17/06/2025

TUESDAY | JUNE 17, 2025

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US vetoes Israeli assassination plan WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior US official told AFP on Sunday. “We found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran’s supreme leader. Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to,“ said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dodged a question about reports that Trump had asked his country not to kill Khamenei. “I am not going to get into that,” he told Fox News. “But I can tell you, we will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,“ he said. The comments came as Israel and Iran exchanged another barrage of missiles on Sunday, with residents told to seek shelter as aerial defence systems reportedly activated in Tehran. The latest conflict marks the first time the countries have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the entire Middle East. It began on Friday when Israel launched an attack that killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, and struck military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across the country. As Israel struck targets across Iran again on Sunday, Netanyahu vowed to make the country pay a “heavy price” for killing Israeli civilians. He also strongly suggested to Fox News that Israel had killed Iran’s intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi, saying it had recently “got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran” as its jets carried out raids over the capital. – AFP POLICE ARREST OPERATIVES WITH EXPLOSIVES TEHRAN: Iranian police said they have arrested two Mossad operatives in separate operations that also led to the confiscation of large amounts of explosives, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Over 200kg of explosives and equipment for 23 drones, launchers and other equipment were confiscated, he said. A pickup truck was also impounded. Earlier on Sunday, two other Mossad operatives were arrested in Savojbolagh County, Alborz Province, which is adjacent to Tehran Province. Iran has been conducting punitive strikes deep inside Israel, hitting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, among other targets, with ballistic missiles and drones. Life has come to a halt in the occupied territories as Israelis have been spending entire days in underground bomb shelters. – Bernama-Irna TEHRAN CALLS FOR UNITED ISLAMIC RESPONSE TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has urged Islamic countries to take collective action against escalating violations of international law by Israel, underscoring Iran’s right to defend itself in the face of recent military aggression. In a conversation with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation secretary-general Hissein Brahim Taha on Sunday, Araqchi thanked him for condemning Israel’s aggression against Iran,. Addressing ambassadors, officials and heads of foreign missions in Tehran on Sunday, Araqchi emphasised that Iran does not want war to spread beyond its borders. He stressed that Iran’s missile strikes against Israel were acts of legitimate self-defence and would cease if Israel halted its aggression. “The Persian Gulf is a sensitive and complex region, and any military developments there could involve not only the entire region but also the world,” he cautioned. – Bernama-Irna

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defence systems to target each other. – REUTERSPIC

Iran targets Tel Aviv, Haifa

TEL AVIV: Iranian missiles struck Israel’s Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa in an early morning raid yesterday, destroying homes and fuelling concerns that the battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict. Israel’s national emergency service said three people were killed in the country’s centre while dozens more were wounded in the overnight strikes, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s preemptive strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes that began on Friday. Search and location operations were underway in the port city of Haifa where around 30 people were wounded, emergency authorities said, as dozens of first responders rushed to the strike zones. Fires were seen at a power plant near the port, media reported. Video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem. Several residential buildings in a densely populated o Three killed, dozens wounded in missile strikes THE HAGUE: Tens of thousands of people dressed in red marched through the streets of The Hague and Brussels on Sunday to demand more action from their governments against what they termed a “genocide” in Gaza. In France on Saturday, thousands of people joined similar protests as part of a weekend mobilisation around the world against the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory. Some 150,000 people participated in the march in the Hague, according to organisers. In Brussels, where protesters were also calling for action from the European Union (EU), turnout was estimated at 110,000 by organisers and 75,000 by police. Rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Oxfam, organised the demonstrations, which were aimed at creating a “red line” on the issue.

goals for the summit include for Iran to not develop nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel’s right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy. Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, US President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. “I hope there is going to be a deal. I think it is time for a deal,” he told reporters. “Sometimes they have to fight it out.” Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday. Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the United States has taken part, warning Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets. Two US officials said on Friday the US military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed towards Israel. Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb. The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack. – Reuters our government.“ Pensioner Dodo Van Der Sluis, 67, said: “It has to stop. Enough is enough. I cannot take it anymore.” Prime Minister Dick Schoof said: “To all those people in The Hague I say, ‘We see you and we hear you’. “In the end, our goal is the same: to end the suffering in Gaza as soon as possible.” In Paris on Sunday, a dozen protesters began a march to Brussels to demand EU sanctions on Israel. The group, which includes French actress Corinne Masiero, wants the European Union “to hear the voice of civil society reminding it of its duties”, said NGO Human Rights League head Nathalie Tehio. – AFP international aid group. “We demand action now from

With many waving Palestinian flags and some chanting “stop the genocide”, the demonstrators in the Dutch city turned a central park into a sea of red before a march towards the International Court of Justice. Protesters brandished banners reading “Do not look away, do something”, “Stop Dutch complicity” and “Be silent when kids sleep, not when they die”. Organisers urged the Dutch government, which collapsed on June 3 after a far-right party pulled out of a fragile coalition, to do more to rein in Israel for its military offensive on the Palestinian territory. “More than 150,000 people here dressed in red, and a clear majority of the Dutch population, just want concrete sanctions to stop the genocide in Gaza,“ said Oxfam Novib director Michiel Servaes, a Dutch branch of the The predawn missiles struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular market in Tel Aviv. A residential street in nearby Petach Tikva and a school in ultra-Orthodox Jewish city Bnei Brak were also hit. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defence systems to target each other. “The initiatives and capabilities used in this operation, despite the comprehensive support of the United States and Western powers, and the possession of the most up-to-date and newest defence technology, led to the successful and maximum hitting of the missiles on the targets in the occupied territories.” The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. Israeli officials have repeatedly said the defence system is not 100% and warned of tough days ahead. At least 10 people in Israel, including children, were killed in earlier strikes, authorities said. The death toll in Iran has reached at least 224, with 90% of casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson said.

BR I E F S

neighbourhood of Tel Aviv were destroyed in a strike that blew out the windows of hotels and other nearby homes just a few hundred meters from a US embassy premises in the city. Rally for Gaza in Netherlands and Belgium G7 leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday, with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his