Russia warns United States against direct attacks on Iran
Russia has warned the United States against direct involvement on Israel's side in the conflict with Iran.
'It would be a step that would radically destabilize the whole situation,' said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to the Russian Interfax news agency.
Even speculation over US participation is dangerous, the diplomat said.
Russia has criticized Israel sharply over its strikes against Iran, accusing the Israeli leadership of leading the world to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. Moscow and Tehran are seen as close partners in the Middle East.
Attacks were continuing on Wednesday, with the world awaiting a decision by President Donald Trump on whether the US will join Israel's strikes on Iran. (DPA)
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Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
‘Nobody knows what I'm going to do': Trump embraces ambiguity towards Iran
President Donald Trump has continued to offer mixed signals about whether the United States would directly intervene in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, which has seen six days of intense bombing. The Republican leader began his Wednesday on the White House lawn, where he installed two giant flagpoles, each 88 feet — or 27 metres — high. During that appearance, however, he was confronted with the question looming over the Middle East conflict: Would the US join Israel in striking Iran's nuclear facilities? 'You don't know that I'm going to even do it,' Trump told one reporter. 'I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this: Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.' Later, as he posed for photographs in the Oval Office with the Juventus football club, Trump once again signalled he had not made up his mind — and was unlikely to do so until the last possible moment. ' I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final [call],' Trump said. 'I like to make a final decision one second before it's due, you know? Because things change, especially with war. Things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.' That ambiguity over whether the US may enter the fray has fed uncertainty within the conflict — and led to controversy on the domestic front for Trump. Some Republicans and Democrats have introduced legislation to limit Trump's ability to engage in the fighting between Iran and Israel. Meanwhile, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has published a video interview he recorded with right-wing Senator Ted Cruz, where the two Trump supporters sparred over whether the US should push for regime change in Iran. Trump himself was asked to weigh in on their debate on Wednesday from the Oval Office. The president signalled that he was sympathetic to Carlson's desire to keep the US out of a costly foreign conflict — but with a caveat. 'I don't want to fight either. I'm not looking to fight,' Trump said. 'But if it's a situation between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do. Maybe we won't have to fight. Don't forget: We haven't been fighting.' The Trump administration has described Israel's initial strike on June 13 as a 'unilateral action'. But the president himself has signalled that he knew of the attack in advance and supported Israel's military campaign. In testimony to Congress, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the US military would be ready if called upon. 'President Trump's word means something. The world understands that,' Hegseth said. 'And at the Defence Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that's precisely what we're doing.' The current conflict, Trump has repeatedly argued, would have never begun if Iran had agreed to US terms for limiting its nuclear programme. US officials had been meeting with their Iranian counterparts since April to talk about limiting Iran's enrichment of uranium, a necessary step for building a nuclear weapon. But Iran has long denied any ambitions of building a nuclear arsenal and has instead maintained that its uranium is used for civilian energy purposes only. Still, Trump tied the ongoing conflict with Israel to the fear that Iran had gotten close to building a bomb. He warned that, if Iran had a nuclear weapon, 'the entire world will blow up'. 'I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I've been saying it for a long time, and I think they were a few weeks away from having one,' Trump said on Wednesday. In March, however, Trump's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified before Congress that the US intelligence community had assessed 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon'. She has since walked back that comment, calling her position in line with the president's. Critics have warned that Trump may be building the case for US involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran by highlighting the risk of Iran's uranium enrichment facilities. Israel too has pointed to the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon as its rationale for launching the first strike. A US ally, Israel is widely believed to have its own undisclosed nuclear arsenal. Negotiations with the US, however, came to standstill after Israel's June 13 strike, which spiralled into a heated exchange of missile fire. A scheduled meeting over the weekend was cancelled, and some of Iran's representatives in the nuclear talks were killed in the initial blasts, as were military leaders and scientists. Trump bemoaned the failure of those talks again on Wednesday, blaming Iran for failing to comply with a 60-day deadline he set in April. 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction?' Trump asked. 'I said to people: Why didn't you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would've had a country. It's very sad to watch this.' He confirmed that Iranian officials had reached out to him for a White House meeting since the outbreak of the recent conflict. 'I said it's very late to be talking,' Trump told reporters, relaying his reply. ' There's a big difference between now and a week ago.' Trump's own words in recent days have fuelled fears that the conflict could escalate into a regional war. Just a day prior, on Tuesday, Trump publicly mused that he could kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and called for the country's 'unconditional surrender'. Iran has since responded to Trump's remarks. In an interview with CNN host Christiane Amanpour, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi dismissed reports that his officials were trying to get negotiations with the US back on track. 'We are not reaching out to anybody. We are defending ourselves,' Ravanchi said. 'We can negotiate under the threats. We cannot negotiate while our people are under bombardment every day. So we are not begging for anything.' 'If the Americans get involved directly, definitely our hands will not be tied. We will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our interests.' Khamenei himself said US involvement in the conflict would have 'serious irreparable consequences' and denounced Trump's threats. Trump himself on Wednesday offered different interpretations of how he saw the conflict ending, the first coming in his appearance on the White House lawn, where he repeated his call for 'unconditional surrender'. 'Unconditional surrender: That means I've had it. OK? I've had it. I give up. No more. Then we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place there,' Trump said, again blaming Iran for the fighting. 'They had bad intentions. For 40 years, they've been saying: Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to anybody else that they didn't like. They were bullies. They were schoolyard bullies, and now they're not bullies anymore.' Later, in the Oval Office, Trump indicated the conflict could be resolved simply by assuring Iran did not get its hands on a nuclear weapon. 'We're not looking for ceasefire. We're looking for a total complete victory. You know what the victory is? No nuclear weapon.' He warned that the upcoming week would 'be very big' — though he shared no details about what that meant for the future of the conflict. The death toll in Iran has reportedly risen to 240 people, including 70 women and children.
Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Khamenei rejects Trump ultimatum, warns US against joining the fight
dpa Tehran/Tel Aviv Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected US President Donald Trump's call for surrender, as Israel keeps up its bombing campaign on Iranian state infrastructure and tensions mount over possible US military involvement. 'The Iranian people are determined and will resist both an imposed war and an imposed peace,' Khamenei said in an official statement read by a state TV anchor on Wednesday. He also warned Washington against intervening to support Israel's attacks, saying it would cause 'irreparable damage.' Khamenei, the 86-year-old hardline cleric who has ruled the Islamic Republic since 1989, was neither shown on screen nor heard speaking. On Tuesday, Trump issued a direct threat to Khamenei, who, under Iran's constitution, has the final say in all strategic matters. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'Our patience is wearing thin,' he added. In another post, he demanded: 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!' Iran, allies warn against foreign military intervention As Israel and Iran exchanged fire for a sixth straight day on Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry warned that any direct military intervention by a third country could trigger an all-out regional war. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera that outside involvement would create a conflagration that 'would engulf all the region.' On the possibility of talks with the United States, Baghaei said, 'Diplomacy never ends.' However, he added that Tehran had lost all trust in Washington. Baghaei said Iran's attacks remain focused solely on Israeli territory and expressed confidence that neighbouring countries would not allow the US to use their land to launch strikes on Iran. So far, Washington has not used its military assets to carry out attacks on Iranian targets. But there are sharp divisions within Trump's Republican Party and the president himself has not categorically ruled it out, telling ABC News earlier this week: 'It's possible we could get involved.' Russia also warned the US against entering the conflict. 'It would be a step that would radically destabilize the whole situation,' said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to Interfax. Even speculation about US involvement is dangerous, he added. Moscow, a close ally of Tehran, has criticized Israel for pushing the region toward 'nuclear catastrophe.' Israel strikes nuclear, military and symbolic sites The UN's nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that Israel has struck two sites in Iran that manufacture parts for uranium enrichment centrifuges. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) identified the facilities as the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Centre. Both were under agency monitoring. 'At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested. At Karaj, two buildings were destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured,' the IAEA wrote on X. The Israeli military said it has carried out hundreds of sorties targeting more than 1,100 sites in Iran since launching its operation early Friday, with a focus on military and nuclear infrastructure. 'We have delivered significant blows to the Iranian regime,' said spokesman Effie Defrin, claiming the strikes had pushed Iran's forces back into central areas around Isfahan. He accused Iran of targeting civilian homes, while Israel focused on military threats. Iran has launched daily waves of missile fire in response, including around 30 ballistic missiles overnight, most of which were intercepted, according to Defrin. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based group of Iranian activists, reported that 585 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, including 239 civilians and 126 military personnel. More than 1,300 people have been injured. In Israel, authorities say 24 people have died and over 800 have been injured since the conflict began. More than 50 Israeli fighter jets took part in strikes around Tehran on Wednesday, hitting facilities linked to weapons and missile production. Israel hints at broader war goals Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday added fuel to speculation that Israel's campaign against Iran may be aimed not only at halting its nuclear ambitions, but also at toppling its leadership. 'Symbols of government are being bombed and destroyed - from the Broadcasting Authority and soon other targets, and crowds of residents are fleeing,' Katz wrote on X. 'This is how dictatorships collapse.' On Monday, Israeli forces bombed the headquarters of Iranian state broadcaster IRIB during a live broadcast. The broadcaster reported deaths and injuries in the strike.
Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Iran has right to self-defence against Israel, says Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that neighbouring Iran has a right to self-defence in its conflict with Israel. 'It is entirely natural, legitimate, and a right for Iran to defend itself in the face of this state terror,' Erdogan told his party members in Ankara. Iran is under attack by 'a reckless country that respects neither law, rules, nor principles,' added Erdogan. Israel started striking targets in Iran on Friday, saying the attacks aim to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran contends that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. Tehran called Israel's airstrikes a declaration of war and responded by launching hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli territory. (DPA)
