Blast rocks church in Syria's Damascus, witnesses say

June 22 (Reuters) - A blast rocked the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, according to witnesses.
One told Reuters a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the church. A spokesperson for Damascus security forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Sun

2 hours ago

• The Sun

I visited Iran to see what it's REALLY like – I ended up in hiding in terror and fleeing for my life

EMERGING from a carpet shop in Iran's beautiful and ancient city of Esfahan, I was engulfed by a group of jostling young men. Like a desert mirage, as quickly as they had arrived they were gone. 8 8 8 Patting myself down, a zip on my trouser pocket was undone. My passport was gone. And this so-called Axis of Evil nation had no British Embassy to get a replacement. Hands trembling uncontrollably, my adrenalin-induced sweat of fear smelt like cat's urine. There can be few more hazardous places on Earth for a journalist without papers — and an entry stamp — than the Islamic Republic of Iran. Years later Barry Rosen — — told me how his interrogation played out. With a rifle pressed to his temple, Barry was told he had ten seconds to admit he was a spy. As the grim countdown began, the New Yorker wrestled with the dilemma of either being perceived as a traitor to his country or leaving his kids fatherless. 'On the count of five I relented,' Barry told me. 'I signed the false confession, distraught and ­completely ashamed.' Barry would eventually return to his loved ones in the US after 444 days in captivity. Britons are high-value hostages for the regime. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in Iran for six years on trumped-up charges of plotting to topple the Iranian government. She was finally released when Britain paid a £400million outstanding debt to Iran. I would eventually get out — more on how later — after staying with an extraordinarily kind Iranian man who put me up in his apartment and tempered my nerves with some rocket-fuel home brew. Today — with Iran's tyrannical regime in Israeli and US crosshairs — I cast my mind back to the welcoming people I met while travelling this ancient land. These folk loathe rule by the hardline ayatollahs and long for a time less than 50 years ago when women wore miniskirts in capital Tehran, the hair bouncing on their shoulders. I had arrived in Iran — successor state of the Persian Empire — in 2012 with the idea of travelling from Tehran to Persepolis, a millennia-old desert ruin once the centrepiece of its civilisation. On the way I'd talk to ordinary people to try and understand what made this land tick. Did they really think Britain was the cursed Little Satan? 'GREAT SATAN' On landing in Tehran — a high-rise city of 9.8million shrouded by mountains — fleets of white taxis honked their way through the city's awful traffic. In the pollution-choked centre, I was struck by the number of women walking around with white plasters on their noses. Tehran has been called the nose job capital of the world. Women here also face a daily battle over what they can wear in public, with checks made by the dreaded Basij militia network. Yet many were wearing their head scarves pulled back to reveal dyed blonde hair, while their overcoats were colourful and figure-hugging. Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, when the Shah — or king — Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was toppled and replaced by hardline cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Islamic dress has been strictly enforced. Alcohol was banned, protests stifled and unmarried couples prevented from meeting in public. Today, the internet is censored and the regime attempts to scramble satellite TV signals. Near the Taleghani Metro station is the old American embassy — known here as 'the nest of spies' — its walls daubed with murals and slogans decrying the so-called Great Satan. Months after the revolution, students stormed the embassy compound and took 66 Americans hostage. 8 8 A disastrous and aborted US rescue mission the following year — when eight servicemen were killed in a helicopter crash — badly damaged US president Jimmy Carter 's reputation. The lingering stigma of that failure was perhaps a factor in why Donald Trump took his time before deciding to unleash American firepower on Iran. In Palestine Square — in the heart of Tehran — beats a Doomsday Clock predicting Israel' s end by the year 2040. The regime put it there in 2017. It helps explain why Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear sites, senior nuclear scientists and top brass last week. Nearby, I visited the British embassy compound, its gateway overlooked by lion and unicorn statues. Around six months before my visit, diplomats had fled as a frenzied mob of Iran- ian 'students' storm- ed the building and ransacked offices. It would remain shuttered for nearly four years. The rioters — who were chanting 'Death To England' — were in fact state-sponsored Basij thugs. It is the same sinister paramilitary force that is responsible for the policing of morals in this hardline Shi'ite Muslim state, including the wearing of the hijab or headscarf. Yet these repressive goons are far from representative of the beating heart of this oil-rich nation. A short stroll away in the teeming Grand Bazaar, women shoppers, in the all- covering black cloak-like chador, were out looking for bargains. But surprisingly, Union Jack-patterned knickers and bra combos were on sale on at least three stalls. American stars and stripes underwear was also available in several shops. One black-clad shopper in her thirties told me: 'The underwear is very popular. 'We have nothing against your country.' The message that the lingerie worn under the chadors sent out was clear: Knickers to the hardliners. Indeed, as a metaphor for things being very different under the surface in Iran, it couldn't be bettered. Another stall sold Manchester United bath towels in a nation where the Premier League is avidly followed. 'We don't hate Britain,' a 26-year-old Red Devils-mad taxi driver told me. 'Far from it. 'We admire your freedom.' After a few days in Tehran I took a shared taxi on the five-hour, 280-mile journey to Iran's third largest city Esfahan. It's home to an exquisite square overlooked by the imposing aquamarine dome of Shah Mosque, regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian architecture. The city's outskirts are also home to one of the largest uranium enrichment facilities in the country. 'EVERYBODY BREWS THEIR OWN NOW' Terrified that Iran was close to producing a nuclear weapon to make good on its doomsday prophecy, the site was pummeled by more than two dozen US Tomahawk cruise missiles on Sunday morning. I had checked into a largely empty hotel in the city centre which had no safe for valuables. That evening I went out shopping for a Persian rug. Warily passing some soldiers in the street, I was dismayed to see them beckon me over. Yet they simply wanted a selfie alongside a rare Western traveller. Emerging with my new carpet, I was heading for an electronics store bearing a fake Apple logo when I was surrounded by pickpockets. Now passportless, I was petrified about being stopped by police and asked to produce my documents. I then remembered meeting some Iranian migrants in Calais who had told me they used to work as smugglers, trekking over the mountains from Iran to Turkey with some contraband alcohol in backpacks. Finding an internet cafe to research the journey, a man started using the computer next to me to watch porn. The idea of attempting to walk alone over rugged mountains seemed more hazardous than another internet suggestion — go to another country's embassy and throw myself at their mercy. Travelling back to Tehran I attempted to check into a hotel but the receptionist insisted I needed to show my passport. When I explained my predicament, he told me: 'I'll phone the police and they'll sort this out.' 8 I told him I needed to collect my luggage then scarpered. Knowing no one in the country, a contact then put me in touch with someone who could put me up. The grey-haired father lived alone in a ramshackle flat and said I was welcome to the sofa. 'I was jailed for protesting against the Shah when he ruled,' he told me. 'Now I wish I hadn't bothered. 'This regime is far worse. 'We have far less freedom now.' Deciding the Dutch would be most amenable to a stricken Brit, I tried their embassy but it was closed for holidays. So I went to the Danes instead. They took my details and I was told to return the following day. Presented with a paper Danish temporary passport 24 hours later, I profusely thanked the embassy staff for making me an honorary viking. Taking a cab to the airport, I checked my bag on the flight then queued up at immigration dreaming of a glass of red on the plane. A bearded border guard disdainfully looked at my Danish passport, sniffing as he tossed it away: 'No good, no ministry stamp.' It was back to my new friend's sofa to watch subtitled TV, including shows with Jamie Oliver and James May. The former prisoner — raising a glass of home-distilled spirits — revealed: 'Twice every year the police go upon the roof and smash up all our satellite dishes. 'But we simply go out and buy some more. 8 'There's a saying here that the regime closed down thousands of brewers during the revolution but created a million more. 'Everybody brews their own now.' After two days queuing at the relevant Iranian ministry — and praying that they wouldn't google my identity — I finally got my stamp. My plane banked over the vast mausoleum built to house Khomeini's remains as it headed west. One after another, most of the women on the flight removed their head scarves, then their restrictive chadors. Settling with a glass of wine, I hoped one day to return to this fascinating land under better circumstances. Now, with the ayatollahs' regime perhaps at threat of being toppled, I may one day make it to Persepolis.

The Independent

3 hours ago

• The Independent

How the US bombarded Iranian nuclear sites without detection

It was an unprecedented attack years in the making, with some last-minute misdirection meant to give the operation a powerful element of surprise. U.S. pilots dropped 30,000-pound bombs early Sunday on two key underground uranium enrichment plants in Iran, delivering what American military leaders believe is a knockout blow to a nuclear program that Israel views as an existential threat and has been pummeling for more than a week. American sailors bolstered the surprise mission by firing dozens of cruise missiles from a submarine toward at least one other site. Dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, U.S. officials say the plan was characterized by a 'precision strike' that 'devastated the Iranian nuclear program,' even as they acknowledged an assessment was ongoing. For its part, Iran denied that any significant damage had been done, and the Islamic Republic pledged to retaliate. Taking off from the U.S. heartland, B-2 stealth bombers delivered a total of 420,000 pounds of explosives, aided by an armada of refueling tankers and fighter jets — some of which launched their own weapons. U.S. officials said Iran neither detected the inbound fusillade, nor mustered a shot at the stealthy American jets. The operation relied on a series of deceptive tactics and decoys to maintain the secrecy, U.S. officials said hours after the attack, which was preceded by nine days of Israeli attacks that debilitated Iran's military leadership and air defenses. A decoy plan Even before the planes took off, elements of misdirection were already in play. After setting parts of the plan in motion, Trump publicly announced Thursday that he'd make a decision within two weeks on whether to strike Iran — ostensibly to allow additional time for negotiations, but in actuality masking the impending attack. One group of B-2 stealth bombers traveled west from Missouri on Saturday as decoys, drawing the attention of amateur plane spotters, government officials and some media as they headed toward a U.S. air base in the Pacific. At the same time, seven other B-2s carrying two 'bunker buster' bombs apiece flew eastward, keeping communications to a minimum so as not to draw any attention. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at Sunday's briefing that it was all "part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise' and that only 'an extremely small number of planners and key leaders' knew about it in Washington and Florida, where U.S. Central Command is based. After 18 hours of furtive flying that required aerial refueling, the armed B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, arrived on time and without detection in the Eastern Mediterranean, from where they launched their attack runs. Before crossing into Iran, the B-2s were escorted by stealthy U.S. fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft. A graphic released by the Pentagon showed the flight route as passing over Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. It was unclear whether those countries were notified of the U.S. overflight in advance. Most U.S. lawmakers were also kept in the dark, with some Republicans saying they were provided a brief heads-up by the White House before the strike. 'Our B-2s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all,' Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Sunday. A multifaceted attack About an hour before the B-2s entered Iran, Caine said that a U.S. submarine in the region launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles against key targets, including a site in Isfahan where uranium is prepared for enrichment. As the U.S. bombers approached their targets, they watched out for Iranian fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles, but encountered none. At 6:40 p.m. in Washington and 2:10 a.m. in Tehran, the first B-2 bomber dropped its pair of GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators on the deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant. It was the first time these so-called 'bunker busters' had ever been used in combat. Each 30,000-pound bomb is designed to burrow into the ground before detonating a massive warhead. The Fordo site received the bulk of the bombardment, though a couple of the enormous bombs were also dropped on a uranium enrichment site at Natanz. The U.S. bombs fell for about half an hour, with cruise missiles fired from submarines being the last American weapons to hit their targets, which included a third nuclear site at Isfahan, Caine said. Both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites. A look at the numbers The mission included: — 75 precision-guided weapons: these included 14 GBU-57 'bunker buster' bombs deployed by the seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and more than two-dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U.S. submarine. — 125 aircraft, including the B-2 bombers, fighter jets and refueling planes. A female pilot Hegseth said Sunday that 'our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.' But a U.S. official said one woman was among those piloting the B-2 bombers. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the mission publicly. A bit of history Caine said the use of the bunker-buster bombs made the mission historic, as did other elements. 'This was the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, and the second longest B-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11," he told reporters Sunday. ___ Lolita C. Baldor in Narragansett, Rhode Island and Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri, contributed reporting. Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina.

The Guardian

4 hours ago

• The Guardian

Islamic State suicide bombing in Damascus church leaves many dead and dozens injured

A suicide bombing by Islamic State (IS) targeting a church in Damascus has killed 20 people and wounded 52, Syrian authorities have said. The attack on Sunday night was the first major IS operation and the first suicide bombing in Syria since former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December and replaced by an Islamist-led government. A man affiliated with IS entered the Greek Orthodox Saint Elias church in the old Christian quarter of Damascus during prayers, opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest while inside the church, Syria's interior ministry said. Eyewitnesses inside the church reported a second gunman who did not blow himself up, but also shot at the 150 or so worshippers present. Videos of the church's interior show splintered pews overturned by the force of the blast and the bloodied corpses of congregants splayed out across the church. Nearby residents reported hearing a large blast and then the sound of sirens as security forces attempted to establish a cordon around the area and civil defence personnel headed towards the church. The attack came after months of low-level IS activity and propaganda, as the group attempted to exploit the security vacuum created after the fall of Assad to reconstitute itself. Syrian officials have said the group was able to seize weaponry and ammunition left by fleeing Assad regime soldiers to bolster its caches. The Syrian government, led by former leaders of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have been carrying out anti-IS raids throughout the country since taking power. While still a rebel group, HTS had been fighting IS in areas under its control, viewing it as a source of instability and radicalisation for rival rebel groups. Since the fall of the Assad regime, IS has attempted to use the apparent moderation of the former Islamist rebels who now lead the country as a recruitment tool for disaffected Islamist fighters. IS social media channels and propaganda published pictures of the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meeting the US president, Donald Trump, in Riyadh in May, describing it as an apparent betrayal of his jihadist roots. Syrian authorities have stressed religious minorities will be protected under their rule. Security personnel usually are posted at each entrance of the city's Christian quarter, inspecting cars as they come in. The Syrian minister of information, Hamza al-Mustafa, said: 'This cowardly act contradicts the values of citizenship that unite us all. We, as Syrians, emphasise the importance of national unity and civil peace, and call for strengthening the bonds of fraternity between all components of society.' The Damascus municipality said security services were investigating the circumstances of the bombing. Though nominally in power of most of Syria, the country's new government has struggled to extend its control on the ground over the country. Syria is still full of militias, some of them more radical than others. The country's defence ministry is in the process of folding militias into a unified national army and disarming those who refuse to join its ranks. Since the territorial defeat of the so-called caliphate of IS in Syria, it has been mostly the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that have been leading the anti-IS fight. Cooperation between the SDF and the new Syrian government in fighting IS has been growing but is still in its infancy. The US, as well as the other members of the anti-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria, have cited the resurgence of IS in Syria as one of their key concerns for the country.