As Donald Trump formulates strategies to target Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu’s aircraft has taken off, soaring above the Mediterranean.

Notably, the Wing of Zion state plane has a history of leaving the nation prior to operations against Iran.

On Wednesday, the aircraft journeyed to Crete before returning to Israel. While speculations arose, officials assured that these flights were routine training exercises, unrelated to any military initiatives.

Coinciding with these events, the US has initiated the evacuation of certain air bases in the region, including withdrawing some personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening. Al Udeid, a key American stronghold in the Middle East with 10,000 troops, was previously targeted by Iran following US attacks on its nuclear sites.

Amidst escalating tensions, Trump has issued a series of warnings to Tehran, particularly as the nation faces internal unrest due to a violent suppression of protests.

In a stern message, the president cautioned that should Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proceed with planned executions on Wednesday, decisive action would be taken.

The plane flew to Crete on Wednesday before returning to Israel. Officials denied that the movement was related to military action and said it was part of regular training

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 26

President Donald Trump tours the assembly line at the Ford River Rouge Complex on Tuesday

On June 13, hours after Israel launched its attack on Iranian nuclear and missiles sites, the Wing of Zion took off from Ben Gurion Airport.

Ahead of Iran’s April 13, 2024, strike on Israel, Wing of Zion departed Nevatim Airbase, which was later targeted as hundreds of missiles and drones bombarded the country. 

The jet’s destination on Wednesday, Crete, is a vital strategic crossroads for US and NATO forces operating in the Middle East.

Crucial to its importance for the Americans, is Souda Bay, a naval base which hosts the only deep-water pier in the region capable of berthing a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. 

The jet’s movements come amid a rapidly deteriorating human rights crisis inside Iran. 

Desperate relatives of an shopkeeper sentenced to death for taking part in anti-regime protests called on Trump today to intervene to save him. 

Erfan Soltani, 26, believed to be the first protester in the latest Iranian uprising to be given the death sentence, is expected to be hanged today. 

His family spent the night protesting outside the Ghezel Hesar prison, where the young man from Fardis in Karaj was being held in solitary confinement.

The family of Erfan Soltani made a desperate last-minute bid to save him last night by protesting outside the Ghezel Hesar prison where he was being held 

Somayeh, one of Erfan Soltani’s cousins, called on Donald Trump to intervene to save him

Somayeh, one of Soltani’s cousins, told CNN: ‘We need Trump’s help by the second.

‘I beg you, please do not let Erfan be executed, please.’

Trump last night warned Iran: ‘If they hang them you’re going to see something’. 

But Iran ignored the US president’s threats and vowed to fast-track executions after detaining 18,000 protesters as the regime continues its brutal crackdown on anti-government riots. 

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, signalled Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained, saying: ‘If a person burned someone, beheaded someone and set them on fire then we must do our work quickly.’

Soltani is set to face execution today after he was tried, convicted and sentenced for taking part in a protest on Thursday last week.

Reacting to the news of her cousin’s imminent execution, a distraught Somayeh said: ‘I was in so much shock, I cried so much… I keep feeling as if I am in a dream.’

She described Soltani as someone who ‘always wanted people to be at least free in the most basic aspects of life’.

Protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious centre on January 10, 2026

Protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire in Tehran on January 9, 2026

‘He has always fought for the freedom of Iran, and today we see him standing under the gallows,’ she said.

She denied that Soltani had ever ‘resorted to violence’ during the protests, instead insisting that ‘all the destruction’ was carried out by the regime itself. 

‘In order to execute young people, they fabricate accusations against them,’ she added. 

She called on the US president to urgently intervene to help demonstrators, as they face the lethal crackdown perpetuated by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s theocratic government. 

‘People trusted Trump’s words and came to the streets,’ she said.

Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the protests has killed at least 2,571, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported. 

That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.