Iran president says Israel attempted to assassinate him
The Israeli attacks took place two days before Tehran and Washington were set to meet for a new round of nuclear talks, stalling negotiations that were aimed at reaching a deal over Iran's atomic program.
"They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed," Pezeshkian told US media figure Tucker Carlson in response to a question on whether he believed Israel had tried to kill him.
"It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting... they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting," he said according to a translation of his remarks from Persian, in apparent reference to an alleged assassination attempt during the recent war.
More than 900 people were killed in Iran during the conflict, according to the judiciary. The Israeli attacks drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.
'Forever wars'
The 12-day war between Iran and Israel saw it, along with the United States, launching strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel took hold since June 24. On June 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out plans to assassinate Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it would "end the conflict" after reports emerged at the time that US President Donald Trump had vetoed the move.
During the interview with Carlson, Pezeshkian accused Netanyahu of pursuing his "own agenda" of "forever wars" in the Middle East, and urged the United States not to be dragged into it. "The US administration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not America's war, it is Netanyahu's war," he said. He added that his country has "no problem" restarting nuclear talks, provided that trust can be reestablished between the two countries.
"We see no problem in re-entering the negotiations," the Iranian president said. "There is a condition ... for restarting the talks. How are we going to trust the United States again?"
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
Dozens killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes, authorities say
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 people on Sunday, 17 of which at a water collection point, including six children, according to local health officials. Separately, Hamas authorities said an Israeli strike hit a group of citizens walking in the street on Sunday afternoon in central Gaza City, killing 11 people and injuring around 30 others. Dr. Ahmed Qandil, who specializes in general surgery, was among those killed, Gaza's Health Ministry said. A ministry spokesperson, Zaher al-Wahidi, told the Associated Press that Qandil had been on his way to Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital. Concerning the deadly strike at the collection point, the Israeli Defence Force said there had been a technical error: 'Earlier today a strike was carried out targeting a terrorist operative from the Islamic Jihad organization in the central Gaza Strip. Due to a technical malfunction in the munition, it struck dozens of meters away from the intended target'. 'The incident is under investigation. We are aware of reports of casualties in the area as a result, and the details of the incident are still being reviewed,' the military added. Truce talks deadlocked Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in indirect talks aimed at pausing the war and free more Israeli hostages after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Washington visit last week. Netanyahu defended his efforts against critical reporting in the Israeli Hebrew press in a video update posted to his X account: 'It was a very successful visit, following a major victory in Iran… We have a lot of tasks to do, and I'm determined to complete them'. Responding to claims that he and his government are obstructing a deal, Netanyahu charges that Hebrew-language media 'are always echoing Hamas propaganda, and they're always wrong.' A new sticking point has emerged over Israeli troops deployment during a ceasefire. Israel says it will end the war only once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something Hamas refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, about 20 of them said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Funerals were held there Sunday for two Palestinians, including visiting Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, who was killed by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Musallet's family has requested that the US State Department investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it had no comment out of respect for the family.
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- LeMonde
Why Israel doesn't know how to end a war
The State of Israel established its current borders – comprising 77% of what was previously Palestine – after a founding war that lasted just under eight months, in 1948-1949. The fledgling Israeli army then defeated five Arab armies from Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq and Lebanon that had attacked it. This first Arab-Israeli war, referred to in Israel as the "War of Independence" and in Arabic as the "War of Palestine," was accompanied by the expulsion of more than half of the Arab population of Palestine. Many of those expelled sought refuge in the Gaza region, under the protection of the Egyptian army. The Israeli army then attempted an encirclement maneuver by entering Egyptian territory, an incursion countered by the United States, which imposed a ceasefire. Not only did this US intervention mark the advent of the "Gaza Strip," but it also set a precedent for successful interventions in situations where the Israeli army, left to its own devices, seemed incapable of ending hostilities. The second Arab-Israeli war, in October-November 1956, was the only one in which the Israeli army did not act alone but in coalition with France and the United Kingdom, determined to overthrow the regime of Colonel Nasser in Egypt after he nationalized the Suez Canal. The US forced the three aggressors to halt hostilities before compelling Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip, in March 1957. Shorter wars that were nonetheless more favorable to Israel The third Arab-Israeli war, in June 1967, went down in history as the "Six-Day War" due to the lightning speed of the Israeli offensive. Not only were East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip now occupied, but so too were Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights. The US secured a ceasefire from Israel before the Arab humiliation turned into a defeat, which would have prompted a reaction from the Soviet Union. The same sequence of events occurred in October 1973, after 18 days of conflict initiated by a joint Syrian-Egyptian offensive.
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
Zelenskyy slams Russia for intensifying 'terror' campaign on Ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed Russia for intensifying what he called a terror campaign designed to intimidate Ukrainian civilians. Zelenskyy made the remarks in a post on X, where he detailed the Kremlin's increased attacks on Ukraine over the past seven days. The Ukrainian leader says Russia fired over 1,800 drones, more than 1,200 guided aerial bombs and 83 missiles of various types in the space of one week. Earlier in the week, Kyiv said Russia launched a barrage which included highly lethal aeroballistic and cruise missiles. Russia's defence ministry have claimed major territorial gains amid their renewed offensive, particularly on the eastern frontlines in the Donbas region. The Kremlin says its forces have claimed the villages of Mykolaiv and Mirne in Donetsk. Moscow currently controls a little over two-thirds of the Donetsk region, including the city of Donetsk itself, and a large swathe of surrounding territory. Kyiv has not commented on Russia's claims of further advancement. Zelenskyy did however note that Ukraine's air defence forces are achieving 'good results'. The Ukrainian leader says Kyiv's air defences were able to thwart hundreds of Russian drone strikes targeting several cities and positions in primarily civilian positions. 'Interceptor drones are performing particularly well, with hundreds of Russian-Iranian 'shaheds' shot down over the past week,' wrote Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy also expressed ongoing efforts to further bolster Ukrainian air defences and advance interception technology. 'Every meeting with partners this week was about scaling up this technology. I am grateful to everyone willing to invest in the protection of life, and to our warriors who safeguard the Ukrainian skies.' He also called on allies to ramp up pressure on Moscow to force them to the negotiating table and end their full-scale invasion of his country, well into its fourth year. 'Shaheds' are one of Russia's ways of prolonging the war. We must neutralize this threat in order to bring diplomacy into motion sooner,' asserted Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude to Ukraine's allies in Europe, the Group of Seven – or G7 – and the United States for their continued support and commitment to ensuring Ukraine can continue to fend off Russian attacks. A few days ago, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington will send a weapons package to Ukraine in the coming days, which will be delivered to them through an intermediary in NATO. The weapons shipment, paid for by Ukraine's European allies and NATO, includes Patriot air defence systems, which Ukraine has been seeking for a long time due to their high efficacy in intercepting aerial attacks.
