Iran's last queen: ‘I still hope the ayatollahs will fall and the people will be free'
Forced into exile when the ayatollahs imposed a theocracy in Iran, the late shah and his family have been vilified by the regime for 46 years. Yet Farah Pahlavi, the shah's widow and Iran's last queen, says she still enjoys the affection and support of ordinary Iranians.
'They send me emails with their telephone numbers. And I call them, and it's very strange because they recognise my voice,' she said. 'And they say: 'Hello shahbanu [queen consort]'. And I say: 'Don't say that' because I'm afraid the [Iranian] government is listening to them.
'But after all the lies that [Iran's religious rulers] have said about us … I am very happy to see and hear the sympathy and kindness of my compatriots before I die.'
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The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Nuclear agency head warns of radiological and chemical contamination inside Iran's main nuclear site
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that there is a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz following Israeli strikes, although radiation levels outside the complex are presently normal. IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said that the radiation poses a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested. He added that the risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the facilities. 'The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,' Grossi said. Grossi was addressing an urgent session of the U.N. nuclear watchdog board in Vienna that was convened at the request of Russia to discuss Israeli attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities. He said there apparently was no additional damage at Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear research site since Saturday. He said that the main concern inside the Natanz facility is the chemical toxicity of a gas called uranium hexafluoride, which is the result of fluorine mixed with the uranium during enrichment. It is extremely volatile, will quickly corrode, can burn the skin and is especially deadly if inhaled, experts say. 'Amid theses challenging and complex circumstances, it is crucial that the IAEA receives timely and regular technical information about the facilities and their respective sites,' Grossi said. Without information, the U.N. nuclear watchdog 'cannot accurately assess the radiological conditions and potential impacts on the population and the environment and cannot provide the necessary assistance.' Grossi said that U.N. inspectors will remain present in Iran and inspect the nuclear facilities 'as soon as safety conditions allow.' He warned that 'military escalation threatens lives, increases the chance of a radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment and delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.' Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show extensive damage at Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The images captured Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility. Grossi told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to be hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said. Israel also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan. The IAEA said four critical buildings were damaged, including an uranium-conversion facility, but there was no sign of increased radiation at Natanz or Isfahan. Grossi on Monday also told the IAEA board of governors that no damage has been seen at the site of the Fordo enrichment site, which is buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries. Fordo appears designed to withstand airstrikes. Grossi also said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant, has not been targeted nor affected by the recent attacks and neither has the Tehran Research Reactor. Any country on the 35-member board of the IAEA can call a meeting under its rules. The IAEA board last week found Iran in non-compliance with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 year. —- The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —- Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump delivers dire threat to Iran amid escalating Israel conflict
President Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social early Sunday morning to set the record straight in regards to America's lack of involvement in the developing conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East. 'The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight,' the president wrote. 'If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!' he added. The president has consistently prided himself on being the only one of his compatriots to not start any new wars while being in office. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who legislates with a heavy libertarian streak in his Republicanism, was one to acknowledge Trump's foreign policy record this weekend, writing 'No new wars on your watch—and you continue to push for a leaner, more accountable government. We appreciate your commitment to putting America first,' in a Saturday post on X celebrating the president's birthday. Yet, other more hawkish Republicans cheered Trump's decision to allow Israel to strike Iran earlier this week. They have been urging him to take more aggressive approach in the Middle East. 'Game on,' wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham on social media. 'Pray for Israel. Donald Trump doesn't mess around. Bombs away,' cheered Rep. Randy Fine of Florida on social media after the attacks. Trump's first Secretary of State and former CIA director Mike Pompeo appeared on Fox News on Friday morning, greeting hosts by noting it was 'a very good morning' 'There was literally zero evidence that the negotiations were going to lead to a good outcome,' he said about Trump's peace talks. 'I think the Israeli leadership finally decided not only did they have the moment to do this, but they had the tools and resources to effectively obliterate much of the Iranian regime's military programs.' Pompeo cheered on the strikes as a demonstration of 'Western resolve' to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Speaking with ABC News Sunday morning, Trump addressed reports that Israel was encouraging Administration to join the conflict with Iran to eliminate its nuclear program. "We're not involved in it. It's possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved," the president told ABC News. Trump also addressed a rumor that Russian president Vladimir Putin way be open to serving as a mediator between Iran and Israel. 'Yeah, I would be open to it. He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved,' the president said of his Russian counterpart to ABC News. On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump himself often promised to be a peacemaker and the conflict between Israel and Gaza , as well as Russia and Ukraine. During a rally in Washington, D.C. the day before he was sworn in for a second term this past January, Trump declared ,'I will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East and prevent World War III from happening, and you have no idea how close we are.' While recently visiting the Middle East to announce historic trade deals with Gulf nations, Trump also promised to help usher in a new era of peace to the region. Addressing an audience at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May, Trump aimed to inspire Middle Eastern leaders to set centuries of conflict aside, and to stop ensure nations are 'not bombing each other out of existence.' 'Before our eyes a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts of tired divisions of the past and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence. We don't want that,' Trump noted back in May. Trump's trip to the Middle East last month, the first foreign trip of his second term, notably did not include a visit to Israel. Trump's Truth Social post came mere hours after displays of America's military might rolled down Constitution Avenue and flew over a crowd in Washington, D.C. during Saturday's parade to commemorate 250 years of the United States Army. The event also coincided with the president's 79th birthday.
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Iran threatens to leave nuclear weapons treaty as Israeli bombing enters fourth day
Iran has threatened to leave the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as Israel bombing raids entered a fourth day, underlining the conflict's potential to trigger a broader war and Tehran's race to construct a nuclear weapon. The human cost of the war continued to escalate with both sides broadening their range of targets, as G7 leaders convened in the Canadian rockies with no clear plan to end the conflict. As he left for the summit on Sunday, the US president, Donald Trump, told reporters: 'Sometimes they have to fight it out.' Iran's health ministry said that 224 people in Iran had been killed by Israeli attacks, 90% of them civilian, and more than 1,400 had been injured. Israel's defence minister, meanwhile, threatened further bombing strikes on Tehran, where an exodus of residents has been reported, clogging roads out of the capital. In Israel, at least 23 civilians have been killed in Iran's retaliatory missile strikes since Israel's initial surprise attack on Friday morning, and nearly 600 have been injured, according to official sources. Both sides have targeted each other's oil and gas facilities, increasing the threat of environmental disaster, and explosions were reported on Monday near oil refineries in southern Tehran. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, announced on Monday that Iran's parliament, the Majlis, was preparing a bill that would withdraw the country from the 1968 NPT agreement, which obliges it to forego nuclear weapons and to undergo international inspections to verify compliance. Baghaei added that Tehran remained opposed to the development of weapons of mass destruction. The country's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, also insisted that Iran did not intend to develop nuclear weapons but would pursue its right to nuclear energy and research. He pointed out that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had issued a religious edict against weapons of mass destruction. Israel is the only Middle East state with nuclear weapons and did not sign the NPT, but has never formally acknowledged its arsenal. It is seeking to maintain its monopoly with air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, claiming that Tehran was close to building a bomb. Previous assessments by US intelligence and the UN nuclear watchdog found no evidence that Iran had begun work on assembling a nuclear weapon. Israeli critics of the offensive say it cannot destroy Iran's reserve of nuclear knowhow – though Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, claiming to have killed 14 – and could push the leadership into ordering the assembly of nuclear warheads. There were reports on Monday of Israeli strikes on the Tehran headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard Corps al-Quds force, an expeditionary arm deployed in foreign wars. Despite Israeli claims to have air superiority over much of Iran, Iranian forces have still been able to launch ballistic missiles from their territory and some continue to evade Israel's multi-layered air defences. IDF officials estimate that it is has been able to intercept 80-90% of Iran's missiles, with 5-10% hitting actual residential areas. Eight more Israelis were killed overnight by Iranian missile strikes, including four in Petah Tikva where a missile hit an apartment block. Three people died from blasts in Haifa and an elderly man was killed when his home collapsed from the shockwave from an explosion in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have begun strikes 'more powerful and deadly than previous waves,' and to have found a way of causing confusion in Israeli air defence systems. There was no immediate way of independently verifying the claim. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, reported on social media 'some minor damage from concussions of Iranian missile hits' near the US embassy branch office in Tel Aviv. An Israeli biology professor, Eran Segal, posted photos on X f damage to his laboratory at the Weizmann Institute, a scientific research centre which has been previously targeted by Iranian intelligence for its nuclear research. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Israeli strikes have caused damage to the above-ground part of the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, and to the nuclear complex in Isfahan. The IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi, reported on Monday that four buildings in Isfahan had been damaged in Friday's bombing raids: its central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, a plant making nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran and a processing facility which had been under construction which would process enriched uranium into metal form, which is the form used in a nuclear warhead. Addressing the IAEA board of governors representing member states, Grossi said there were no signs of damage at the Fordow enrichment plant, which is deeply buried. Military commentators have suggested that Israel would find it hard to destroy Fordow and other underground facilities without the intervention of US forces, who have much bigger bunker-busting bombs. Iran urged the board to condemn Israeli attacks on its nuclear sites, which Grossi has also said are contrary to the UN charter and international law. Iranian state TV said the country fired at least 100 missiles at Israel, with no signs of a reduction in Iran's efforts to strike back against Israeli attacks, which have wiped out the top echelon of the Iranian military command. As Tehran residents evacuated the capital in increasing numbers, Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, threatened to make Tehranis 'pay the price' for Khamenei's decision to keep firing missiles at Israel in retaliation for the Israeli attack. 'The arrogant dictator from Tehran has become a cowardly murderer who deliberately fires at Israeli civilians to deter the IDF from continuing the attack that is tearing him down,' Katz wrote. 'The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.' The Iranian state-backed news agency Fars reported that the authorities had executed a man found guilty of spying for Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad. It was the third execution of an alleged spy in recent weeks. Iran's chief justice, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, vowed there would be speedy trials anyone arrested on suspicion of collaboration. 'If someone is arrested for having ties to and collaborating with the Zionist regime, their trial and punishment should be carried out and announced very quickly, in accordance with the law and given the war conditions,' Ejei said, quoted by the Tasnim news agency. G7 leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority. Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. 'I hope there's going to be a deal. I think it's time for a deal,' he told reporters. 'Sometimes they have to fight it out.' Talks previously scheduled between the US and Iran in Oman on Sunday were cancelled and Iranian officials have signalled they will not resume any negotiations while their country is under attack. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said his goals for the summit were to try to ensure Iran did not develop or possess nuclear weapons, while ensuring Israel's right to defend itself. Merz added that Germany wanted to avoid escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy. 'This issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit,' Merz told reporters.
