Israel says it killed veteran Iran commander as both sides attack
Israel
said on Saturday it had killed a veteran Iranian commander as the countries traded attacks, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive.
Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas arm, was killed in a strike in an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom, said Israeli Defense minister Israel Katz.
Calling his killing a 'major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force', Katz said in a statement that Izadi had financed and armed the Palestinian militant group
Hamas
in advance of its October 7th, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in
Gaza
.
The Revolutionary Guards said five of its members had been killed in attacks on Khorramabad, according to Iranian media reports that did not mention Izadi, who was on US and British sanctions lists.
READ MORE
Iranian media had said earlier on Saturday that Israel had attacked a building in Qom, with initial reports of a 16-year-old killed and two people injured.
Iran's Fars news agency said Israel had targeted the Isfahan nuclear facility, one of the nation's biggest, but there was no leakage of hazardous materials.
The Israeli military said it had launched a wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran.
Ali Shamkhani, a close ally of Iran's supreme leader, said he had survived an Israeli attack. 'It was my fate to stay with a wounded body, so I stay to continue to be the reason for the enemy's hostility,' he said in a message carried by state media.
Early on Saturday, the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel's air defence systems responded. There were no reports of casualties.
Israel
began attacking Iran on June 13th, saying its long-time enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.
Its air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists.
Iran's health minister, Mohammadreza Zafarqandi, said on Saturday that Israel has attacked three hospitals during the conflict, killing two health workers and a child, and has targeted six ambulances, according to Fars.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An Iranian missile hit a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Thursday.
Iran's Nournews on Saturday named 15 air defence officers and soldiers it said had been killed in the conflict with Israel.
In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
Iranian worshippers sit under banners featuring portraits of people killed in Israeli attacks, in Tehran on Friday. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
US president
Donald Trump
said on Friday he thought Iran would be able to have a nuclear weapon 'within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months'. He told reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey: 'We can't let that happen.'
He said his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon.
Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia on Saturday quoted Russian president Vladimir Putin as saying in an interview.
'Russia, as well as the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], has never had any evidence that Iran is preparing to obtain nuclear weapons, as we have repeatedly put the Israeli leadership on notice,' Sky News Arabia quoted Mr Putin as saying.
Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear programme, Mr Putin was quoted as saying, adding that Iran has the right to do so.
Speaking at an economic forum in St Petersburg on Friday, Mr Putin said Russia was sharing its ideas on how to stop the bloodshed in the Iran-Israel conflict with both sides. He did not give details of those ideas.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US 'until Israeli aggression stops'. But he arrived in Geneva on Friday for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy.
Mr Trump reiterated that he would take up to two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel's side, enough time 'to see whether or not people come to their senses', he said.
Mr Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel to scale back its air strikes to allow negotiations to continue.
'I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens,' he said.
The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Mr Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire.
'Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one,' Trump said.
Hundreds of US citizens have fled Iran since the air war began, according to a US State Department cable seen by Reuters.
Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council on Friday his country would not stop its attacks 'until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled'. Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the US might join the war.
Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that it would reject any proposal that barred it from enriching uranium completely, 'especially now under Israel's strikes'. – Reuters
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Israel says it killed veteran Iran commander as both sides attack
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And on the review goes… Needless to say, the report found that Israel's obligations under human rights and international law to protect civilians were in breach, as were its obligations under Article 2 of its agreement with the EU. Ireland and Spain first highlighted concerns last year that Israel was in breach of Article 2. The trenchant support for Israel by Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and others meant there was no consensus for a review to take place. That changed after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire collapsed in March and the IDF intensified its assault on Gaza, including the prolonged humanitarian blockade. Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp revived the Irish-Spanish initiative in April, and at a meeting of his counterparts in May, the pendulum swung in favour of action. 17 member states - including Ireland - supported a review of Article 2 compliance (two countries joined the list afterwards); sentiment at EU level was clearly shifting. Yet, the divisions remain. Despite last night's report, we are in for a protracted period of step-by-step diplomacy. Ms Kallas will canvas the views of 27 foreign ministers on Monday, and then brief EU leaders during their summit in Brussels next Thursday. Yesterday, diplomats were emphasising the need for unity. So sensitive is the Israel-Gaza issue, that a menu of options against Israel will be kept off the table for now. "There are those among the 17 (member states) who wanted the review but who don't actually want any measures against Israel to be taken," says a senior EU official. "They want to use this as a way of applying pressure to Israel. There are those who definitely want measures to be taken, and there are those who didn't even want the review in the first place." A senior EU diplomat, from a country in favour of the review, said: "It's clear what needs to happen: first of all, we want as broad agreement as possible on the outcome of the review. We know it will not be unanimous, it will not be consensual, but we hope that a big group of member states can subscribe to the conclusion of the review." That would, in theory, allow Ms Kallas to take the findings to the Israelis and use the threat of punitive measures to encourage Israel to massively increase humanitarian support and to move towards a ceasefire. Preserving unity next week will be challenging. When EU ambassadors had their first meeting on the forthcoming review on Wednesday, the divisions were already clear. "You could see the different positions of member states reflected in the more procedural interventions," says one diplomat. "The Irish, Belgians, Spanish and Slovenians were pushing for an immediate discussion among ministers about next steps and consequences, whereas others were fiercely pushing back on that: the Hungarians, the Czechs, the Germans and - to a lesser extent - the Italians." It is understood the Irish government initially wanted Ms Kallas to lean towards some kind of list of options the EU could take against Israel, now that it had been found in violation of Article 2. However, Dublin had apparently accepted the prevailing view that unity was vital and that the threat of further action could convince Israel to change its policy towards humanitarian aid, and towards a ceasefire. In this scenario, we would have to wait for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in July before Ms Kallas presents a range of options Europe could take. In a statement, Tánaiste Simon Harris welcomed the findings of the review. "Ireland has always been clear that any such review can only reach one conclusion – there is clear evidence that Israel is in breach of its obligations under Article 2 of the Agreement. We now expect the EU and its Member States to take concrete actions in follow up to the review." External events could also derail any consensus building. Diplomats stressed the need to keep the Article 2 issue separate from the Israel-Iran war raging in the background. "It's part of Israel's strategy to divert attention from what is happening in Gaza and in Palestine," says one diplomat. "That's precisely what we don't want. The situation in Gaza and Palestine is absolutely critical, and we need to keep a very strong focus on it." "On the Iran-Israel issue," says another diplomat, "some foreign ministers will make the point that given what's happening, perhaps we should hold off on the review, hold off on making this an issue in our conversation with Israel. I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time." There is also growing frustration - shared in Dublin - at those EU capitals which have emphasised quiet diplomacy with Israel. One source suggested that "whispering to the Israelis" had yet to deliver any meaningful response in 18 months of the Gaza war. Pressure is building elsewhere. This week, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot spearheaded a joint letter - co-signed by Tánaiste Simon Harris, as well as the foreign ministers of Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden - calling on Ms Kallas to ensure that the EU is compliant with last summer's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. The advisory opinion held that Israel's occupation was illegal, and that countries were obliged to ensure they did not support the occupation through trade. The Belgian initiative chimes with the Irish government's view that the ICJ ruling is binding on EU member states and that a ban on products from illegal settlements is effectively a legal obligation (ie, the legal impetus for the Occupied Territories Bill). Belgium expects other countries to join the call. A senior diplomat from one member state said his government was in favour of the Belgian initiative, but preferred not to sign the letter given that its recommendation - banning settlement products - was one of the "options" that could put pressure on fragile EU unity. The private view within the European Commission is that the EU is broadly in line with the ICJ ruling. However, the Commission has sent a number of legal opinions to the member state working group on international judicial affairs (COJUR). "The issue has been back and forth without any consensus," says a senior EU official. "It's never reached the political level, but it's been discussed by diplomats." The Belgian letter essentially calls for Ms Kallas - who represents both the Commission and member states - to speed the process up. It urges the Commission to bring forward measures to ensure that member states are in compliance, given that the "European Union is founded on the values as stated in the UN Charter, such as the respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights…[and that] all EU Member States are parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice." Whether the Commission will introduce new legislation to reflect the growing clamour - as reflected in the Occupied Territories Bill - for a ban on goods coming from illegal Israeli settlements remains to be seen. One source suggests that the Commission could provide for individual member states to make their own national arrangements. The fact that the review of Israel's conduct, for so long a disregarded Irish-Spanish gambit, has finally happened and does not pull any punches is, relative to the EU's tortuous policy on Gaza, an achievement. However, the length of time it has taken to hold Israel to account, and the fact that even now a punitive response could take several months, will further call into question the EU's moral backbone, with the death toll in Gaza standing at over 56,000, according to Palestinian authorities. The fact that the EU's role in foreign policy necessarily gives each member states a veto (foreign policy is normally a fundamental expression of national sovereignty) is of meagre comfort to those who believe Europe should have done more and done it quicker. Diplomats are increasingly frustrated that in the generational challenges of our time - Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Israel's response to the Hamas October 7 attacks - the EU's voice has been blunted by division and national vetoes. In the event that Ms Kallas does provide a menu of responses to foreign ministers in July, it is by no means clear what happens next. The EU has never taken action against a trade partner for such a breach of a trade agreement. A full suspension of the Association Agreement would require unanimity, with a Hungarian, German and Czech veto almost certain. There has been speculation that suspending elements of EU Israel trade would only require a so-called Qualified Majority Vote (QMV). On the basis of the 19 countries which supported a review, that qualified majority could be reached. However, one EU official questioned whether even this would be possible. "Even suspending some trade could be seen as a sanctions measure, and that would therefore require unanimity," said the official. "We've also discussed a complete ban on trade with Israel, and that would be against our WTO obligations - so that is a non starter." For any measure to be taken it would require a proposal from the European Commission, meaning the issue runs - once again - straight into national divisions. On only two occasions in the history of the EU has an issue gone to a vote among the College of 27 commissioners (each from a member state) since the body strives for consensus. There is no doubt that attitudes to Israel have hardened, even among its traditional allies. Last month, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a TV interview: "What the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, I no longer understand the goal. To harm the civilian population in such a way … can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism." Whether this pressure, which should be amplified by the publication of the review, makes any difference to Israel's conduct remains an open question.
