‘Heightened threat environment' in US as world waits for Iran's response to nuclear sites attack, Tánaiste to attend EU ministers summit today
LIVE |
World braced for Iran's response after US attacked key Iranian nuclear sitesTehran approves move to close the Strait of Hormuz, affecting quarter of global oil shipments
©Reuters
Today at 00:30
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Iran condemns Trump's 'disrespectful and unacceptable' comments on Khamenei
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Saturday the "disrespectful and unacceptable" comments from Donald Trump, after the US president claimed to have saved Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from an "ugly and ignominious death". "If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt supporters," Mr Araghchi posted on his account on social media platform X. "The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to 'Daddy' to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults," the foreign minister said. The United States carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, with no consensus as to how effective they were. With those strikes, Washington joined Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme in the 12-day conflict launched on 13 June. The foreign minister's condemnation on Saturday came after Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he had saved the Iranian leader from assassination, accusing Khamenei of ingratitude. "I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life," Mr Trump posted. "I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!'" Mr Trump also said that he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran's main demands. "But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more," Mr Trump added, exhorting Iran to return to the negotiating table. Iran has denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States, after Mr Trump said that negotiations would begin again next week.
The Irish Sun
15 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside Op Red Wedding – Israel's fierce wave of assassinations killing 30 Iran generals in first MINUTES of 12-day war
ISRAEL has revealed details of its devastating wave of assassinations in Operation Red Wedding, killing 30 Iranian generals within the first few minutes of the conflict. On June 13, the IDF 9 Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on June 13 Credit: AP 9 People look over damage to buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes on the first day of the conflict 9 Mossad commandos direct strikes inside Iran 9 The 'Red Wedding' scene in Game of Thrones that Israel named its operation after 9 The 12-day conflict began when Israel launched Within its first few minutes, Operation Red Wedding saw some 30 This proved to be effective as, with three of its most senior generals dead, The staggering operation was given the code-name Red Wedding from popular TV show Game of Thrones, due to the unbelievable way it was carried out, local media reports. read more news The scene the operation appeared to be named after to shows a political wedding reception where the groom and his entire family are betrayed and killed by the family of the bride. Most significant among the 30 deaths was the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' air force, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. He was killed alongside fellow officials of the IRGC Aerospace Force - the unit responsible for Iran's ballistic missiles and drones. They had been meeting underground with the intention of preparing Iran's retaliation. Most read in The US Sun Israel had launched a deception campaign purely to deceive Iran and cause the IRGC air force officials to congregate in the early hours. Meanwhile Operation Narnia was unfolding, where nine senior Iranian nuclear scientists who were working on a bomb, according to Israel, were also killed. Iran's Ayatollah breaks silence after WEEKS cowering in bunker during Israel's blitz and 'obliterating' Trump strikes The deadly strikes all hit within minutes of each other. Hours that followed saw 200 Israeli fighter jets strike numerous Iranian nuclear sites, with air defences also destroyed and ballistic missile launches decimated - thwarting any imminent Iranian response. The IDF said it used 330 munitions on 100 targets, including uranium enrichment plants and key command centres. By the end of the 12 day conflict, it said it had "fully met, and even exceeded, all the objectives and goals" that were set out prior to the operation. It was determined by IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir that June would be the time for the complex operation - and that any delay could mean Israel wouldn't be able to stop Iranian threat later down the line. Operation Rising Lion was therefore launched as a preemptive campaign with the intention of eliminating "the existential threat to Israel" - Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Mossad had reportedly spent years plotting the operation, and even built a drone base instead Iran and smuggled precision weapons systems and commandos over. Bombshell footage appeared to show It captured troops on the ground as they helped direct drone strikes against Iran's missile defences. 9 President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Credit: AP 9 Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran, Iran Credit: Reuters 9 Destroyed storage building and tunnel entrances at Kermanshah missile facilities, western Iran Credit: AFP 9 A closer satellite view shows holes and craters on a ridge at Fordow underground complex Credit: Reuters The To do so, President Donald Trump used some of the US military 's most advanced weapons. Twelve target . Then within 24 hours starting Monday, Iran launched a "very weak" response on a US air base in Qatar before a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel was brokered by the US. Calls are now ringing louder for the Ayatollah's regime to be taken down - and for a new democractic republic to take shape. Trump hinted at regime change in a post of Truth Social as he demanded "Make Iran Great Again" - but the White House said it was not one of the authority's official goals. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, claimed victory over Israel and America despite his country being hammered in the "12 Day War". Khamenei is hiding away in a bunker deep below ground despite the ceasefire as he fears being assassinated by secret agents, the The supreme leader was seen in a video sitting in front of the same brown curtain - presumably still cowardly hiding in his bunker - as he had last week. On Israel, he ludicrously claimed Iran had almost crushed the country and the government in Tel Aviv was on the verge of collapse. That's despite the IDF controlling the skies over Tehran, assassinating dozens of top generals and nuclear scientists, and destroying dozens of valuable missile batteries in just 12 days of fighting. On America, Khamenei claimed to have given the country a "severe slap" to its face and that it had "gained nothing" from the attack on Iran's nuke plants . The Ayatollah said: 'The American regime entered a direct war because it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. "However, it gained no achievements from this war. 'Here, too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious, and in return, the Islamic Republic delivered a severe slap to America's face.' Khamenei also bizarrely claimed his rockets had hit the American's Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar , despite his forces giving advanced warning so the rockets could be all shot down. The supreme leader was last seen a week ago in a video message, but it's two weeks since he appeared to his people in the flesh. Israel-Iran ceasefire could be a diplomatic triumph for Trump By Professor Michael Clarke DONALD Trump's style is diplomacy on steroids. There's a concept known as Trump Time, which is three times faster than everybody else wants to move at. Generally, that creates disasters, but given the law of averages, that sort of disruption sometimes works out. He took a massive military risk at the weekend to If US action has not effectively , it has certainly set it back a long way. When the Iranians responded with an Would he ignore it or authorise more American airstrikes against When he But Ceasefires usually take some time to negotiate so everybody knows what's supposed to happen and when it's supposed to happen. A monitoring mechanism is needed to make sure it doesn't fall apart by accident.
Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Talks on nuclear programme complicated by US strikes, Iran says
The possibility of new negotiations with the US on Iran's nuclear programme has been 'complicated' by the American attack on three of the sites, a top diplomat has said. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told state television that the attacks had caused 'serious damage'. The US was one of the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to limits on its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for sanctions relief and other benefits. The deal unravelled after President Donald Trump pulled the US out unilaterally during his first term. Mr Trump has suggested he is interested in new talks with Iran and said the two sides would meet next week. No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations. No time has been set, no promise has been made and we haven't even talked about restarting the talks Mr Araghchi left open the possibility that his country would again enter talks on its nuclear programme, but suggested it would not be any time soon. 'No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations,' he said. 'No time has been set, no promise has been made and we haven't even talked about restarting the talks.' The American decision to intervene militarily 'made it more complicated and more difficult' for talks, Mr Araghchi said. Israel attacked Iran on June 13, targeting its nuclear sites, defence systems, high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists. In 12 days of strikes, Israel said it killed some 30 Iranian commanders and hit 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. The US stepped in on Sunday to hit Iran's three most important sites with a wave of cruise missiles and bunker-buster bombs dropped by B-2 bombers, designed to penetrate deep into the ground to damage the heavily-fortified targets. Iran, in retaliation, fired missiles at a US base in Qatar on Monday but caused no known casualties. Mr Trump said the American attacks 'completely and fully obliterated' Iran's nuclear programme, though Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday accused the US president of exaggerating the damage, saying the strikes did not 'achieve anything significant'. There has been speculation that Iran moved much of its highly-enriched uranium before the strikes, something it told UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it planned to do. Even if that turns out to be true, IAEA director Rafael Grossi told Radio France International that the damage done to the Fordo site, which was built into a mountain, 'is very, very, very considerable'. Among other things, he said, centrifuges are 'quite precise machines' and it's 'not possible' that the concussion from multiple 30,000-pound bombs would not have caused 'important physical damage'. 'These centrifuges are no longer operational,' he said. Mr Araghchi himself acknowledged that 'the level of damage is high, and it's serious damage'. He added that Iran had not yet decided upon whether to allow IAEA inspectors in to assess the damage, but that they would be kept out 'for the time being'.
