Iran holds state funeral for top brass slain in war with Israel
TEHRAN: Iran held a state funeral service on Saturday (Jun 28) for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel, after Tehran's top diplomat condemned Donald Trump's comments on supreme leader Ali Khamenei as "unacceptable".
The proceedings started at 8am local time (0430 GMT) in the capital Tehran as government offices and many businesses were closed on Saturday for the occasion.
"The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started," state TV said, showing footage of people donning black clothes, waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of the slain military commanders.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as other senior government officials, also attended the event.
Images showed coffins draped in Iranian flags and bearing portraits of the deceased commanders in uniform near Enghelab Square in central Tehran.
The United States had carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, joining its ally Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme in the 12-day conflict launched on Jun 13.
Both Israel and Iran claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire, with Iranian leader Khamenei downplaying the US strikes as having done "nothing significant".
In a tirade on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran on Friday for claiming to have won the war.
He also claimed to have known "EXACTLY where he (Khamenei) was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces... terminate his life".
"I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!'" the US leader said.
Trump added he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran's main demands.
"But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more," Trump said.
Hitting back at Trump Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the Republican president's comments on Khamenei.
"If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei," Araghchi posted on social media platform X.
"The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to 'Daddy' to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults."
The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures.
"HISTORIC" STATE FUNERAL
The ceremony in Tehran "to honour the martyrs" will be followed by a funeral procession to Azadi Square, about 11km across the sprawling metropolis.
Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran's Islamic Development Coordination Council, vowed it would be a "historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution".
Among the dead is Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after the Iranian leader.
He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed on the first day of the war, will also be laid to rest after Saturday's ceremony -- which will also honour at least 30 other top commanders.
Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children.
"IMMINENT THREAT"
During his first term in office, Trump pulled out in 2018 of a landmark nuclear deal -- negotiated by former US president Barack Obama.
The deal that Trump had abandoned aimed to make it practically impossible for Iran to build an atomic bomb, while at the same time allowing it to pursue a civil nuclear programme.
Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is only for civilian purposes, stepped up its activities after Trump withdrew from the agreement.
After the US strikes, Trump said negotiations for a new deal were set to begin next week.
But Tehran denied a resumption, and leader Khamenei said Trump had "exaggerated events in unusual ways", rejecting US claims Iran's nuclear programme had been set back by decades.
Israel had claimed it had "thwarted Iran's nuclear project" during the 12-day war.
But its foreign minister reiterated on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Tehran from developing an atomic bomb.
"The international community now has an obligation to prevent, through any effective means, the world's most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon," Gideon Saar wrote on X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Suicide attack kills 16 soldiers in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A suicide attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban killed 16 soldiers and wounded more than two dozen people, including civilians, local government officials and police officers told AFP on Saturday (Jun 28). "A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy," said a local government official in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said 16 soldiers were killed, raising a previous death toll of 13. "The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children," a police officer posted in the district told AFP. The attack was claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan - a claim the Taliban denies. Around 290 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
US immigrants scramble for clarity after Supreme Court birthright ruling
That outcome has raised more questions than answers about a right long understood to be guaranteed under the US Constitution. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court's ruling tied to birthright citizenship prompted confusion and phone calls to lawyers as people who could be affected tried to process a convoluted legal decision with major humanitarian implications. The court's conservative majority on June 27 granted President Donald Trump his request to curb federal judges' power but did not decide the legality of his bid to restrict birthright citizenship. That outcome has raised more questions than answers about a right long understood to be guaranteed under the US Constitution: that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen at birth, regardless of their parents' citizenship or legal status. Ms Lorena, a 24-year-old Colombian asylum seeker who lives in Houston and is due to give birth in September, pored over media reports on June 27 morning. She was looking for details about how her baby might be affected, but said she was left confused and worried. 'There are not many specifics,' said Ms Lorena, who like others interviewed by Reuters asked to be identified by her first name out of fear for her safety. 'I don't understand it well.' She is concerned that her baby could end up with no nationality. 'I don't know if I can give her mine,' she said. 'I also don't know how it would work, if I can add her to my asylum case. I don't want her to be adrift with no nationality.' Mr Trump, a Republican, issued an order after taking office in January that directed US agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. The order was blocked by three separate US district court judges, sending the case on a path to the Supreme Court. The resulting decision said Mr Trump's policy could go into effect in 30 days but appeared to leave open the possibility of further proceedings in the lower courts that could keep the policy blocked. On June 27 afternoon, plaintiffs filed an amended lawsuit in federal court in Maryland seeking to establish a nationwide class of people whose children could be denied citizenship. If they are not blocked nationwide, the restrictions could be applied in the 28 states that did not contest them in court, creating 'an extremely confusing patchwork' across the country, according to Ms Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst for the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute. 'Would individual doctors, individual hospitals be having to try to figure out how to determine the citizenship of babies and their parents?' she said. The drive to restrict birthright citizenship is part of Mr Trump's broader immigration crackdown, and he has framed automatic citizenship as a magnet for people to come to give birth. 'Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship, and it wasn't meant for that reason,' he said during a White House press briefing on June 27. Immigration advocates and lawyers in some Republican-led states said they received calls from a wide range of pregnant immigrants and their partners following the ruling. They were grappling with how to explain it to clients who could be dramatically affected, given all the unknowns of how future litigation would play out or how the executive order would be implemented state by state. Ms Lynn Tramonte, director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance said she got a call on June 27 from an East Asian temporary visa holder with a pregnant wife. He was anxious because Ohio is not one of the plaintiff states and wanted to know how he could protect his child's rights. 'He kept stressing that he was very interested in the rights included in the Constitution,' she said. Advocates underscored the gravity of Mr Trump's restrictions, which would block an estimated 150,000 children born in the US annually from receiving automatic citizenship. 'It really creates different classes of people in the country with different types of rights,' said Ms Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, a spokesperson for the immigrant rights organisation United We Dream. 'That is really chaotic.' Adding uncertainty, the Supreme Court ruled that members of two plaintiff groups in the litigation - CASA, an immigrant advocacy service in Maryland, and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project - would still be covered by lower court blocks on the policy. Whether someone in a state where Mr Trump's policy could go into effect could join one of the organizations to avoid the restrictions or how state or federal officials would check for membership remained unclear. Ms Betsy, a US citizen who recently graduated from high school in Virginia and a CASA member, said both of her parents came to the US from El Salvador two decades ago and lacked legal status when she was born. 'I feel like it targets these innocent kids who haven't even been born,' she said, declining to give her last name for concerns over her family's safety. Ms Nivida, a Honduran asylum seeker in Louisiana, is a member of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and recently gave birth. She heard on June 27 from a friend without legal status who is pregnant and wonders about the situation under Louisiana's Republican governor, since the state is not one of those fighting Trump's order. 'She called me very worried and asked what's going to happen,' she said. 'If her child is born in Louisiana … is the baby going to be a citizen?' REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
US Senate unveils new Trump tax draft with plans to vote soon
This is as the US moves closer to a vote on the tax cut package with a July 4 deadline set by President Donald Trump. PHOTO: REUTERS US Senate unveils new Trump tax draft with plans to vote soon WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans unveiled a new version of their US$4.2 trillion (S$5.1 trillion) tax cut package, moving closer to a vote as they near a July 4 deadline set by President Donald Trump. The new draft reflects compromises among warring factions of the Senate GOP which has been divided over how much to cut safety-net programs such as Medicaid and how rapidly to phase out of renewable energy tax credits enacted under the Biden administration. A tentative deal with House Republicans to increase the state and local tax deduction is included. The bill would raise the SALT deduction cap from US$10,000 to US$40,000 for five years before snapping back to the US$10,000 level. The new cap applies to 2025 and rises 1 per cent in subsequent years. Republicans plan to start voting on the tax bill on June 28 with final votes coming as soon as early on June 29. Party leaders plan to bring House members back to Washington early next week for what they hope will be final approval of the measure in time for Trump's Independence Day deadline. It is not yet clear if the 50 Senate Republicans needed to pass the bill are all on board. The bill can be further altered on the Senate floor to secure the votes if needed. The House could make more changes if Speaker Mike Johnson has trouble corralling votes for the measure. To win over moderate Republicans, the bill would create a new US$25 billion rural hospital fund aimed at helping some Medicaid providers avoid cuts. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, however, had demanded a US$100 billion fund. Moderate Republicans also won a delay from 2031 to 2032 for when a new 3.5 per cent cap on state Medicaid provider taxes takes effect. The provider tax is a gimmick by which states boost their federal Medicaid reimbursement rates and many states have come to rely on the practice. Another change in the measure is that a tax credit for hydrogen production wouldn't be phased out until 2028 for projects that begin construction before then. Previous version ended the credit after 2025. The measure would avert a US payment default as soon as August by raising the debt ceiling by US$5 trillion. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
