
Trump says would bomb Iran again 'without question' if it keeps enriching uranium
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he would "absolutely" bomb Iran again if intelligence indicated the country was still able to enrich uranium to nuclear weapons-grade.
Asked in a White House press conference whether he would consider fresh air strikes if last week's sorties were not successful in ending Iran's nuclear ambitions, he said: "Without question. Absolutely."
Trump said Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "got beat to hell" in the hostilities involving the United States and Israel and that "it was a great time to end it."
AFP

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Ya Libnan
40 minutes ago
- Ya Libnan
Khamenei claims victory over Israel, says Iran dealt US ‘severe slap'
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday claimed victory over Israel and said that his country had 'dealt a severe slap to the face of America' during his first televised speech since a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was declared following their 12-day war. Tehran- Iran 's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that the US had 'gained nothing' from its attacks during the Islamic republic's 12-day war with Israel that saw nuclear sites hit. In a video broadcast on Iranian state television, Khamenei said the US 'engaged in the war directly, convinced that its refusal to intervene would lead to the complete destruction of the Zionist regime'. 'It has gained nothing from this war,' Khamenei said of Washington, adding that 'the Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America'. 'Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,' he claimed The comments came in the wake of an attack on Sunday in which American forces hit three Iranian nuclear facilities with bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles. Iran retaliated on Monday with a missile attack on a US base in nearby Qatar , but caused no casualties and informed Qatar in advance about it. Later on Thursday, a parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) was ratified by the Guardian Council, Iran's Young Journalist Club news outlet reported on Thursday, referring to a panel of clerics and jurists who vet legislation. 'The government is required to suspend all cooperation with the (International Atomic Energy Agency) to ensure full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,' Guardian Council spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif told the official IRNA news agency. He said the move was prompted by the 'attacks… by the Zionist regime and the United States against peaceful nuclear facilities'. Following the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites, US President Donald Trump was able to help negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday. In his appearance on Thursday, he sat in front of plain brown curtains to give his address, similar to his June 19 message. The 86-year-old Khamenei hasn't been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. US defense In the United States, leaked intelligence this week opened up a Pandora's box of accusations and counter-claims over the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. Later on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to offer a fresh assessment of the attacks. After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities. An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN , was said to have concluded that the strikes did not destroy key components and that Iran's nuclear programme was set back only months at most. Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of enriched uranium – which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country. The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump saying the attack 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain, and that it had set the programme back by 'decades'. Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed 'war' secretary, would hold a news conference at 8am (12:00 GMT) on Thursday to 'fight for the dignity of our great American pilots'. CIA chief John Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday that 'several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years'. The Israeli military said it had delivered a 'significant' blow to Iran's nuclear sites but that it was 'still early' to fully assess the damage. Netanyahu announced that 'we have thwarted Iran's nuclear project'. 'And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,' he said. Nuclear talks? Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Al Jazeera that 'nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure'. After the war derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, Trump said Washington would hold discussions with Tehran next week, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff expressing hope 'for a comprehensive peace agreement'. Trump told reporters that Israel and Iran were 'both tired, exhausted', before going on to say that talks were planned with Iran next week. 'We may sign an agreement. I don't know,' he added. Iran has systematically denied seeking a nuclear weapon while defending its 'legitimate rights' to the peaceful use of atomic energy. It has also said it was willing to return to nuclear negotiations with Washington. The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to official figures. A state funeral will be held on Saturday in Tehran for top commanders and nuclear scientists killed in the war. Trump would consider bombing Iran again U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels. Trump said he had spared Khamanei's life. U.S. officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader. 'His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces terminate his life,' Trump said in a social media post. 'I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,' he said. (FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)


Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Trump hopeful for Gaza ceasefire, possibly 'next week'
U.S. President Donald Trump voiced optimism Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza, as criticism grew over mounting civilian deaths at Israeli-backed food distribution centers in the territory. Asked by reporters how close a ceasefire was between Israel and Hamas, Trump said: "We think within the next week, we're going to get a ceasefire." The United States brokered a ceasefire in the devastating conflict in the waning days of former president Joe Biden's administration, with support from Trump's incoming team. Israel broke the ceasefire in March, launching new devastating attacks on Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also stopped all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months, drawing warnings of famine. Israel has since allowed a resumption of food through the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which involves US security contractors with Israeli troops at the periphery. United Nations officials on Friday said the GHF system was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was "aligning itself with Hamas." Eyewitnesses and local officials have reported repeated killings of Palestinians at distribution centers over recent weeks in the war-stricken territory, where Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants. The Israeli military has denied targeting people and GHF has denied any deadly incidents were linked to its sites. But following weeks of reports, UN officials and other aid providers on Friday denounced what they said was a wave of killings of hungry people seeking aid. "The new aid distribution system has become a killing field," with people "shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs (UNWRA). "This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN including @UNRWA," he wrote on X. The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies. The country's civil defense agency has also repeatedly reported people being killed while seeking aid. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "The search for food must never be a death sentence." Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) branded the GHF relief effort "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid." - Israel denies targeting civilians - That drew an angry response from Israel, which said GHF had provided 46 million meals in Gaza. "The UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort. In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF's humanitarian operations," the foreign ministry said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a report in left-leaning daily Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution sites to disperse them even when they posed no threat. Haaretz said the military advocate general, the army's top legal authority, had instructed the military to investigate "suspected war crimes" at aid sites. The Israeli military declined to comment to AFP on the claim. Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz that their country "absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels" and "malicious falsehoods" in the Haaretz article. - Civil defense says 80 killed - Gaza's civil defense agency told AFP 80 Palestinians had been killed on Friday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory, including 10 who were waiting for aid. The Israeli military told AFP it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by GHF, and one more in a separate incident in the center of the territory, where the army denied shooting "at all." Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said. Elsewhere, eight people were killed "after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons" in northern Gaza. - Militants attack Israeli forces - Meanwhile, Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said they shelled an Israeli vehicle east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Friday. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas-ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said they attacked Israeli soldiers in at least two other locations near Khan Yunis in coordination with the Al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,331 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.


Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Trump: We're with Lebanon all the way
U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Lebanon. 'Lebanon is a great place with brilliant people and hopefully we can bring it back again,' Trump said in response to a Lebanese reporter's question during a press conference. 'We're with Lebanon all the way … We'll try and straighten it out,' he added.