Iran voices ‘serious doubts' over Israel commitment to ceasefire
Iran demanded that the United Nations recognise Israel and the United States as being to blame for this month's war.
Iran on Sunday said it was not convinced Israel would abide by a ceasefire that ended their 12-day war this week.
The most serious escalation to date between the arch-foes erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its disputed nuclear programme.
Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied, insisting it has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes like energy.
The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, a staunch ally of Israel's.
'We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,' Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.
'We have serious doubts over the enemy's compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force if attacked again,' he added, six days into the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.
ALSO READ: Iran says no plan for new US nuclear talks, plays down impact of strikes
Deadly war
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres published on Sunday, Iran demanded that the United Nations recognise Israel and the United States as being to blame for this month's war.
'We officially request hereby that the Security Council recognise the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the letter.
The United States joined Israel in its campaign during the war, carrying out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran's atomic programme.
Trump has threatened further strikes should Iran enrich uranium to levels capable of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
ALSO READ: US joins Israel-Iran conflict with overnight bombing campaign
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent in 2021, well above the 3.67 percent limit set by a 2015 agreement from which the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018.
To make a weapon, Iran would need to enrich uranium up to 90 percent.
Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.
According to Iran's health ministry, at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the 12-day war with Israel.
Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
During the war, Iran arrested dozens of people it accused of spying for Israel, also saying it seized equipment including drones and weapons.
Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to ban the unauthorised use of communications equipment, including tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, according to the official news agency IRNA.
'Unacceptable'
An Israeli strike on Tehran's Evin prison during the war killed at least 71 people, Iran's judiciary said Sunday.
The strike on Monday destroyed part of the administrative building at Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals.
According to judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir, the victims at Evin included administrative staff, guards, prisoners and visiting relatives as well as people living nearby.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that detained French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, held at Evin for three years, were not believed to have been harmed by the Israeli strike, which he described as 'unacceptable'.
On Tuesday, a day after the strike, the judiciary said that the Iranian prison authority had transferred inmates out of Evin prison, without specifying their number or identifying them.
The inmates at Evin have included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi as well as several French nationals and other foreigners.
READ NEXT: Did the US strikes succeed, and how will Iran respond?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
36 minutes ago
- TimesLIVE
Trump to host Netanyahu at the White House on July 7, US official says
US President Donald Trump plans to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 7, a US official said, as the US president pressed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the return of the remaining hostages. Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is in Washington this week to meet officials at the White House, Trump's spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing on Monday. An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday. The two leaders are expected to discuss Iran, Gaza, Syria and other regional challenges, the official said. The visit was first reported by Axios. Israel ramped up its attacks on northern Gaza on Monday, a day after Trump urged an end to the 20-month-old war, posting on social media: 'Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back.' Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza on Monday in some of the heaviest attacks in weeks. Leavitt told reporters the Trump administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government, saying Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning the remaining hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a top priority. She said it was heartbreaking to see images coming from Gaza and Israel, but Trump's main priority was securing the release of the remaining hostages. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed in to Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the entire 2.3-million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
Israeli strikes pound Gaza, killing 60, ahead of US talks on ceasefire
Alongside talks on Gaza ceasefire prospects, Dermer also plans to discuss Netanyahu's possible visit to the White House in coming weeks, according to the source familiar with the matter. In Israel, Netanyahu's security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza. On Friday Israel's military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks. A Hamas official said progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel said it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas. He told reporters: "Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza." Austrian foreign minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, speaking in Jerusalem alongside her Israeli counterpart, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was 'unbearable'. 'The suffering of civilians is increasingly burdening Israel's relations with Europe. A ceasefire must be agreed on,' she said, calling for the unconditional release of hostages by Hamas and for Israel to allow the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel said it continues to allow aid into Gaza and accused Hamas of stealing it. The group denied the accusation and said Israel uses hunger as a weapon against the Gaza population. The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees ending the war. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the entire 2.3-million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80% of the territory is an Israeli militarised zone or under displacement orders, according to the UN.
TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
G7 urges talks to resume for deal on Iran nuclear programme
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations said on Monday they supported the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and urged for negotiations to resume for a deal to address Iran's nuclear programme, according to a joint statement. Since April, Iran and the US have held talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran's nuclear programme. Tehran said its programme is peaceful and Israel and its allies said they want to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon. "We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear programme," the G7 foreign ministers said. Last week US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between US ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Before the ceasefire was announced, Washington struck Iran's nuclear sites and Iran targeted a US base in Qatar in retaliation. The G7 foreign ministers said they urged "all parties to avoid actions that could further destabilise the region". US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said talks between Washington and Tehran were "promising" and Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal. The G7 top diplomats denounced threats against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday after a hardline Iranian newspaper said International Atomic Energy Agency boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent. On June 12, the UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board of governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, said it has "no credible indication" of an active, coordinated weapons programme in Iran.
