Iran's Khamenei Calls Israel 'Cancerous Tumour', Labels US An Accomplice In 'Crimes'
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched a blistering verbal attack on both the United States and Israel, calling Tel Aviv a 'cancerous tumour" and describing the country as Washington's 'dog on a leash". Ayatollah Khamenei also accused US of being a direct accomplice in what he described as Israeli 'crimes" committed during last month's 12-day war between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
In remarks broadcast by Iranian state media, Ayatollah Khamenei claimed that Iran dealt a significant blow to America during the conflict and warned of far more severe retaliation if military operations were to resume. He said, 'The site we targeted was among the most sensitive American centers in the region. Once the media censorship is lifted, it will be clear how serious the blow was. And of course, an even greater blow can be dealt to the US and others."
The war, which began on June 13 following an Israeli strike aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program, escalated rapidly into a regional conflict. Over 12 days, Israel targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, military commanders and infrastructure, resulting in at least 1,060 deaths according to Iranian officials. Iran responded with drone and missile attacks, killing at least 28 people in Israel.
'Fighting against the US and its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime, is praiseworthy," Khamenei said as he emphasized that Iran retains the capacity to respond more forcefully than it already has.
The war also disrupted diplomatic efforts around Iran's nuclear program as talks between Tehran and Washington, previously mediated by Oman, have been suspended indefinitely. Iranian officials said this week that there is 'no specific date" for resuming discussions.
view comments
First Published:
July 16, 2025, 19:45 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
10 minutes ago
- First Post
IDF's localised ceasefire in Gaza show war's strategy has crumbled, says Israeli expert
Amid rising condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Israeli expert Yonah Jeremy Bob has said that the Israeli decision to come up with localised ceasefires to facilitate the flow of humanitarian supplies shows the strategy in the war so far has failed. read more In a rare rebuke, an Israeli analyst has said that Israel's localised ceasefires put in place over the weekend shows that the strategy so far in the war has failed. Israel on Sunday announced that it had implemented localised ceasefires for the flow of humanitarian supplies. These ceasefires have been implemented in the Al-Muwasi area in central-southern Gaza's coastal areas, Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and Gaza City in northern Gaza, according to The Jerusalem Post. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Even though these areas account for just 25 per cent of Gaza, nearly the entire population of the Palestinian enclave is living in this area as it has been displaced by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli localised ceasefires have come as international condemnation of the Israeli policy of restricting the flow of food and other essentials to Gaza has risen by the day. Palestinians are facing acute hunger and the United Nations (UN) has said that the level is such that one in every five children is affected by malnutrition. The situation is such that even US President Donald Trump has broken ranks with Israel and flagged the hunger crisis affecting the children of Gaza. During March and May, Israel completely blocked the UN and other organisations from delivering aid to Gaza. Instead, the Netanyahu government joined hands with the United States to prop a private organisation, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to deliver aid. The GHF has not just failed in its mandate because of its inability to deliver food at scale, but its delivery sites had turned into killing fields as hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in gunfire while awaiting aid at distribution sites. Gazans have attributed such fire to Israeli forces. Amid such a situation, Israeli analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob has noted that even as Israel maintains there is no starvation, 'the brutal truth is that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] admits there is a dangerous food situation in Gaza, even if short of the claimed mass starvation, and an awful public-relations situation there — all of this because of several Israeli policies that some in the defence establishment warned about but that were overruled by the political echelon'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Netanyahu ignored ex-Israeli military chief, defence minister & botched aid operation In an article in The Jerusalem Post, Bob said that policies implemented by Netanyahu by ignoring the advice of former IDF chief Herzi Halevi and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have led to the present crisis. Bob said that Halevi and Gallant had suggested that the a GHF-like operation should have been implemented initially at a very small scale while the UN and other organisations were still active in Gaza. He said that such a mechanism would have allowed GHF's shortcomings in the delivery of food to be fulfilled by the UN and others and, at the same, allow the GHF to finetune its delivery system and get ready for a subsequent bigger role. Bob noted, 'Before taking larger responsibility for a larger number of Palestinians, a smaller-scale GHF-style experiment to test its potential would have been able to work through some of the issues in building a radical new and untested non-UN alternative to providing food aid. Also, this would have happened in a time period when the Palestinians had relatively more food saved in inventory storage areas, i.e., if there were hiccups with a few food deliveries, the Palestinian civilian population would not be in any immediate danger. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In contrast, the current Israeli policy since March was to loudly and proudly block all new food aid until May to try to pressure Hamas, and then open GHF in a framework when Palestinian civilians were already at one of the worst food shortages of the war (even if not at a point of mass starvation).' With the current ceasefires, Bob noted that neither food crisis was being addressed nor the war on Hamas. 'Israel is also providing a 'localised' ceasefire and trying to present this as a non-ceasefire, which only covers 25 per cent of Gaza. But for the food to get to that 25 per cent, a much larger portion of Gaza will need to be under ceasefire status – maybe even the majority of Gaza. Moreover, all or nearly all of the Hamas terrorists are hiding in the 25 per cent of humanitarian areas where the 'localised' ceasefire is holding securely in place, and some of their smaller numbers in other places can now make their way to those areas to obtain immunity,' noted Bob. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
New Indian Express
10 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Egypt's President Sisi urges Trump to end Gaza war
CAIRO: Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday made an impassioned call for US President Donald Trump to intervene to put an end to Israel's war in Gaza after more than 21 months. In a televised address, Sisi said Trump "is the one capable of stopping the war, bringing in aid and ending this suffering" after more than 21 months, with Gazans grappling with dire humanitarian conditions. "Therefore, I am making a special appeal to His Excellency President Trump: please make every effort to stop the war and bring in aid," the Egyptian leader said. "The time has come to end the war," said Sisi, whose government has been involved in mediation efforts aimed at securing an elusive truce as well as in sending aid into Gaza, which border Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Trump said on Monday that a ceasefire between America's close ally Israel and Hamas was still "possible", after talks in Doha with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediation had ended with no breakthrough. Gaza's population of more than two million people face a deepening humanitarian crisis, with UN agencies and aid groups warning of worsening starvation and malnutrition. As international pressure grew, Israel has said in recent days it would allow more aid into the devastated territory, which was under a complete blockade for two months ending in late May. Sisi said Egypt has a large number of aid trucks waiting at the Rafah border crossing, but "for aid to enter, coordination is necessary". "The other party that is inside the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side must open for this aid to enter," he added, referring to Israel's military. Formerly a vital conduit for life-saving aid, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been effectively closed since Israeli forces seized its Palestinian side more than a year ago.
The Hindu
10 minutes ago
- The Hindu
India, Pakistan would still be at war if not for his intervention, Trump repeats ceasefire claim
India and Pakistan would still be warring with each other, if not for his intervention, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday. The U.S. President made the remarks before beginning talks with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland. The President repeated his claim that he used trade as leverage to get New Delhi and Islamabad to stop fighting in early May this year, after terrorists opened fire and killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam. New Delhi has consistently denied Mr. Trump's claims that he was instrumental in bringing about the May 10 ceasefire between the two countries. 'If I weren't around, you'd have, right now, six major wars going on. India would be fighting with Pakistan,' Mr. Trump said, standing between Mr. Starmer and his wife, Victoria Starmer, whom the President was hosting at Turnberry, where he is on a private visit. 'You see what we just did yesterday with two nations that we're trading with,' said Mr. Trump, referring to Cambodia and Thailand, with whom he said there would be no trade talks unless they agreed to a ceasefire. Both nations have been engaged in border clashes since last Thursday. During his remarks, Mr. Trump also referred to the wars between Serbia and Kosovo, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 'I think a very big one was India and Pakistan, because that's you're talking about two nuclear nations. That was a very big one,' he said. 'And I in all I use a combination of knowing them a little bit, or in some cases, knowing them a lot,' Mr. Trump said, specifically pointing out that he knew the leaders of India and Pakistan very well. 'I know them very well, and you know they're in the midst of a trade deal [i.e., trade discussions with Washington], and yet they're talking about nuclear weapons,' he said. 'So I said, I'm not doing a trade deal with you guys. And they want the trade deal. They need it. I'm not doing a trade deal with you. If you're going to have war, and that's a war that spreads to other countries, you'll get nuclear dust,' Mr. Trump said, adding that nuclear dust spreads widely and that leads to bad consequences. 'So maybe we're being a little selfish when we want to save wars too, but we we stopped a lot of wars, and it's a great honour to have done it,' he said. The President also said that he and Mr. Starmer would be discussing the humanitarian situation in Gaza during their meeting. The U.K. has said it would work with Jordon to drop aid into Gaza, calling it a 'desperate situation'. Along with the leaders of France and Germany, Mr. Starmer urged Israel to end all restrictions on aid access for Gaza. During his remarks ahead of their meeting at Turnberry, Mr. Trump said that he had predicted the militant group Hamas would not release the last few hostages. Mr. Trump said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is 'going to have to now maybe do it in a different way'. ' Trump threatens to reduce ceasefire deadline for Russia On the possibility of a ceasefire to the Russia-Ukraine war, Mr. Trump said he thought it had been 'settled numerous times'. 'And then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city, like Kyiv, and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever. You have bodies lying all over the street,' he said, expressing his disappointed with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'I'm very disappointed. I'm disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him. So we're going to have to look and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen,' he said. Mr. Trump said on July 14 that he would impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russia if Mr. Putin did not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine within 50 days. Secondary tariffs would apply to countries that did trade with Russia and would, if they went into force, impact India. Following his Turnberry visit, Mr. Trump is expected to fly to Aberdeenshire to inaugurate another family business — the Trump International Scotland golf course. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and they agreed to the outlines of a E.U.-U.S. trade deal. Mr. Trump has roots in Scotland; his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod was born in Scotland.
