Latest news with #Al Jazeera
Fox News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Iran doubles down on refusal to end nuclear program, ready for war with Israel
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday doubled down on Tehran's refusal to abandon its nuclear program and said Iran is "fully prepared" for a renewed fight with Israel. The Iranian president's comments came just two days after Tehran's foreign minister confirmed to Fox News that Iran will not give up its enrichment program, but continues to claim Tehran is not interested in developing a nuclear weapon. "[US President Donald] Trump says that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and we accept this because we reject nuclear weapons and this is our political, religious, humanitarian and strategic position," Pezeshkian said in an interview with Al Jazeera. "We believe in diplomacy, so any future negotiations must be according to a win-win logic, and we will not accept threats and dictates," he added. Pezeshkian also said Trump's repeated claims that the U.S. "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program is "just an illusion." "Our nuclear capabilities are in the minds of our scientists and not in the facilities," he said. The U.S. strikes – which came just days after Israel targeted top military figures and nuclear scientists – are believed to have set back Iran's nuclear program by up to two years. But security experts have told Fox News Digital that Iran continues to possess significant military strike capabilities, and questions remain over whether Iran was able to successfully move any enriched uranium off site prior to Washington's strikes. Pezeshkian acknowledged the blow that Israel levied against its top officials, but said it "completely failed" to "eliminate" the hierarchy of Iran's nuclear program. He further warned that Iran is ready to take on Jerusalem should another conflict break out. "We are fully prepared for any new Israeli military move, and our armed forces are ready to strike deep inside Israel again," Pezeshkian said. Iran and Israel are still operating under a ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and Qatar following last month's 12-Day War, but the Iranian president said he is not confident this truce will hold. "We are not very optimistic about it," Pezeshkian said. "That is why we have prepared ourselves for any possible scenario and any potential response. Israel has harmed us, and we have also harmed it," he added. "It has dealt us powerful blows, and we have struck it hard in its depths, but it is concealing its losses." Delegations from France, Germany and the U.K. (E3) are set to travel to Tehran on Friday to discuss nuclear negotiations. The E3 visit will come just three days after officials from Russia and China, who are also signatories of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPAO), visited on Tuesday to discuss negotiations and how Iran can avoid sanctions, though details of the talks remain unknown. Iran began initiating international talks after the E3 last week threatened to employ snapback sanctions – which would see the entire 15-member U.N. Security Council enforce strict economic ramifications – should Iran not enter into a nuclear agreement by the end of August. The timeframe is consistent with the time needed for the JCPOA signatories to recall snapback sanctions prior to the Oct. 18 expiration date when the economic tool can no longer be employed en masse per the 2015 terms of the agreement.
Times of Oman
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
"We cannot give up our enrichment": FM Araghchi says Iran open to talks
Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment programme despite significant damage caused by recent US and Israeli airstrikes, calling the programme a matter of "national pride", Al Jazeera reported. "It is now stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe, but obviously, we cannot give up our enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists, and now, more than that, it is a question of national pride," Araghchi told US broadcaster Fox News in an interview aired on Monday. Araghchi also signaled Iran's willingness to re-engage in diplomacy, saying Iran is "open to talks" with the United States, though not directly "for the time being." According to Al Jazeera, he stated, "If they [the US] are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them." "We are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever, and Iran would never go for nuclear weapons, and in return, we expect them to lift their sanctions," the minister added. "So, my message to the United States is that let's go for a negotiated solution for Iran's nuclear programme," Araghchi said, according to Al Jazeera. He also emphasised that there is still a diplomatic path forward: "There is a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme. We have done it once in the past. We are ready to do it once again." As Al Jazeera reported, talks between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear programme were underway earlier this year, following years of tension since Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal had allowed for extensive international monitoring of Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. However, recent developments have strained relations further. On June 13, Israel launched a series of surprise bombing raids targeting Iran's military and nuclear facilities, which led to the deaths of more than 900 people in Iran and at least 28 in Israel before a ceasefire was established on June 24. The US also joined in the attacks, and the Pentagon later said it had set back Iran's nuclear programme by one to two years. Al Jazeera noted that Araghchi said Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation is still assessing the damage to enriched materials and will "soon inform" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings. "We have not stopped our cooperation with the agency," he claimed, though he added that any request for IAEA inspectors would be "carefully considered." Inspectors had previously exited Iran after President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA. According to Al Jazeera, Iranian officials accused the IAEA of bias following a resolution passed by its board on June 12, which accused Tehran of non-compliance with nuclear obligations. Iran has said this resolution was one of the "excuses" Israel used to justify its military strikes. Meanwhile, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed "dialogue between the Europeans and the Iranians," referring to planned talks between Iran, France, Germany, and the UK in Turkiye on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
Al Jazeera
19-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israel kills more than 50 in Gaza as UN warns of ‘catastrophic hunger'
Al Jazeera Arabic reports that at least 51 Palestinians, including 14 who were waiting to receive humanitarian aid supplies, were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are on the 'verge of catastrophic hunger' with one in three people in the enclave not eating for days at a time.
CBC
18-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Canadian Druze community asks for humanitarian corridor into Jordan amid violence in Syria
More than 100 demonstrators from Canada's Druze community gathered on Parliament Hill on Friday afternoon, asking for the government to intervene in an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria where hundreds have already been killed. The Druze are a religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam. They make up about three per cent of Syria's population, with more than half of the approximately one million Druze worldwide living in Syria. Over the last week, Syria's government stepped into fighting in the Suwayda administrative region in the southern part of the country, between local Bedouin fighters and militias linked to the Druze. Syria's intervention caused further bloodshed, and a fragile ceasefire declared just on Wednesday was reportedly broken again by Friday morning, according to Al Jazeera. "There's a clear intention to destroy the group of Druze in Syria," said Fahd Abou Zainedin, an organizer of Friday's demonstration on Parliament Hill. Some demonstrators held signs calling the killings a genocide. "We would like to call and ask for the Canadian government, and all democracies all over the world, to open the humanitarian corridor immediately, to save the lives of innocent children that are being killed," he said. With Suwayda only about an hour away from Syria's border with Jordan, the demonstrators believe Canada can use its diplomatic heft to pressure both governments into allowing safe passage for the Druze, as well as providing humanitarian aid to the population. Syria denies involvement in massacres Syria's new government, which came into power after toppling President Bashar al-Assad's regime last December, has denied having any hand in the killings of civilians, saying its armed forces intervened only due to clashes between militias. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said protecting Druze and their rights was a priority for his government, and vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people." Al-Sharaa also spoke out against Israel's involvement in the fighting. Israel has repeatedly conducted airstrikes into Syria this year, with some hitting Syria's Defence Ministry in the capital of Damascus just on Wednesday. Israel has said it would protect Druze from any attacks, not allowing military forces to descend on them. Since the new government's takeover of Syria, Israel has moved troops into the country. Video circulating on social media has shown government forces and allies humiliating Druze clerics and residents, looting homes and killing civilians inside their own homes. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO, said it counted 374 people killed since clashes erupted. It cited "field executions and violations committed by Defence Ministry forces against civilians and local Druze fighters." Yara Harb, a volunteer organizer at Ottawa's protest, said "there's been dehumanization, there's been humiliation, there have been aggressions against dignity and the Druze identity," she said. Harb said it is very hard to establish contact with loved ones in the area due the internet and power being shut off. She said her grandparents, who live there, told her their house was ransacked by a group of 40 men, and the last update she heard from them was that they had left their home behind to seek refuge elsewhere. Harb said their neighbour's son was shot. "They couldn't get him to safety at all. So he ended up dying after 24 hours with the only intervention being prayers from my 85-year-old grandma," she said. Bassma Al Atrache came to the protest from Montreal. She said she has been unable to contact her mother, who is in Suwayda, for four days. "The last time I spoke to her, she was very traumatized, she was hearing airstrikes everywhere," Al Atrache said, adding her mother is a Canadian citizen. Tentative new relationship with Canada Global Affairs Canada has yet to respond to a series of questions about this story. The Canadian government is tentatively renewing a relationship with Syria, where it closed its embassy in 2012. In mid-March, Canada named Stefanie McCollum, its ambassador to Lebanon, to serve concurrently as a non-resident ambassador to Syria. In February, then prime minister Justin Trudeau named former cabinet minister Omar Alghabra as special envoy for Syria.
Al Jazeera
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
The Take: Why is Taiwan training for war with China?
Taiwan's annual war games simulating a real Chinese invasion are bigger than ever. As China continues to ramp up military pressure on the island, what does it feel like to live in a place rehearsing for invasion? In this episode: William Yang (@WilliamYang120) – Senior Analyst, International Crisis Group Episode credits: This episode was produced by Tamara Khandaker, Noor Wazwaz, and Amy Walters with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Kisaa Zehra, Marya Khan, and our guest host, Manuel Rapalo. It was edited by Sarí el-Khalili. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
