Latest news with #SteveWitkoff
Boston Globe
39 minutes ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Israel and Iran launch strikes a week into their war as new diplomatic effort takes shape
Britain's foreign secretary said he met at the White House with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the potential for a deal that could cool the conflict. Advertisement Israel said it conducted airstrikes into Friday morning in Iran with more than 60 aircraft hitting what it said were industrial sites to manufacture missiles. It did not elaborate on the locations. It also said it hit the headquarters of Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its acronym in Farsi, SPND. The U.S. in the past has linked that agency to alleged Iranian research and testing tied to the possible development of nuclear explosive devices. Advertisement Israeli airstrikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported. The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht's Industrial City, southwest of the city's downtown. But with Iran's internet shut off to the outside world, it's unclear just how many people could see the message. In Israel, the paramedic service Magen David Adom said missiles struck a residential area in southern Israel causing damage to buildings, including one six-story building. They have provided medical treatment to five people with minor injuries such as bruises, smoke inhalation, and anxiety, it said. This comes a day after at least 80 patients and medical workers were wounded in a strike on the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba. On Thursday, Israel's defense minister threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the Iranian missile crashed into the hospital. Israel's military 'has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,' Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would 'do what's best for America.' Speaking from the rubble and shattered glass around the hospital, he added: 'I can tell you that they're already helping a lot.' 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 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Advertisement 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%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program but has never acknowledged it. The Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran's enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict. Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
NBC News
an hour ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Live updates: European leaders hold talks with Iran as Trump sets two-week deadline for U.S. action
What we know EUROPE-IRAN TALKS: Iranian Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi will be in the Swiss city of Geneva today for talks with his British, French, German and E.U. counterparts in an effort to end the weeklong Israel-Iran conflict although the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will not attend. TRUMP MULLS U.S. ACTION: President Donald Trump said he was still considering a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. 'I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' he said, according to the White House. U.S. INTELLIGENCE UNCHANGED: The U.S. assessment of Iran's nuclear program remains unchanged since March, when the director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has not decided to rush toward building an atomic bomb even though it has large amounts of enriched uranium, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a source with knowledge of the matter. HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 people in Iran since the conflict began a week ago, The Associated Press reported, citing a Washington-based human rights group. The Iranian health ministry says more than 2,500 people have been wounded. The death toll in Israel from Iran's retaliatory strikes remains at 24.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Trump's new two-week negotiating window sets off scramble to restart stalled Iran talks
By Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler , CNN Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski US President Donald Trump's decision to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran has set off an urgent effort to restart talks that had been deadlocked, when Israel began its bombing campaign last week . The hope among Trump and his advisers is that Iran - under constant Israeli attack and suffering losses to its missile arsenal - will relent on its hardline position and agree to terms it had previously rejected, including abandoning its enrichment of uranium, according to US officials. The deferred decision, which came after days of increasingly martial messages from the president suggesting he was preparing to order a strike, also gives Trump more time to weigh the potential consequences - including the chance it could drag the United States into the type of foreign conflict he promised to avoid. Negotiating a diplomatic solution in Trump's condensed timeline appeared to face significant early hurdles. Earlier this week, discussions were underway inside the White House to dispatch Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance to the region for talks with Iran, but as Trump grew wary that diplomatic efforts might succeed, the idea never resulted in scheduled talks, and both Vance and Witkoff remained in Washington as of Thursday. Foreign ministers from Britain, Germany and France are travelling to Geneva on Friday to hold talks with Iranian representatives, and have been briefed on the details of the last deal Witkoff offered to Iran, which Tehran ultimately rejected, before the Israeli strikes began. US officials did not have high expectations of success for Friday's meeting in Geneva, but a White House official kept the door open to progress. "This is a meeting between European leaders and Iran," a White House official said. "The President supports diplomatic efforts from our allies that could bring Iran closer to taking his deal." Iran's consistent message to the US since Israel began its strikes has been it would not engage in further talks, until the ongoing Israeli operation ends, two sources familiar with the messages said. The US had so far not pressured Israel to halt its strikes, sources said, and Trump said this week that his message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been to "keep going". So far, Iran has offered no indication it is willing to move off its positions on enrichment, which it views as a red line. As of Thursday, no official talks between the US and Iran were on the books, US officials said. In putting off a decision, Trump appears to be placing more stock in a diplomatic solution that only a day earlier he appeared to suggest was out of reach. "I think the president has made it clear he always wants to pursue diplomacy, but believe me, the president is unafraid to use strength if necessary," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, after relaying Trump's new two-week timeline. "Iran and the entire world should know that the United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world, and we have capabilities that no other country on this planet possesses." New vehicle tracks and dirt piles over underground centrifuge buildings at Natanz enrichment facility. Photo: AFP / Maxar Technologies In a string of situation room meetings over the course of this week, Trump has quizzed advisers about the likelihood US bunker-buster bombs could entirely eliminate Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordow and how long such an operation might last, according to people familiar with the conversations. He has repeatedly insisted he wants to avoid taking action that could devolve into a multi-year conflict, something many of his own loyalists - including one-time top strategist Steve Bannon, with whom the president had lunch Thursday - argue would be unavoidable, should he make the decision to go ahead. While the president has seen the military options, he remains worried about a longer-term war. Any assessments on whether a strike would cause prolonged US engagement are predictive and, by their nature, not entirely satisfactory, one official said. The new, within-two-weeks time-frame for talks was not universally welcomed. An Israeli intelligence official expressed dismay that Trump would not make a decision - one way or the other. "This is not helping," the official said. Trump will continue to convene top-level intelligence briefings over the coming days, returning to Washington early from a weekend trip to his property in New Jersey to be updated at the White House. He has relied principally on CIA director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen Dan Caine in meetings to discuss his options, according to people familiar with the matter. At the centre of the diplomatic efforts will be Witkoff, the president's friend and foreign envoy, who has led negotiations meant to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Witkoff began direct-messaging with his Iranian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, earlier this month and the administration has maintained some communications with Iranian officials over the past tense days, as Trump weighed a strike. The plan Witkoff last offered to Tehran would have required Iran to eventually end all uranium enrichment on its soil and, on Thursday, the White House said it still viewed a ban on Iranian uranium enrichment as necessary to a final deal. As the Europeans head into Friday's meeting, they will be "taking the temperature" on how receptive the Iranians are to finding a diplomatic solution, given their belief that strikes in both directions are not a solution, a European official said. European leaders believe the risks of Iran's nuclear programme persist even amid Israel's strikes, because Tehran maintains nuclear know-how and may still have clandestine nuclear-related efforts that won't get demolished by military strikes. Meanwhile, most US diplomats who are not in Trump's inner circle at the State Department have not been given specific guidance to offer US allies on the diplomatic efforts, a US official and a European diplomat said. That has led to many frustrating discussions with foreign interlocutors as US diplomats have very few answers to give the allies as they try to determine their diplomatic and military posture in the region, pointing only to Trump's own words. Marco Rubio. Photo: Pool / AFP / Jacquelyn Martin As Trump has weighed his options, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been close by, also departing early from the Group of 7 summit in Canada along with the commander in chief earlier this week. On Monday, the top US diplomat spoke with his French, British and European Union counterparts about efforts to "encourage a diplomatic path that ensures Iran never develops a nuclear weapon", according to State Department readouts of the calls. On Wednesday, Rubio "compared notes" on the matter with the Norwegian foreign minister. Rubio met with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday, before Lammy departed for the Geneva talks, and the two "agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon", according to the State Department. "Meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Witkoff in the White House today, we discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict," Lammy said in a statement Thursday. "A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution." US officials, including Witkoff, have also been actively engaged with officials in the region, many of whom have offered their help in mediating a diplomatic path forward. Sources said Iran had responded to messages from third parties, but their responses had not changed. - CNN
New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Gold steady as Israel-Iran conflict escalates, US involvement uncertain
KUALA LUMPUR: Gold held steady on Friday, with geopolitical tensions escalating in the Middle East as Israel and Iran continued their air war, while investors remained wary of possible US involvement. Spot gold was steady at US$3,367.60 an ounce, as of 0020 GMT. Bullion was down 1.90 per cent so far this week. US gold futures were also stable at US$3,384.20. The conflict in the Middle East intensified on Thursday when Israel bombed Iran's nuclear sites, while Iran fired missile and drone strikes on Israel, including an overnight attack on an Israeli hospital. Neither side has signalled an exit strategy. US President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters. Trump reiterated his calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, saying the rates should be 2.5 percentage points lower. The Fed held rates steady on Wednesday, and policymakers retained projections for two quarter-point rate cuts this year. European officials are increasingly resigned to a 10 per cent rate on "reciprocal" tariffs being the baseline in any trade deal between the US and the European Union, five sources familiar with the negotiations said. The US dollar index fell 0.20 per cent, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for overseas buyers. Elsewhere, spot silver was steady at US$36.36 per ounce, platinum fell 0.70 per cent to US$1,297.89, while palladium was down 0.40 per cent to US$1,046.71. All three metals were headed for weekly gains.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Gold steady as Israel-Iran conflict escalates, US involvement uncertain
Gold held steady on Friday, with geopolitical tensions escalating in the Middle East as Israel and Iran continued their air war, while investors remained wary of possible U.S. involvement. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was steady at $3,367.60 an ounce, as of 0020 GMT. Bullion was down 1.9% so far this week. * U.S. gold futures were also stable at $3,384.20. * The conflict in the Middle East intensified on Thursday when Israel bombed Iran's nuclear sites, while Iran fired missile and drone strikes on Israel, including an overnight attack on an Israeli hospital. Neither side has signalled an exit strategy. Live Events * U.S. President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. * Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters. * Trump reiterated his calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, saying the rates should be 2.5 percentage points lower. * The Fed held rates steady on Wednesday, and policymakers retained projections for two quarter-point rate cuts this year. * European officials are increasingly resigned to a 10% rate on "reciprocal" tariffs being the baseline in any trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union, five sources familiar with the negotiations said. * The U.S. dollar index fell 0.2%, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for overseas buyers. * Elsewhere, spot silver was steady at $36.36 per ounce, platinum fell 0.7% to $1,297.89, while palladium was down 0.4% to $1,046.71. All three metals were headed for weekly gain. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0100 China Loan Prime Rate 1Y, 5Y June 0600 UK Retail Sales MM, Ex-Fuel MM, YY May 0645 France Business Climate Mfg, Overall June 1230 US Philly Fed Business Index June 1400 EU consumer confidence flash June. ETMarkets WhatsApp channel )
