Latest news with #Jerusalem
LBCI
2 hours ago
- General
- LBCI
Israel says UN report shows Iran intent on getting atomic bomb
Israel on Saturday accused Iran of being determined to acquire nuclear weapons, after a U.N. report said the Islamic republic had stepped up production of highly enriched uranium. The report was a "clear warning sign" that "Iran is totally determined to complete its nuclear weapons program," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. "Such a level of enrichment exists only in countries actively pursuing nuclear weapons and has no civilian justification whatsoever." AFP
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fox News
Iran condemns Austria over report on advanced nuclear weapons program
Jerusalem – Iran angrily lashed out at Austria's government Friday after Fox News Digital reported on a document asserting that Tehran has developed an advanced nuclear weapons program that can launch long-range missiles. The explosive report from Austria's version of the FBI—the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service—provides a specialized window into the Iranian regime's illicit atomic weapons program and its espionage activities in the central European country. Fox News Digital was the first news organization to report on the Iran sections of the report on Wednesday, sparking a major diplomatic row between the Islamic Republic and Austria. "The Iranian nuclear weapons development program is well advanced, and Iran possesses a growing arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads over long distances," the Austrian domestic intelligence agency report stated. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqaei, denounced the Austrian intelligence agency "for spreading lies," and called on the Austrian government to "provide an official explanation regarding the irresponsible, provocative, and destructive act by one of its official institutions," according to the Ministry's website. Tehran-based Austrian diplomat Michaela Pacher was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry, according to the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. "[Pacher] took this opportunity to reiterate Austria's and the EU's position on the Iranian nuclear program," Austrian officials said in a statement. "This position was most recently expressed to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency." Austria expressed support for an EU statement along with other countries in March. "Iran already accumulated more than six significant quantities of 60% enriched material [which the Agency defines as the approximate amount of nuclear material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded] and is currently producing one significant quantity of highly enriched uranium every month," noted the EU statement. The EU statement added that "All these actions carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran's intentions, since they have no credible civilian justification. In this context, the EU remains concerned by statements made by Iranian officials about Iran's capacity to assemble a nuclear weapon." The shocking Austrian intelligence findings contradict the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has "undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so." There have long been conflicting views (between U.S. intelligence agencies and European intelligence services) over Iran's illegal nuclear weapons program. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the Austrian report. "President Trump is committed to Iran never obtaining a nuclear weapon or the capacity to build one," a White House official said. The Austrian report coincides with a new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. The AP reported on Saturday that Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday and called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with the agency's probe. The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks in the past weeks over a possible nuclear deal that U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to reach. The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. A report in February put the stockpile at 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds). The IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now "the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material" — something the agency said was of "serious concern." In February, Fox News Digital reported that the IAEA said Iran has sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture six nuclear weapons. "The Islamic Republic is the standard-bearer of deception and stonewalling. Today's damning IAEA reports confirm how Iran has been in violation of the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] for years, even when the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] was in effect. It shows the regime cannot be trusted with any diplomatic agreement," said Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). The JCPOA is the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal that was concluded between the Obama administration and Iran. President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 because, his administration said at the time, the deal did not prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. "I think Iran's regime's response to Austria's findings shows its sensitivity over these matters," Brodsky said. "It also wants to bully Austria. Austria should force the Iranian regime to decrease the size of its embassy in Vienna which it has long used as a hub for malign intelligence collection and operations throughout Europe." The clerical regime's foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on his X account a statement in response to the Fox News Digital report. "Media is speculating about an imminent Iran-U.S. deal. Not sure if we are there yet," he wrote. "Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides. "But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran's nuclear rights—including enrichment. Path to a deal goes through the negotiating table and not the media." The U.S. talks to dismantle Iran's illicit atomic weapons program coincides with a nationwide truckers' strike in Iran. The widespread labor unrest could severely weaken the regime, according to Iran experts. The exiled crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the U.S, called on U.S. labor unions to stand with Iranian truckers. "Truck drivers and workers across Iran are on strike and are putting their lives on the line to fight for their rights and for a better future for their families," Pahlavi, who lives in the U.S, wrote on X. "Now, they are being jailed and threatened for posting photos and videos of their strike. Only in a free Iran will all workers have the right to freely and openly organize. I invite you, labor unions and leaders, to stand with your fellow workers in Iran and show your solidarity."
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Health
- Reuters
Gaza aid supplies hit by looting as Hamas ceasefire response awaited
CAIRO/JERUSALEM, May 31 (Reuters) - Armed men hijacked dozens of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip overnight and hundreds of desperate Palestinians joined in to take supplies, local aid groups said on Saturday as officials waited for Hamas to respond to the latest ceasefire proposals. The incident was the latest in a series that has underscored the shaky security situation hampering the delivery of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close but Hamas has said it is still studying the latest proposals from his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the proposals. The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. On Saturday, the Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site. The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis. Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created. The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war began 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month. Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the World Food Programme and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting. At the same time, a separate system, run by a U.S.-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites. However, aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine. "The aid that's being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main U.N. relief organization for Palestinians, said in a message on the social media platform X. The World Food Programme said it brought 77 trucks carrying flour into Gaza overnight and early on Saturday and all of them were stopped on the way, with food taken by hungry people. "After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by," it said in a statement. Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said the dire situation was being exploited by armed groups which were attacking some of the aid convoys. He said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a "systematic policy of starvation". Overnight on Saturday, he said trucks had been stopped by armed groups near Khan Younis as they were headed towards a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and hundreds of desperate people had carried off supplies. "We could understand that some are driven by hunger and starvation, some may not have eaten bread in several weeks, but we can't understand armed looting, and it is not acceptable at all," he said. Israel says it is facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centres and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza. Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza, which it had been running since 2007. The Palestinian militant group denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters. U.N. officials say they have seen no evidence that the group has been stealing supplies since the latest deliveries began to arrive. Israel began its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza. The campaign has laid waste large areas of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying or damaging most of its buildings, leaving most of the population in makeshift shelters.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ancient cave burial of 'Jesus' midwife' may actually hold a princess
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A cave in Israel once thought to be linked to Jesus may in fact be the burial place of another person from his time: Salome, the sister of the Judaean king Herod the Great, a new study finds. The idea is based on the ornaments and architecture of the site, which archaeologists say indicate that a member of the Herodian royal family may have been buried there in the first century B.C.; Judaea at that time was a client kingdom of the Roman Empire. But the study's authors say it is possible that a different person named Salome may be buried there. "It's not that I think it must be the tomb of Salome the sister of Herod," Vladik Lifshits, an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), told Live Science. "I'm suggesting that this is one of the possibilities." Lifshits is a co-author with IAA archaeologist Nir-Shimshon Paran of the study in the latest issue of the IAA journal 'Atiqot that suggests the "Cave of Salome" may have been the burial place of a Judaean royal. The cave, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, was famous in Byzantine times as a site of Christian pilgrimage, because a woman named Salome (a common name at the time) was said to have been a "midwife of Jesus." Related: 1,900-year-old papyrus 'best-documented Roman court case from Judaea apart from the trial of Jesus' The identification of the tomb with someone called Salome seems to have come from the discovery there of an ossuary — a casket for bones — labeled with that name. Jerusalem was conquered from the Byzantines by the Islamic Caliphate in the seventh century, but Christian pilgrims seem to have visited the cave until the ninth century. Exactly who is buried in the tomb is not known, however. Looters rediscovered the cave about 40 years ago, and it was excavated by archaeologists in 1984; the IAA has now included it on the Judean Kings Trail, a 60-mile-long (100 km) route linking several archaeological sites in central Israel. Artifacts excavated from the cave include hundreds of clay oil lamps from the eighth and ninth centuries, which archaeologists think were sold to Christian pilgrims so they would have light while exploring the dark cave. Many of the original ornaments have now been stripped away, but Lifshits noted the monumental architecture — including a large courtyard at the entrance — indicated that a member of the royal family may have been buried there. The authors also discovered the remains of several luxurious villas nearby, which indicates the site once belonged to a very wealthy family. Herod I, also known as Herod the Great, was a native of the Holy Land's southern Idumean region who rose to power through his family's influence with the Romans and ruled Judaea from about 37 to about 4 B.C. He appears in the Christian Bible as the jealous king who ordered the execution of all male infants in Bethlehem — an act known as the "Slaughter of the Innocents," which Jesus' family escaped (but most historians don't think this happened). Despite Herod's savage reputation, he was considered a relatively good king in general. For example, he was a prolific builder who restored the decrepit Second Temple on the Temple Mount, and the massive rock walls he had built are still standing today as the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. One member of the Herodian royal family named Salome was Herod's sister, a key figure in his court; and reports from the time say she colluded with him in the executions of other family members. But Herod's granddaughter was also named Salome; according to the Christian Bible, she ordered the execution of John the Baptist, a Jewish preacher and associate of Jesus, and demanded that his head be brought to her on a platter. The elder Salome died in about A.D. 10; historians think the younger Salome died in the 50s or 60s A.D. RELATED STORIES —Dance floor where John the Baptist was condemned to death discovered, archaeologist says —3 Christmas traditions that may have pagan roots, and 4 that (probably) don't —When was Jesus born? Archaeologist Boaz Zissu of Israel's Bar-Ilan University who was not involved in the study, said the idea that the person buried in the Cave of Salome may have been Herod's sister was interesting but not conclusive. "The authors correctly identify the original phase as a monumental tomb belonging to local elites of the Herodian period," he told Live Science in an email. But establishing that the tomb was for the Herodian Salome would demand "more rigorous evidential support," he said.
Malay Mail
11 hours ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Israel blocks Arab ministers from attending Ramallah meeting on Palestinian statehood
JERUSALEM, May 31 — Israel will not allow a planned meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said today, after media reported that Arab ministers planning to attend had been stopped from coming. The delegation included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. The ministers would require Israeli consent to travel to the West Bank from Jordan. An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in 'a provocative meeting' to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state. 'Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the land of Israel,' the official said. 'Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.' A Palestinian Authority official said that the issue of whether the meeting in Ramallah would be able to go ahead was under discussion. The move comes ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favour a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that recognising a Palestinian state was not only a 'moral duty but a political necessity'. — Reuters
