logo
Iran Has 'Serious Doubts' If Israel Will Honor Ceasefire Agreement

Iran Has 'Serious Doubts' If Israel Will Honor Ceasefire Agreement

Iran has voiced its concerns regarding Israel honoring the ceasefire agreement between the two Middle Eastern nations, warning that it is prepared to enlist force if the agreement is broken.
Chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi, has stated that he does not believe Israel will uphold the terms of the ceasefire.
"We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power, and as we have serious doubts over the enemy's compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force," he said.
Furthermore, Iran is refusing to concede its nuclear program. UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi stated that, despite U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, the Middle Eastern nation should be able to produce enriched uranium "in a matter of months."
Furthermore, Iran appealed to the UN Security Council on Sunday, calling upon the body to recognize Israel and the United States as the aggressors in the recent 12-day war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Israel and the U.S. should be identified "as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations."
He continued to state that allowing nations to commit acts of aggression with impunity "seriously undermines the credibility of the United Nations system" and "engenders lawlessness in the future of international relations in our region as well as the international community at large."
Originally published on Latin Times Israel United States Nuclear weapons United nations

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Iran Unleashes 'Wave Of Repression' After Israel War: Activists
Iran Unleashes 'Wave Of Repression' After Israel War: Activists

Int'l Business Times

time2 hours ago

  • Int'l Business Times

Iran Unleashes 'Wave Of Repression' After Israel War: Activists

Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed dozens in a wave of repression following the 12-day war with Israel, activists say, accusing the Islamic republic of using fear to compensate for weaknesses revealed by the conflict. Campaigners have been detained on the street or at home, executions expedited, prisoners transferred to unknown locations and minorities also targeted, according to rights groups. Six men have been hanged on charges of spying for Israel since the start of the conflict, dozens more on other charges and more than 1,000 arrested during or after the conflict on charges related to the war, according to Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based NGO. It said the majority of those detained were people whose mobile devices were searched and content such as footage of Israeli military actions was reportedly discovered. Leading campaigners arrested include the freedom of speech activist Hossein Ronaghi, while other figures such as rapper Toomaj and activist Arash Sadeghi were released after being roughly arrested and interrogated, according to reports. Roya Boroumand, executive director of the US-based NGO Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, said that with the crackdown Iranian authorities were attempting to suppress public discontent over the "humiliating blow" inflicted by Israel, which showed the Islamic republic was "unable to control its airspace and protect civilians". "Now, to maintain control and prevent its opponents inside the country from organising and mobilising forces, Iran's leaders are turning to fear. And they may only just be getting started," she told AFP. Boroumand recalled that the ceasefire that ended the 1980-1988 war with Iraq was followed by a wave of repression that included the execution of thousands of dissidents. "If unchecked, the violence that targets Iranians today will target others outside Iran's borders," she added. Iran's leaders have faced criticism from inside the country over their apparent failure to prevent the Israeli and US air attacks. There was no working siren or shelter system, with what protection there was dating back to the 1980s conflict with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Meanwhile, the killing in air strikes of top officials, military officers and nuclear scientists exposed Israel's deep intelligence penetration of Iran. That has prompted a major hunt for spies. Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said after the start of the war that the trial and punishment of anyone arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Israel "should be carried out and announced very quickly". Three Europeans, who have not been identified, have also been arrested, two of whom are accused of spying for Israel, according to the authorities. "Like a wounded animal, the Islamic republic is going after every perceived threat in the country with deadly force," said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). The Norway-based Hengaw rights group, which focuses on Kurdish-populated areas of western and northwestern Iran, said 300 people of Kurdish ethnicity had been arrested in the crackdown. "A widespread wave of repression and mass arrests has unfolded across the country," it said, adding that "Kurdish cities have borne a disproportionate share of these crackdowns" and that detainees have included a "significant number of women and teenage girls". Non-Muslim religious minorities have also faced pressure. Some 35 members of Iran's remaining Jewish community, estimated to be just 10,000-strong but recognised as an official minority by the Islamic republic, have been summoned for questioning in recent days, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Iranian security forces have also raided dozens of homes belonging to members of the Baha'i religious minority during and after the war with Israel, according to the IranWire news website. The Baha'i faith, which has a spiritual centre in the Israeli city of Haifa, is Iran's largest non-Muslim minority but has no official recognition.

Peace Deal With Rwanda Opens Way To 'New Era', Says DR Congo President
Peace Deal With Rwanda Opens Way To 'New Era', Says DR Congo President

Int'l Business Times

time2 hours ago

  • Int'l Business Times

Peace Deal With Rwanda Opens Way To 'New Era', Says DR Congo President

A peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda aimed at ending decades of conflict in eastern DRC paves the way for "a new era of stability", Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Monday. Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, the vast DRC's east has been plagued by deadly violence that has ravaged the region for three decades. Fighting intensified early this year when the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group seized territory including the key cities of Goma in late January and Bukavu several weeks later. The lightning offensive in the east on Rwanda's border left thousands dead and deepened a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of displaced people, according to the DRC government and UN. After a series of systematically broken truces and ceasefires in recent years and the failure of several attempts at negotiation between Kinshasa and Kigali, Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers inked a peace deal in Washington on Friday. A parallel, Doha-led mediation bid between the DRC government and the M23 is also ongoing. A representative from Qatar attended Friday's signature of the agreement, described as a significant milestone towards peace by the African Union and the United Nations. The text "opens the way to a new era of stability, cooperation and prosperity for our nation," Tshisekedi said in a speech broadcast Monday to mark the 65th anniversary of DRC's independence from Belgium. Tshisekedi is due to meet his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Washington in the coming weeks. The agreement outlines provisions for the "respect for territorial integrity and halting hosilities" in eastern DRC but are still to be implemented. It calls for "a lifting of defensive measures" by Rwanda, or the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers from the DRC. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to another armed group which it says threatens the country -- the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The agreement calls for the "neutralisation" of the FDLR by Kinshasa. It also includes economic measures but has few details. In April, the Congolese president discussed a mining agreement with Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany tapped by the president as a senior advisor on Africa. A "regional economic integration framework" aimed at greater transparency in the supply chains of critical minerals is also foreseen under the deal. Kinshasa will not "sell off any of the DRC's interests," the Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on the margins of an economic forum in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday. The DRC is the world's leading producer of cobalt and has deposits of gold and other valuable minerals including coltan, a metallic ore that is vital in making phones and laptops. "This deal is not just a document, it is a promise of peace for the people" affected by the conflict in the eastern DRC, Tshisekedi said. The text -- negotiated through Qatar since before Trump took office -- does not explicitly address territorial gains by the M23 anti-government group. The M23, like the pro-Kinshasa militias it is fighting, has never officially recognised previous ceasefires. The front in eastern DRC has stabilised since February. But conflict continues between M23 fighters and myriad local militias which carry out guerrilla tactics. Corneille Nangaa, coordinator of the political-military Congo River Alliance to which the M23 belongs, dismissed in a statement Monday the Washington agreement as "limited" and accused Kinshasa of "systematically" undermining the Doha mediation process.

ADB Acting On US Concerns Over China, Bank Chief Tells AFP
ADB Acting On US Concerns Over China, Bank Chief Tells AFP

Int'l Business Times

time3 hours ago

  • Int'l Business Times

ADB Acting On US Concerns Over China, Bank Chief Tells AFP

The Asian Development Bank was trying "very hard" to accommodate US concerns over lending to China, the bank's president told AFP, including by slashing loans to the world's second-largest economy. Global development institutions are in Spain this week for a UN summit on financial aid for the world's poorest overshadowed by Washington's gutting of poverty and climate change programs. The United States is a major donor to multilateral banks like the ABD, but Washington's future commitment to development lenders has been in doubt since the election of President Donald Trump. In April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged ADB President Masato Kanda "to take concrete steps" to end loans to rival China. Kanda said lending to Beijing was "radically decreasing" and had already halved from $2 billion in 2020 to $1 billion in 2024. "We are already on... a declining trajectory," the Japanese head of the Manila-based lender told AFP in an interview in Paris on Friday. "Probably -- I can't promise -- but probably this declining trajectory will be continued, and someday may be zero," he added, stressing that such a decision would ultimately be decided by the bank's shareholders and board of directors. Kanda said US demands that ADB curtail financing for China were hardly new and probably "one of the very few agendas across the aisle in the US Congress". "Even under the Biden administration, it was the same request," Kanda said, referring to the last administration under President Joe Biden. The United States and Japan are the largest shareholders of ADB, which helps bankroll projects in the Asia-Pacific region that lift living standards and promote economic growth. China, India and Australia are also significant members. Kanda said ADB's efforts to raise lending without asking more of taxpayers in donor countries "was very much appreciated by the United States and others". "I try very hard to accommodate the issues of the United States," he said. Kanda is among thousands this week attending the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, the biggest event in a decade on the crisis-hit aid sector. The United States in snubbing the UN-sponsored conference, underlining the erosion of global cooperation on combating hunger, disease and climate change. Trump's cuts have come under particular scrutiny but Germany, Britain and France have also slashed foreign aid while boosting spending in areas such as defence. With budgets in doubt, multilateral development banks have come under particular pressure to step up financing for projects that tackle global warming and prepare poorer countries for climate disaster. Last year, rich countries committed $300 billion annually by 2035 for climate finance in the developing world -- well short of the $1.3 trillion that experts say is needed. Last year, the ADB committed to channelling half its annual lending to climate-related projects by 2030 and Kanda said it was likely this would grow in time. The bank was navigating a level of global uncertainty not seen in many decades but it was critical to consider the most vulnerable on the rocky road ahead, he added. "This is not just a short-term phenomenon of one country, but it is rather universal," he said. "This is a really difficult situation. And as long as we don't improve the root cause of this situation -- for instance, a more fair society -- it will not be so easy."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store