The US can end Iran conflict with one call, official from Iran's presidency says
Diplomacy with Iran can 'easily' be started again if US President Donald Trump orders Israel's leadership to stop its strikes on Iran, Majid Farahani, an official with the Iranian presidency told CNN on Friday.
'Iran believes in civilian dialogue,' he said. 'Directly or indirectly is not important.'
'President Trump can easily stop the war by only one telephone (call) to (the) Israelis,' he said, repeating the Iranian position that talks were impossible while Israeli bombs were striking Iran.
Farahani said that Iran would not countenance halting nuclear enrichment – which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes - but added that concessions were possible.
French president Emmanuel Macron says "moving towards zero enrichment" should be a priority in European talks with Iran in Geneva. CNN's Becky Anderson speaks to French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine about the diplomatic efforts to stop the Israel-Iran conflict. 'Maybe it can be lower but we don't stop it,' he said.
In recent days, European powers have joined American and Israeli calls for a ban on enrichment, hardening their positions on the key issue, with France putting forward 'a clear position on zero enrichment,' France's foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told CNN Friday.
Iran says it needs enriched uranium for peaceful purposes, while also manufacturing large quantities of near-weapons-grade material.
Trump's decision to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran has offered a slim – if improbable – path to a peace deal between Iran and Israel.
Talks are taking place in Geneva between the foreign ministers from Iran, Britain, France, and Germany, along with the European Union's foreign policy chief, the first confirmed face-to-face meeting of its kind since the conflict began.
After days of increasingly aggressive messages from the Trump administration, it has opened the possibility that military action can be averted.
Indeed, Trump's own camp appears to be starkly divided on whether to pursue direct strikes against Iran.
'If America gets involved in the war,' Farahani said, 'there are so many options and all (of) those options are on the table.'
Pro-government protests Friday on the streets of Tehran saw an outpouring of anger at both Israel and the United States.
A CNN team in Tehran witnessed massive crowds, with protesters waving Iranian, Hezbollah and Palestinian flags and burning US and Israeli flags.
Chants of 'death to Israel, death to America' – a staple at such events – rang out, while Iranians spoke of their fury at the bombing campaign.
'Trump, you are threatening my leader,' one woman told CNN, 'Don't you know that my nation believes death is sweeter than honey?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
21 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel says it hit Iran nuclear research facility, killed top commanders as both trade strikes
Israel on Saturday said it struck an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan and killed two top commanders as the clash between the two Middle Eastern countries expands and President Trump weighs direct intervention. Israeli Air Force fighter jets later in the day also moved to strike military infrastructure in southwestern Iran, according to an Israeli military statement. Saeed Izadi, leader of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force and Behnam Shahriyari, commander of the Quds Force's Weapons Transfer Unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were pronounced dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) early Saturday. Israeli officials in a social media post said Izadi was 'one of the main orchestrators' of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack from Hamas. The IDF said Shahriyari was responsible for weapons transfer from Iran to proxies across the Middle East. Israeli officials said he was killed while traveling in western Iran. 'His elimination represents a severe blow to the ability of the terrorist organizations surrounding Israel to regroup and strengthen after being heavily damaged by the IDF during the war,' the IDF wrote. The IRGC has not confirmed the deaths but Akbar Salehi, Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, did confirm damage to their nuclear site in Isfahan, per The Associated Press. Israeli forces, Salehi said, struck the site twice within 24 hours, crippling two centrifuge production sites as a part of their objective to eliminate Iran's nuclear development programs. Iran fired 40 drones overnight on Friday that were intercepted by Israel according to the IDF. 'We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,' an Israeli military official told AP on the condition of anonymity. 'Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.' The escalation of tensions comes as Trump still weighs his options on U.S. involvement, but has warned Iran not to attack American troops. Citizens are also being evacuated in Israel, per US officials. ''Operation Exodus'' is helping US citizens evacuate Israel. We can't part the Red Sea, but are parting the 'Red Tape' to help people who wish to leave,' U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote in a Saturday post on X. Foreign leaders gathered in Geneva to seek to assist in quelling the violence in the region via diplomacy on Friday, however, talks quickly reached a stalemate as Iranian leaders pushed for consequences on Israel. 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters. The United Nations issued a Friday release after the meetings in Geneva condemning Israeli attacks while denouncing the strikes as a violation of international law. Israel first hit Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13, prompting tensions to escalate in the region as US nuclear talks with Iran collapsed. Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in an online interview with NewsNation, The Hill's sister station, on Friday that since strikes began, over 3,000 Iranians have been injured, 90 percent of whom are civilians. He said at least 400 people have been killed. The spokesperson added that the youngest injured is a 4-year-old boy, and the youngest victim is a two-month-old baby. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
23 minutes ago
Ukraine received at least 20 bodies of Russian soldiers in recent exchanges, Zelenskyy says
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's president said that Russia repatriated at least 20 of its own dead soldiers in recent exchanges with Ukraine, describing it as a result of Moscow's disorganization in carrying out large swaps of wounded POWs and remains of troops. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that an Israeli citizen was among the dead Ukraine had received in recent exchanges. He spoke to journalists on Friday but his comments were embargoed until Saturday. Officials did not disclose the identities of the bodies. 'They threw the corpses of their citizens at us. This is their attitude toward war, toward their soldiers. And this is already documented. Sometimes these bodies even have Russian passports,' he said. He said the Russian side insisted the dead were all Ukrainians. Journalists were shown a Russian passport and ID belonging to one of the 20 dead Russians. According to the document, the man came from the Moscow region. The exchanges of the dead and wounded soldiers are the only tangible result of direct peace talks in Istanbul. In June, Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange the bodies of fallen soldiers in a 6,000-for-6,000 format during the second round of negotiations. Ukraine was concerned that the number was too high and that the sides did not have enough time for forensic examinations and checking the identities of the dead. Zelenskyy said he suspected Russia's plan was to play along with peace talks to appease the U.S. and stave off more sanctions but without ending the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes he is winning. He said that because of this, Ukraine would be 'in a really difficult situation' of deciding whether to continue the talks in Istanbul. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, because of its military partnership with Russia, but stopped short of expressing explicit support for Israel's strikes. He repeated that the new war in the Middle East will affect Ukraine indirectly. 'Iran gave the Russians everything to kill us. They gave them martyrs, they gave them missiles, and they gave them licenses. The fact that their production capacities have now become weaker is (a) positive for us. But at certain points it may already be too late,' he said, also citing Russia's military cooperation with North Korea. Russia has modified Iran-made Shahed drones and has used them, often hundreds at a time, in barrages targeting Ukraine. Zelenskyy said 39 Russian companies were involved in the production of Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. He said 21 of them are not under sanctions. 'And therefore it is absolutely incomprehensible why sanctions should not be imposed urgently,' he said. Russia attacked Ukraine with the missile in November, marking a serious escalation in the war and Russia's capabilities. Zelenskyy dispelled reports that Patriots air defense systems were destroyed in recent Russian drone and missile barrages. He also said Ukraine has started using domestically produced interceptors to shoot down Shahed drones and is seeking financing from Germany to ramp up the weapon's production. He added he sent signals to Western partners asking them to give up 0.25% of their GDP to support Ukraine's local defense industry. Zelenskyy said it's likely he would attend a NATO summit later this week, but that he would make a final decision on Monday. Though Zelenskyy did not meet Trump who had left early the Group of Seven summit in Canada last week, Ukraine's Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the head of the president's office, Andriy Yermak, gave U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a list of weapons Ukraine is hoping to purchase. 'We will wait feedback,' Zelenskyy said, adding the package of weapons included Patriot systems. The weapons package would be among the topics Zelenskyy plans to discuss with Trump in their next meeting, he added, as well as the issue of sanctions. 'Frankly, it seems to me that we need to talk about a new breath in the diplomatic track,' he said. 'We need greater certainty and greater pressure from the world on Putin.'
Axios
29 minutes ago
- Axios
Into the MAGA-verse: What the algorithm feeds Gen Z
If you'd paid attention to MAGA media in the months leading up to the 2024 election, the surprise wasn't that young voters swung hard toward President Trump. The surprise was that so many people missed it. Why it matters: Gen Z's digital world became a powerful political incubator for the Republican Party in 2024 — a force for persuasion and community-building that reshaped the youth vote in astonishing ways. Seemingly overnight, MAGA took command of a full-fledged social ecosystem that met many young Americans where they already were. It was a cultural and political revolution hiding in plain sight — yet it blindsided the Democratic establishment, which is now scrambling to understand how it happened, and how to fight back. Zoom in: Axios reporters Erica Pandey and Tal Axelrod set out to experience the MAGA-verse online — in real time. We each created new accounts on TikTok — where Gen Z disproportionately gets its news — and followed a basic set of MAGA or MAGA-aligned accounts: Think Team Trump, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens. TikTok knew that Tal was a 30-year-old man and Erica was a 30-year-old woman. From there, the algorithm took control. At first, we got what we expected: Clips from Trump rallies, viral moments from Kirk's podcasts, and segments from Fox News. Then, our experiences diverged. Tal was fed a steady stream of masculinity content: Endurance athlete David Goggins berating men with motivational speeches, podcaster Chris Williamson interviewing guests about male struggles. Erica's "For You" page zeroed in on three topics: 1) right-wing critiques of modern feminism pulling women away from marriage and motherhood; 2) debates around trans women in sports; and 3) the ethics of abortion. The intrigue: It took less than an hour for the algorithm to move us from standard MAGA content to deeper ideological terrain — podcast clips, campus debates, and "red pill" rants about gender roles and identity. We didn't go looking for this content — it came to us. And it revealed a striking pattern: right-wing views on gender and identity are digitally intertwined with MAGA politics. Dip your toe in, and the algorithm grabs your ankle: Interested in mixed martial arts and the UFC? You might land on a pro-Trump hype reel. Interested in lifestyle content? You might end up with conservative takes on motherhood and marriage. Between the lines: Much of the gender-based content we observed wasn't overtly political or fringe — at least not at first. "A lot of this gets glamorized on social media," says Rachel Janfaza, a youth political analyst and writer of The Up and Up, a newsletter about Gen Z. "You see influencers talking about how amazing it is to be a stay-at-home girlfriend or stay-at-home mom and cook and clean." "Trad wife" and "manosphere" videos perform extraordinarily well. "It's kind of this vicious cycle where these social media algorithms are naturally going to be favorable towards content that is a little bit more inflammatory and click-worthy," said Ali Mortell, the director of research at Democratic data firm Blue Rose Research. "And then on top of that, the political right, not just in the United States, but globally, has really leaned into that shift in the earned media environment in a way" that the left has not, Mortell added.
