Hezbollah formally buries Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut
World
Hezbollah formally buries Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut
February 23, 2025 | 12:25 PM GMT
Hezbollah formally buried its former leader, Hasan Nasrallah, on Feb. 23 during an elaborate funeral in Beirut, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Iran questions US ‘trust' in nuclear talks as negotiations remain stalled amid Islamic Republic's conflict with Israel
Iran is questioning its 'trust' in the US to engage in nuclear talks as Tehran has refused to restart negotiations until Israel halts its attacks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused the Trump administration of using nuclear negotiations as a cover for Israel's airstrikes on the country's nuclear program, claiming the attacks came just two days before a new round of talks between US and Iranian officials were set to start. 'So they had perhaps this plan in their mind, and they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up,' Araqchi said Friday in an interview with NBC News. Advertisement 4 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused the Trump administration of using nuclear negotiations as a cover for Israel's airstrikes on the country's nuclear program. NBC News 'We don't know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was, in fact, a betrayal of diplomacy.' He vowed that negotiations would cease as long as Israel's 'aggression continues,' flatly rejecting Trump's demands to scrap its uranium enrichment and balking at his 'two week' deadline to reach a deal. Advertisement 4 Satellite image of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant in Iran. © 2025 PLANET LABS PBC/AFP via Getty Images 'I told him several times zero enrichment is impossible,' Araqui said of his meetings with special envoy Steve Witkoff, who he accused of contributing to a 'lack of confidence' between the two nations. He later called Tehran's nuclear program a scientific 'achievement' and a source of 'pride and dignity,' insisting that even if it were bombed and destroyed, Iran would rebuild it using the knowledge and technology it has amassed over the years. But Araqchi said US officials could resolve the issue with a single phone call to Tel Aviv to halt the attacks. Advertisement 4 Iranian foreign minister expressing distrust of the U.S. following Israeli attacks. NBC News 'They can stop this process very quickly, and then we will consider diplomacy again,' he told reporter Andrea Mitchell during the sit-down. 'They have asked us to negotiate, but we negotiate only when it is negotiation and not dictation.' Israel began its attack on Iran last Friday by taking out its top nuclear scientists and military officials responsible for the country's nuclear enrichment program. Advertisement 4 President Trump gave Iran a two-week deadline to restart negotiations to reach a deal. Ron Sachs/CNP / President Trump earlier this week spent days behind closed doors vacillating between negotiating a deal with Iran to limit its uranium enrichment and potentially joining Israel in bombing Tehran's nuclear facilities. The president said Thursday he'd make a final decision within the 'next two weeks' as he still holds out hope for renewed negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. Araqchi warned that if the US joins Israel in launching an attack on Iran, the country will strike back. 'When there is a war, both sides attack each other. That's quite understandable. And self-defense is a legitimate right of every country,' he said. 'If the US joins Israel in these attacks, we will do the same.'
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Israel presses ahead with strikes as Trump's 2-week deadline looms
Israeli officials insisted Friday that they will keep up their bombing campaign against Iran, even as President Donald Trump has given Tehran a two-week deadline to come to some sort of diplomatic deal that reins in its nuclear program. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, laid out his country's case at the U.N. Security Council, facing off Friday with Iranian representatives who urged the world to stop the Israeli strikes. 'Israel will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe,' Danon declared. The Israeli assertions highlight how Trump's statement that he'll decide 'in the next two weeks' whether to strike Iranian nuclear sites provides an opportunity to Israel as much as it puts pressure on Iran. For Iran, it's two weeks to come to some sort of diplomatic deal with the U.S. that constrains its nuclear, and possibly other, programs. For Israel, it's a focused timeframe to do as much damage as it can to Iran's nuclear and broader military infrastructure before the U.S. may pressure it to accept a diplomatic solution. The more damage Israel does, the more it could weaken an enemy and improve the odds that Iran will capitulate to U.S. demands in the diplomatic process. The strikes themselves couldthreaten the survival of Iran's Islamist regime. Trump told reporters on Friday that he wasn't about to push Israel to halt its assault in Iran while he weighs what the U.S. should do. 'It's very hard to make that request right now,' Trump said. 'If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens.' A senior administration official, granted anonymity to speak about the president's thinking, said 'everything is still on the table.' 'This is about giving this a little time and seeing if things look any different in a couple weeks,' the official said. Trump's 'two-week' window was delivered Thursday by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said, quoting Trump, that his delay in determining whether to join Israel's attack on Iran was 'based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' Trump often says he'll make decisions in two weeks, only to extend his deadline again or never follow through. Still, Israel and Iran appear to believe the next two weeks will be a crucial phase. Iranian officials showed up for nuclear talks with European officials on Friday in Geneva; Israel pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against Iran, which is responding with missiles. Iranian officials met Friday with European envoys in Geneva in an attempt to revitalize the diplomatic process. The talks ended on an ambiguous note. Iranian officials have said their participation in future talks would hinge on Israel stopping its attacks. Some European representatives said talks should continue regardless, even as they urged both sides to avoid escalation. 'We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for,' French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. For Israel, the most critical, but perhaps toughest, official objective is eliminating Iran's nuclear facility at Fordo. That facility is buried deep underground, and Israel has been hoping Trump will enter the fight and use special, massive U.S. bombs to destroy it. There are concerns, however, including among Republicans, that Iran could retaliate against U.S. assets if America enters the conflict on any level, dragging America into another Middle Eastern war. Trump campaigned on avoiding such wars. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that Israel has means to destroy Fordo on its own. It's not clear what those methods could involve, but Israel has significant intelligence operations inside Iran and it has often surprised even Washington with its capabilities. Either way, current and former Israeli officials said they saw no reason for Israel to back off its strikes now, despite calls for deescalation from some world capitals. The more Israel degrades Iran's capabilities, the less able Tehran will be to mount retaliatory attacks on Israel or the United States, should the latter choose to enter the war. From the beginning, 'the Israeli planning was based on the assumption that we have to do it alone,' said a former Israeli diplomat familiar with the situation. The person, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss highly sensitive issues. It's unclear whether there is any deal with Iran that Israel would deem strong enough. There is tremendous distrust of Iran's Islamist regime within Israel's security establishment, leading to a sense that Iran would cheat on any deal. Another unsettled question is whether a deal with Iran will cover only its nuclear program or also curb its ballistic missile initiative and support for proxy militias in the region. Some analysts have argued that Netanyahu decided to begin attacking Iran last week because he was worried earlier nuclear talks between Iran and the Trump administration would yield too weak a deal. If new efforts at diplomacy yield fruit, Trump could pressure Netanyahu to accept whatever deal emerges, potentially even by threatening to withhold weapons and other equipment Israel needs to defend itself against Iran. The war is costly for Israel, which has been fighting on multiple fronts — in particular against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip — since October 2023. As one Israeli official said, Iranian missile attacks feel like 'Russian roulette' to Israeli citizens.
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Iran unsure it can trust US after Israeli strikes: top official
Iran's foreign minister told NBC News Friday that Tehran was not sure it could trust the United States in the wake of numerous Israeli attacks on Iran. The airstrikes from Israel, which have targeted Iranian military and nuclear facilities, came just days before American officials were scheduled to hold nuclear talks mediated by Oman. The U.S. has said it was not involved in the operation, although Trump was notified of the strike beforehand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the interview, Araghchi suggested that the United States was not legitimately interested in diplomacy and was only using the talks as a 'cover' for future attacks. 'They had perhaps this plan in their mind, and they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up,' Araghchi said. 'We don't know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was in fact a betrayal to diplomacy.' 'We're not prepared to negotiate with them anymore, as long as the aggression continues,' he added. The State Department did not immediately return a request for comment. Araghchi's comments mark another deterioration in the chances for diplomacy between the United States and Iran, and come as President Trump is weighing a strike on the country that could damage one of its most significant nuclear facilities that is still standing after Israel's attacks. Trump has repeatedly said that he hopes for a diplomatic solution and does not want to involve the United States in another war in the Middle East. But he also approved of an airstrike in private, the Wall Street Journal reported, although he held off on giving a final order. Now, Trump has attempted to give himself more room for negotiations, saying that he will make a decision within two weeks. Nuclear talks between Iranian, German, French, and British diplomats are now occurring in Geneva, although they did not produce any breakthroughs on their first day. During the interview, which occurred after the end of the talks on Friday, Aragchi said that Israel had to halt its attacks in order to continue negotiations, and that he was unwilling to give up uranium enrichment entirely. 'This is an achievement of our own scientists. It is a question of national pride,' he said.
