The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat.
Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors.
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CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Israel hits Iranian nuclear research facility as war continues into second week
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel's military said Saturday it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks as the war between the two nations continued into a second week. Early Saturday, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, where a local official said Israel had attacked the nuclear research facility in two waves. The target was two centrifuge production sites, and the attacks came on top of strikes on other centrifuge production sites elsewhere in recent days, according to an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines to brief reporters. It was the second attack on Isfahan, which was hit in the first 24 hours of the war as part of Israel's goal to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. Akbar Salehi, Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, confirmed the Israeli strikes had caused damage to the facility but said there had been no human casualties. Iran launched a new wave of drones and missiles at Israel but there were no immediate reports of significant damage, and the Israeli official called it a 'small barrage' that was largely intercepted by Israel's defences. The official said part of the reason that Iran's overnight attack had been relatively small was that the military had been targeting its launchers, and estimates it has now taken out more than 50 per cent of them. 'We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,' he said. 'Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.' Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said Saturday an Iranian drone hit a two-story building in northern Israel, but there were no casualties. Talks in Switzerland fail to produce diplomatic breakthrough The ongoing fighting comes after talks in Geneva on Friday failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough. European officials expressed hope for future discussions, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasizing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking. 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,' he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Iran warns against U.S. becoming militarily involved U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing active U.S. military involvement in the conflict, which Araghchi said Saturday 'would be very unfortunate.' 'I think that it would be very, very dangerous for everyone,' he said in Istanbul, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue 'for as long as it takes' to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without U.S. help. Barring a commando raid or even a nuclear strike, Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. Israel continues targeted attacks on Iranian military commanders In Israel's opening attack, it killed three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. The targeted killings of senior commanders continued, with Israel's Defence minister saying Saturday that the military had killed a commander in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the 20-month long war in Gaza. Israel said Saeed Izadi was commander of the Palestine Corps for the Iranian Quds Force, an elite arm of the Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran, and that he was killed in an apartment in the city of Qom. Iranian officials did not immediately confirm the death, but the Qom governor's office did say there had been an attack on a four-story apartment building and local media reported two people had been killed. Israel also said it had killed the commander of the Quds Force's weapons transfer unit, who it said was responsible for providing weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. Behnam Shahriyari was killed in his car while traveling in western Iran, the military said. A commander of Iran's drone force was also killed overnight, the Israeli official who briefed reporters said. Iran threatens head of UN nuclear watchdog On Friday, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. 'I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: In case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment,' said Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 'This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be most serious.' Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60 per cent — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent — and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60 per cent. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program but has never acknowledged it. Leaders in Iran have blamed Grossi's statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program for prompting Israel's attack. On Saturday, a senior adviser for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei, Ali Larijani, said in a brief social media post without elaboration that Iran would make Grossi 'pay' once the war with Israel is over. Rising reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul and Farnoush Amiri in Dubai contributed to this report. David Rising And Sam Mednick, The Associated Press
CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
U.S. evacuates 79 staff and family from embassy in Israel as more Americans ask how to leave
WASHINGTON — The U.S. evacuated 79 staff and families from the U.S. Embassy in Israel on Friday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and growing numbers of private American citizens seek information on how to leave Israel and Iran. An internal U.S. State Department memo says the military flight, the second known to have occurred this week, left Tel Aviv for Sofia, Bulgaria, where some or all of the passengers were to get a connecting charter flight to Washington. The document, which was obtained by The Associated Press, also said that more than 6,400 U.S. citizens in Israel had filled out an online form on Friday alone asking for information about when and if the U.S. government would organize evacuation flights. An additional 3,265 people, some of whom may also have competed the form, called an emergency number seeking assistance. The document estimated that between 300 and 500 people per day could need evacuation assistance should the U.S. decide to offer flights or ships to get Americans out, as the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said is being considered. There are some 700,000 Americans in Israel, many of them dual nationals, according to estimates, although the exact number at any given time is unclear because U.S. citizens are not required to notify the embassy if they are there or when they might leave. Earlier Friday, before the memo was distributed, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that more than 25,000 Americans had reached out for information on leaving Israel, the West Bank and Iran. She told reporters that those people had sought 'information and support' and were 'seeking guidance' on departing. She would not give a breakdown of where the queries had come from and would not comment on embassy evacuations. In Iran, the document said that at least 84 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, or Green Card holders, had crossed into neighboring Azerbaijan by land since the conflict began and that an additional 774 had been granted permission to enter as of Friday. Nearly 200 American citizens and Green Card holders are awaiting permission to travel overland from Iran to neighboring Turkmenistan, it said. Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
Calgary Herald
18 minutes ago
- Calgary Herald
Opinion: Is a land swap a win-win solution to the Canada-U.S. crisis?
Article content Although I'm an American, I agree with Canadians that U.S. President Donald Trump's '51st state' pronouncements are idiotic and counterproductive. But, give the devil his due: Trump often spurs people to reconsider previous assumptions that, on examination, don't always make sense. Article content As the expression goes, he makes us think outside the box. Case in point: the Canada-U.S. border. Article content Article content Article content Forget the 51st state nonsense, but consider instead a strategic land swap between the two countries. If done properly, it would be a win-win solution for both countries. We know from history that national borders are often subject to change. Sometimes those changes are imposed by one country on another, but sometimes they're done voluntarily and in a mutually-beneficial way. Article content Article content In the early 19th century, the U.S. grew enormously in one fell swoop when Napoleon offered to sell president Thomas Jefferson all of France's Louisiana Territory (which extended from New Orleans to the Pacific Ocean), to finance his European wars. Many thought Jefferson insane to spend big money on 'useless' land (as many also did years later when the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia), but the deal was done and both countries were satisfied with it. Article content Article content For years now, there's been a progressive movement in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to secede from the U.S. and form an independent country called Cascadia, a movement that has gained steam during Trump's presidencies. The people behind the Cascadia plan have usually seen their future territory as encompassing what is now Washington, Oregon and Northern California, but a Trump-hating southern California may be delighted to jump on the bandwagon. Article content What would the U.S. get in return? Two things: the entire northern tier of Canada from the Yukon to Baffin Island, a mostly empty but mineral-rich area that meshes perfectly with Trump's Arctic ambitions; and also Alberta, which for years has felt ignored and even belittled by the politicians in Ottawa, the cultural elites in Toronto and by the incessant and unreasonable demands of the Quebecois.
