logo
Israel kills IRGC intelligence chief and deputy, Iranian state media says

Israel kills IRGC intelligence chief and deputy, Iranian state media says

Yahoo6 hours ago

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency has confirmed the death of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi and his deputy Hassan Mohaqiq.
It added that a third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed in the strike in Tehran. They were reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already stated earlier that Kazemi and Mohaqiq had been killed.
Israel and Iran launched attacks on each other for the third day in a row on Sunday, killing scores of civilians, and raising fears of a wider conflict.
As the death toll continues to rise, both sides have threatened to unleash even greater force.
At least 14 people have been confirmed dead in Israel. Iranian state media announced on Sunday that the death toll of Israel's attacks on Iran had climbed to 224 since Friday, adding that the majority were civilians.
For the first time, Iran also launched a daytime barrage against Israel. At least one of the missiles launched on Sunday evening hit a building in the coastal city of Haifa, injuring four people, bringing the number of wounded across the country to 15.
Israelis have now been told they can leave shelters, after the missile attack caused several light injuries and damage in both the north and south of the country.
In Iran, images from the capital showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against its oil and gas sector.
Meanwhile, US-Iran nuclear talks were called off on Sunday, and a US official says that President Donald Trump has rejected​ a plan by the Israelis to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Suspect Captured, Ending Two-Day Manhunt - CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish - Podcast on CNN Audio
Suspect Captured, Ending Two-Day Manhunt - CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish - Podcast on CNN Audio

CNN

time34 minutes ago

  • CNN

Suspect Captured, Ending Two-Day Manhunt - CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish - Podcast on CNN Audio

Suspect Captured, Ending Two-Day Manhunt CNN This Morning 47 mins Following an intense manhunt, law enforcement apprehend Vance Boelter, the man accused of killing a Minnesota state representative and wounding another. Plus, Israel and Iran trade attacks overnight as the world calls for diplomacy. Is there any hope for de-escalation? Then: Is the Trump Administration feeling the backlash from its immigration crackdown?

UN rights chief urges governments to ‘wake up' to ‘horrifying' suffering in Gaza
UN rights chief urges governments to ‘wake up' to ‘horrifying' suffering in Gaza

Hamilton Spectator

time36 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

UN rights chief urges governments to ‘wake up' to ‘horrifying' suffering in Gaza

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Israel's warfare in Gaza is inflicting 'horrifying, unconscionable suffering' on Palestinians and urged government leaders on Monday to 'wake up' and exert pressure to bring an end to the conflict. 'The facts speak for themselves,' said Volker Türk. 'Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza. All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering.' Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session in a broad address that also raised concerns about escalating conflict between Iran and Israel , the fallout from U.S. tariffs , and China's human rights record — alongside wars and conflict in places like Sudan and Ukraine . As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — who has regularly spoken out about bloodshed in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli hostages held by armed Palestinian militants — Türk used some of his most forceful words yet to highlight the Mideast violence . 'Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,' he told the 47-member-country body, which Israeli authorities have regularly accused of anti-Israel bias. The Trump administration has kept the United States, Israel's top ally, out of the council proceedings. Israel's military campaign since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says that women and children make up most of the dead, but it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by accusing Türk and his office of been 'relentless in making irresponsible and uneducated statements regarding Israel's conduct of hostilities — including reliance on information propagated by terrorist organizations.' It called on Türk to 'condemn Hamas's declared strategy to maximize harm to the population in Gaza.' In Brussels, medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders appealed to European Union leaders to use what leverage they have over Israel to end the siege of Gaza. Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear described Gaza as a 'hell on earth,' and said that almost two years of relentless bombardment has turned 'this narrow strip of land into a graveyard of shattered hospitals, mass graves and destroyed neighborhoods.' Aid deliveries organised by the U.N. were cut off in mid-March, and violence has accompanied distributions of food from the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation , which has U.S. and Israeli backing. Beyond the suffering of inflicted on in Gaza, Doctors Without Borders said its international staffers are living often on one meal a day, and some have been admitted to their own facilities for treatment. The EU is the world's biggest donor of aid to the Palestinians but has little real leverage over Israel. The bloc's 27 member states are divided in their approach to the conflict, although concern over the plight of Gazans has grown as the siege has dragged on. In his speech, Türk also bemoaned an increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine, nearly 3 1/2 years after Russia's full-scale invasion. He denounced executions without a fair trial and 'wide-scale sexual violence, including against children' in Sudan. Without mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump by name, Türk likened the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in April to 'a high-stakes poker game, with the global economy as the bank.' 'But the shockwaves of a trade war will hit least developed countries with the force of a tsunami,' he said, warning of a potentially 'devastating' impact on exporters in Asia, and the prospect of higher costs for food, healthcare and education in places. Türk expressed concerns about U.S. deportations of non-nationals, including to third countries, and called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly . The council session, which has been shortened by 2 1/2 days because of funding issues at the U.N., is set to run through July 9. The Geneva-based council is the U.N.'s top human rights body. ___ Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .

Khamenei, Iran's political survivor, faces ultimate test
Khamenei, Iran's political survivor, faces ultimate test

News24

time39 minutes ago

  • News24

Khamenei, Iran's political survivor, faces ultimate test

Israel's strikes have triggered the most serious threat yet to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule and physical survival. Khamenei faces internal power struggles, a looming succession crisis, and increasing vulnerability amid war pressures. Analysts say regime change is possible, but mass public uprising inside Iran remains unlikely for now. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has weathered a series of challenges, but Israel's unprecedented strikes mark his most serious crisis yet, threatening both the clerical system he leads and his own physical survival. Khamenei, Iran's top leader since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, has ruled in the face of sanctions, near-constant international tensions as well as protests that were ruthlessly repressed, most recently the 2022-2023 women-led uprising. With Khamenei, aged 86, the issue of succession was already looming large in Iran. But his moves now will have a decisive impact on the future of the system of which he has been a pillar since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the Shah. Meanwhile, his own physical survival could be at stake, with a senior American official saying Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. However, Israel is still not ruling out such a move. 'Khamenei is at the twilight of his rule, at the age 86, and already much of the daily command of the regime is not up to him but to various factions who are vying for the future,' said Arash Azizi, senior fellow at Boston University. 'This process was already under way, and the current war only accelerates it,' he told AFP. 'Self-inflicted dilemma' Israel's success in killing key Iranian figures, including the army chief and head of the Revolutionary Guards, has illustrated how Israeli intelligence can track Iranian leaders and raised the question of whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could give an order to seek to kill Khamenei himself. The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since taking up the position and made his last foreign visit to North Korea in 1989 while still president, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy. 'It is possible that they might have a regime change plan of their own, either by supporting or semi-supporting a coup inside the regime or by continuing to kill at the highest level, hoping that this leads to a fundamental shift in posture toward Israel or something of a regime change,' said Azizi. Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Khamenei faced a 'self-inflicted dilemma' and already lacked the 'physical and cognitive acumen to lead Iran into a high-tech war'. 'A weak response to Israel further diminishes his authority; a strong response could further jeopardise his survival and that of his regime,' he said. 'Prided himself' While keeping up the rhetoric of confrontation with the US and Israel and backing proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Khamenei long kept Iran out of direct conflict with its foes. But the current strikes appear to represent a sudden end to this strategy. 'He has prided himself on deterring conflict away from Iran's borders since he assumed the supreme leadership in 1989,' said Jason Brodsky, policy director of US-based United Against Nuclear Iran. So Khamenei has badly miscalculated. Jason Brodsky Brodsky said the nearest comparison to the current situation was the attacks against leaders blamed on the opposition in the early 1980s, which saw the then-president killed and Khamenei himself wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt. 'It will be an experience that Khamenei will undoubtedly draw upon in the current context,' Brodsky told AFP. 'But what we are witnessing today is on a completely different level of magnitude. And it's occurring at a pace that threatens to overwhelm the capacity of Tehran.' READ | Trump urges Iran, reeling from Israeli strikes, to 'make a deal' before things get worse The scale of Israel's first attacks overnight on Thursday to Friday, ahead of what was supposed to be a new round of talks in Oman on the Iranian nuclear programme, took the leadership by surprise at a time when it has been on the lookout for any further protests amid economic hardship. 'Indeed, the strikes have intensified already simmering tensions, and many Iranians want to see the Islamic republic gone. Crucially, however, most of them do not want this outcome to come at the cost of bloodshed and war,' said Holly Dagres, senior fellow at The Washington Institute. 'Stay strong' In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu suggested that 'regime change' could be the outcome of the Israeli strikes, while insisting that it would be for the Iranian people to bring this about. 'It could certainly be the result as the Iran regime is very weak,' he said, claiming that '80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out'. Asked if there was an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei that had been vetoed by Washington, Netanyahu replied: We do what we need to do, we will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States. The Iranian opposition, both in exile and inside the country, remains riven by division. One of its most prominent representatives, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who has warm relations with Israel, has told Iranians: 'Stay strong, and we will win.' So far, however, there have been no reports of mass protests, although some Persian-language television channels based abroad have broadcast images of groups shouting anti-Khamenei slogans. Azizi cautioned: 'The idea that this ends in a popular uprising that changes the regime or gives power to someone in the Iranian opposition abroad has no basis in reality.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store