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Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war
FILE PHOTO: People walk near a mural of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo ISTANBUL/BAGHDAD - Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensify an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments, particularly in the restive Kurdish region, officials and activists said. Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, the officials and activists said. Some in Israel and exiled opposition groups had hoped the military campaign, which targeted Revolutionary Guards and internal security forces as well as nuclear sites, would spark a mass uprising and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. While Reuters has spoken to numerous Iranians angry at the government for policies they believed had led to the Israeli attack, there has been no sign yet of any significant protests against the authorities. However, one senior Iranian security official and two other senior officials briefed on internal security issues said the authorities were focused on the threat of possible internal unrest, particularly in Kurdish areas. Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary units were put on alert and internal security was now the primary focus, said the senior security official. The official said authorities were worried about Israeli agents, ethnic separatists and the People's Mujahideen Organisation, an exiled opposition group that has previously staged attacks inside Iran. Activists within the country are lying low. "We are being extremely cautious right now because there's a real concern the regime might use this situation as a pretext," said a rights activist in Tehran who was jailed during mass protests in 2022. The activist said he knew dozens of people who had been summoned by authorities and either arrested or warned against any expressions of dissent. Iranian rights group HRNA said on Monday it had recorded arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war. Many of those arrested have been accused of spying for Israel, HRNA said. Iranian state media reported three were executed on Tuesday in Urmia, near the Turkish border, and the Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said they were all Kurdish. Iran's Foreign and Interior Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CHECKPOINTS AND SEARCHES One of the officials briefed on security said troops had been deployed to the borders of Pakistan, Iraq and Azerbaijan to stop infiltration by what the official called terrorists. The other official briefed on security acknowledged that hundreds had been arrested. Iran's mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long been a source of opposition to the Islamic Republic, chafing against rule from the Persian-speaking, Shi'ite government in Tehran. The three main Iranian Kurdish separatist factions based in Iraqi Kurdistan said some of their activists and fighters had been arrested and described widespread military and security movements by Iranian authorities. Ribaz Khalili from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said Revolutionary Guards units had deployed in schools in Iran's Kurdish provinces within three days of Israel's strikes beginning and gone house-to-house for suspects and arms. The Guards had taken protective measures too, evacuating an industrial zone near their barracks and closing major roads for their own use in bringing reinforcements to Kermanshah and Sanandaj, two major cities in the Kurdish region. A cadre from the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), who gave her nom de guerre of Fatma Ahmed, said the party had counted more than 500 opposition members being detained in Kurdish provinces since the airstrikes began. Ahmed and an official from the Kurdish Komala party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, both described checkpoints being set up across Kurdish areas with physical searches of people as well as checks of their phones and documents. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Fragile ceasefire holding, Trump envoy says peace talks with Iran 'promising'
People gesture as they attend a gathering to support Iran's Armed Forces, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/ISTANBUL - The ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump between Iran and Israel appeared to be holding on Wednesday a day after both countries signalled that their air war had ended, at least for now. Each side claimed victory on Tuesday after 12 days of war, which the U.S. joined with airstrikes in support of Israel to take out Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said late on Tuesday that talks between the United States and Iran were "promising" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal. "We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising. We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show. "Now it's for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement, and I am very confident that we are going to achieve that," he added. Trump said over the weekend that U.S. stealth bombers had "obliterated" Iran's programme to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its enrichment activities are for civilian purposes only. But Trump's claim appeared to be contradicted by an initial report by one of his administration's intelligence agencies, according to three people familiar with the matter. One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the country's nuclear programme, much of which is buried deep underground, may have been set back only a month or two. The White House said the intelligence assessment was "flat out wrong." According to the report, which was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities, but did not collapse underground buildings, said one of the people familiar with its findings. Some centrifuges remained intact, the Washington Post said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the report. Trump's administration told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that its weekend strikes had "degraded" Iran's nuclear programme, short of Trump's assertion that the facilities had been "obliterated." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the attack had removed the nuclear threat against Israel and he was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its weapons program. "We have removed two immediate existential threats to us: the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles," he said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media. Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the U.S., according to official news agency IRNA. Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. RESTRICTIONS LIFTED Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nournews reported. Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, finding some respite after plummeting in the last two sessions, as investors assessed the stability of the ceasefire and the diminished prospect of an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The truce appeared fragile: Both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it. Trump scolded both sides but aimed especially stinging criticism at Israel, telling the close U.S. ally to "calm down now." He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said he told his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that his country would respect the ceasefire unless Iran violated it. Pezeshkian likewise said Iran would honour the ceasefire as long as Israel did, according to Iranian media. Israeli armed forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a "significant chapter" of the conflict had concluded but the campaign against Iran was not over. He said the military would refocus on its war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza. Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed in their country by Israeli strikes and 4,746 injured. Iran's retaliatory bombardment killed 28 people in Israel, the first time its air defences were penetrated by large numbers of Iranian missiles. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Iran-Israel ceasefire takes hold as Trump applies pressure
A security guard stands on a street, during early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS By Jeff Mason, Alexander Cornwell and Parisa Hafezi A shaky ceasefire began to take hold between Israel and Iran on Tuesday under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, raising hopes for an end to the biggest ever military confrontation between the Middle East arch-foes. Both Iran and Israel sent signals that the 12-day air war had concluded, at least for now, after Trump scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced. Israel's military lifted restrictions on activity across the country at 8 p.m. local time, and officials said Ben Gurion Airport, the country's main airport near Tel Aviv, had reopened. Iran's airspace likewise will be reopened, state-affiliated Nournews reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had successfully ended the war in what he called a "great victory," according to Iranian media. Pezeshkian also told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Tehran was ready to resolve differences with the United States, according to official news agency IRNA. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed a historic win. The developments came after what appeared to be a shaky start to the truce, seen as a critical step to de-escalating the worst fighting between Iran and Israel in decades. Both Israel and Iran took hours to acknowledge they had accepted the ceasefire and accused each other of violating it, underscoring the fragility of the truce between the two bitter foes and the challenge of achieving lasting peace between them. Trump scolded both sides but aimed especially stinging criticism at Israel, telling the close U.S. ally to "calm down now." He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command. Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said he told his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, that his country would respect the ceasefire unless Iran violated it. Pezeshkian likewise said Iran would honor the ceasefire as long as Israel did, according to Iranian media. Whether the Israel-Iran truce can hold is a major question given the deep mistrust between the two nations. But Trump's ability to broker a ceasefire showed Washington retains some leverage in the volatile region. Israeli armed forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a "significant chapter" of the conflict had concluded but the campaign against Iran was not over. He said the military would refocus on its war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in Gaza. Iran's military command also warned Israel and the United States to learn from the "crushing blows" it delivered during the conflict. Iranian authorities said 610 people were killed in their country by Israeli strikes and 4,746 injured. Iran's retaliatory bombardment killed 28 people in Israel, the first time its air defenses were penetrated by large numbers of Iranian missiles. Oil prices plunged and stock markets rallied worldwide in a sign of confidence inspired by the ceasefire, which allayed fears of disruption to critical oil supplies from the Gulf. CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS? Earlier in the day, Trump admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites. Before departing the White House en route to a NATO summit in Europe, Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for the ceasefire breach but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal. "I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Trump said. Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f... they're doing." Netanyahu's office acknowledged Israel bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire was due to begin. It said Israel had decided to refrain from further attacks following a call between Netanyahu and Trump, but did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke. The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start. A SENSE OF RELIEF In both countries there was a palpable sense of relief. "Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had fled with his family. Arik Daimant, a software engineer in Tel Aviv, said: "Regrettably, it's a bit too late for me and my family, because our house back here was totally destroyed in the recent bombings last Sunday. But as they say, 'Better late than never', and I hope this ceasefire is a new beginning." Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One heading to the NATO summit, Trump said he did not want to see Iran's ruling system toppled. "Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos," he said. A senior White House official said Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranians. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday. Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, hitting Iranian nuclear sites where it said Iran was trying to develop an atomic bomb and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran says its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes and denies trying to build nuclear weapons. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Iran-Israel ceasefire appears to hold under pressure from Trump
People attend a gathering to support Iran's Armed Forces, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/TEL AVIV/ISTANBUL —A shaky ceasefire began to take hold between Israel and Iran on Tuesday under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, raising hopes for an end to the biggest ever military confrontation between the Middle East arch-foes. Trump scolded both sides for early violations of the truce he announced at 0500 GMT, but directed especially stinging criticism at Washington's close ally Israel over the scale of its strikes, telling it to "calm down now". He later said Israel called off further attacks at his command to preserve the deal to end a 12-day air war with Iran. Both Iran and Israel sent signals the conflict was over, at least for now. President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed a "great victory" in a war he said Iran had successful ended, according to Iranian media. Iran's official news agency IRNA earlier reported Pezeshkian as saying during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Iran was ready to resolve differences with the U.S. based on international frameworks. Israel's military, meanwhile, said all regions of the country had moved to full activity level without restrictions from 8 p.m. local time (1700 GMT). Its airport authority said Ben Gurion Airport had reopened. Israeli armed forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir said the military was at "the conclusion of a significant chapter but the campaign against Iran is not over", though he added the military was refocusing on its war against Hamas in Gaza. Whether the Israel-Iran truce can hold is a major question. Signaling a difficult path ahead, it took hours for Israel and Iran to even acknowledge that they had accepted the ceasefire that Trump said he had brokered. Still, oil prices plunged and stock markets rallied worldwide in a sign of confidence arising from the ceasefire pact,which was taken to mean there would be no threat of disruption to critical oil supplies from the Gulf. Ceasefire violations? Iran and Israel earlier on Tuesday accused each other of violating the truce. Trump, en route to a NATO summit in Europe, admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites. "All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. That followed a post in which he had said: "Israel. Do not drop those bombs. If you do it it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!" Before departing the White House, Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for breaching the ceasefire, but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal. "I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Trump said. Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office acknowledged that Israel had bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire had been due to begin. It said Israel had decided to refrain from further attacks following a call between Netanyahu and Trump, but did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke. The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start. Pezeshkian said later Tehran would not violate the ceasefire unless Israel did so, and that it was prepared to return to the negotiating table, without elaborating, according to state-run Nournews. A sense of relief In both countries there was a palpable sense of relief that a path out of war had been charted, 12 days after Israel launched it with a surprise attack, and two days after Trump joined in with strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. "We're happy, very happy. Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had relocated with his family to escape the airstrikes. Arik Daimant, a software engineer in Tel Aviv, said: "Regrettably, it's a bit too late for me and my family, because our house back here was totally destroyed in the recent bombings last Sunday. But as they say: 'better late than never', and I hope this ceasefire is a new beginning." Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One heading to the NATO summit, Trump said he did not want to see Iran's ruling system toppled. "I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos," he said. "Iran's not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way, I think it's the last thing on their mind right now." In the hours before the truce took effect, four people - one of them an off-duty Israeli soldier - were killed by Iranian missiles that hit a residential building in Beersheba in southern Israel, according to the Israeli ambulance service. Iranian officials said nine people were killed by a strike on a residential building in northern Iran. Nuclear targets Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, hitting Iranian nuclear sites where it said Iran was trying to develop an atomic bomb and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes and denies trying to build nuclear weapons. Iranian authorities said hundreds of people were killed in Israel's airstrikes. Full information about the extent of the damage to nuclear and economic infrastructure could not be confirmed independently, with media tightly controlled in Iran. Retaliatory missile strikes have killed 28 people in Israel, the first time large numbers of Iranian missiles have penetrated its air defences. A senior White House official said Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranians. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday.—Reuters
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Blasts shake Tehran after furious Trump tells Israel to stop strikes to preserve truce deal
A woman gestures as people attend a gathering to support Iran's Armed Forces, after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/ WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/TEL AVIV/ISTANBUL — Israel bombed a target near Tehran on Tuesday despite a furious rebuke from US President Donald Trump for launching airstrikes hours after agreeing to a ceasefire deal with Iran. Trump scolded both Iran and Israel for early violations of the truce that he had announced at around 0500 GMT, but directed particularly stinging criticism at Washington's close ally over the scale of its strikes, telling it to "calm down now." He said Israel called off further attacks at his command to preserve the deal to end a 12-day air war with Iran, the biggest ever military confrontation between the Middle East arch-foes that had raised fears of global repercussions. Following those remarks, however, two witnesses reached by telephone in the Iranian capital said they heard two loud blasts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office acknowledged that Israel had bombed a radar site near Tehran in what it said was retaliation for Iranian missiles fired three-and-a-half hours after the ceasefire had been due to begin. It said Israel had decided to refrain from further attacks following a call between Netanyahu and Trump, but did not explicitly say whether the strike on the radar site took place before or after they spoke. The Islamic Republic denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour-and-a-half beyond the time the truce was meant to start. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said later Tehran would not violate the ceasefire unless Israel did so, and that it was prepared to return to the negotiating table, without elaborating, according to state-run Nournews. Whether the truce can hold is a major question. Signaling a difficult path ahead, it took hours for Israel and Iran to even acknowledge that they had accepted the ceasefire that Trump said he had brokered. Still, oil prices fell and share markets rose worldwide at the prospect of an end to the conflict, lifting a threat of disruption to oil supplies from the Gulf to the wider world. Trump, en route to a NATO summit in Europe, had admonished Israel with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst at an ally whose air war he had joined two days before by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites. "All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. That followed a post in which he had said: "Israel. Do not drop those bombs. If you do it it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!" Before departing the White House, Trump told reporters he was unhappy with both sides for breaching the ceasefire, but particularly frustrated with Israel, which he said had "unloaded" shortly after agreeing to the deal. "I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Trump said. Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing." Violations? A reporter for Axios said Netanyahu had told Trump that Israel would scale back the bombing mission rather than cancel it. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had said earlier on Tuesday that he had ordered the military to mount major strikes on targets in Tehran in response to what he said were Iranian missiles fired in a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire. Despite the initial reports of violations, in both countries there was a palpable sense of relief that a path out of war had been charted, 12 days after Israel launched it with a surprise attack, and two days after Trump joined in with strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. "We're happy, very happy. Who mediated or how it happened doesn't matter. The war is over. It never should have started in the first place," said Reza Sharifi, 38, heading back to Tehran from Rasht on the Caspian Sea, where he had relocated with his family to escape the airstrikes. Arik Daimant, a software engineer in Tel Aviv, said: "Regrettably, it's a bit too late for me and my family, because our house back here was totally destroyed in the recent bombings last Sunday. But as they say: 'better late than never', and I hope this ceasefire is a new beginning." Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One heading to the NATO summit, Trump said he did not want to see Iran's ruling system toppled. "I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos," he said. "Iran's not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way, I think it's the last thing on their mind right now." In the hours before the truce took effect, four people—one of them an off-duty Israeli soldier—were killed by Iranian missiles that hit a residential building in Beersheba in southern Israel, according to the Israeli ambulance service. Iranian officials said nine people were killed by a strike on a residential building in northern Iran. Nuclear targets Israel launched the surprise air war on June 13, hitting Iranian nuclear sites where it said Iran was trying to develop an atomic bomb and killing top military commanders in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq. Iran says its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes and denies trying to build nuclear weapons. Iranian authorities said hundreds of people were killed in Israel's airstrikes. Full information about the extent of the damage to nuclear and economic infrastructure could not be confirmed independently, with media tightly controlled in Iran. Retaliatory missile strikes have killed 28 people in Israel, the first time large numbers of Iranian missiles have penetrated its air defenses. A senior White House official said Trump brokered the ceasefire deal with Netanyahu, and other administration officials were in touch with the Iranians. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday. The ceasefire came the morning after Iran responded to the US participation in the air strikes by firing a volley of missiles at the biggest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar. No one was hurt in that strike as the Iranian retaliation appeared to have been calibrated carefully to allow de-escalation. Trump thanked Tehran for warning the United States in advance to avoid injuries. — Reuters
