Israel claims biggest Iranian scalp…for the SECOND time: Ayatollah's chief of staff is killed 5 DAYS after predecessor
ISRAEL'S military claimed it has killed Iran's 'most senior military commander" - and the person closest to the Supreme Leader - for the second time in five days.
The IDF announced it had assassinated Major General Ali Shademani after he replaced Gholam Ali Rashid, who he was taken out in Israel's initial blitz.
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The IDF said that Shademani's position made him Iran's 'War-Time Chief of Staff, the most senior military commander, and the closest figure to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei".
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The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Donald Trump not seeking ceasefire but wants ‘a real end' to Iran's nuclear programme
Donald Trump has said he is not seeking a ceasefire in Israel's war on Iran but instead wants to see 'a real end' to Iran's nuclear programme, with Tehran abandoning it 'entirely'. The US president predicted Israel would not let up in its bombing campaign and suggested a decisive moment in that campaign was imminent, though he made clear he expected Israel to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities without US help. 'You're going to find out over the next two days … Nobody's slowed up so far,' he told CBS News, after abruptly abandonning a G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies, saying he was returning to the White House to deal with the conflict. Speaking to reporters on the way back to Washington, Trump said he was seeking 'an end, a real end, not a ceasefire'. That would involve a 'complete give-up' by Iran, he said. Trump's negotiating position before the Israeli attack was that Iran should stop uranium enrichment entirely, and he blamed Tehran for not accepting that proposal. Trump also stressed that any Iranian attack on Americans or US bases, something that Iran has threatened, would be met with overwhelming force, saying 'we'll come down so hard, it'd be gloves off.' Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Iran was open to resuming talks with the US about its nuclear programme. 'If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,' Araghchi said in a statement. Asked whether he would dispatch envoy Steve Witkoff or the vice-president, JD Vance, for direct talks with Iran, Trump was noncommittal, however, saying it would depend 'on what happens when I get back'. He later said: 'I'm not too much in the mood to negotiate.' Benjamin Netanyahu was also dismissive of the idea of diplomacy. 'Of course they want to stop. They want to stop, and to keep producing the tools of death. We gave that a chance,' the Israeli prime minister said, laying out a new, expanded set of war aims. 'We want three central results: eliminating the nuclear programme, eliminating the ability to produce ballistic missiles and eliminating the axis of terror. We will obviously do what we must to achieve these objectives, and we have been coordinating well with the United States.' On his Truth Social online platform overnight, Trump was even more threatening than the Israelis, declaring: 'Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!', after an Israeli evacuation order to part of northern Tehran affecting a third of a million people, warning of the imminent bombing of the district. The Israeli online order was modelled on those routinely issued to Palestinians in Gaza, where bombing by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has flattened entire residential neighbourhoods over the course of a 20-month conflict. The Israeli ultimatum on Monday said the bombing of Tehran would be aimed at 'military infrastructure', but one of the targets hit was a state television station, killing three staff and ending live broadcasts. Israel has also been bombing Iran's oil and gas installations, and Iran has retaliated with strikes on Haifa, damaging a power station and a refinery in the Mediterranean port. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 24 Iranians across the country on Tuesday morning, bringing the toll since Friday's surprise attack to at least 224 people dead and more than 1,400 injured, its health ministry said. The scale of destruction and the threats from the IDF and Trump triggered an exodus of Tehranis jamming the roads out of the capital overnight. In Israel, the death toll by Tuesday morning was 24, with about 600 injured. Iran fired a total of 20 to 30 missiles on Tuesday morning, according to the IDF, lightly wounding five people, marking a significant drop in the tempo of its attack compared with the previous few days. The IDF said Iran has used 370 missiles in eight salvos out of a US-estimated arsenal of 3,000 ballistic missiles. The IDF further claims to have destroyed 200 of Iran's missile launchers, half the total, and to be hunting the remainder, continually constricting Tehran's ability to retaliate. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Israel has also struck a severe blow to Iran's chain of command, killing at least 11 top generals, and in some cases, their replacements. On Tuesday, the IDF said it had killed the acting armed forces commander, Maj Gen Ali Shadmani, who had been in the post just four days, after his predecessor was targeted in the first wave of strikes on Friday morning. 'Iran is completely naked and we have full freedom of action. This is an unprecedented achievement,' an IDF general staff officer told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. If IDF claims of its dominance are borne out, it will leave Iran with few cards to play. The Iranian parliament has prepared a bill that would withdraw Iran from the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, so that it would no longer be legally bound to forgo nuclear weapons, but the government insists it remains opposed to all weapons of mass destruction. State TV has also aired calls from hardline politicians suggesting that Iran block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, potentially stopping the passage of more than 17m barrels of oil a day, and producing a dramatic spike in world oil prices and global inflation. Trump's abrupt departure from the G7 summit in Canada, coupled with the eastward deployment of significant numbers of US military aircraft, had provoked speculation that Trump was contemplating US participation in the offensive, contributing bombers and huge penetrating munitions that experts say are necessary to destroy deeply buried Iranian uranium enrichment plants. When asked about US involvement, Trump responded that the Iranian nuclear programme 'is wiped out long before that'. A White House spokesperson, Alex Pfeiffer, denied reports of US participation in Israeli offensive operations. 'American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests,' Pfeiffer wrote.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Family stranded in Israel face 3,700-mile journey through three countries to get home to UK
A British family stranded in Israel due to the intensifying conflict with Iran say they face an arduous, expensive and potentially dangerous journey back home if the UK government continues to fail to act. Barrister Lisa Baker, 51, is stuck with her 15-year-old daughter, Bella, and 78-year-old mother Phyllis Phillips in the northern coastal city of Haifa after their flight home on Sunday was cancelled. The Israeli government closed its airspace until 23 June after the escalation in the conflict with Iran, which has seen both countries launch deadly air attacks against each other. On Monday morning, three people in Haifa were among eight killed by Iranian ballistic missiles in a dawn attack. The UK has no plans to evacuate Britons stranded in Israel, but support has been stepped up in Jordan and Egypt for people who make their way overland. Ms Baker and her family are staying in a hotel with access to a safe room where they seek shelter when sirens warn of a possible air attack. But they are keen to return to the UK. Yet despite registering their situation with the Foreign Office, as requested by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, they say they have had little help in finding a safe passage home. The latest government advice for British nationals is that three international land border crossings to Jordan and one to Egypt are open 'but could close without notice'. As a result, Ms Baker told The Independent that she was exploring a number of routes to get home, many involving two or three flights. One route is to travel by land for more than three hours to Amman in Jordan, and then catch a flight to London Stansted, with layovers in Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Istanbul in Turkey. That journey is more than 3,700 miles, well over the 2,185-mile distance from Haifa to London. There are routes with fewer stops, but group ticket costs rise up to £6,000, Ms Baker said, while journeys include overnight layovers in airports such as Beirut in Lebanon. Ms Baker said: 'The nearest airport is Amman in Jordan, but there are no direct flights, instead there are flights back to UK with one, two or three stops, and costing up to £6,000 for us all. 'Then every time we go into a flight, it disappears, presumably because of the demand. 'The journeys also include border crossings that the Foreign Office says could close without notice, and there is the risk flights could stop at an airport we are heading to. 'The UK government needs to act to get British citizens home in safe way. Telling us to use border crossing to a country where there is no guarantee of a safe passage back can mean there is a risk of potential danger.' Ms Baker questioned why the UK government could not replicate Israel's action to fly nationals back home, despite the airspace closure. Poland has also announced an evacuation of around 200 of its citizens in a bus convoy to Jordan, while the Czech Republic and Slovakian governments have organised repatriation flights from the region. Ms Baker said the Foreign Office should consider putting on a boat service for British nationals in Haifa to reach Cyprus, where direct flights home are available from Larnaca. 'That is a safe passage as it is a country that is safe, and is a route that is not putting us as risk from being in other countries that could be potentially dangerous to be in right now,' she said. 'It is calm here, we are not in bomb shelters, we are in safe rooms,' she added. 'It is scary, but it is organised here, with an alert system followed by sirens. There have been attacks in Haifa, we know that, and damage to buildings where people are in safe rooms. There has sadly been a loss of life. 'We want to get home.' While Bella is missing her GCSE mock exams at her school in Leeds, Ms Baker said she was having to reassign her barrister workload while away. On Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy assured British nationals in Israel that their welfare was the government's 'first priority'. As well as sending a team to Egypt to assist nationals, he said border crossing were being posted on the Foreign Office website. 'British nationals in the region should closely monitor our travel advice for further updates.' he told the Commons.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Ex-MLB star and Trump fan Zack Cozart will 'no longer support' president if disastrous event plays out
Former Major League Baseball star Zack Cozart has declared that he will not support President Donald Trump any longer if the American leader gets the country into a war. Cozart's social-media message comes as Trump departed the G7 Summit in Canada on Monday earlier than expected to return to the White House due to the conflict in the Middle East. As tensions between Israel and Iran have reached a boiling point over the last several days, the United States' involvement appears to be under the world's microscope. The United States has stood behind Israel as one of its closest allies during its current conflicts in the region, with a possible war against Iran being no different. Whether or not America will get more involved in the conflict, outside of providing aid to Israel, is up to Trump and his administration. 'If Trump gets us in a war, I will no longer support him, and I'm sure most of you know I love Trump,' Cozart said on X. Coazrt previously expressed support for Trump in lead-up to his November election victory over Kamala Harris to re-take the White House. Cozart played for the Cincinnati Reds from 2011 through 2017, when his only All-Star selection occurred. The shortstop played for his final pair of big-league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. White House spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said on Monday that the United States military was going to join Israel's attacks on Iranian targets. 'This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests,' he said on X. Earlier on Monday, Trump called for mass evacuations of Iran's capital, Tehran. The President has been a supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during both of his stays in the White House.
