Iran holds state funeral for military leaders killed in Israel conflict
A state funeral is taking place in Iran for around 60 people, including military commanders and nuclear scientists, killed during the 12-day conflict with Israel.Coffins draped in the Iranian flag, bearing portraits of deceased commanders were flanked by large crowds near Enghelab Square in central Tehran.The conflict ended with a ceasefire earlier this week, after the US became directly involved by bombing key nuclear sites in Iran.Among those being laid to rest is Mohammad Bagheri, the highest-ranking military officer in Iran who was chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.
Huge crowds of mourners dressed in black chanted slogans, waved Iranian flags and held portraits of those killed. Saturday's funeral will also include Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, as well as a number of nuclear scientists such as Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was head of Azad University in Tehran. It comes after US President Donald Trump said he would "absolutely" consider bombing Iran again.Responding to a question from the BBC's Nomia Iqbal at a White House press briefing on Friday, he said he would "without question" attack the country if intelligence concluded Iran could enrich uranium to concerning levels.Trump has also repeated his assertions that Iran was "decimated", writing: "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."Trump also claimed to have known "exactly where he [Khamenei] was sheltered", saying he "would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces... terminate his life"."I saved him from a very ugly and ignominious death, and he does not have to say, 'thank-you, president Trump!'" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned Trump against making "disrespectful" comments about Khamenei, who claimed US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites had achieved "nothing significant"."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," Araghchi posted on 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."Araghchi has admitted that "excessive and serious" damage was done to Iran's nuclear sites by the recent bombings.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Trump on a high after 'tremendous' wins at home and abroad
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Trump: I saved Khamenei from ‘ugly' death
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Netanyahu claims victory over Iran – but polling shows many Israelis don't trust him
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The safe return of the remaining hostages in Gaza seemed to be a secondary consideration. (The civilian consequences in Gaza itself didn't merit a mention.)Many Israelis, especially the hostage families, were accused Netanyahu of putting his own political survival ahead of their relatives' safety and the greater good of the nation."Bibi's" popularity in the polls plummeted and he struggled to keep together a disjointed government, propped up by hardline ministers from the far right and orthodox religious months on, Netanyahu is basking in the glory of a spectacular military victory over his nemesis, Iran. He is now said to be contemplating early elections and yet another term as prime a press conference earlier this week, the 75-year-old, who is already Israel's longest-serving leader, said he still had "many missions" to complete and would seek to do so for as long as "the people" of Israel want him in the week, and presenting the presumed destruction of Iran's nuclear programme as a "window of opportunity" that "must not be missed", Netanyahu suggested only he could secure the "freeing of hostages and defeat of Hamas" after which he would strike wider regional calling early elections would be a big risk and, according to the latest polls, Netanyahu hasn't enjoyed as big a "bounce" from the 12-day conflict with Iran as he might have hoped for. 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Corruption charges Next week, he is due to testify in a high-profile criminal case in which he's facing charges of political corruption, including bribery and prime minister's attempts to, again, delay the High Court hearings on account of his busy schedule and the special state of emergency (over the Iran war) were rejected at the end of last and his supporters have repeatedly tried to portray the legal case against him as part of a "politically driven witch hunt" but in an increasingly polarised society, his opponents are equally determined he should face to belatedly learn about "Bibi's" legal troubles, President Trump said Netanyahu was a "great hero" and "warrior" whose trial should be "cancelled immediately" or, at the very least, he should be given a remember, is the same US president who only days earlier had publicly castigated the Israeli prime minister – with expletives – as the Iran ceasefire deal threatened to unravel before it had Trump's latest intervention has been described as unwise and unhelpful by many in leader Yair Lapid said he should not "intervene in a legal process of an independent state".His apparently contradictory stance on Israel and attempted intervention in Netanyahu's legal case was akin to "treating us like a banana republic", says Prof the international stage, many Israelis accuse Netanyahu of having harmed Israel's global standing and its economic prospects by needlessly prolonging the war in Gaza, even though many former generals have said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has achieved as much as is militarily possible in should not be forgotten, either, that the International Criminal Court still has warrants issued against the prime minister - and former defence minister Yoav Gallant - over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 55,000 people have been killed in Israel's war against government, along with Netanyahu and Gallant, strongly reject the say most commentators, it would be difficult to imagine new elections being called in Israel while the war in Gaza continues and while Israeli hostages remain many of Netanyahu's critics and opponents have prematurely written him off over the years and have certainly learned never to second-guess what his next move might be.
