Latest news with #Iranians
Canberra Times
an hour ago
- Politics
- Canberra Times
Europeans in talks with Iran as Rubio calls around
"The Iranians can't sit down with the Americans whereas we can," said a European diplomat. "We will tell them to come back to the table to discuss the nuclear issue before the worst case scenario, while raising our concerns over its ballistic missiles, support to Russia and detention of our citizens."
AsiaOne
an hour ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Europeans try to coax Iran back to diplomacy, as Trump considers strikes, World News
GENEVA — European foreign ministers are set to meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday (June 20) aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its contested nuclear programme despite the US actively considering joining Israeli strikes against Iran. Ministers from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief spoke to Abbas Araqchi earlier this week and have been coordinating with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a rare call they pressed upon Araqchi the need to return to the negotiating table and avoid further escalation. At Iran's suggestion the two sides agreed to meet face-to-face. The talks will be held in Geneva, where an initial accord between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for sanctions lifting was struck in 2013 before a comprehensive deal in 2015. They come after negotiations between Iran and the United States collapsed when Israel launched what it called Operation Rising Lion against Iran's nuclear facilities and ballistic capabilities on June 12. "The Iranians can't sit down with the Americans whereas we can," said a European diplomat. "We will tell them to come back to the table to discuss the nuclear issue before the worst case scenario, while raising our concerns over its ballistic missiles, support to Russia and detention of our citizens." The European powers, who were not part of Iran's nuclear negotiations with the United States, had grown increasingly frustrated by the US negotiating strategy in the talks. They deemed some of the demands unrealistic, while fearing the possibility of a weak initial political framework that would lead to open-ended negotiations. Two diplomats said there were no great expectations for a breakthrough in Geneva, where the European Union's foreign policy chief will also attend. But they said it was vital to engage with Iran because once the war stopped, Iran's nuclear programme would still remain unresolved given that it would be impossible to eradicate the know-how acquired, leaving it potentially able to clandestinely rebuild its programme. An Iranian official said Tehran has always welcomed diplomacy, but urged the E3 to use all available means to pressure Israel to halt its attacks on Iran. "Iran remains committed to diplomacy as the only path to resolving disputes — but diplomacy is under attack," the official said. Prior to Israel's strikes the E3 and US put forward a resolution that was approved by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog, which declared Iran in breach of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. As part of last week's IAEA resolution, European officials had said they could refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council later in the summer to add pressure on Iran if there was no progress in the nuclear talks. That would be separate to them reimposing UN sanctions, known as the snapback mechanism, before October 18 when the 2015 accord expires. The Europeans are the only ones who can launch the snapback mechanism, with diplomats saying the three countries had looked to set a final deadline at the end of August to launch it. "Iran has repeatedly stated that triggering snapback will have serious consequences," the Iranian official said. [[nid:719305]]
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Live updates: Israel says Iran will pay for hospital attack
The conflict has killed hundreds of Iranians and scores of Israelis since Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military targets on June 13. Israeli warplanes struck three nuclear sites in Iran on June 18, while a military spokesman walked back an earlier Israeli claim to have bombed Iran's only functioning nuclear power plant. Follow along with USA TODAY for live updates. More: 40,000 reasons to worry: U.S. troops in Middle East could face Iran blowback Iran's state-owned IRNA news outlet said its ballistic missiles were aimed at Israeli Defense Forces and intelligence targets located in the same area. "The claim of an attack on an intelligence base or the presence of military equipment under the hospital is another lie. We are not so despicable as to endanger civilians," the IDF said in a Persian-language statement, the Times of Israel reported. "Attacking hospitals is a crime. Fabricating a reason does not justify it." No deaths were reported in the attack. Six people were seriously injured, emergency workers said. Trump supporter will back an Iran strike, Steve Bannon says The "vast majority" of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement "will get on board" with strikes on Iran, if he goes ahead with military action, his former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon says. Should he decide there's no diplomatic solution to be had, Trump will need to walk the American people and MAGA through his thinking, Bannon told reporters at a June 18 breakfast hosted by Christian Science Monitor. But Trump is also likely to win ove most of his naysaying supporters. "There will be some, but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, 'look, we trust your judgement, you've walked us through this, we don't like it, in fact maybe we hate it, but we'll get on board,'" Bannon said. -Francesca Chambers
AsiaOne
2 hours ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Iran's divided opposition senses its moment but activists remain wary of protests, Asia News
DUBAI — Iran's fragmented opposition groups think their moment may be close at hand, but activists involved in previous bouts of protest say they are unwilling to unleash mass unrest, even against a system they hate, with their nation under attack. Exiled opponents of the Islamic Republic, themselves deeply divided, are urging street protests. In the borderlands, Kurdish and Baluchi separatist groups look poised to rise up, with Israeli strikes pummelling Iran's security apparatus. While the Islamic Republic looks weaker than at nearly any point since soon after the 1979 revolution, any direct challenge to its 46-year rule would likely require some form of popular uprising. Whether such an uprising is likely — or imminent — is a matter of debate. The late shah's son, US-based Reza Pahlavi, said in media interviews this week he wants to lead a political transition, proclaiming it the best chance to topple the Islamic Republic in four decades and saying "this is our moment in history". Triggering regime change is certainly one war goal for Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Iranians to say "we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom". Within a ruling system long adept at quashing public displays of dissent, there are signs it is readying for protests. Mohammad Amin, a member of the Basij militia that is often deployed against protesters, said his unit in Qom had been put on alert to root out Israeli spies and protect the Islamic Republic. However, while the strikes have targeted a security hierarchy that crushed previous bouts of protest, they have also caused great fear and disruption for ordinary people — and anger at both Iranian authorities and Israel, the activists said. "How are people supposed to pour into the streets? In such horrifying circumstances, people are solely focused on saving themselves, their families, their compatriots, and even their pets," said Atena Daemi, a prominent activist who spent six years in prison before leaving Iran. Mass protests Daemi's concerns were also voiced by Iran's most prominent activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, in a social media post. Responding to an Israeli demand for people to evacuate parts of Tehran, she posted: "Do not destroy my city." Two other activists Reuters spoke to in Iran, who were among the hundreds of thousands involved in mass protests two years ago after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, said they also had no plans to demonstrate yet. "After the strikes end we will raise our voices because this regime is responsible for the war," said one, a university student in Shiraz, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. Another, who had lost her university place and been jailed for five months after the 2022 protests and who also requested anonymity, said she believed in regime change in Iran but that it was not time to take to the streets. She and her friends were not planning to stage or join rallies, she said, and dismissed calls from abroad for protests. "Israel and those so-called opposition leaders abroad only think about their own benefits," she said. Apart from Pahlavi's monarchists, the main opposition faction outside Iran is the People's Mujahideen Organisation, also known as the MEK or MKO. A revolutionary faction in the 1970s, it lost a power struggle after the shah was toppled. Many Iranians have not forgiven it for then siding with Iraq during the stalemated war of 1980 to 1988 and rights groups have accused it of abuses at its camps and of cult-like behaviour, both of which it denies. The Mujahideen are the main force behind the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which like Pahlavi has cultivated close ties with some Western politicians. At a Paris forum this week, the council's leader Maryam Rajavi reiterated her opposition to any return of the monarchy, saying "neither the shah nor the mullahs". How far opposition groups outside Iran enjoy any support inside the country is uncertain. While there is fond nostalgia among some Iranians for the period before the revolution, it is an era that most are too young to remember. Within Iran, the successive rounds of national protests have also focused around differing issues. In 2009, demonstrators flooded the streets over what they saw as a stolen presidential election. In 2017, protests focused on falling living standards. And in 2022 women's rights were the trigger. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the election candidate protesters said had been cheated in 2009, has been under house arrest for years and is now 83. His policy was to reform the Islamic Republic rather than replace it — the goal of many protesters in later movements. For opponents of the Islamic Republic inside Iran, those unanswered questions of whether or when to stage protests, what agenda to pursue, or which leader to follow are only likely to grow more pressing as Israel's airstrikes continue. [[nid:719066]]
New York Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Douglas Murray: President Trump can end the nuclear threat from Iran with one phone call
Would you mind if someone tried to kill you? For both Donald Trump and for the state of Israel the answer is 'Yes.' Last August, under President Joe Biden, federal prosecutors in New York charged Afghan-born Farhad Shakeri in a plot to assassinate Trump. Shakeri is currently believed to be in Iran. Shakeri was tasked with killing Trump in the US before or after last year's election. President Trump will have to live with such threats from the Iranian regime for the rest of his life. After all, none other than the Supreme Leader of Iran — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has used his social-media accounts to promise to assassinate Trump. A lurid video recently put out by the ayatollah even showed Trump being assassinated by Iran on a golf course. Israel has to live with the same threat. Ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, successive Iranian leaders — both so-called 'moderate' and extreme — have all said that they wish to annihilate the state of Israel and destroy the United States of America. Israel is closer to Iran than this country is. And so it has to take this threat more seriously than the United States does. But every reasonable voice agrees that Iran cannot ever acquire nuclear weapons. First because they have promised that they will use them. But secondly because if Iran ever did get the bomb, then every other country in the Middle East would rush to go nuclear next. If that happened, then the world's most dangerous region would become full of the world's deadliest weaponry. But how to stop it? Brink of nukes The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently confirmed that the Iranians were on the brink of acquiring enough enriched uranium to produce around 10 nuclear weapons. The Israelis have acted on their own intelligence and last week began bombing Iran's nuclear facilities. In doing so they did what no other country would do. They also did what almost every other country wanted. For decades every Western democracy has said that Iran cannot get the bomb. For years almost every non-democratic ally of the US in the Middle East has also said that Iran must not get the bomb. But for years successive administrations in this country and abroad have failed to do anything much. The Israelis have done plenty to slow things down. They are believed to have released tools like the Stuxnet virus (in 2010), which did enormous damage to Iran's nuclear program. Along with dissidents inside Iran, they are also believed to be behind the killing of a number of people involved in Iran's nuclear race. So, yes, the Israelis managed to set the Iranian project back. But they could not stop it. Until now. Now they have been pushed to the final stage. While everyone else has continued to talk. And then talk about talks, Israel knew the world was running out of time. So last week they began bombing Iran's nuclear sites. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters End the tyranny Praise for their actions has come from surprising places. On Tuesday the chancellor of Germany — Friedrich Merz — spoke the truth. He said that through its bombing campaign, Israel was doing the 'dirty work for all of us.' He continued, 'We are all affected by this regime. This mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world.' For once a German chancellor is right. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has colonized Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and many other countries in their region. They have brought terrorism as far abroad as Buenos Aires and London and killed hundreds of American troops — in Lebanon and Iraq. Now all eyes are on President Trump. The president has a very difficult decision. A number of the most crucial nuclear sites in Iran, like the facility at Fordow, can only be destroyed by a bunker-buster bomb that only the US has. Successive US administrations have refused to sell this weapon to the Israelis. Now, almost a week into the war, Israel has been unable to stop Iran's nuclear program entirely. If the Israelis destroy only 70%, or 80% or even 90% of the Iranian nuclear project, then there is still the possibility that Iran can restart its nuclear race. Meaning that the world will always have this gun to its head. For many years, President Trump has made it plain that he will never allow this. But the mullahs may be happy to wait until some other Sleepy Joe-like figure is in the White House. Trump knows he cannot let that happen. But this is the one chance in our lifetimes to once and for all stop the world's worst regime getting their hands on the world's worst weapon. As a poll published in yesterday's Post showed, President Trump's MAGA base is keen for him to follow through on his promise. A whopping 65% of MAGA Republicans support US strikes to finish off Iran's nuclear project. Just 19% oppose it. Which shows that the president's noisy online critics are just as kooky and irrelevant as he senses them to be. Who's in control? 'But what will happen next,' some of his critics say. There is an easy answer to that. President Trump's campaign promise is that he will never allow Iran to have nukes. In the coming hours and days he has the opportunity to make good on that promise. But what about 'regime change?' In truth those words do not need to be anywhere near his lips or his agenda. If the Iranian people want to rise up and overthrow the death-cult regime that has held their country in terror for 46 years, then they should. Many of us will wish them well. But that is their affair. The president's only need is to make good on his promise to the American electorate. If he does that, then he will send a sharp but necessary message to a regime that has too long threatened his own life, the life of Israel and indeed the world.
