Trump trying to ‘shift the narrative' of Iran nuclear strikes: analyst
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Eric Ham, CTV News U.S. political analyst, says the Trump administration needs to explain the what the strikes did to Iran's nuclear sites.
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National Post
9 hours ago
- National Post
Israeli defence minister directs IDF to develop plan to stymie Iranian recovery
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday directed the IDF to formulate an enforcement plan against Iran, including steps to preserve Israel's aerial superiority, prevent the advancement of Tehran's nuclear and missile programs, and respond to the Islamic Republic's support for terrorism. Article content 'We will act regularly to thwart threats of this nature,' said Katz. Article content Article content Article content 'I suggest the defanged head of the snake in Tehran understand and beware: 'Operation Rising Lion' was only the preview of a new Israeli policy,' he continued. 'After Oct. 7, immunity is over.' Article content Article content Katz said the 12-day war would go down as a remarkable chapter in Israel's history and in the annals of global conflict. Article content He highlighted that Israel had opened the skies over Tehran, targeting and neutralizing Iranian air defense systems, destroying nuclear infrastructure and missile production facilities, and severely damaging missile launchers. Additionally, Israel killed key Iranian security figures and leading scientists, effectively dismantling the decades-long plan by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to annihilate the Jewish state. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Friday indicated that the damage inflicted on Iran would help further Israel's war objectives against Hamas. Article content 'The IDF completed 'Operation Rising Lion' to eliminate an existential threat to the State of Israel. We achieved all of our objectives and delivered a significant blow to Iran's nuclear program,' Zamir said during a situational assessment held in the Gaza Strip. Article content Article content 'The damage sustained will have an impact on the entire axis, including Hamas, whose primary sponsor has now been weakened. There is a possibility that the strike on Iran will advance our objectives in Gaza,' he added. Article content Article content The comments came after a rare public statement by Mossad Director David Barnea, who announced on Wednesday that the spy agency would continue to conduct covert operations inside Iran for the foreseeable future. Article content 'We will be there, as we have been,' Barnea said. 'We've worked for months and years to carry out the necessary actions and reach the right moment.' Article content In a video message, Barnea underscored that Israel's intelligence presence within the Islamic Republic remains extensive, calling it a strategic imperative for national security and regional stability. Article content
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Israeli strikes kill at least 49 across Gaza, health officials say, as ceasefire prospects inch nearer
At least 49 people were killed across Gaza by Israeli strikes, health staff say, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ceasefire prospects inch closer. The strikes began late Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser hospital, according to health officials. The strikes come as U.S. President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office Friday, the president said, 'we're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.' An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israel's Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza's ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Talks have been on again off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the Strip's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to still be alive. They were part of some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed over 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. There is hope among hostage families that Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza. Netanyahu says he will only end the war once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Meanwhile hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for 2 1/2 months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. Palestinians have also been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
Hundreds of thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes
People mourn over the flag-draped coffins of Iranian nuclear scientists who were killed in Israeli strikes, during a funeral ceremony in Tehran. Iran, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard and other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during a 12-day war with Israel. The caskets of Guard's chief Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital's Azadi Street as people in the crowds chanted: 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.' Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched a war it said meant to destroy Iran's nuclear program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and nuclear facilities. State media reported more than one million people turned out for the funeral procession, which was impossible to independently confirm, but the dense crowd packed the main Tehran thoroughfare along the entire 4.5 kilometre (nearly three mile) route. There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in past funerals held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on hand, and state television reported that Gen. Esmail Qaani, who heads the foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Gen. Ali Shamkhani were also among the mourners. Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei who was wounded in the first round of Israel's attack and hospitalized, was shown in a civilian suit leaning on a cane in an image distributed on state television's Telegram channel. Iran's Revolutionary Guard was created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since it was established, it has evolved from a paramilitary, domestic security force to a transnational force that has come to the aid of Tehran's allies in the Middle East, from Syria and Lebanon to Iraq. It operates in parallel to the country's existing armed forces and controls Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children. Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to attend the ceremonies. Many in the crowd expressed feelings of anger and defiance. 'This is not a ceasefire, this is just a pause,' said 43-year-old Ahmad Mousapoor, waving an Iranian flag. 'Whatever they do, we will definitely give a crushing response.' State media published images of an open grave plot at Tehran's sprawling Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery where army chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed on the first day of the war, was to be buried beside his brother, a Guards commander killed during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. Many of the others were to be buried in their hometowns. The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency confirmed that the top prosecutor at the notorious Evin prison had been killed in an Israeli strike on Monday. It reported that Ali Ghanaatkar, whose prosecution of dissidents led to widespread criticism by human rights groups, would be buried at a shrine in Qom. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. But Israel views it as an existential threat and said its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon. Khamenei's last public appearance was June 11, two days before hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians. On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video, in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved 'anything significant' and claimed victory over Israel. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, has characterized the damage done by American bunker-buster bombs to Iran's Fordo nuclear site, which was built into a mountain, as 'very, very, very considerable.' David Rising, The Associated Press
