Hague NATO summit protest shifts focus to Iran

Demonstrators hold signs against a war in Iran, during a march against the upcoming NATO leaders' summit, at The Hague, Netherlands, June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
A demonstrator reacts, during a march against the upcoming NATO leaders' summit, at The Hague, Netherlands June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Demonstrator take part in a march against the upcoming NATO leaders' summit, near the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
People take part in a march against the upcoming NATO leaders' summit, at The Hague, Netherlands, June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Demonstrators hold 'ROOD Socialistische Jongeren' (RED socialist youth) flags during a march against the upcoming NATO leaders' summit, at The Hague, Netherlands, June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
THE HAGUE - An anti-NATO protest in The Hague on Sunday shifted its focus to Iran after overnight U.S. strikes hit key nuclear sites there.
The peaceful demonstration took place days before The Hague hosts a NATO summit.
The planned protest against NATO's military policies pivoted to condemnation of the U.S. attacks on Iran, with participants voicing concern about rising tensions in the Middle East.
Thousands marched toward the Peace Palace, home to the International Court of Justice, a Reuters witness said. Organizers estimated the crowd at 5,000, while police said they do not track attendance numbers.
Protesters carried banners calling for de-escalation, diplomacy, and for NATO to be disbanded, with some saying "No Iran War" and "Hands off Iran".
Iranian protester Nikita Shahbazi told Reuters it was "heartbreaking" to see what is going on in her home country.
"I feel devastated. (The U.S. attacks) can trigger a wider war. It has opened the paths for illegal attacks on nuclear installations everywhere in the world."
Protesters also opposed a proposed 5% defence spending target pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump and backed by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who hopes to secure consensus at the summit, beginning on Wednesday.
"There's no need for this provocation, this 5% of GDP spending on weapons, that will benefit the military-industrial complex. This has nothing to do with the needs of people," said British protester Pippa Bartolotti. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Straits Times

10 minutes ago

• Straits Times

Russian attacks on Kyiv kill seven and injure dozens, Ukraine says

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Rescuers evacuate residents from a building damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, June 23, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv/Handout via REUTERS An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Russian attacks on Kyiv kill seven and injure dozens, Ukraine says KYIV - Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district where an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Russia has not commented on the latest attacks. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's 10 districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident who only gave her first name, Liudmyla. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." UK VISIT Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would discuss the country's defence and additional pressure on Russia to end such strikes during his visit to Britain. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

AsiaOne

18 minutes ago

• AsiaOne

Iran issues stark warning to Trump 'the gambler': We will end this war, World News

ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM — Iran said on Monday (June 23) that the US attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called US President Donald Trump a "gambler" for joining Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, said the US should expect heavy consequences for its actions. "Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it," Zolfaqari said in English at the end of a recorded video statement. Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced for Tehran's response to the US attack on its nuclear sites over the weekend, which Trump suggested could lead to the overthrow of the Iranian government. Commercial satellite imagery indicated Saturday's attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear plant far underground had severely damaged or destroyed the site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but its status remained unconfirmed, experts said. In his latest social media comments on the US strikes, Trump said: "Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran." "The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government "must now make peace" or future attacks would be "far greater and a lot easier", fuelling global concern about further escalation of conflict in the Middle East. The US launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim. Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, launched a volley of missiles towards Israel in the aftermath of the US attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv. But it has not acted on its main options for retaliation, to attack US bases or choke off the 20 per cent of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the US Navy's massive Fifth Fleet based in nearby Bahrain. Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures were up US$1.11 (S$1.43) or 1.44 per cent to $78.12 a barrel as of 6.53am GMT (2.53pm SGT). US West Texas Intermediate crude advanced $1.08 or 1.45 per cent to $74.87. [[nid:719352]]

Straits Times

26 minutes ago

• Straits Times

Iran's parliament looking to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog: IRNA

A parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog is under consideration. PHOTO: REUTERS Follow our live coverage here. A parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog is under consideration, Mr Ruhollah Motefakerzadeh, a member of parliament's presidium said on J une 23 according to state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) . Iranian media also reported Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf saying: 'We in the parliament are seeking to pass a bill that would suspend Iran's cooperation with the IAEA until we have objective guarantees of the professional behaviour of this international organisation.' The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the UN's nuclear watchdog tasked with promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and preventing its use for military purposes. It reports to both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, and is headquartered at the UN Office in Vienna, Austria. Mr Qalibaf insisted that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons. 'The world clearly saw that the Atomic Energy Agency has not fulfilled any of its obligations and has become a political tool,' he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.