The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes
The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat.
Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors.
Still, European officials expressed hope for future negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue but stressed Tehran wasn't interested in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking.
Here is the latest:
Italians evacuated from Iran arrive in Azerbaijan
The Italian foreign ministry said the 24 Italians are the second group to evacuate via Azerbaijan's Baku, on their way back home.
'After about nine hours of travel and a very long wait at the border, the group was welcomed by representatives of the Italian Embassy in Baku, and then moved to the airport of the Azerbaijani capital to wait to return to Italy with the first available flights,' the ministry said.
The group included an Italian doctor and his partner, an Iranian woman and their 18-month-old child, the ministry said.
Another convoy from Iran could depart from Tehran as early as Monday.
The first group that arrived in Italy via Baku in recent days had 34 Italian nationals.
Italy's foreign ministry also said it chartered a flight to help evacuate its citizens from Israel via Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday.
Evacuees in Cyprus recall missiles flying overhead
Noah Page says it's one thing to watch missiles crisscrossing the sky on the news and another to experience it firsthand.
'You see it on the news, you see everything, but you never really expect it to actually hit you when you're there,' the Ohio-native told the Associated Press.
'As someone who grew up in Canada, it's so foreign to me to even think about missiles or a war and you hear about it on the news and it's just so separate from you,' said the 23-year-old who didn't want to give her last name. "It sort of felt like fireworks at first until the reality of the situation set in. I need to run or I might end up hurt.'
Page and Pe'er were among an estimated 1,500 other young people from around the world visiting Israel who were evacuated by cruise ship on Saturday to Cyprus, the closest European country to Israel, at around 270 kilometers.
It was the second such trip by the cruise ship bringing people out while ferrying stranded Israelis back to their homeland.
Florida native Alex Rosenblum had been in Israel before in times of war, when the sounds of sirens urging citizens to rush to shelters had become almost routine. But he says this time it was different.
'This situation with Iran has been a lot scarier because there's a big difference between a rocket and a missile,' he said.
The three young people found safety in underground shelters when digital alerts were sent out. But Pe'er says you can never shake the feeling that you're in danger.
Iran's Araghchi says it will be 'very dangerous' if US gets involved in war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it would be 'very, very dangerous for everyone' if the United States becomes actively involved in the war with Israel.
He spoke to reporters in Istanbul on his way home from talks in Geneva.
Araghchi said American military involvement 'would be very unfortunate.'
UN refugee agency calls for de-escalation
The UNHCR said Saturday that the intensity of the attacks is already triggering population movements in Israel and Iran: Some from Tehran and other parts of Iran have crossed into neighboring countries while shelling has caused people in Israel to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and, in some cases, abroad.
The agency urged states in the region to respect the right of people to seek safety where needed and to facilitate humanitarian access.
'This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement — we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,' the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. 'The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations.'
Tehran vows to make Grossi 'pay'
A senior adviser for Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed in a social media post Saturday to make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency 'pay' once the war with Israel is over.
Ali Larijani's threat comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has become a major target for many Iranian officials who say his conflicting statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program incited the Israeli surprise attack last week.
Grossi told the United Nations' Security Council Friday that while Iran has the material to build a nuclear bomb, it appears they have no plans to do so.
The Associated Press
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But the killing of at least 11 senior military officers and 14 nuclear scientists in targeted strikes since Israel launched hostilities a week ago has accentuated the risk. Following a missile strike on a hospital in Beersheba on Thursday, the Israeli government has grown more explicit in its calls for Khamenei's death. Credit: ABC News Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has refused to rule out an attempt to kill him, saying it 'could bring an end to the conflict'. His defence minister, Israel Katz, went further, calling him a 'modern Hitler' who 'cannot be allowed to continue existing'. Although Donald Trump reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei, the US president has also adopted more threatening rhetoric in recent days, saying on Tuesday: 'We know exactly where the so-called 'supreme leader' is hiding. Mr Trump added that the US had no plans to target Khamenei, 'at least not for now', but described him as an 'easy target' should he change his mind. 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‘This presidency is a brand-franchise': Trump has taken the commercialization of politics to a new level
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Erdogan vows to boost Turkey's missile production as Israel-Iran war escalates
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he plans to strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities so that no country would dare attack it. Erdogan announced plans this week to step up Turkey's production of medium- and long-range missiles, as the war between Israel and Iran escalates. Erdogan discussed the Iran-Israel war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone call on Friday. He told Merz that the Iranian nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiations, according to Erdogan's office. Despite Turkey's tense relations with Israel, analysts and officials don't see an immediate threat of the conflict spreading into NATO-member Turkey. Still, some see the move by Erdogan as a sign that the Israel-Iran war could trigger a new arms race in the region, with countries not directly involved in the fray ramping up their military efforts to preempt future conflicts. The Israeli army on Friday declined to comment on Turkey's plans to ramp up missile production, but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Erdogan's criticisms of Israel over its attack on Iran in an X post on Wednesday. He accused Erdogan of having 'imperialist ambitions' and of having 'set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country's opposition.' Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Beykoz University, said that Turkey was reacting to what he described as an unraveling world order. 'The Turkish government is drifting toward what is the name of the game in the Middle East right now: an escalation of an arms race,' he said, adding that Israel and the U.S. have set a high standard in aerial warfare, creating a technological gap that Turkey and others are eager to close. Importance of air superiority Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday that 'we are making production plans to bring our medium- and long-range missile stockpiles to a level that ensures deterrence, in light of recent developments." 'God willing, in the not-too-distant future, we will reach a defense capacity that is so strong that no one will even dare to act tough toward us," Erdogan said. In an separate address days later, he highlighted Turkey's progress in its domestically developed defense industry, that includes drones, fighter jets, armored vehicles and navy vessels, but stressed that continued effort was needed to ensure full deterrence. 'Although Turkey has a very large army — the second largest in NATO — its air power, its air defense, is relatively weaker,' said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, a Turkey analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank. The ongoing conflict has reinforced the importance of air superiority, including missiles and missile defense systems, prompting 'countries in the region, including Turkey to strengthen its air power,' he said. Since the start of the conflict, Erdogan has been scrambling to end the hostilities. He has held a flurry of phone calls with leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering to act as a 'facilitator' for the resumption of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. There are deep concerns in Turkey that a prolonged conflict will cause energy disruptions and lead to refugee movement from Iran, with which it shares a 560 kilometer-long (348 mile) border. Turkey relies heavily on energy imports, including from Iran, and rising oil prices due to the conflict could aggravate inflation and further strain its troubled economy. It has strongly criticized Israel's actions, saying Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself against Israel's attacks, which came as nuclear negotiations were ongoing. Turkish influence in Syria Once close allies, Turkey and Israel have grown deeply estranged, especially after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, with Erdogan becoming one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiercest critics. Relations further deteriorated following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government as Israel grew increasingly wary of expanding Turkish influence in Syria. Earlier this year, Turkey and Israel established a 'de-escalation mechanism' aimed at preventing conflict between their troops in Syria. The move came after Syria's Foreign Ministry said that Israeli jets had struck a Syrian air base that Turkey reportedly hoped to use. Erdogan's nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, suggested that Turkey was a potential target for Israel, accusing the country of strategically 'encircling' Turkey with its military actions. He didn't elaborate. However, analysts say such statements were for 'domestic consumption' to garner support amid growing anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey. 'I don't think that Israel has any interest in attacking Turkey, or Turkey has any interest in a conflict with Israel,' Han said. __ Ibrahim Hazboun contributed from Jerusalem.
