Iran | News

Israelis have returned to what has become something of a national pastime: predicting when a U.S. strike on Iran might come and parsing the factors that could influence its timing

Netanyahu (with on-off support from Trump) is now explicitly pushing for regime change in Iran, and his government has fixated on the controversial, though galvanizing, son of the last shah as their post-Islamic Republic contender. Just don't mention his father's brutality

Negotiations with China to buy the missile weapons systems accelerated sharply after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June. 'It's a complete game-changer,' a former Israeli intelligence officer said

Israel is carefully monitoring the gathering American forces in the Middle East, but officials remain unsure whether the U.S. will strike Iran. Meanwhile, Trump says he would 'rather have a deal than not,' as U.S. envoys are set to attend talks in Geneva on Thursday

Iran said on Monday that any attack by the United States, including limited strikes, would be an “act of aggression” that would precipitate a response, after US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran. “With respect to your first question concerning the limited strike, I think there is no limited strike,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist. “An act of aggression would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period. “And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that’s what we would do.” Trump said on Friday he was considering a limited strike if Tehran did not reach a deal with the US. “I guess I can say I am considering that,” he replied following a question from reporters. The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation, against the backdrop of a major US military build-up in the region. Fu...

Iran agreed a secret 500 million euro ($589 million) arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The agreement, signed in Moscow in December, commits Russia to deliver 500 man-portable “Verba” launch units and 2,500 “9M336” missiles over three years, the FT said, citing leaked Russian documents seen by the FT and several people familiar with the deal. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Under the deal, the deliveries are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 through 2029, the FT said. The deal was negotiated between Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Moscow representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), the FT claimed. Tehran formally requested the systems last July, according to a contract seen by the FT. In June last year, US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites as the country joined Israel’s military campaign against Iran. President Donald Trump said...

US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not “capitulated” in the face of Washington’s military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal. The United States and Iran this week resumed Oman-mediated talks in Geneva aimed at averting the possibility of military action, after Washington dispatched two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to the region to back its warnings. In a Fox News interview with Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara, Witkoff said the president was “curious” about Iran’s position after he had warned them of severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal. “I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated’, because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t… I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated’, but why they haven’t capitulated,” he said. “Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess we don’t wa...

Just as observers do not know what Trump will decide or when, in Iran too, working assumptions are mixed with speculation, with all scenarios considered. While a limited American strike might provoke a tit-for-tat response, it could also spark chaos across the Middle East

• Trump tells reporters 32,000 killed during last month’s nationwide protests; UN expert puts toll at 20,000 • Pezeshkian says Tehran will not bow to pressure as threat of war looms large TEHRAN: The Iranian government has demanded evidence after the US President Donald Trump told reporters that 32,000 people were killed during last month’s nationwide protests in the Islamic Republic, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the government released a list of 3,117 people, including about 200 security personnel, whom he described as “victims of recent terrorist operation”. “If anyone disputes accuracy of our data, please share any evidence,” the diplomat, who has previously stated that 690 people on the list were “terrorists” armed and funded by the US and Israel, wrote on X. His comments came as the threat of war looms increasingly large over the country and potentially the region, with Serbia on Saturday becoming the latest country to call on all its citizens to immediatel...

Israeli defense forces say the IDF is preparing for the possibility of a Hezbollah attack on northern Israel communities if Iran is struck. The IDF assessment is that, at least in the initial stage, the organization will seek to avoid a full-scale escalation

University students protested against the government on the first day of classes, as Iranian President Pezeshkian vowed not to concede to U.S. demands and officials anticipate another U.S. strike on Iran

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States. “World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads … but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV. The comments come after US Pre­si­dent Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at pressuring Tehran to reach a deal to curb its nuclear programme. The latest warning came after Iran’s foreign minister said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready within days, following negotiations bet­ween the two sides in Geneva earlier this week. Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, a deadline he later extended to 15 days. Asked by a reporter on Friday whether he was contemplating a l...

Two Israeli officials told Reuters they believe the gaps between Washington and Tehran are unbridgeable and that the chances of a near‑term military escalation are high. 'Both sides are sticking to their guns,' said Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat and Iran specialist

US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran after ordering a major naval buildup in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran to cut a deal to curb its nuclear programme. The latest threat came after Iran’s foreign minister said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days following negotiations between the two sides in Geneva earlier this week. Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, which he subsequently extended to 15. Asked by a reporter on Friday whether he was contemplating a limited military strike, Trump answered: “The most I can say — I am considering it.” After the talks in Geneva, Tehran said the two sides had agreed to submit drafts of a potential agreement, which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US media would be the “next step”. “I believe that in the next two, three days, that would be ready, and after final confirmation by my superi...

Iran heeft aan VN-secretaris-generaal António Guterres laten weten dat Teheran de bases, faciliteiten en bezittingen van de ‘vijandige macht’ in de regio als doelen zal beschouwen, mocht Iran te maken krijgen met militaire agressie. Dat staat in een brief van de permanente Iraanse VN-missie. Donderdagavond laat stortte een Iraans gevechtsvliegtuig neer bij een oefening. Een van de twee piloten kwam om het leven, de andere is ongedeerd, meldt de staatstelevisie. Volg alle ontwikkelingen over het Midden-Oosten in ons liveblog.

U.S. preparations for a broad military attack on Iran grow, and Israel is acting not like a secondary player, but rather an active partner in decision-making, thanks to Netanyahu's insistence on placing Israel at the forefront of a possible confrontation

The president added later that the United States is 'going to make a deal or get a deal one way or the other,' adding, '15 days. Pretty much maximum.' Later on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is considering a limited preliminary strike on Iran to pressure it into a deal

De koersborden op Wall Street kleurden donderdag lichtrood. Het sentiment werd vooral bepaald door zorgen over een gewapend conflict tussen de VS en Iran. 

Un cuplu britanic, Lindsay şi Craig Foreman, încarcerat în Iran din ianuarie 2025 a fost condamnat la zece ani de închisoare cu privire la spionaj, a anunţat joi familia sa, care denunţă un proces expeditiv, relatează AFP.

The U.S. is approaching the precipice of war without articulating even the vaguest vision for what follows and with few forces, domestic or international, able or willing to challenge Trump or his administration. Netanyahu, with his first gamble against Iran having paid off last June, is prepared to go all in