Iran voices 'serious doubts' over Israel commitment to ceasefire
TEHRAN: 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.
"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.
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.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had enriched uranium to 60 per cent in 2021, well above the 3.67 per cent 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 per cent. 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.
An Israeli strike on Tehran's Evin prison during the war killed at least 71 people, Iran's judiciary said on 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. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
9 hours ago
- Observer
Fresh truce in Gaza likely
DOHA: Gaza mediators are engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on momentum from this week's ceasefire with Iran and work towards a truce in the Palestinian territory, Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majed al Ansari said. Israel and Iran on Tuesday agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Qatar just hours after the Islamic republic launched a salvo of missiles towards Doha, targeting the American military base hosted there. The unprecedented attack on Qatari soil followed Washington's intervention into a days-long war between Israel and Iran which saw US warplanes strike Iranian nuclear facilities, prompting promises of retaliation from Tehran. In an interview with AFP on Friday, Al Ansari said Doha — with fellow Gaza mediators in Washington and Cairo — was now "trying to use the momentum that was created by the ceasefire between Iran and Israel to restart the talks on Gaza". "If we don't utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it's an opportunity lost amongst many in the near past. We don't want to see that again," the spokesman, who is also an adviser to Qatar's prime minister, said. US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza saying an agreement involving Israel and Hamas could come as early as next week. Mediators have been engaged in months of back-and-forth negotiations with the warring parties aimed at ending 20 months of war in Gaza, with Al Ansari explaining there were no current talks between the sides but that Qatar was "heavily involved in talking to every side separately". A two-month truce, which was agreed as Trump came into office in January, collapsed in March with Israel intensifying military operations in Gaza afterwards. "We have seen US pressure and what it can accomplish," Al Ansari said referring to the January truce which saw dozens of hostages held by Hamas released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The Qatari official said particularly in the context of US enforcement of the Israel-Iran truce, it was "not a far-fetched idea" that pressure from Washington would achieve a fresh truce in Gaza. "We are working with them very, very closely to make sure that the right pressure is applied from the international community as a whole, especially from the US, to see both parties at the negotiating table," Al Ansari said. As part of such an agreement, the remaining hostages from Israel in Gaza are expected to be released and many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are to be freed. — Agencies
Muscat Daily
10 hours ago
- Muscat Daily
FAO to establish permanent office in Oman
Muscat – Oman and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations have signed an agreement to establish a representative office in Muscat, marking a new phase in cooperation. The agreement was signed in Rome on Saturday by H E Dr Saud bin Hamoud al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and Dr Qu Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, in the presence of H H Sayyid Nizar bin al Julanda al Said, Ambassador of Oman to Italy, and senior officials from both sides. The move is expected to expand Oman's presence in international forums dealing with food, climate and water, while strengthening joint technical programmes in agriculture, fisheries and natural resource management. H E Habsi said the agreement reflects FAO's role in shaping agricultural, food security and rural development policies at both regional and global levels. He added that establishment of a permanent FAO office in Oman represents a major step in enhancing cooperation, particularly in implementation of national strategies and coordination across sectors under the ministry's oversight. Dr Thaer Yassin, Head of the FAO Mission in Oman, described the agreement as a strategic development that will deepen the organisation's engagement in the country. He said the presence of a permanent representative will enhance knowledge exchange and broaden technical cooperation both nationally and across the region. FAO has supported projects in Oman since 2012, particularly in the agriculture and fisheries sectors, with emphasis on sustainable development and climate resilience. The organisation's project portfolio in the sultanate grew 83% between 2022 and 2024, with contributions from government entities, academic institutions and the private sector. This growth, FAO official noted, reflects increased mutual confidence and a shared commitment to advancing sustainable food systems and rural development in line with environmental goals. A permanent FAO office positions Oman as a key partner in the organisation's efforts to reform agri-food systems in the Gulf region. It also aligns with both parties' priorities to promote food security, sustainability and innovation across the sector. According to FAO, the Muscat office will support progress towards several Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those linked to ending hunger, climate action and sustainable land use. It will also strengthen coordination with other UN agencies operating in the sultanate.
Observer
11 hours ago
- Observer
US Senate opens debate on Trump's controversial spending bill
WASHINGTON: US senators debated into the early hours of Sunday Donald Trump's "big beautiful" spending bill, a hugely divisive proposal that would deliver key parts of the US president's domestic agenda while making massive cuts to social welfare programmes. Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which would extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beef up border security. But Republicans eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to the country's debt. The Senate formally opened debate on the bill late on Saturday, after Republican holdouts delayed what should have been a procedural vote — drawing Trump's ire on social media. Senators narrowly passed the motion to begin debate, 51-49, hours after the vote was first called, with Vice-President JD Vance joining negotiations with holdouts from his own party. Ultimately, two Republican senators joined 47 Democrats in voting "nay" on opening debate. Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the United States' independence day. "Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the vote to begin debate. "Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our Country 'go down in flames' than do the right thing," he said in an earlier post. Democrats are bitterly opposed to the legislation and Trump's agenda, and have vowed to hold up the debate. They began by insisting that the entirety of the bill be read aloud to the chamber before the debate commences. The bill is roughly 1,000 pages long and will take an estimated 15 hours to read. "Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. "So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that's what it takes to read it." If passed in the Senate, the bill would go back to the House for approval, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes — and are facing stiff opposition from within their own ranks. On Saturday, former Trump advisor Elon Musk — with whom the president had a public falling out this month over his criticism of the bill — called the current proposal "utterly insane and destructive." "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future," said Musk, who is the world's richest person, and owns electric vehicle company Tesla and space flight firm SpaceX, among others. — AFP
