Israel attempted to assassinate him, says Iran president
"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, in apparent reference to an alleged assassination attempt during the recent war.
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 adminstration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not America's war, it is Netanyahu's war," he said. — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
14 hours ago
- Observer
West Bank seeing largest displacement
GENEVA: The UN warned on Tuesday that mass displacement in the West Bank had hit levels not seen since the start of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory nearly 60 years ago. The United Nations said an Israeli military operation launched in the north of the occupied territory in January had displaced tens of thousands of people, raising concerns about possible "ethnic cleansing". The military operation "has been the longest since ... the second Intifada", in the early 2000s, said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. "It is impacting several refugee camps in the area, and it is causing the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967," she told reporters in Geneva via video from Jordan, referring to the six-day Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. The UN rights office meanwhile warned that mass forced displacement by an occupation force could amount to "ethnic cleansing". Since Israel's military launched its operation "Iron Wall" in the north of the West Bank in January, rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said that "about 30,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced". — AFP
Times of Oman
21 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Iran says open to negotiations provided US respects its "red lines"
Tehran: Iran has said that it will not oppose negotiations with the US, provided the talks are held without preconditions and respect Tehran's red lines, including its right to enrich uranium, according to a senior advisor to Iranian leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. "We have no objection to negotiations that are held without preconditions and that respect the Islamic Republic's red lines," Ali Velayati, an adviser to Iranian Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the state media IRNA said on Monday. "They say Iran must abandon uranium enrichment, but this is one of our red lines. If talks are conditional on halting enrichment, they simply won't happen," Velayati said. The United States and Iran had held several rounds of negotiations prior to the Israeli strikes that sparked off a 12-day-war with Iran. Both US and Iran have signalled a willingness to continue their talks aimed at reaching a deal on Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme. Omani and Qatari officials have been involved in the mediations between Tehran and Washington. IRNA report cited Khamenei advisor Velayati condemned Israel's aggression against Iran and its crimes in Gaza, accusing the United States of backing such moves and called for unity and coordination among Islamic countries in response. Velayati's remarks followed the statement by Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei that a date has not been set for any meeting with the United States. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday stressed Iran's commitment to diplomacy and opposition to war, while utilizing political and diplomatic resources to safeguard its rights. "We advocate for diplomacy and constructive engagement while opposing war. To keep the shadow of war away from our country and to defend the natural rights of the Iranian nation, we will utilise all available political and diplomatic resources," Pezeshkian said in his address to Iranians living abroad, the state news agency reported. Israel launched 'Operation Rising Lion' on June 13 bombing Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks against Israeli targets, and the US retaliated with attacks on key Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 22. The Iranian Armed Forces launched retaliatory strikes, targeting key positions across the Israeli-occupied territories and on the US military airbase in Qatar. The 12-day war came to an end on June 24 when Israel declared a unilateral halt to its aggression, announced on its behalf by US President Donald Trump. Washington maintains that Iran's uranium enrichment programme could lead to developing nuclear bombs, while Tehran has consistently denied the claim, insisting that its nuclear programme is meant for civilian purposes. In July 2015, the Iran nuclear agreement- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and several world powers, including the United States, which capped Tehran's enrichment level at 3.67 per cent and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms. The deal collapsed in 2018 with Trump's unilateral withdrawal of the US from the accord. Since then, Iran has started exceeding agreed-upon limits to its stockpile of low-enriched uranium in 2019, and began enriching uranium to higher concentrations up to 60 per cent purity, which is very close to the weapons-grade level. Earlier this month, Iranian President Pezeshkian signed into law a bill suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). State broadcaster of Iran reported that Pezeshkian ratified the bill after Parliament approving the legislation.
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Gaza truce talks limp on but US hopes for deal
GAZA: Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks between Israel and Palestinian Hamas entered a second week on Monday, with US President Donald Trump still hopeful of a breakthrough and as more than 20 people were killed on the ground. The indirect negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, appeared deadlocked at the weekend after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of hostages. In Gaza, the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency said at least 22 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes on Monday in and around Gaza City, and Khan Yunis in the south. One strike on a tent in Khan Yunis killed the parents and three brothers of a young Gazan boy, who only survived as he was outside getting water, the boy's uncle said. Belal al Adlouni called for revenge for "every drop of blood" saying it "will not be forgotten and will not die with the passage of time, nor with displacement or with death". Reporters in southern Israel meanwhile saw large plumes of smoke in northern Gaza, where the military said fighter jets had pounded Hamas targets over the weekend. Trump, who met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington last week, is keen to secure a truce in the 21-month war, which was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. "Gaza — we are talking and hopefully we're going to get that straightened out over the next week," he told reporters late on Sunday, echoing similarly optimistic comments he made on July 4. A Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks said on Saturday that Hamas rejected Israeli proposals to keep troops in over 40 per cent of Gaza and plans to move Palestinians into an enclave on the border with Egypt. In response, a senior Israeli political official accused Hamas of inflexibility and trying to deliberately scupper the talks by "clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement". Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin headed to Brussels on Monday for talks between the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours. But the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority denied media reports that any meeting between the two was on the agenda. In Israel, Netanyahu has said he would be ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire when a deal for a temporary truce is agreed and only when Hamas lays down its weapons. But he is under pressure to quickly wrap up the war, with military casualties mounting and with public frustration both at the continued captivity of the hostages and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict. Politically, his fragile governing coalition is holding, for now, but Netanyahu is seen as beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict. He also faces a backlash over the feasibility and ethics of a plan to build a so-called "humanitarian city" from scratch in southern Gaza to house displaced Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has described the proposed facility as a "concentration camp" and Israel's own security establishment is reported to be unhappy at the plan. Israeli media said the costs were discussed at a security cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office on Sunday night, just hours before his latest court appearance in a long-running corruption trial on Monday. Hamas's attacks on Israel in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, based on official figures. A total of 251 hostages were taken that day, of which 49 are still being held, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's military reprisals have killed 58,026 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza. — AFP
