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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Iran's supreme leader the Ayatollah, 86, breaks cover with first appearance since Trump ordered Israel not to kill him
IRAN'S Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has broken cover for the first time since the 12-day war that saw the US and Israel strike Iran's nuclear sites. The 85-year-old appeared smiling on Saturday at a packed Tehran mosque - after reports he had spent days in a 'secure location'. 7 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since the start of the 12-day war Credit: Getty 7 The Iran State Radio and Television (IRIB) building hit by an Israeli strike on June 16 7 US President Donald Trump claimed he 'saved' Khamenei 'from a very ugly and ignominious death' by Israel Credit: Getty It was Khamenei's first live appearance since war broke out on June 13, when Israeli forces launched a sudden wave of airstrikes on Iran's nuclear sites. The US joined in days later, bombing three major sites on June 22 - including the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility. Top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists were reportedly Since the air war began, he has given only prerecorded speeches - sparking rumours about his safety. Read more world news But footage aired by Iranian state media on Saturday showed the leader smiling and waving to a crowd of chanting supporters at a mosque. Dozens of people were seen attending the event to mark Ashura - the holiest day of the Shia Muslim calendar. It comes 11 days after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Khamenei at the time appeared on state TV, boasting that Iran had dealt a 'slap to America's face' with a missile strike on a US airbase in Qatar. Most read in The US Sun He 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. Iran's Ayatollah breaks silence after WEEKS cowering in bunker during Israel's blitz and 'obliterating' Trump strikes 'Here, too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious, and in return, the Islamic Republic delivered a severe slap to America's face.' US President Donald Trump took to social media to mock the claim and bragged that he had personally blocked an attempt to kill Khamenei. In a Truth Social post, "And he does not have to say, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!' 7 Satellite image of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility in Iran showing damage from the US strikes Credit: Reuters 7 Israeli Iron Dome air defence system intercepts missiles over Tel Aviv 7 Khamenei said Iran had delivered a 'slap to America's face' in his address to the nation after the ceasefire Credit: Reuters 7 Trump hit back saying Khamenei 'got beat to hell' Credit: EPA "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." Israeli officials had openly hinted that Khamenei was 'not off the table' as a potential target during the air war. But at the start of the war Trump claimed that while Khamenei was an "easy target", the US was "not going to take him out… at least not for now". The US president also blasted the Iranian leader's claims that Iran won the war. He wrote: "Why would the so-called 'Supreme Leader,' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war-torn Country of Iran, say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie, it is not so. "As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie." It comes as Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi - one of Iran's most hardline clerics - What is a fatwa? By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter A fatwa is a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law issued by a Marja - a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric. It calls on Muslims, including the Islamic governments and individuals, to ensure its enforcement. In countries where Islamic law forms the basis of the legal system, a fatwa can be binding. A fatwa issued by Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1988 led to the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners - including some reportedly as young as 13 - during a two-month crackdown. The 1988 executions were revealed in the memoirs of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, one of Ayatollah Khomeini's closest advisors who went on to condemn the act. In his memoirs, he accused prisoners of "waging war against God" and urged Death Commissioners in charge of the mass killings to "show no mercy". Another well-known Fatwa was issued against novelist In 2022, a man allegedly sympathetic to the Iranian regime attempted to attack Rushdie during a public event in New York.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Suzanne Harrington: Ireland stays on the right side of history when it comes to Palestine
As a fan of both Bob Vylan and Kneecap, I seem to be making a habit of going to performances whose aftermaths generate steaming piles of manufactured outrage by institutions keen to prop up genocide. First that London gig which landed Mo Chara in court, now Bob Vylan at Glastonbury. ('Sir' Rod Stewart can, however, express heartfelt support for far-right racist Nigel Farage, with zero consequences. Almost as if far-right racism is fine now). Bob Vylan and Kneecap performed back to back at Glastonbury on a blazing Saturday afternoon amid a sea of Palestinian flags; earlier on the Pyramid stage, magnificent Irish pop queen CMAT led chants of Free Palestine. But all eyes were on Kneecap. While everyone from Keir Starmer to the Daily Mail had been pressuring Glastonbury's Eavis family to drop Kneecap from their line-up, and the BBC was clutching its pearls about broadcasting the West Belfast trio live on the West Holts stage, Bob Vylan stepped up. They seized the moment. 'Death, death to the IDF' may not be the subtlest of words, but neither is the Israel Defense Forces subtle in its genocidal deeds. A reported 372 Palestinian people were murdered by the IDF over the same few days we were soaking up the music on a peaceful Somerset farm. Bob Vylan — two unarmed vegans from Ipswich, Bobby and Bobbie — voiced what so many of us helpless bystanders wish to see: the disbanding of a death squad. To call their words antisemitic is like calling the condemnation of Islamic death squads Islamophobic — except the IDF are 'legitimate'. The BBC continues to call the genocide a 'conflict'. Hence the police investigation, revoked visas, and cancellation — of the two musicians, not the death machine. For their trouble, Bob Vylan have been dropped by their agent, dropped from headlining a forthcoming music event, and reported with zero accuracy by the Daily Mail on its front page in banner headlines as saying — with quotation marks — 'Death to Israelis'. This headline was extraordinary in its blatant untruth, and so easily checkable. Almost as though the truth doesn't matter anymore. Yet when an Israeli rap duo called Ness & Stilla released a track titled Harbu Darbu [translated as 'war strike'/ 'mayhem'], praising the IDF and calling for the mass murder of Palestinians, whom they termed 'rats', and for the death of anyone opposed to Palestinian genocide — specifically Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid — there was zero outrage. Just millions of YouTube views. In the UK, a Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, has been expelled from the party for speaking up against the genocide. A protest group, Palestine Action, has just been proscribed as 'terrorist'— a bit like Mo Chara — which means you could get up to 14 years in jail if you support them. A disabled man, dressed as Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator character, was dragged off his mobility scooter and bundled into a police van at a Palestine Action support protest this week. Mo Chara is back at Westminster Magistrates Court on August 20. Unlike in Ireland, the dominant UK narrative is that supporting Palestinians is supporting terrorism. Bob Vylan used their platform to non-violently criticise mass murder, and are being hung out to dry for their trouble. How can words be terrorist, while state terrorism gets off scot-free? Once again, bravo Ireland for being on the right side of history. A lone cry of sanity amid the crushing silence of collusion.
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Death toll rises as Israeli air strikes kill 38 Palestinians in Gaza
LATEST | The Israeli military said it had struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours ©Press Association At least 38 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes, hospital officials said, as Israel's military said it had struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day. The strikes came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
