Latest news with #Masoud Pezeshkian
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wounded Iranian president forced to escape through emergency hatch during Israeli air strike
Iran's president was injured in an Israeli air strike targeting a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council, Tehran has revealed. Masoud Pezeshkian was wounded in the leg and forced to escape through an emergency hatch after Israel struck the meeting in Tehran with six missiles during June's 12-day war. The revelation, made by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) affiliated Fars news agency, confirms the claims made by Mr Pezeshkian during a recent interview that Israel tried to assassinate him. According to Fars, Mr Pezeshkian, 70, sustained a leg injury after the strike on June 16 where others in attendance included parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei. The agency said the attack bore similarities to the strike that targeted the head of Iran's biggest regional proxy, Hezbollah, last year, which succeeded in killing long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut. 'The attack occurred before noon on Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was being held with the heads of the three branches of government and other senior officials in the lower floors of a building in western Tehran,' the report said. 'The attackers targeted the building's entrances and exits by firing six bombs or missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.' Fars also reported that others also had been injured in the attack. It stated that 'some officials, including the president, suffered minor injuries to their legs while leaving', and added that they escaped through 'an emergency hatch that had been planned in advance'. 'After the explosions, the electricity on the floor was cut off,' it added. Investigations are now under way to find a possible insider because of the precise nature of the attack. Iran has arrested more than 700 people in the wake of the war on charges of collaborating with Israel, and has attempted to push through a new emergency spy law that aims to impose harsher penalties, including the death penalty. Though Fars did not detail the location of the strike, opposition outlet Iran International reported an Israeli air strike against an area near Shahrak-e Gharb in western Tehran on June 16. Mohsen Rezaei, an IRGC general, also told state TV that Israel 'struck six points at the location where the Supreme National Security Council was meeting, but not the slightest harm was done to any of its members'. However, in an interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, Mr Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to assassinate him, though had not admitted to having being injured. 'They did try [to assassinate me], acted accordingly, but they failed,' he said. The interview drew massive criticism from MPs in Iran, with 24 joining together in a public letter accusing the president of undermining national security. They said his openness to renewed negotiations with the United States in spite of the American strikes on three key nuclear facilities, and his willingness to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has since been expelled from the country, showed weakness. 'From a national security standpoint, such messaging risks inviting further aggression,' the MPs wrote. 'If before June 12 there were diverse views on resisting American overreach, this war generated rare unity around the necessity of confronting the United States and its proxy, the Zionist regime,' they added. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Iranian president forced to escape through emergency hatch during Israeli air strike
Iran's president was injured in an Israeli air strike targeting a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council, Tehran has revealed. Masoud Pezeshkian was wounded in the leg and forced to escape through an emergency hatch after Israel struck the meeting in Tehran with six missiles during June's 12-day war. The revelation, which was made in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) affiliated Fars news agency, confirms the claims made by Mr Pezeshkian during a recent interview that Israel tried to assassinate him. According to Fars, Mr Pezeshkian, 70, sustained a leg injury after the strike on June 16 where others in attendance included parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei. The agency said the attack bore similarities to the strike that targeted the head of Iran's biggest regional proxy, Hezbollah, last year, which succeeded in killing long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut. 'The attack occurred before noon on Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was being held with the heads of the three branches of government and other senior officials in the lower floors of a building in western Tehran,' the report said. 'The attackers targeted the building's entrances and exits by firing six bombs or missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.' Fars also reported that in addition to the president, others had been injured in the attack. It stated that 'some officials, including the president, suffered minor injuries to their legs while leaving', and added that they escaped through 'an emergency hatch that had been planned in advance'. 'After the explosions, the electricity on the floor was cut off,' it added. Investigations are now underway to find a possible insider because of the precise nature of the attack. Iran has arrested more than 700 people in the wake of the war on charges of collaborating with Israel, and has attempted to push through a new emergency spy law that aims to impose harsher penalties, including the death penalty. Though Fars did not detail the location of the strike, opposition outlet Iran International reported an Israeli air strike against an area near Shahrak-e Gharb in western Tehran on June 16. Mohsen Rezaei, an IRGC general, also told state TV that Israel 'struck six points at the location where the Supreme National Security Council was meeting, but not the slightest harm was done to any of its members'. However, in an interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, Mr Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to assassinate him, though had not admitted to having being injured. 'They did try [to assassinate me], acted accordingly, but they failed,' he said. The interview drew massive criticism from MPs in Iran, with 24 joining together in a public letter accusing the president of undermining national security. They said his openness to renewed negotiations with the United States in spite of the American strikes on three key nuclear facilities, and his willingness to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has since been expelled from the country, showed weakness. 'From a national security standpoint, such messaging risks inviting further aggression,' the MPs wrote. 'If before June 12 there were diverse views on resisting American overreach, this war generated rare unity around the necessity of confronting the United States and its proxy, the Zionist regime,' they added.
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Iran sees chance for nuclear deal with U.S. even after attacks
A consensus is emerging within Iran's fractious political scene that the country must relaunch negotiations over its nuclear program with the United States, even as mistrust remains over whether such talks could simply be the prelude to another Israeli attack, according to analysts and political observers inside and outside Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have engaged in a media blitz over the past several weeks seeking to distinguish between the U.S. and Israel, stressing that a negotiated settlement could be reached with Washington despite Israeli hostility.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran denies requesting meeting with US, state media reports
US President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said he would meet with Iranian diplomats "next week or so." Iran did not request a meeting with the United States to resume nuclear talks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday, according to state media. US President Donald Trump's Middle East EnvoySteve Witkoff said he would meet with Iranian diplomats "next week or so." President Trump announced at the end of June that the US would hold talks with the Iranian leadership in the upcoming week in a bid to close a nuclear deal. This was said at a press conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Foreign MinisterAbbas Aragchi earlier said in an interview on state TV that Iran has no plan to meet with the US, contradicting Trump's statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had since said in an interview with conservative US podcaster Tucker Carlson, "I am of the belief that we could very much easily resolve our differences and conflicts with the United States through dialogue and talks."
