Iran Voices 'Serious Doubts' Over Israel Commitment To Ceasefire
Iran warned Sunday that it had little faith in Israel's commitment to a fragile ceasefire that ended the most intense and destructive confrontation between the two foes to date.
The 12-day war erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its nuclear programme. Tehran responded with ballistic missile attacks on Israeli cities.
Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing an atomic weapon -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which later joined its ally Israel's campaign with strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities.
"We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power," Iranian armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.
"We have serious doubts over the enemy's compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force" if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire.
The conflict rattled the already shaky relationship between Iran and the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has rejected the IAEA's request to inspect its bombed nuclear sites, accusing its chief Rafael Grossi of "betraying his duties" by failing to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.
Iranian lawmakers voted this week to suspend cooperation with the agency.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Grossi's request to visit the targeted facilities "meaningless" and "possibly malign in intent".
Tehran also cited a June 12 IAEA resolution criticising Iran's lack of nuclear transparency as a pretext used by Israel to justify launching its offensive the following day.
The backlash drew a sharp rebuke from Germany and Argentina, Grossi's home country.
"I commend Director General Rafael Grossi and his team for their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X.
Argentina's foreign ministry said it "categorically condemns the threats against him coming from Iran".
Neither specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran's ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.
Speaking to US broadcaster CBS on Sunday, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani denied there was any threat to nuclear inspectors in Iran, insisting they were "in safe conditions" but their work was suspended.
The United States carried out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran's atomic programme.
In the days after, Trump said the United States would bomb Iran again "without question" if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.
Speaking to CBS on Saturday, Grossi said Iran could "in a matter of months" return to enriching uranium.
Questions remain as to how much damage the US strikes did to Iran's nuclear programme, with Trump and his officials insisting it had been "obliterated".
On Sunday, however, The Washington Post reported that the United States had intercepted calls between Iranian officials who said the damage was less than expected.
That followed an early "low confidence" US military intelligence report that said the nuclear programme had been set back months, not years.
Israel has said Iran's programme was delayed by years, while Tehran has downplayed the damage.
The IAEA said Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, far above the levels needed for civilian nuclear power, although Grossi previously noted there had been no indication before the strikes that Iran was working to build an atomic weapon.
Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own nuclear arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.
Iran's health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the war with Israel.
Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, Israeli authorities say.
During the war, Iran arrested dozens of people it accused of spying for Israel.
Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to ban the unauthorised use of communications equipment, including tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, said the official news agency IRNA.
On Sunday, Washington's envoy to Turkey said the Iran-Israel war could pave the way for a new Middle East.
"What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: 'Time out. Let's create a new road'," Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is also the US special envoy to Syria, told the Anadolu state news agency.
"The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story," he added. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was the subject of an Iranian newspaper report accusing him of being an Israeli spy AFP
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Germany updates: Angela Merkel criticizes asylum policy – DW – 06/30/2025
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Ukraine 'most important task' in German foreign policy – DW – 06/30/2025
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Germany: Social Democrats urge ban on far-right AfD party – DW – 06/30/2025
Germany's Social Democratic Party says first legal steps should be taken to ban the far-right AfD party as unconstitutional. Conservative lawmakers are less keen on the idea. A number of Germany's conservative lawmakers have called for a cautious approach after the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior coalition partner, on Sunday passed a motion calling for preparations to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The debate on whether to ban the AfD, which forms the strongest opposition force in parliament, has gained momentum after it was reclassified by Germany's domestic intelligence agency in May as a "confirmed right-wing extremist" group — an assessment that is now under court review after a legal challenge by the party. The motion put forward by the SPD at the close of its three-day congress in Berlin calls on the relevant constitutional bodies to lay the groundwork for filing a case to declare the anti-immigrant AfD as unconstitutional. "The moment at which domestic intelligence says this is a confirmed right-wing extremist party, there is no more room for tactics," party co-leader Lars Klingbeil, who also serves as finance minister and vice chancellor in the conservative-led government, said at the congress. The text of the motion reads: "Now is the time for the constitutional bodies entitled to do so to create the conditions for immediately filing a motion to determine the unconstitutionality of the AfD." German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which leads the coalition, on Sunday threw cold water on the motion. Speaking to the " podcast, Dobrindt said "decisions made at the SPD party conference are not yet a mandate for the interior minister." Dobrindt instead called for a cautious approach and for allowing the legal process to play out. He said a working group of interior ministers from the German states will address the AfD issue if the "right-wing extremist" designation is upheld in court. The working group is awaiting a ruling from the Cologne Administrative Court on whether it agrees with the "extremist" designation. Dobrindt, as well as Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), have previously said they are skeptical of banning the AfD, which is known for its nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and euroskeptic policies. Chancellery head Thorsten Frei, from Merz's CDU, also said that he currently felt that a ban could not be justified, while conceding that "there are many good reasons for one." If there was not absolute certainty on the matter, the path of a ban should not be taken, he told broadcaster ARD. "That is why I urge caution. The AfD must be fought with political means," he said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
