Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered that any level and kind of threat from the “enemies” must be met with an “immediate and effective” response without geographical limitations, according to a statement published on the leader’s website on Saturday.

He made the remarks at a meeting with the Iranian armed forces’ senior commanders, including Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Ali Abdollahi, Army’s Chief Commander Amir Hatami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Ahmad Vahidi, the statement said.

He stressed that if the “enemies” resume military or terrorist attacks against Iran, the Iranian armed forces and people will determine the time and conditions for the war’s end, Xinhua news agency reported. Khamenei also highlighted the necessity to “strengthen the country’s military intelligence architecture, deepen home-grown defence in terms of doctrine and tactics, and advance modern defence and security capabilities using cutting-edge technologies.”

The Supreme Leader emphasised that the country’s bank of targets must be updated in such a way that “various tangible and intangible assets of the US-Israeli enemy are brought within the Iranian armed forces’ reach.”

At the meeting, the senior military commanders presented reports on the armed forces’ state of readiness, and briefed the Supreme Leader on the manifold rise in the country’s production of various types of ammunition, as well as reconnaissance, support and combat weaponry.

The Iranian Supreme Leader’s remarks came amid heightened US threats of military action against Iran.

The United States has told several Gulf countries to prepare for a brief but intense military campaign against Iran after the US midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the conversations.

According to the report, the United States and Israel are preparing for another round of intense military operations against Iran.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the region, and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

In yet another disturbing development raising concerns over the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) has dismissed seven employees, including three Hindu teachers and two other Hindu staff members, over alleged disciplinary violations and other irregularities, local media reported on Friday.

According to KUET Registrar Engineer Anichur Rahman Bhuiyan, the decision was taken at the university’s 115th syndicate meeting.

Those dismissed include Professor Pintu Chandra Shil of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department, Professor Subrata Talapatra of the Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) department, and Assistant Professor Nibir Mondal of the Energy Science and Engineering (ESE) department.

The other two employees dismissed are Deputy Registrar Nimai Chandra Mistry and office assistant Satyajit Kumar Dutta, leading Bangladeshi daily ‘Dhaka Tribune’ reported.

The development comes amid escalating atrocities on minority communities, particularly Hindus in Bangladesh, a trend that began during the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim government and has persisted under the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration.

Earlier this week, a Hindu man was allegedly stabbed to death, while three homes belonging to Hindu families were vandalised and looted in a separate incident in Bangladesh, local media reported.

The deceased Hindu man, identified as 43-year-old Rabendra Rishi, who owned a salon, was allegedly stabbed to death by a man after refusing to provide a haircut on credit in Bhaluka upazila of Mymensingh district on Tuesday evening.

Citing police information, Bangladeshi Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported that the accused, 26-year-old Saddam, stabbed Rabendra in the chest and neck with a sharp knife, killing him on the spot.

Following the arrest of Saddam, Mohammad Zahidul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Bhaluka Model Police Station, said, “The accused is behaving crazy. A five-day remand has been sought for his interrogation. The body has been recovered and handed over to the family after the autopsy.”

In a separate incident, three homes belonging to Hindu families were vandalised and looted in Chak Karimpur village of Pirganj upazila in Rangpur district on Monday night, following a social media post that allegedly offended the religious sentiments of Muslims, local media reported, citing police.

The affected houses belonged to three brothers — Bishu Chandra Mohanta, 50, Jagadish Chandra Mohanta, 60, and Dinesh Chandra Mohanta, 46.

Speaking to ‘The Daily Star’, Bishu said the attackers damaged his television, furniture, walls and doors and stole two goats from his house.

His brothers Jagadish and Dinesh said that their houses were also vandalised, with doors, fences and furniture damaged and televisions and other valuables stolen.

Jagadish’s wife, Arati Rani, said she fled the house to protect herself during the attack. “When the attackers stormed our house, we pleaded with them to stop. But they threatened to kill me,” she said.

Condemning the attack on Hindu families in Rangpur, Bangladesh’s Awami League said that minority communities have faced persistent insecurity in the country since August 2024.

“Allegations of religious insult must never become a license for mob violence, looting, intimidation or collective punishment. Every accused person deserves due process; every victim deserves equal protection under the law,” the party stated.

Yemen’s Houthi group denied launching any attacks against Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi drone over the Mecca region.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea rejected a Saudi claim that a drone had been intercepted over Mecca, calling it “false”, Xinhua news agency reported. Sarea said the group carried out “no operations toward Saudi territory” on Friday.

The response came after Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki wrote on X earlier in the day that a drone launched by the Houthi group was intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region, home to Islam’s holiest city.

Recent weeks have seen escalating cross-border hostilities between the two sides, with Saudi strikes hitting Houthi-held areas in Yemen and the Houthis launching missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.

In September, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi had rejected accusations that his group had attempted to attack the Islamic holy city of Mecca, calling the allegation “fabrication and misinformation” amid escalating hostilities with Saudi Arabia.

In a televised address carried by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, al-Houthi said claims that Houthi forces had targeted Mecca were a “lie,” arguing that the accusation was being used to mobilize broader support for what he described as “military measures imposed on Yemen.”

Al-Houthi also accused Saudi Arabia of failing to advance a political settlement during the period of relative calm preceding the latest escalation.

Instead, he said, restrictions affecting Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen had been tightened, with limitations on airport operations and imports remaining among the key unresolved issues.

His remarks had come a day after Saudi Arabia publicly accused the Houthis of launching a drone toward Mecca. The Saudi-led coalition said that the Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted and destroyed the drone south of Mecca, before it entered the holy city’s restricted airspace.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki described the security of Islam’s two holiest sites and pilgrims as a “red line” and said necessary measures would be taken in response. He said the incident was the second alleged Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following what the coalition described as a ballistic missile attack on July 27, 2017.