OpenAI is facing online backlash after signing a deal with the United States Department of Defense to deploy its AI models within the department’s classified network.
Following the announcement, the hashtag #CancelChatGPT began trending online, with users calling for a boycott of the chatbot ChatGPT. The campaign website QuitGPT claims that about 2.5 million people have pledged to stop using OpenAI’s services.
The controversy has also boosted rival AI platform Claude, developed by Anthropic, which recently overtook ChatGPT as the top AI app on the Apple App Store in the United States.
Critics warn that the Pentagon partnership could allow AI technology to be used for surveillance or military purposes. However, OpenAI says the deal includes safeguards and that its technology will not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said his company had earlier rejected a similar proposal, citing concerns over weakening safety protections in AI systems.
Iran to suspend strikes on neighbors unless attacked: President
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that the country would suspend attacks on neighbouring states unless Iran itself was attacked from their territory.
In a statement published on the Iranian presidential website, Pezeshkian said Iran’s temporary leadership council had approved the decision as the conflict in the region intensifies following recent military exchanges.
According to the statement, Iran will halt strikes against neighbouring countries unless those countries directly launch attacks on the Islamic Republic or allow their territory to be used for attacks against it.
The announcement comes even as Iran continues to carry out retaliatory strikes in the region following joint U.S.–Israeli attacks on Iranian targets.
Iran has said its military actions are a response to those strikes and warned that it would target locations used for attacks against its territory.
The situation remains volatile as tensions continue to rise across the Middle East.
Russia providing Iran targeting data on US forces: report
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information about United States military assets in the Middle East, marking the first indication that another major US adversary may be indirectly involved in the ongoing conflict, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Citing three officials familiar with the intelligence, the newspaper reported that Moscow has shared details about the locations of American military assets, including warships and aircraft, since the war began on Saturday.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the intelligence sharing signals a widening geopolitical dimension to the conflict.
According to the report, Russia has passed Iran information on the positioning of US military forces operating in the region, potentially aiding Tehran in targeting American assets.
The development suggests that the rapidly expanding conflict could now involve one of Washington’s chief nuclear-armed competitors, which possesses advanced intelligence-gathering capabilities.
“It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one of the people said.
Neither Moscow nor Tehran immediately commented publicly on the report, while US officials have also not issued an official statement regarding the alleged intelligence sharing.
Oil prices post record weekly surge as Middle East tensions escalate
Global oil prices recorded their biggest weekly rise in decades after escalating tensions between the United States and Iran disrupted energy markets and raised fears of supply shortages.
U.S. crude oil futures jumped sharply on Friday, closing 12.21% higher at $90.90 per barrel. The global benchmark Brent crude also climbed 8.52% to settle at $92.69 per barrel.
For the week, U.S. crude surged 35.63%, marking the largest weekly gain since futures trading began in 1983. Brent crude rose about 28%, its biggest weekly increase since April 2020.
The surge came after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” heightening fears that the conflict could escalate and disrupt global oil supplies.
Shipping through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz has slowed significantly amid the conflict. The narrow waterway is one of the world’s most important routes for oil shipments.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Qatar’s energy minister Saad al‑Kaabi warned that crude prices could climb much higher if tankers are unable to pass through the strait.
“This could ‘bring down the economies of the world,’” Kaabi said.
He also cautioned that exporters across the Gulf may soon halt operations if the situation continues.
“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues,” Kaabi told the FT. “All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure. If they don’t, they are at some point going to pay the liability for that legally, and that’s their choice.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced a $20 billion insurance programme for oil tankers operating in the Persian Gulf, though the move did little to calm markets.
Supply disruptions are already beginning to emerge. Iraq has shut down about 1.5 million barrels per day of production, according to two Iraqi officials quoted by Reuters. Kuwait has also started cutting production after running out of storage capacity, according to people familiar with the matter.
Analysts say the market is now reacting not just to geopolitical tensions but to real supply disruptions.
Fuel prices are already rising. The average price of regular gasoline in the United States increased by nearly 27 cents over the past week to $3.25 per gallon, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
The conflict between the United States and Iran entered its eighth day on Saturday. During a press conference on Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled that Washington intends to continue its military campaign.
“We had ‘only just begun to fight.’”
“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” he told reporters.
Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran, rules out negotiations
US President Donald Trump has hardened Washington’s stance on Iran, declaring that diplomatic negotiations are off the table unless the Iranian government agrees to what he described as an “unconditional surrender.”
Posting on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the United States would not pursue any agreement with Tehran under the current circumstances.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! After that… we will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink… making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!),” Trump posted.
The remarks mark a sharp escalation in rhetoric from the US administration and signal a tougher approach toward the Iranian leadership.
Trump also appeared to encourage internal pressure on the Iranian government, urging Iranian Kurdish forces to open a domestic front against the central authorities. The statement suggested a strategy aimed at triggering wider instability within Iran and potentially weakening or collapsing the current regime.
The comments come amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, with diplomatic channels increasingly strained and prospects for negotiations appearing uncertain.
Iran committed to peace but will defend its dignity, says President Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday said his country remains committed to peace in the region but would not hesitate to defend its national dignity and authority amid escalating tensions.
In a post on the social media platform X, Pezeshkian said several countries had begun efforts to mediate in the conflict.
“Some countries have initiated efforts for mediation,” he said, adding, “Our response to them is clear, we are committed to lasting peace in the region.”
At the same time, the Iranian president stressed that Tehran would firmly protect its national interests.
“But we don’t have the slightest hesitation in defending the dignity and authority of our country,” he said.
Pezeshkian also suggested that mediation efforts should focus on those responsible for triggering the confrontation.
“Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict,” he added.
UAE Attorney-General warns against sharing incident site images, misleading digital content
UAE Attorney-General Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi has warned against photographing, publishing, or circulating images and videos documenting incident sites or damage resulting from the fall of projectiles or shrapnel.
He stressed that disseminating such materials or inaccurate information can incite public panic and create a false impression of the country’s actual situation.
Al Shamsi affirmed that competent state institutions are performing their duties with high efficiency to ensure community security. He noted that daily life continues normally while necessary measures are taken to manage developments.
He explained that these incidents are handled by authorities within established security and defence frameworks. Consequently, individuals must refrain from filming these sites, as publishing such media can undermine the response and mitigation efforts of relevant authorities.
In a statement, the Attorney-General said that despite prior warnings by competent authorities, some individuals have continued to film incident locations and share them on social media.
He emphasised that publishing or circulating such footage or misleading information is a violation of the law if it results in public panic, the spread of false news, or harm to public order. He called on citizens and residents to stop taking or resharing these images, noting that violators face legal accountability under current legislation.
The Attorney-General further warned against sharing fabricated clips or scenes created via artificial intelligence or digital manipulation. This includes content falsely claiming missile strikes, attacks on facilities, or attributing events that did not occur.
He affirmed that fabricating or publishing such content to mislead the public is a criminal offense. The Public Prosecution will take legal action against perpetrators without leniency.
Al Shamsi urged the public to abide by the law and obtain information only from official sources to help preserve national security and stability.
US probe points to possible American role in Iran school strike: report
U.S. military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that reportedly killed dozens of children, though the investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion, Reuters reported citing U.S. officials.
According to the report, two U.S. officials said the preliminary assessment suggests U.S. involvement in the incident, but investigators have not completed their inquiry and new evidence could still change the findings.
The strike hit a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Saturday, the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the attack killed 150 students, though Reuters said it could not independently verify the death toll.
Reuters reported it could not determine what evidence led investigators to the tentative assessment, the type of munition used, who carried out the strike, or why the school might have been targeted.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged earlier that the military was investigating the incident.
“We’re investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But we’re taking a look and investigating that,” Hegseth said during a news briefing.
The Pentagon referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command. A spokesperson for the command, Captain Timothy Hawkins, told Reuters: “It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said the United States would not deliberately target a school.
“The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them,” Rubio told reporters on Monday.
The United Nations human rights office has called for an investigation into the incident. Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva: “The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it.”
Under international humanitarian law, deliberately targeting a school or other civilian structure could constitute a war crime.
If confirmed, the strike would rank among the deadliest incidents involving civilian casualties in decades of U.S. military operations in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
Drones target US base in Iraq; explosions reported in Doha amid escalating Iran-US conflict
A drone targeting a United States military base near Baghdad International Airport was shot down overnight as Iran continued striking US-linked assets across the region, deepening a conflict that has entered its sixth day.
According to local media reports, Iraqi forces intercepted the drone before it could hit the Victoria airbase late Wednesday night. The base, located close to Baghdad’s international airport, houses US military personnel.
Videos circulating early Thursday appeared to show the remains of the drone in Baghdad’s Al-Bu’aitha area, with security personnel seen inspecting the crash site.
The attempted strike came as tensions continued to escalate across the Gulf. Several loud explosions were reported across Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Thursday, with authorities responding to what appeared to be aerial threats in the skies over the city.
In a separate incident on Thursday, a boat struck an oil tanker flying the Bahamian flag in the Iraqi port of Khor al-Zubair, an Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera. The collision caused damage to the vessel and triggered an oil spill in the port area.
Iran targets Kurdish groups in Iraq, launches new wave of attacks on Israel
Iranian forces have launched an operation targeting Kurdish armed groups in neighbouring Iraq while also carrying out a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks against Israel and United States-linked assets across the Middle East, reports said
The strikes mark the 19th round of Iranian attacks since the outbreak of the regional conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States earlier this week.
Iran’s state broadcaster, Press TV, reported early Thursday that the country’s military was targeting what it described as “anti-Iran separatist forces.” The report did not initially specify the exact locations of the strikes.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry later confirmed that security forces had targeted positions belonging to “separatist groups” attempting to infiltrate Iran through its western borders. According to a statement carried by state media, the groups suffered heavy losses during the operation.
The ministry also said Iranian forces were cooperating with what it called “noble Kurds” to counter what it described as an “Israeli-American” plan to attack Iranian territory.
The strikes reportedly took place in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, nearly a week after the war between Iran and the United States and Israel erupted.
According to Iran’s semi-official news agency, Tasnim News Agency, the conflict has killed at least 1,045 people across Iran since Saturday.
Multiple explosions were reported in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah. Local media said at least four blasts were heard near the areas of Arabat, Zarkuiz and Surdash.
Iran claims strike on US tanker after American torpedo sinks warship near Sri Lanka
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday claimed it had struck an American oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, hours after a US torpedo attack sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
According to Reuters, Iranian state media reported that the US tanker caught fire following the strike. The development comes after Iran warned that the United States would “bitterly regret” the attack on its naval vessel, IRIS Dena.
The escalation follows Wednesday night’s incident in which a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The attack killed at least 87 Iranian sailors, while several others remain missing.
Iranian authorities said the warship was returning home after participating in naval exercises near the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam.
According to Iranian officials, the commander of the vessel and several senior officers were among the 32 personnel rescued. More than 60 crew members are still unaccounted for.
In a statement after the incident, the IRGC warned that the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be under its control, signalling a potential threat to global shipping routes.
The latest developments mark a sharp escalation in the confrontation between the United States and Iran, which has already left over a thousand people dead in Iran and killed six American soldiers. The conflict has also expanded beyond the Gulf, with hostilities now reaching the Indian Ocean close to India’s maritime neighbourhood.
Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned the US of consequences. “The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set,” Araghchi said in an X post.