PKK to formally disband and lay down its weapons
NewsFeed PKK to formally disband and lay down its weapons
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has announced that it plans to disband and disarm in a move promising an end to decades of conflict with Turkiye. The move was announced on Monday by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group.
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Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
UN officials urge Israel, Iran to show ‘restraint' at emergency meeting
Israel's aerial assault on Iran has destroyed the above-ground enrichment plant at Natanz, where there is now 'contamination', according to Rafael Grossi, chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog. Grossi delivered the update during an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York on Friday, where he and other senior UN officials urged both Israel and Iran to show restraint to prevent a deeper regional conflict. 'I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities should never be attacked regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment,' said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He reported radiological and chemical contamination inside the Natanz facility, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 percent. However, he added that the contamination is 'manageable with appropriate measures', and said the IAEA is ready to send nuclear security experts to help secure the sites if requested. 'I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation,' he added. UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo also urged both sides to show 'maximum restraint at this critical moment'. 'A peaceful resolution through negotiations remains the best means to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme,' she told the council. 'We must at all costs avoid a growing conflagration which would have enormous global consequences.' The 15-member Security Council, also joined by representatives of Israel and Iran, met at Iran's request after Israel struck several Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites in the early hours of Friday, and carried out assassinations of senior military officials and nuclear scientists. Iran's UN Envoy Amir Saeid Iravani told the emergency meeting that the attacks, which he described as a 'declaration of war' and 'a direct assault on international order', had killed 78 people and injured more than 320. He accused the US of providing Israel with both intelligence and political support for the attacks, the consequences of which he said it 'shares full responsibility' for. 'Supporting Israel today is supporting war crimes,' he said. The US representative, McCoy Pitt, insisted the US was not involved militarily in the strikes, but defended them as necessary for the self-defence of Israel. He warned that the 'consequences for Iran would be dire' if it targeted US bases or citizens in retaliation. 'Iran's leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time,' he said. Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon cast its attack on Iran's nuclear sites as 'an act of national preservation', claiming Iran was days away from producing enough fissile material for multiple bombs. 'This operation was carried out because the alternative was unthinkable,' said Danon. 'How long did the world expect us to wait? Until they assemble the bomb? Until they mount it on a Shahab missile? Until it is en route to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?' 'We will not hesitate, we will not relent, and we will not allow a genocidal regime to endanger our people,' said Danon An Iranian counterattack on Israel took place while the UN meeting was in progress, with Iran firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israeli targets. 'Iran affirms its inherent right to self-defence,' said Iran's Iravani, promising to respond 'decisively and proportionately' against Israel. 'This is not a threat, this is the natural, legal and necessary consequence of an unprovoked military act,' he said. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's UN ambassador, told the council Israel's actions in the Middle East are 'pushing the region to a large-scale nuclear catastrophe'. 'This completely unprovoked attack, no matter what Israel says to the contrary, is a gross violation of the UN Charter and international law,' he said.
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Who was Hossein Salami, Iran's IRGC head killed by Israel?
Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was among the senior Iranian officials killed in Israel's sweeping air strikes that began on Thursday. A longtime confidant of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Salami rose up the ranks in Iran, becoming head of the IRGC in 2019, when he replaced Mohammad Ali Jafari. Like many of his contemporaries, Salami's formative years came during the Iran-Iraq war that pitted the neighbours against each other and killed hundreds of thousands of people between 1980 and 1988. Salami began his IRGC career during the war and is reported to have fought in several battles and held leadership positions. His wartime experience gave him a badge of legitimacy that was one of the reasons he was then able to rise through the IRGC ranks. By 2005, Salami had been appointed as commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, where he was responsible for ballistic missile and drone development, before being appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC in 2009. As is the case for many in the upper echelons of the Iranian military apparatus, Salami was subject to sanctions in 2007 by the United States for his role in missile development. The United Nations Security Council also sanctioned him for the same reason the year before. Salami was also subject to Canadian sanctions for his role in subduing antigovernment protests in 2022, while the European Union sanctioned him for his involvement in supplying drones to Russia for military operations in Ukraine. During his leadership of the IRGC, Iran strengthened the so-called 'Axis of Resistance', a group of allied countries and groups across the Middle East who were funded or acted in coordination with the IRGC, including Syria under the Bashar al-Assad regime, the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas, Yemen's Houthi rebels and allied Shia groups in Iraq. 'We shall fight them [our enemies] on the global level, not just in one spot,' Salami was quoted as saying. 'Our war is not a local war. We have plans to defeat the world powers.' 'With hearts filled with sorrow and grief, we mourn the unjust martyrdom of the loyal and steadfast commander, Major-General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,' the IRGC said in a statement reported by IRNA, the Iranian news agency, on Friday. Salami died in an air strike, according to Iranian media. The attacks killed many of the top military figures in Iran and notable nuclear scientists. Iran has responded by attacking Israel with ballistic missiles – the very weapon Salami had such an important role in developing for the country. After Salami's assassination, Ahmad Vahidi was announced as his successor. 'On a human level you will have gaps of knowledge when you assassinate people who decide military strategy, are fluent in multiple languages, have personal networks and charisma within the command chain,' Reza H Akbari, Middle East and North Africa programme manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, told Al Jazeera. 'But it's difficult to destroy an existing structure that goes with existing nuclear knowledge and the command chain within the military and security apparatus of the country.'
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Netanyahu: Israel informed US of Iranian strikes in advance
NewsFeed Netanyahu: Israel informed US of Iranian strikes in advance Israeli PM Netanyahu said Friday's strike on Iran was months in the making and that the US was informed in advance.
