Bulgaria closes Tehran embassy as Iran-Israel conflict intensifies
SOFIA, June 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria has closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated diplomatic staff and their families to neighbouring Azerbaijan as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensifies, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told local media on Friday.
Zhelyazkov said 12 people from the embassy and their families were evacuated after Israel advised residents to evacuate the third district of Tehran.
"The Bulgarian embassy is in the immediate vicinity of this area and we decided to have our diplomats leave the country," he said, adding that the embassy would continue to operate from Baku.
The staff drove six hours in a convoy to the border, where they waited another six hours because of border checks, he said.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Israel-Iran war live: Iran's foreign minister warns US involvement would be ‘very dangerous' after Israel kills commanders
US involvement in Israeli attacks on Iran would be 'very, very dangerous', Tehran's foreign minister has said as he continues a round of diplomacy in Istanbul. Abbas Araghchi, who yesterday met his British, French and German counterparts, said Iran 'cannot' join further nuclear negotiations with the US while the Iranian people are 'under bombardment'. Tehran stands 'absolutely ready for a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme', he said. Negotiations with Washington have been halted since Israeli strikes last week sparked a deadly air conflict which has killed hundreds in Iran and dozens in Israel. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it has killed two commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who were closely linked with arming Hamas and other militant groups in the region. Saeed Izadi led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force - the IRGC's overseas arm. He has been described as a veteran figure in Iran's military operations. The military later said that it killed a second commander of the Guards' overseas arm, who it identified as Benham Shariyari. Israel says he was responsible for weapons transfers 'from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East". The IRGC has not confirmed the deaths. 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. Alex Croft21 June 2025 12:56 Hope of change by my fellow Iranians has turned to horror - our pain was primed for Israel's exploitation 'When are the Americans coming to save us from these mullahs?' my fellow Iranians would ask when I started my journalism career in Tehran some 22 years ago. That was just before the Middle East was transformed by the US's reverse Midas touch. Within a few years Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya had been reduced to rubble and ruin at the hands of US intervention. So salvation from the clerics shrank to two options: reform from within or revolt. Iran's hardline conservatives in charge would not abide either. Author and documentary maker Ramita Navai writes: Hope of change by my fellow Iranians has turned to horror after Israel's strikes Those living in Iran thought Israel's attacks might lead to freedom – but Netanyahu only really wants a nation unravelled, another carefully engineered fracture in the region, writes author and documentary maker Ramita Navai Alex Croft21 June 2025 12:34 In pictures: Israeli rescuers check damage in Beit She'an Alex Croft21 June 2025 12:13 Iran updates official death toll to 430 - Iranian media Iran's health ministry has now updated its casualty figures, according to Iranian media. At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 wounded in Iran since the conflict began on June 13, Iranian state-run Nour News reported Tehran's health ministry as saying on Saturday. Earlier reports by Washington-based group Human Rights Activists had suggested more than 600 people had died in Iran since the conflict began. Alex Croft21 June 2025 11:50 Who is Mohammad Saeed Izadi, the veteran commander Israel says it has killed? Israel says it has killed Mohammad Saeed Izadi, the veteran commander who served as the head of the Palestine Corps within Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force. This was the IRGC's overseas operations arm with ties to armed groups across the region. He was believed to be a liaison between Iran and Hamas and played a role in co-ordinating support by Tehran for armed Palestinian groups. Izadi reportedly helped arm Iran and Hamas - and Israel says he helped orchestrate an assault on Israel in assistance of Hamas' 7 October attack. Izadi was killed in an Israeli attack on an apartment in the city of Qom, coming more than a year after he narrowly survived an Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, in April 2024, the BBC reported. Alex Croft21 June 2025 11:28 Sam Kiley: What Trump must decide in his two week pause on the Israel-Iran conflict Alex Croft21 June 2025 11:05 Who was Behnam Shahriyari, Iranian commander who 'armed Hamas'? Our world affairs editor Sam Kiley is in Tel Aviv: Israel claimed that it had killed the Iranian officer responsible for arming Hamas in Gaza. The commander of the Quds Force's Weapons Transfer Unit (Unit 190) in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Behnam Shahriyari, was killed by the Israeli air force in an overnight strike against his vehicle the IDF said. The attack shows the continued deep penetration of Israeli's Mossad intelligence agency in Iran and was another assassination of a senior officer as part of a campaign to break the back of Iran's security structures. Shahriyari "worked for years to arm various terrorist organizations in order to directly advance the Iranian regime's plan to destroy the State of Israel' the IDF said. Israel itself suffered not overnight casualties from a significantly lower level of Iranian missile and drone attacks which involved only five missiles - down from 23 the day before. Alex Croft21 June 2025 10:44 US involvement in Iran would be 'very very dangerous', warns Tehran's foreign minister Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said any US involvement in attacks on his country would be 'very, very dangerous'. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, he said Iran 'cannot' join negotiations with the US while the Iranian people are 'under bombardment'. Mr Araghchi met with European representatives on Friday, and on Saturday is due to meet with representatives from Arab and Muslim countries, according to Tasnim state news agency. "The US has been involved in the aggression since day one,' he alleged according to the BBC, adding that direct involvement would be 'very, very dangerous'. Tehran stands 'absolutely ready for a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme', he said. "Diplomacy has worked in the past and can work again in the future. In order for us to come back to diplomacy the aggression must be stopped." Alex Croft21 June 2025 10:20 Russia has told Israel there is no evidence Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, says Putin Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, president Vladimir Putin said according to Sky Arabia. "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," the broadcaster quoted Putin as saying. Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear programme, Putin said, adding that Iran has the right to do so. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, 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. Alex Croft21 June 2025 10:00 Two commanders including Quds force leader killed by Israel, military claims We earlier brought you the news that the Israeli military said it killed two commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guard. One of the commanders, Saeed Izadi, led the Palestine Corps of the overseas arm, or Quds Force, foreign minister Israel Katz said in a statement. The Quds Force built up a network of Arab allies known as the Axis of Resistance, establishing Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982 and supporting the Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Izadi has been described as a veteran figure in Iran's military operations. The military later said that it killed a second commander of the Guards' overseas arm, who it identified as Benham Shariyari, during a strike on his vehicle overnight in western Tehran. It said the commander "was responsible for all weapons transfers from the Iran ian regime to its proxies across the Middle East". Alex Croft21 June 2025 09:37
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
AI disinformation wey dey comot from di Iran- Israel War
Plenti disinformation don comot online since wen Israel start to dey strike Iran last week, dis na as BBC Verify don review plenti posts for social media wey dem use to boost how effective di Tehran response dey. Di analysis find out some videos wey dem use artificial intelligence to make, wey bin dey brag about Iran military capacity togeda wit fake clips wey show wetin strikes cause for Israeli targets. Di three most viewed fake videos wey BBC Verify find don get ova 100 million views from all di platforms wey dem follow post dem. Pro-Israeli accounts sef don also share dia own disinformation online. Dis na mainly by say dem repost old clips of protests and gatherings for Iran wey dem go lie say dem dey show say di public for Iran no dey feel dia goment and dey support di Israel military campaign. Israel bin launch strikes for Iran for 13 June wey cause Iran to send several rounds of missile and drone attacks to Israel. One joinbodi wey dia work na to torchlight and analyse open source images tok say di amount of disinformation wey dey online dey, "astonishing" and even accuse who dem call "engagement farmers" say dem dey try to make money from di kasala by sharing misleading content wey dey made to get attention online. Geoconfirmed, wey be di online verification group write for X say, "we dey see everting from unrelated videos from Pakistan, to recycled videos from di October 2024 strikes, wey don gada ova 20 million views, to game videos and AI generated content wey dem dey try pass off say na wetin happun be dat". Some accounts don turn "super spreaders" of disinformation as dem dey get growth for dia followers. One pro Iranian account wey no look like e get any ties wit Tehran don grow dia followers from ova 700,000 for 13 June to 1.4 million for 19 June. Dis na 100% growth and, e neva even reach one week sef. Na one of di many not known accounts wey don dey show for pipo feeds as of recent. All of dem get blue ticks, get ogbonge messaging and don dey post disinformation well-well. Bicos some dey use names wey look like say dem dey official, so pipo go reason say dem bi real accounts but e no dey clear who dey run di accounts. Dis amount of disinformation dey marked as "di first time wey we go see di use of generative AI for dis level during kasala", na wetin Emmanuella Saliba wey be di Chief Investigative Officer for di analyst group Get Real tell BBC Verify. Accounts wey BBC Verify review bin dey normally show AI generated pictures as e be like say dem wan exaggerate how di Iran response to Israel strikes dey successful. One image wey get 27m views show dozens of missiles as dem dey enta di city of Tel Aviv. Anoda video look like e show missile strike on top one building for di Israeli city late for night. Ms Saliba say dis clips dey normally show night time attacks wey dey make am harder to verify. Di AI fakes dey also focus on claims say dem destroy di Israeli F-35 fighter jets, wey be di state of di art planes US make wey fit strike both targets for ground and for air. If di plenti clips wey dey comot dey real, dat mean say Iran for don destroy 15% of di Israel fleet of fighters. Dis na wetin Lisa Kaplan wey be di CEO of di Alethea analyst group tell BBC Verify. We neva fit verify any video of F-35s wey dem shoot down. One of di post wey don go far claim to show jet wey dey damaged afta dem shoot am down for Iranian desert. But signs of AI manipulation bin dey inside, like how di pipo wey dey around di jets bin dey di same size as di nearby motor and how di sand no even move small to show say jet crash land on am. Anoda video wey get 21.1 million views for TikTok show one Israeli F-35 wey air defences bin shoot down, but wia di video bin actually come from na from one flight simulator video game. TikTok don comot di video afta BBC Verify meet wit dem. Ms Kaplan explain say some of di focus wey dey on top F-35s na from network of accounts wey Alethea bin formerly link to Russian influence operations. She bin note say Russian influence operations don shift from dia work to undermine support for di war for Ukraine to come sow doubts on top weda Western and especially American weapons dey work well. Ms Kaplan say, "Russia no really get response to di F-35. So wetin dem go do? Na to reduce di support e dey get for certain kontris." Disinformation also dey spread by well-known accounts wey don chook mouth for di Israel Gaza war and oda kasala bifor. Dia motivations dey different but sabi pipo tok say some of dem fit dey try to make money from di kasala as some social media platforms don dey offer money to accounts wey dey get plenti views. Pro-Israeli posts, howeva, dey focus on suggestions say di goment of Iran dey face backlash as di strikes dey go on. Among dem, na widely shared AI video wey lie, wey show Iranians dey hala "we love Israel" for di streets of Tehran. But recently, amd as di speculation about US strikes for Iran nuclear sites still dey grow, some accounts don start to dey post AI pictures of B-2 bombers ova Tehran. Pipo don dey torchlight di B-2 since Israel strikes for Iran start bicos na di only aircraft wey fit effectively carry out attack for Iran underground nuclear sites. Official sources for Iran and Israel don share some of di fake images. State media for Tehran share fake videos of strikes and AI image of crashed F-35 while Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gbab community note for X for one of dia post say dem use old unrelated footage of missile bombardment. Plenti of di disinformation wey BBC Verify review don dey shared for X. Sotay users now dey ask di platform AI chatbot, Grok weda di posts na true or na lie. But for some cases, Grok don tok say di AI videos dey real. One of dat kain video show plenti trucks wey dey carry ballistic missiles dey comot from one mountainside complex. Di signs of AI content show as di rocks for di video bin dey move dia self na wetin Ms Saliba tok. But Grok still tell X users say di videos bin dey real and also cite reports wey media outlets like Newsweek and Reuters put out say make pipo "check trusted news for clarity". X no ansa BBC Verify wen dem ask for comments for wetin Grok dey do. Many videos also comot for TikTok and Instagram, For statement to BBC Verify, TikTok tok say dem dey ginger to enforce community guidelines "wey prohibit inaccurate, misleading or fake content" and dem dey work wit independent fact checkers to "verify misleading content". Instagram owner Meta no ansa dia own request for comment. While motivation for pipo wey dey create dis online fakes dey plenti, many of dem dey shared by ordinary social media users. Matthew Facciani, wey be researcher for di University of Notre Dame, bin suggest say disinformation fit spread sharparly online wen pipo dey faced wit two options like di kain wey kasala and politics dey bring comot. E say, "dat one torchlight wetin be di bigger social and psychological issue of pipo wey wan reshare tins if e go wit dia political identity and also in general, more sensationalist emotional content wey dey spread quicker for di online world".
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Israel will keep bombing Iran's nuke sites even without Trump – we will finish the job, says Netanyahu's ex-adviser
ISRAEL will continue blitzing Iran's nuclear sites with or without the US joining strikes, Benjamin Netanyahu's ex-adviser says. It comes as Donald Trump has revealed he has opened a two-week window for talks as he mulls whether America will intervene in the conflict. 9 9 9 9 The US president, through White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, said there is "a substantial chance of Iran in the near future". Trump had previously tried to curb Tehran's sprawling nuclear scheme through diplomacy. He gave Iran's regime 60 days to thrash out a deal - a deadline that passed two days before Israel unleashed unprecedented strikes on Iran's nuke sites last Friday. Trump has this week been weighing whether to give the green light for the US to step in and deploy a 15-ton mega bunker buster bomb. America's intervention has repeatedly been touted by Trump, who warned Iran would suffer the "full strength and might" of his military. But Netanyahu's ex-adviser Nadav Shtrauchler - who told The Sun the Israeli PM was preparing to strike Iran alone days before he did - said the embattled nation is prepared to carry on without the US. He said: "Of course Israel can carry on. "I think it is going swifter here than people thought when they planned it. "So Israel can proceed and have many targets to go through." Strategic adviser Shtrauchler said he believes the conflict will end with an agreement being thrashed out - and said America's involvement could change the course of the conflict. US participation would most likely involve strikes against Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility, considered to be out of reach to all but America's bunker-buster bombs. Shtrauchler added: "It's a different story with the US, both with the military and the geopolitical side. It's a big deal and will change things. "It's going to end with an agreement if the regime does not fall, but it is too soon to know that. "So if the US decides against intervening you wil see more from the Israel side and at some point it will end with an agreement. "It will make an effect and will change the end result. "But for now we can see that Israel is working very well itself and we can proceed like this - not without the US support but without the US intervening." It comes as Israel and Iran continue to trade heavy blows - with no sign of de-escalation in the weeklong battle. Israel's 'Churchill moment' by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) BRITAIN will never be safe until Iran's nuclear scheme is wiped out, Israel's ambassador told The Sun. Tzipi Hotovely said Israel is facing its "Churchill moment" and doing the UK a "huge service" by wiping out the rogue state's efforts to create a nuke weapon. She also rebuked Sir Keir Starmer 's calls for de-escalation as she insisted Tel Aviv acted at the "last minute" to save their country from "nuclear holocaust". The PM - who chaired an emergency Cobra meeting this week - has insisted that the UK wants to de-escalate the situation and resolve it through diplomacy. But Amb. Hotovely said Iran had its chance for diplomacy during Donald Trump 's 60-day deadline to t hrash out a deal over its nuclear programme. And she warned the UK would never be safe until Iran loses any chance of developing a nuke. The diplomat said Israel is facing its "Churchill moment" as Netanyahu finds himself in a similar position as the British wartime leader did in 1940 - drawing the US into a war with its enemy. Speaking to The Sun at its headquarters in London, she said: "When they're calling for de-escalation, you need to understand that the only way to de-escalate the situation is by removing the threat. "As long as Iran will race faster to have its ballistic missile programme that can destroy cities in Israel, if we will let them continue with that, cities in the UK won't be safe." European and Iranian officials met yesterday in Geneva, and Trump has said he will allow two weeks for negotiations before deciding whether to strike the rogue nation. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi made a condition for renewed talks a ceasefire, saying: "There is no room for negotiations with the U.S. until Israeli aggression stops." Talks later on Friday between Araghchi and officials from the EU ended without a breakthrough after four hours. No date was set for the next round of talks, aimed at getting Iran back to the negotiating table with the US. Missiles continued to rain down in Iran and Israel as the talks were held on Friday in a scramble to de-escalate the conflict. Netanyahu has insisted Israel's military operation in Iran would continue for as long as it takes to eliminate the "existential threat" of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. 9 9 9 9 Israel's top general echoed the warning, saying the Israeli military was ready for a prolonged campaign. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal. But after Trump pulled the US unilaterally out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60 per cent a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. Access was also restricted access to its nuclear facilities. Netanyahu signed off a plot to bomb Iran's nuke facilities last week - killing several of its top generals and nuclear scientists, and striking several nuclear facilities. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. 9
