The latest on tensions between Iran and Israel

Atlantic Watch
Dalhousie University's Robert Huish discusses the latest on the conflict between Iran and Israel.

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CBC

2 hours ago

• CBC

This activist spent 4 gruelling days in Israeli custody, but says he'll try again to bring aid to Gaza

After four days in Israeli detention, Thiago Avila was relieved to be back in Brazil. He'd been taken into custody, along with 11 others, and spent two days in solitary confinement, after they'd tried to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza by sea. Their vessel, the Madleen, was intercepted leading to what he describes as a gruelling stay marked by inhumane treatment and a brief hunger strike. And yet, he told CBC News from Sao Paulo, he chose to be detained rather than sign documents admitting to what he considered a false accusation — that they had tried to enter Israel illegally. Some 20 hours after the vessel was intercepted, Avila, 37, says they were taken to shore and crammed into small police vehicles. He says they had not been given access to a bathroom and that one crew member urinated in the police car. "It was a very degrading [situation]," he said. Israeli police did not respond to a request for comment on Avila's time in jail. They were taken to an immigration facility, he says, where former officers of the Israel Defence Forces demanded he and the others — noted climate activist was Greta Thunberg among them — watch videos of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel, which sparked the latter's war in Gaza, and a humanitarian crisis therein. He says they refused — unless the officer they were speaking to would watch videos of what is taking place in Gaza. "I said 'If you don't watch the video of the genocide that you're committing, we don't want to watch the video that you are using to manufacture consent for your genocide,'" he said. The official refused, and the crew were not made to view the videos. He says he was asked, again, by an immigration agent, to sign documents that said he'd entered Israel illegally. He would have been deported and banned from the country for 100 years if he signed. He again refused. Avila says the boat was in international waters when it was intercepted. But the group agreed that some of them should sign so they could go out and tell the Madleen's story. "We didn't want to have no other voice telling the truth about what happened," he said. Four signed and were freed. The others were taken to Israel's Givon Prison and placed in separate cells. Avila says the conditions were terrible — little to no access to water, which was darkly coloured; bed bugs that he says led to Scabies; and psychological torment by sleep depravation. "They would come every hour or so just to make noise, make everyone get up [and] not be able to sleep," he said. Avila says he was singled out for solitary confinement because he was one of the organizers of the mission and because he'd gone on a hunger and thirst strike. He says officers told him that he'd be disciplined and offered him food on multiple occasions — bread, hummus and rice. Avila says he told them: "Since you're... denying food to more than two million people in Gaza, how can I accept your food and water?" For months now, aid has all but trickled into Gaza since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was broken in March. But the enclave has been blockaded for years, inspiring missions like the Madleen's bring aid to Gaza. Since 2008, only five boats have been able to make it the strip and sail back successfully. Avila says his solitary cell was was infested with rats and cockroaches. He says officers became more violent with him, pushing him around and threatening to take him to Gaza and put him in the notorious Sde Teiman jail. And yet, on June 12, Avila was released and put on a flight back to Brazil, to reunite with his wife and daughter. He says he's already signed up for the next mission to Gaza. Before leaving, he told an Israeli official that they would see each other again "very soon." "We continue to have new missions and will not stop until Palestine is free."

CBC

2 hours ago

• CBC

With no embassy in Tehran, Canada reacts to turmoil in Iran from afar

Social Sharing Neither Israel nor Iran is backing down from an escalating conflict that has endangered civilians in both countries, and because Canada has no embassy in Iran, Ottawa is having to work from afar to support thousands of Canadian citizens stuck there. While Canada has an embassy in Israel, it severed diplomatic relations with Tehran more than a decade ago. Though having an embassy presence would provide Canada with certain advantages, analysts and observers say there are limits in what can be done on the ground with so much chaos unfolding. WATCH | Urgent talks at a tense time: Talks and tensions: The CBC's Natasha Fatah talks with former U.S. ambassador Philip Reeker 12 hours ago Duration 8:40 European officials urged Iran to restrict its nuclear program hoping for off-ramp from conflict before President Trump decides whether to join Israel's bombing campaign. Get the latest on the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis That said, Bruce Mabley, a retired diplomat whose postings included stints in the Middle East, says having a diplomatic presence at least allows both countries to potentially talk to one another. "It's stupid not to be there," he said. A long way to the border Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from CBC News about how the lack of an embassy presence was impacting Ottawa's efforts to support Canadians inside Iran. But even if Canada did have an embassy in Tehran right now, that wouldn't change the fact that flights aren't leaving the capital. Both Iran and Israel had closed their airspaces while launching numerous attacks over the last week, though Iran recently allowed an Indian flight to leave from another part of the country, and several more were reportedly expected to follow. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has publicly urged Canadians fleeing both Israel and Iran to head to Jordan, Armenia and Turkey. But the journey to neighbouring nations of Turkey or Armenia is a long one for anyone living in the Iranian capital, which is hundreds of kilometres from either of those destinations. "The border is really far away," said University of Toronto history professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, who was born in Tehran and has family still in Iran. He says the roads out of the Iranian capital have been jammed with people trying to flee, making that route out more difficult. A tense journey One of his students, Hanieh Bakhtiari, recently travelled back to Iran to visit her parents, and the fighting started days after she arrived. Bakhtiari and her partner fled the country on a bus, in a tense, 11-hour journey to Turkey, during which she says she was "constantly watching" the skies for potential attacks. "We were … very much scared of being attacked while we were on the road," said Bakhtiari, who spoke to CBC's As It Happens about her journey out of Iran. Israel began a wave of attacks on June 13, targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites with airstrikes that have killed high-ranking Iranian generals and nuclear scientists. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran says that as of Thursday, at least 657 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, and of those, at least 263 were civilians. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes, which the Israeli military estimates have involved at least 450 missiles and 1,000 drones. At least two dozen people in Israel have been killed. The Israeli push against Iran may draw U.S. involvement, though U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed making a decision. WATCH | From 2013, a look at the top-secret closure of Canada's Embassy in Iran: Inside Canada's top-secret diplomatic exit from Iran 12 years ago Duration 4:26 One year later, CBC's Terry Milewski has exclusive new details The costs of cutting ties Opinions are split among observers on whether it would be better for Canada to have an embassy in Tehran. "Having an embassy in Tehran would not be a panacea," said Peter G. Bates, a retired Canadian diplomat who was twice posted to Tehran and helped close the Canadian embassy there in 2012. Phil Gurski, a former Iran intelligence analyst for Canadian spy agencies, finds himself "on both sides" of the debate. On one hand, he says there's a point where a line is crossed that cannot be tolerated, but when an embassy gets shut down and ties are cut, "you're essentially flying blind." Gurski says there are other ways for the government to monitor events in Iran — including reviewing information from satellites, the use of signals intelligence, or conferring with friendly embassies about what's unfolding on the ground. Gurski, Mabley and Bates all note that when an embassy is closed, a government will typically ask an ally with an embassy presence in that same region to provide support in its absence. However, any friendly embassy doing favours for Canada will expectedly prioritize the needs of its own citizens first. And as things escalate between Israel and Iran, any such ally may also be getting similar requests from other nations that don't have a diplomatic presence in Tehran. U of T's Tavakoli-Targhi sees a clear benefit that an embassy provides, beyond giving diplomatic staff better access to citizens abroad.

Toronto Star

2 hours ago

• Toronto Star

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.