‘We wanted to eliminate Khamenei': Israel's Defence Minister Katz
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that his country wanted to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the recent 12-day war between the two sides that ended this week with a ceasefire.
Katz said on Thursday that Israel would not have needed permission from the United States to kill Khamenei, appearing to refute previous media reports that Washington vetoed the assassination.
'We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity,' said Katz in an interview with Israel's Channel 13.
Katz claimed that Khamenei knew an attempt on his life was on the cards, and went 'underground to very great depths', breaking off contact with commanders who replaced Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders assassinated in the first wave of Israeli strikes.
Khamenei released video messages during the war, and there is no evidence to confirm that he was cut off from his generals.
Killing Khamenei would have been a major escalation in the conflict. Besides being the de facto head of state in Iran, the supreme leader is a top spiritual authority for millions of Shia Muslims across the world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had both suggested at various times that the war could spark regime change, the latter posting on social media last Sunday that the conflict could 'MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN'.
Katz's comments came amid conflicting reports on the extent of destruction wrought on Iran's nuclear capability, primarily as a result of the US bombing of sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Khamenei said on Thursday that the US had 'exaggerated' the impact of strikes.
The Israeli defence minister said that his country has a 'green light' from Trump to launch another attack on Iran if it were deemed to be making 'progress' with its nuclear programme.
'I do not see a situation where Iran will restore the nuclear facilities after the attack,' he said.
For his part, Netanyahu said on Thursday that the outcome of the war presented a 'window of opportunity' for further formal diplomatic agreements with Arab states.
The conflict ended with a US-brokered ceasefire after Iran responded to the US strikes with a missile attack on Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, which houses US troops.
'We have fought with determination against Iran and achieved a great victory. This victory opens the path to dramatically enlarge the peace accords,' Netanyahu said in a video address, in an apparent reference to the Abraham Accords, which established official ties between Israel and several Arab countries in 2020.
Iran also declared victory after the war, saying that it thwarted the Israeli objectives – namely ending Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes – and managed to force Netanyahu to end the assault with the missile strikes that left widespread destruction in Israel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Trump secures unique oversight in US steel buyout
Agencies President Donald Trump will control the so-called 'golden share' that's part of the national security agreement under which he allowed Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy out iconic American steelmaker U.S. Steel, according to disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The provision gives the president the power to appoint a board member and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers. Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department when anyone else is president, according to the filings. The White House didn't immediately respond to questions Wednesday about why Trump will directly control the decision-making and why it goes to the Treasury and Commerce departments under future presidents. Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion buyout of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel became final last week, making U.S. Steel a wholly owned subsidiary. Trump has sought to characterize the acquisition as a 'partnership' between the two companies after he at first vowed to block the deal — as former President Joe Biden did on his way out of the White House — before changing his mind after he became president. The national security agreement became effective June 13 and is between Nippon Steel, as well as its American subsidiary, and the federal government, represented by the departments of Commerce and Treasury, according to the disclosures. The complete national security agreement hasn't been published publicly, although aspects of it have been outlined in statements and securities filings made by the companies, U.S. Steel said Wednesday. The pursuit by Nippon Steel dragged on for a year and-a-half, weighed down by national security concerns, opposition by the United Steelworkers and presidential politics in the premier battleground state of Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered. The combined company will become the world's fourth-largest steelmaker in an industry dominated by Chinese companies, and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel's top-notch technology to U.S. Steel's antiquated steelmaking processes, plus a commitment to invest $11 billion to upgrade U.S. Steel facilities. The potential that the deal could be permanently blocked forced Nippon Steel to sweeten the deal. That included upping its capital commitments in U.S. Steel facilities and adding the golden share provision, giving Trump the right to appoint an independent director and veto power on specific matters. Those matters include reductions in Nippon Steel's capital commitments in the national security agreement; changing U.S. Steel's name and headquarters; closing or idling U.S. Steel's plants; transferring production or jobs outside of the U.S..
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
US economy shrinks by 0.5% in Q1, more than initially estimated
Agencies The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.5% annual pace from January through March as President Donald Trump's trade wars disrupted business, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in an unexpected deterioration of earlier estimates. First-quarter growth was weighed down by a surge of imports as U.S. companies, and households, rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump could impose tariffs on them. The Commerce Department previously estimated that the economy fell 0.2% in the first quarter. Economists had forecast no change in the department's third and final January-March drop in gross domestic product — the nation's output of goods and servicesreversed a 2.4% increase in the last three months of 2024 and marked the first time in three years that the economy contracted. Imports expanded 37.9%, fastest since 2020, and pushed GDP down by nearly 4.7 percentage spending also slowed sharply, expanding just 0.5%, down from a robust 4% in the fourth-quarter of last year. It is a significant downgrade from the Commerce Department's previous estimate. Consumers have turned jittery since Trump started plastering big taxes on imports, anticipating that the tariffs will impact their finances directly. And the Conference Board reported this week that Americans' view of the U.S. economy worsened in June, resuming a downward slide that had dragged consumer confidence in April to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slid to 93 in June, down 5.4 points from 98.4 last month. A measure of Americans' short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell 4.6 points to 69. That's well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. Former Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm said 'the downward revision to consumer spending today is a potential red flag.'' Sahm, now chief economist at New Century Advisors, noted that Commerce downgraded spending on recreation services and foreign travel — which could have reflect 'great consumer pessimism and uncertainty.'' A category within the GDP data that measures the economy's underlying strength rose at a 1.9% annual rate from January through March. It's a decent number, but down from 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and from the Commerce Department's previous estimate of 2.5% January-March growth. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending. And federal government spending fell at a 4.6% annual pace, the biggest drop since 2022. In another sign that Trump's policies are disrupting trade, Trade deficits reduce GDP. But that's just a matter of mathematics. GDP is supposed to count only what's produced domestically, not stuff that comes in from abroad. So imports — which show up in the GDP report as consumer spending or business investment — have to be subtracted out to keep them from artificially inflating domestic production. The first-quarter import influx likely won't be repeated in the April-June quarter and therefore shouldn't weigh on GDP. In fact, economists expect second-quarter growth to bounce back to 3% in the second quarter, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
‘We wanted to eliminate Khamenei': Israel's Defence Minister Katz
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that his country wanted to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the recent 12-day war between the two sides that ended this week with a ceasefire. Katz said on Thursday that Israel would not have needed permission from the United States to kill Khamenei, appearing to refute previous media reports that Washington vetoed the assassination. 'We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity,' said Katz in an interview with Israel's Channel 13. Katz claimed that Khamenei knew an attempt on his life was on the cards, and went 'underground to very great depths', breaking off contact with commanders who replaced Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders assassinated in the first wave of Israeli strikes. Khamenei released video messages during the war, and there is no evidence to confirm that he was cut off from his generals. Killing Khamenei would have been a major escalation in the conflict. Besides being the de facto head of state in Iran, the supreme leader is a top spiritual authority for millions of Shia Muslims across the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had both suggested at various times that the war could spark regime change, the latter posting on social media last Sunday that the conflict could 'MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN'. Katz's comments came amid conflicting reports on the extent of destruction wrought on Iran's nuclear capability, primarily as a result of the US bombing of sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Khamenei said on Thursday that the US had 'exaggerated' the impact of strikes. The Israeli defence minister said that his country has a 'green light' from Trump to launch another attack on Iran if it were deemed to be making 'progress' with its nuclear programme. 'I do not see a situation where Iran will restore the nuclear facilities after the attack,' he said. For his part, Netanyahu said on Thursday that the outcome of the war presented a 'window of opportunity' for further formal diplomatic agreements with Arab states. The conflict ended with a US-brokered ceasefire after Iran responded to the US strikes with a missile attack on Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, which houses US troops. 'We have fought with determination against Iran and achieved a great victory. This victory opens the path to dramatically enlarge the peace accords,' Netanyahu said in a video address, in an apparent reference to the Abraham Accords, which established official ties between Israel and several Arab countries in 2020. Iran also declared victory after the war, saying that it thwarted the Israeli objectives – namely ending Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes – and managed to force Netanyahu to end the assault with the missile strikes that left widespread destruction in Israel.
