Israel's strike on Iran's Evin prison sparks fear for political prisoners
The June 23 strikes on Iran's most notorious prison for political dissidents killed at least 71 people, including staff, soldiers, visiting family members and people living nearby, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said Sunday. In the ensuing chaos, authorities transferred Seydal and others to prisons outside of Tehran — overcrowded facilities, known for their harsh conditions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Trump on what it will take to bring Israeli hostages home: Hamas must be 'confronted and destroyed'
President Donald Trump said Monday that the remaining Israeli hostages will only be returned once Hamas is "confronted and destroyed," as the Gaza-based terrorist group cited alleged progress in ongoing ceasefire talks. The U.S. and Israel pulled their negotiators from Qatar last month, with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff saying at the time that Hamas demonstrated a "lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza" and were likely not negotiating in good faith. "We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Monday morning. "The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be," Trump wrote. "Remember, I was the one who negotiated and got hundreds of hostages freed and released into Israel (and America!). I was the one who ended 6 wars, in just 6 months. I was the one who OBLITERATED Iran's Nuclear facilities. Play to WIN, or don't play at all! Thank you for your attention to this matter!" The message came ahead of Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on Monday as they try to iron out a separate peace deal with Russia. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the Iran-backed Hamas said Monday it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would still need Israel's approval. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that Hamas is under "enormous pressure" after Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavily populated areas after ceasefire negotiations again stalled in Qatar last month. "I hear the media reports – and from them, you can draw one conclusion: Hamas is under enormous pressure," Netanyahu said in a Hebrew video statement translated by Fox News. Netanyahu also said on Monday he visited the Gaza Division, where he met with the senior Israeli Defense Forces command staff, and expressed "tremendous appreciation for the great achievements of the IDF in the War of Rebirth – the war on seven fronts." The prime minister said he was "deeply impressed by the fighting spirit and determination to complete the defeat of Hamas and to bring about the release of all our hostages." He said he also spoke to the defense minister and chief of staff "about our plans regarding Gaza City and the completion of our missions." A diplomat briefed on the negotiations with Hamas told Fox News that "through pressure on Hamas to accept, Qatari and Egyptian mediators secured a breakthrough that preserves 98% of the Witkoff proposal, which the Israeli side had previously agreed to." "The mediators were able to secure this outcome despite recent events and developments moving toward further escalation," the diplomat said. "This step marks the beginning of the road to a comprehensive solution." Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators are "exerting extensive efforts" to revive a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest. He spoke during a visit to Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza, which has not functioned since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. Abdelatty said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had joined the talks, which include senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who arrived in Cairo last week. He said they are open to other ideas, including a comprehensive deal that would release all the hostages at once. Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, later told the Associated Press that the terrorist group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators, without elaborating. An Egyptian official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said the proposal includes changes to Israel's pullback of its forces and guarantees for negotiations on a lasting ceasefire during the initial truce. The official said it is almost identical to an earlier proposal accepted by Israel, which has not yet joined the latest talks. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, and to maintain lasting security control over Gaza. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Hamas Said to Agree to Gaza Truce Deal Proposed by Egypt, Qatar
Hamas has agreed to a deal to pause the militant group's war with Israel in Gaza, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation, fueling optimism that a long-awaited breakthrough in negotiations could be close. The proposal would see Hamas release half of the hostages it still holds from the October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict, one diplomat briefed on the negotiations said, in return for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's empty threats on Russia sanctions
For years, Donald Trump criticized presidents for empty threats. He often pointed to then-President Barack Obama failing to enforce his 'red line' on Syria using chemical weapons. During his first term in 2017, Trump called it a 'blank threat' that cost us 'in many other parts of the world.' When Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, he intoned: 'Today's action sends a critical message: The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them.' When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Trump decried the Biden administration for letting Vladimir Putin off 'with no repercussions whatsoever.' But Monday, as Trump prepares to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a host of European leaders, his own threats to sanction Russia are looking pretty empty. The president last month issued a tight new deadline for Russia to agree to a peace deal or face supposedly crippling economic punishment. That deadline passed 10 days ago with no new sanctions on Moscow, although he did announce higher tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, set to go into effect later this month. And on the day of his sanctions deadline, Trump instead announced he'd be meeting with Putin, which he did on Friday in Alaska. But to the extent we know anything that came of that summit, it seems to be that Trump has not only backed off on his sanctions threat – at least for now – but he's also backed off on his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine. He instead wants a full peace deal now – which could take much longer to hash out and could buy Putin time, with little to no public evidence that the Russian president is serious about peace. There is something to be said for being nimble in foreign policy and adjusting to new inputs. But there's also something to be said for making threats that you intend to back up. And Trump's commentary here has been clear. For months now, he's said sanctions were right around the corner. 'If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,' Trump said on social media on January 22. Nearly seven months later, 'soon' apparently still hasn't arrived. When asked in May about a package of Russia sanctions that has widespread support in the Senate, Trump told Fox News it was 'turkey time.' 'That would be crushing for Russia, because they're having a hard time now with the economy,' Trump said. 'Turkey time' was three months ago. Russia still hasn't been crushed. By July, Trump got more explicit with his timeframe. He initially said Russia had 50 days to cut a deal or face sanctions and 'secondary tariffs.' Two weeks later, he tightened that to 10-12 days and then 10 days, with a deadline of August 8. 'So, what I'm doing is we're going to do secondary sanctions unless we make a deal,' Trump said. The planned meeting with Putin appeared to forestall that deadline, at least temporarily. But Trump assured it was a new deadline. Asked last Wednesday what would happen if Putin didn't agree to stop the war after the Alaska meeting, Trump said: 'There will be very severe consequences.' The Russian leader hasn't agreed to stop the war, and the very severe consequences haven't arrived yet. The situation is dynamic, particularly with Monday's meetings at the White House. But the administration appears to be inching back from its threats. Asked about the sanctions Friday night on Fox News, Trump responded: 'We don't have to think about that right now.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday actually pitched sanctions as an impediment to a potential peace deal. Appearing on multiple shows, he suggested the administration would wait until there was no hope of peace. 'The minute you issue new sanctions … our ability to get them to table will be severely diminished,' Rubio said of Russia on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' He added on CBS' 'Face the Nation,' 'You've basically locked in at least another year to year-and-a-half of war and death and destruction. We may unfortunately wind up there, but we don't want to wind up there.' While Trump has called economic punishment 'very devastating,' his administration has also recently rather curiously focused on the idea that sanctions on Russia might not even be that effective – noting Putin has dealt with them for years. In other words, it sounds a lot like they're laying a predicate for not following through on these threats any time soon. If that's the case, it wouldn't be the biggest surprise. Trump has a tendency to set deadlines for himself that ultimately fall by the wayside. 'Two weeks' has become an inside joke in DC political circles, owing to the many times the president has promised a decision or announcement and never followed through. Even when Trump announced the 10-day deadline for Russia, I wrote about how we probably shouldn't take it at face value. But as a former version of Trump would seem to agree, major foreign-policy threats are in a different class than promising a policy or personnel decision. Trump got extensive political mileage out of savaging Obama for his red line on Syria, because the stakes were so huge. He pitched the Democratic president as too timid to make good on the threat. The question now is whether Trump is doing the same with Putin. Maybe Trump has reason to believe there are serious prospects for a peace deal that warrant this pause. But Trump has certainly shown a reluctance to truly get tough with the Russian leader before. And some more hawkish Republicans are urging Trump to keep up the pressure. Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures' that Trump can end the war, while re-upping the importance of the threat of sanctions. And perhaps tellingly, he said it required getting 'tough.' 'I'm cautiously optimistic we'll get there, if we're tough,' the South Carolina Republican said. Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, said it was time for the Senate to pass Graham's sanctions bill. 'I know his style in dealing with these dictators; it's the velvet glove,' Pence told CNN's Jake Tapper on 'State of the Union.' 'But I think the hammer needs to come, and it needs to come immediately.' The hammer appears to have been holstered for now. And you could understand if these Republicans worry that Trump's harder line on Putin has been, too.
