taken to counter what it called "measures originating from Iran." The statement said these actions, according to Saudi officials, affect Bahrain's national security and are carried out with the aim of destabilizing the security and stability of this country. @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Amid the region's tense conditions, the "Make it in the Emirates" event was held in Abu Dhabi, where businesses invested nearly $46 billion in the UAE. According to OPEC's announcement, this figure exceeds the Islamic Republic's total oil revenue of $45.3 billion for 2025. Al Nahar reported that this investment covers defense and technology industries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and energy. This four-day event wasn't suspended even during wartime conditions and managed to strengthen the UAE's position as an industrial hub in the region. @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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At the start of the eleventh week of the nationwide international internet blackout in Iran, a government official warned that this government action will become a "security threat" to the Islamic Republic in the long run. Ehsan Chitsar, Deputy Minister of Communications in Masoud Pezeshkian's government, said: "Internet cuts can only help in short time periods and are a security threat in the long term." The internet blackout in Iran began its eleventh week on Saturday, May 9th, while ordinary people in the country can only access international internet by paying exorbitant costs, and government officials and some supporters of the Islamic Republic face no obstacles in access. @ VahidHeadline Iran's Deputy Minister of Communications announced damages from the internet cut to Iran's digital economy on major platforms at 55,000 billion tomans. He said: "The total loss of revenue in this sector is estimated at around 32,160 billion tomans." Iran's Deputy Minister of Communications also said the internet blackout in telecommunications has caused about 4,600 billion tomans in direct revenue reduction for businesses. Mr. Chitsar said: "Internet cuts for digital economy businesses might be tolerable for a few hours, but extensive and nationwide cuts effectively create an economic shock." Eleven weeks have passed since the nationwide internet cut in Iran. Afshin Kolahi, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, previously said that the direct damage from internet cuts in Iran is $30 to $40 million per day, and the direct and indirect damage from this restriction reaches up to $80 million per day. @ VahidHeadline Iran's state news agency IRNA, in a field report from Tehran, has effectively confirmed that the internet cut has pushed part of online stores out of cyberspace and onto streets and sidewalks. IRNA wrote that the increase in street vending is not limited to central Tehran and can be seen from Imamzadeh Hassan bazaar in southwest Tehran to Andisheh township in Shahriar. According to this news agency, the municipality's tolerance and "conscious orders" not to confront street vendors has made this trend more apparent and turned parts of the city into display windows for vendors who were forced to migrate from Instagram to the streets. IRNA wrote that sellers who until a few months ago operated with Instagram pages, online payments and order delivery, are now forced to set up shop on the streets in the absence of free and stable internet. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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The latest data from Iran's Statistics Center shows that the prices of some basic food items in Farvardin 1405 have experienced an unprecedented surge compared to the same period last year. According to this report, solid cooking oil recorded the highest price increase among food items with a point inflation of 375%, rising from about 81,000 tomans in Farvardin 1404 to over 385,000 tomans. Liquid oil also increased by 308%, rising from about 74,000 tomans to over 300,000 tomans. First-grade foreign rice with 209% growth, machine-processed chicken with 191%, mayonnaise sauce with 190%, and eggs with 170% price increases were among other high-inflation items. These price surges have occurred while labor activists estimate the living basket for working families at over 71 million tomans, but the minimum monthly base wage for workers in 1405 is about 16 million and 600 thousand tomans - a gap that shows even workers' official income is several times away from the minimum cost of living. @VahidHeadline KhabarOnline reported that the effect of the 60% increase in minimum wage for 1405 disappeared in just 45 days, and workers' purchasing power has returned to pre-wage increase levels. According to this report, this year's minimum monthly base wage was set at 16 million and 625 thousand tomans - an amount that on the day of approval, with the dollar at 143,700 tomans, was worth about 116 dollars. But with the dollar reaching around 190,000 tomans in mid-Ordibehesht, the dollar value of wages has plummeted to about 87.5 dollars. KhabarOnline wrote that wage purchasing power has also declined based on gold; the minimum salary that in Esfand was equivalent to about one gram of 18-karat gold has now reached 0.81 grams. This means the nominal wage increase has been effectively neutralized under the pressure of the rial's collapse, inflation, and the Islamic Republic's economic policies, and workers are once again facing a deep gap between income and living costs. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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On Friday, May 8th, a reporter at the White House asked Donald Trump about the results of the US government's investigation into the attack on the Minab school. He responded that the matter is still under review and the investigation results will be made available to reporters and media "as soon as they are ready." During the attack on a girls' and boys' school in the city of Minab in the south of the country, which occurred on the opening day of the joint US-Israel war with Iran, at least 120 students and 26 teachers were killed. A few days after the attack, media investigations revealed that this school, which was located near a Revolutionary Guard naval base, was targeted with American missiles. Since then, it has been weeks since the Pentagon announced it is investigating how this attack occurred. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Trump told reporters about the prospects of a deal with the Islamic Republic: "If everything isn't signed and finalized, we will take a different path. If nothing happens, we might return to the Strait of Hormuz freedom project, but that would be Freedom Plus project; meaning the freedom project plus other things." When asked by a reporter whether the Islamic Republic is deliberately slowing down the negotiation process, he said: "We'll find out soon." @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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The Associated Press has reported that an oil slick is apparently leaking from the western section of Kharg Island, Iran's main crude oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. Amy Daniel, CEO of maritime intelligence company Windward AI, told AP that since Tuesday, the equivalent of about 80,000 barrels of oil has leaked from Kharg Island. @VahidOOnLine Fox News, citing experts, says this could be a sign of the collapse of the Islamic Republic's oil infrastructure, which is under increasing pressure from the United States. According to analysts quoted by Reuters news agency, this slick, visible in Copernicus Sentinel satellite images between Wednesday and Friday, has covered an area of approximately 45 square kilometers west of Kharg Island. American officials have repeatedly said that with the maritime blockade of the Islamic Republic, oil reserves in Iran will soon be full and the regime will be forced to reduce its production, something that could cause permanent damage to oil well extraction rates. Now, the suspicious oil spill at sea has given rise to the theory that the Islamic Republic is dumping its oil into the sea. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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According to "The Washington Post," miners in Myanmar have successfully discovered an extremely rare and massive ruby that is the second-largest ruby ever found in the country by weight. This precious stone weighing 11,000 carats (equivalent to 2.2 kilograms) was found near the city of "Mogok," a region known for extracting dark, high-quality red rubies that are globally famous as "Pigeon Blood" rubies. Although this stone weighs about half of the record discovery from 1996, experts believe that due to its unique purplish-red color, high transparency, and quality of light reflection, it has much greater monetary value than previous specimens. Myanmar supplies about 90 percent of the world's rubies, but the trade of these stones has always been tied to political and human rights controversies. Precious stones are considered one of the main sources of income for Myanmar's military government as well as ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy. In this regard, human rights organizations like "Global Witness" have asked international jewelers to stop purchasing stones from Myanmar, because the profits from this industry provide the necessary fuel to continue internal wars and strengthen military power. Despite apparent political changes in Myanmar, the army still maintains control over key sections of these mines, and the discovery of this massive ruby amid security crises has once again drawn global attention to hidden wealth in war-torn regions. @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Mazaher Hosseini, the head of meetings for Ali Khamenei's office, said at a government nighttime gathering that Mojtaba Khamenei was injured in the knee, back, and behind the ear during the bombing of Ali Khamenei's house - the killed leader of the Islamic Republic. Hosseini said: "When I was in the office, a bomb hit 30 meters from us, which scattered Shirazi [Ali Khamenei's military office chief] and his friends. They hit Ali Khamenei's workplace 70, 80 meters from us where that incident happened." He added: "They hit Mojtaba Khamenei's house where his wife was killed. As Mojtaba Khamenei was coming, while he was on the stairs going up, a missile hit there and Mrs. Haddad [Mojtaba Khamenei's wife] was killed. Mojtaba Khamenei was hit by the blast wave on the way and fell to the ground." The head of meetings for the former leader's office of the Islamic Republic said about the injuries to Mojtaba Khamenei: "His kneecap was slightly damaged and his back a little. His back has healed in recent days and his kneecap will get better soon, and he is in complete health." Hosseini said: "One of our dear ones met with him last week, that forehead issue they talked about is nonsense. There's a small crack behind his ear which is also behind the turban and isn't visible at all." @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline