&w=3840&q=100)
Iran's president got injured during Israeli strikes, confirm US intelligence sources
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was hurt during last month's Israeli missile strikes, US intelligence officials have said.
Last week, Iranian state media claimed that President Pezeshkian was attending a Supreme National Security Council meeting when an Israeli strike hit the gathering, injuring him in the leg as he escaped through an emergency shaft.
Two US intelligence officials have told CBS News that the Iranian state media reports are accurate. It is, however, not clear whether Israel targeted Pezeshkian deliberately or not.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Meanwhile, in an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this month, the Iranian president claimed that Israel tried to assassinate him by bombarding an area where he was holding a meeting.
'It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting. We were discussing the ways to move forward. But thanks to the intelligence by the spies that they had, they tried to bombard the area…in which we were holding that meeting,' Pezeshkian said.
Videos shared on social media during the 12-day war captured repeated strikes on a mountainside in north-western Tehran.
It has now been revealed that, on the fourth day of the conflict, those strikes targeted a secret underground facility in Tehran that was housing Iran's top leaders at the time.
While Israel has neither denied nor confirmed the strikes on the national security council meeting, the country has said that it did try to target Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, during the conflict.
Earlier this month, Iran said it has not made any request for talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump said Tehran was seeking negotiations following last month's war with Israel.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
'No request for a meeting has been made on our side to the American side,' said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, according to Tasnim news agency.
With inputs from agencies
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
24 minutes ago
- Mint
US ‘strongly rejects' France's plan to recognise Palestine as a state: ‘Reckless decision serves Hamas propaganda'
The United States has strongly condemned France's plan to formally recognise Palestine as a state, calling it a 'reckless decision' that it says 'serves Hamas propaganda'. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France will officially recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly in September. 'The United States strongly rejects @EmmanuelMacron 's plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the @UN general assembly,' said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th,' he added. Macron, who unveiled the decision on X, published a letter sent to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirming France's intention to press ahead with Palestinian recognition and work to convince other partners to follow suit. 'True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,' Macron said. 'I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September.' According to an AFP tally, the latest developments bring the total number of countries that recognise or intend to recognise Palestinian statehood to at least 142, despite strong opposition from Israel and the United States. If it proceeds, France would become the most influential European nation and the first among the G7 group of wealthy democracies to formally recognise a Palestinian state. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move 'rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.' 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel - not to live in peace beside it,' he said. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move as "a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism," adding that Israel would not allow the establishment of a 'Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence.' In a diplomatic cable sent in June, the United States expressed its opposition to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, warning that such actions could conflict with US foreign policy interests and potentially lead to consequences. That same month, US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, stated that he no longer believed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state was a current objective of US foreign policy. US President Donald Trump has himself expressed doubts about a two-state solution, proposing a U.S. takeover of Gaza in February, which was condemned by rights groups, Arab states, Palestinians and the U.N. as a proposal of 'ethnic cleansing'. Israel has been waging a devastating war in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas' deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and says recognising a Palestinian state now would be equivalent to rewarding Hamas. Thanking France, the Palestinian Authority's Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh said on X that Macron's decision reflected "France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state." (With inputs from agencies)
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
24 minutes ago
- First Post
Iran to meet European leaders for renewed nuclear talks amid threats of UN sanctions
The meeting, set to take place in Istanbul, will be the first since Israel's mid-June attack on Iran, which sparked a 12-day war and targeted key nuclear and military sites. read more People walk past a mural drawn by the "Grafitiyul" graffiti art group depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on July 22, 2025. AFP Iranian diplomats will meet counterparts from Germany, Britain and France on Friday for renewed nuclear talks, amid warnings that the three European powers could trigger 'snapback' sanctions outlined under the 2015 deal. The meeting, set to take place in Istanbul, will be the first since Israel's mid-June attack on Iran, which sparked a 12-day war and targeted key nuclear and military sites. Israel's offensive – which killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of others as residential areas were struck as well – also derailed US-Iran nuclear talks that began in April. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Since then, the European powers, known as the E3, have threatened to trigger the 'snapback mechanism', which would reinstate United Nations sanctions on Iran by the end of August, under the effectively moribund 2015 nuclear deal. The option to trigger the snapback expires in October, and Tehran has warned of consequences should the E3 opt to activate it. 'Inaction by the E3 is not an option,' a European source said, noting that Tehran would be reminded during the meeting that the snapback window closes this autumn. The source said Europeans are preparing to trigger the mechanism 'in the absence of a negotiated solution' and called on Iran to make 'clear gestures' regarding uranium enrichment and the resumption of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who will attend the talks Friday, alongside senior Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, warned this week that triggering sanctions 'is completely illegal'. He also accused European powers of 'halting their commitments' to the deal after the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term. 'We have warned them of the risks, but we are still seeking common ground to manage the situation,' said Gharibabadi. Sanctions Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if UN sanctions are reimposed. Restoring sanctions would deepen Iran's international isolation and place further pressure on its already strained economy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European powers to trigger the mechanism. Israel's June 13 attack on Iran came two days before Tehran and Washington were scheduled to meet for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations. On June 22, the United States itself struck Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz. Before the war, Washington and Tehran were divided over uranium enrichment, which Iran has described as a 'non-negotiable' right, while the United States called it a 'red line'. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity – far above the 3.67 percent cap under the 2015 deal and close to weapons-grade levels. Tehran has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment, but not the right to enrich uranium. A year after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran began rolling back its commitments, which had placed restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel and Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran has consistently denied. 'National pride' Iran insists it will not abandon its nuclear programme, which Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called a source of 'national pride'. 'Especially after the recent war, it is important for them to understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran's position remains unshakable, and that our uranium enrichment will continue. We will not give up this right of the Iranian people,' Araghchi said on the eve of the Istanbul talks. The full extent of the damage sustained in the US bombing remains unclear. Trump has claimed the sites were 'completely destroyed', but US media reports have cast doubt over the scale of destruction. Araghchi has noted that enrichment is currently 'stopped' due to 'serious and severe' damage to nuclear sites caused by US and Israeli strikes. Since the 12-day war, Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of bias and failing to condemn the attacks. Inspectors have since left the country, but a technical team is expected to return in the coming weeks after Iran said future cooperation would take a 'new form'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel has warned it may resume strikes if Iran rebuilds facilities or moves toward weapons capability. Iran has pledged a 'harsh response' to any future attacks.
India.com
24 minutes ago
- India.com
Trump Makes Surprise Pivot On Elon Musk, Says Want Him To Thrive Like Never Before
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump clarified on Thursday that he supports Elon Musk and wants his companies to "thrive." He emphasized that he wants all American businesses to "thrive like never before," amid speculation of a fallout between the two after Musk criticized Trump's major tax and domestic policy bill. In a post on Truth Social, Trump addressed circulating claims that he may withdraw federal support for Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX. "Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon's companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large-scale subsidies he receives from the US government. This is not so!" Trump wrote. "I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!" He went on to highlight how the prosperity of Musk's companies could benefit the nation overall. "The better they do, the better the USA does, and that's good for all of us," Trump added, noting that the country is "setting records every day," and he intends to continue on that path. Earlier this month, tensions flared when Trump dismissed Musk's launch of a new political outfit, the America Party, calling the move 'ridiculous.' "It's ridiculous to start a third party. We have tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system. Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous," Trump told reporters, according to media sources. Meanwhile, Musk on Wednesday cautioned his investors about the possibility of US policy changes that could reduce support for electric vehicles, a move that he said might result in "a few rough quarters" for the company.
