Suicide bombing in Damascus church kills at least 20
Protesters hold crosses and shout slogans during a demonstration in the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, in 2024. File photo by Hasan Belal/EPA-EFE
June 22 (UPI) -- At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide bombing inside a church in Syria, according to the country's Ministry of Health and security officials.
People were praying during mass inside the Mar Elias Church in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus when the attack occurred.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior offered condolences and said an investigation is underway surrounding the circumstances of the attack.
"These terrorist acts will not halt the Syrian state's efforts to achieve civil peace, not will they deter Syrians from their choice to unite in the face of all those who work to tamper with their stability and security," a statement on social media from the ministry said.
The death toll was likely not a final count, the ministry said.
"The death toll reported was a preliminary one," a ministry statement said. "Rescue teams from the Syria Civil Defense continue to recover bodies from the scene," a statement on Telegram Sunday said.
The Syrian Health Ministry said at least 50 other people were injured in the attack, some of whom were children, according to witnesses.
"This cowardly attack goes against the civic values that brings us together," Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mostafa said in a social media post.
"We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state's pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from al attacks threatening its safety," he continued, and called the suicide bombing a "terrorist attack."
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pederson, also denounced the attack.
"He expresses his outrage at this heinous crime," a statement attributed to Pederson said. "He takes note that the Syrian interim authorities have attributed this attack to ISIL and calls for a full investigation and action by the authorities."
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UPI
4 hours ago
- UPI
Suicide bombing in Damascus church kills at least 20
Protesters hold crosses and shout slogans during a demonstration in the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, in 2024. File photo by Hasan Belal/EPA-EFE June 22 (UPI) -- At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide bombing inside a church in Syria, according to the country's Ministry of Health and security officials. People were praying during mass inside the Mar Elias Church in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus when the attack occurred. The Syrian Ministry of Interior offered condolences and said an investigation is underway surrounding the circumstances of the attack. "These terrorist acts will not halt the Syrian state's efforts to achieve civil peace, not will they deter Syrians from their choice to unite in the face of all those who work to tamper with their stability and security," a statement on social media from the ministry said. The death toll was likely not a final count, the ministry said. "The death toll reported was a preliminary one," a ministry statement said. "Rescue teams from the Syria Civil Defense continue to recover bodies from the scene," a statement on Telegram Sunday said. The Syrian Health Ministry said at least 50 other people were injured in the attack, some of whom were children, according to witnesses. "This cowardly attack goes against the civic values that brings us together," Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mostafa said in a social media post. "We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state's pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from al attacks threatening its safety," he continued, and called the suicide bombing a "terrorist attack." The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pederson, also denounced the attack. "He expresses his outrage at this heinous crime," a statement attributed to Pederson said. "He takes note that the Syrian interim authorities have attributed this attack to ISIL and calls for a full investigation and action by the authorities."
UPI
4 hours ago
- UPI
Iran, Israel exchange airstrikes as US officials divided over bombing
1 of 3 | Israeli security stands in front of a residential building hit by an Iranian ballistic missile in Tel Aviv early Sunday morning, June 22, 2025. Iran launched two waves of missiles at Israel following the American bombing of its nuclear sites. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo June 22 (UPI) -- Iran and Israel exchanged targeted airstrikes Sunday after President Donald Trump ordered the bombing of nuclear sites in Iran, leaving his administration and lawmakers divided over U.S. involvement. "We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program," Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday. It marked the first major official rhetoric that the United States is indeed "at war." Vance declined to confirm that Iran's nuclear sites were completely destroyed, saying that the U.S. has "substantially delayed" Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. His comments come after Russia said Sunday that other countries could provide Iran with nuclear weapons. The strike by the Trump administration has divided his supporters. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, criticized what she called "neocon warmongers" in a post on social media Sunday afternoon. "America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American," the lawmaker wrote in her post. "American troops have been killed and forever torn apart physically and mentally for regime change, foreign wars, and for military-industrial base profits. I'm sick of it. I can easily say I support nuclear-armed Israel's right to defend themselves and also say at the same time I don't want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel's wars." Rep. Thomas Massie, another Republican, went as far to call the strike on Iran "not Constitutional" in his own post. He later criticized fellow Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson for stating that Trump "made the right call" with the airstrike. "Why didn't you call us back from vacation to vote on military action if there was a serious threat to our country?" Massie said in his remarks to Johnson. He reiterated that point Sunday in an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation." Massie was joined on "Face the Nation" by fellow lawmaker Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, with whom he worked last week to introduce a war powers resolution to prohibit U.S. forces from striking Iran without authorization from Congress. Khanna said in the interview that Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed a desire for Iran to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes but the lawmaker noted that Iran had already been under a nuclear deal that the United States withdrew from. According to Khanna, under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which was negotiated by Iran, the United States and the European Union in 2015, the International Atomic Energy Agency did not find a single violation. "In the first Iraq war, the second Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan, Congress first got the briefings. Congress met and debated. It should have been declarations of war, but at least they did an authorization of use of military force," Massie added. "We haven't had that." The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement Sunday that the Israeli Air Force used 30 fighter jets to attack dozens of military targets across Iran. "As part of the wave of attacks, fighter jets first attacked the 'Imam Hussein' strategic missile headquarters in the Yazd region, where long-range Khoramshahr missiles were stored," the IDF said. "From this headquarters, approximately 60 missiles were launched towards the State of Israel." The IDF added that it also hit missile launchers and military sites for the production of air defense batteries, and a drone warehouse in Isfahan, Bushehr and Ahvaz. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Israel on Sunday as Israeli Police acknowledged impacts from Iranian missiles on Sunday, including a strike in Tel Aviv that left at least six people with minor injuries, while videos shared on social media purportedly showed damage in Haifa. Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported Sunday that the Houthis -- formally known as Ansarullah -- expressed support for Iran after the U.S. strikes and would "stand by any Arab or Islamic country against U.S. aggression."
Boston Globe
6 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Iran could have chosen the road away from nuclear weapons. It declined.
Advertisement Iran's own words, and its actions around the world, demonstrated its lack of good faith. Under the Obama administration's 2015 deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran capped its enrichment. But that agreement didn't fully block its path to a nuclear weapon, or even stop Iran from building ballistic missiles, which it has done aggressively. Those missiles menace the region and are being used against Israel now. In the meantime, Iran went unpunished for beefing up its terroristic proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up When the Biden administration wanted to appease its way back into a deal after Trump pulled out of the JCPOA, it was willing to stop at nothing to get an agreement. It floated dropping the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp's designation as a foreign terrorist organization, lifting painful sanctions, and re-entering a deal that would allow Iran to Advertisement The effects of trying to appease a terroristic regime were predictable: Tehran turned up its nose at the West. It started sending drones to Russia and ramping up its uranium enrichment. Its proxies wreaked havoc on global trade in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz and executed the largest terrorist attack in Israel's history on Oct. 7, 2023. Though I grew up with negotiations, I also grew up experiencing Iran's malicious agenda firsthand. Lebanon, where my ancestors are from, continued to be dragged into conflicts and economic instability thanks to Hezbollah's terrorism and constant conflict with Israel. And it's not just Lebanon — my Iraqi friends, my Syrian friends, my Persian friends can attest to the fact that the region lives in a state of constant fear and chaos, funded reliably by the mullahs in Tehran. Now it isn't just Biden negotiators and Israel-hating progressives that are cutting Iran slack. Some prominent Republicans — including Tucker Carlson and have trumpeted isolationism, suggesting that holding Iran accountable for its nuclear ambitions is warmongering. But are they seeing what I have for two decades? Because if they did, they'd know that a country like Iran is not to be trusted with nuclear capabilities — or even a path to them. And certainly not when their favorite refrain is 'Death to America.' Advertisement Trump understands the threat. And for a president known to change his mind on everything from abortion to TikTok, he's remarkably consistent on Iran: It cannot have a nuclear weapon, and it cannot have a deal that will eventually allow it to pursue one. So Trump pulled out of the JCPOA during his first administration, slapping crippling sanctions on Iran with a With his return to the White House came the resurrection of maximum pressure. But also the possibility of a deal: Give up your enrichment for prosperity and inclusion with the international community. The deal even Despite a looming threat of an Israeli strike in the background, Iran did not take the deal. Israel struck them on day 61 of the 60 days Trump gave the Iranians to reach an agreement. Still, the Trump administration has repeatedly offered a diplomatic offramp — including So far, Tehran has declined to take it, and now it is paying the price that Trump repeatedly promised: US B-2 bombers on Saturday dropped huge bunker-busting bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities, including its deeply buried plant at Fordo. Advertisement 'President Trump gave Iran a choice, and the Ayatollah chose poorly,' Michael Baumgartner, a Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told me. The consequences of the attack will unfold for days to come and the actual damage to Iran's nuclear infrastructure is not yet clear. As those assessments trickle out, Trump's opponents, and even some of his allies, are going to call the strike warmongering. But holding your red lines against a regime that wishes your destruction isn't necessarily warmongering. It can be the opposite. Carine Hajjar is a Globe Opinion writer. She can be reached at
