Iran-Israel newest: Tehran warns US intervention ‘would be recipe for all-out war’ after Trump mulls becoming a member of strikes
Iran has warned that any US involvement in the war with Israel risks “all-out war in the region” as Donald Trump publicly considered the idea of assassinating Tehran’s supreme leader.
After nearly a week of Israel and Tehran exchanging missile attacks, with the latest assaults damaging a centrifuge production site in Iran this morning, Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, issued fresh warnings against American involvement.
He told Al Jazeera English: “Any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”
It comes as Trump warned that his patience was “wearing thin” with Iran’s continued attacks on Israel and called for the Iranian supreme leader’s “unconditional surrender”.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” he said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesperson announced on X that no cities are safe. Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language military spokesperson, said: “Our message this morning is powerful and will resonate far and wide: There are no cities of refuge in the Middle East where our enemies can find safe haven.”
Iran envoy says Israeli attacks are ‘war against humanity’
We have some more comments from Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.
He told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday that Israeli attacks represented an act of “war against humanity” and slammed states for not condemning the acts, which he said exposed people to the risk of hazardous leaks.
“The deliberate targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities not only constitutes a grave violation of international law and the UN Charter but also risks exposing all people in our neighbourhood to a possible hazardous leak. This is not an act of war against our country, it is war against humanity,” said Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
He criticised the failure of states to condemn Israel’s attacks. “We are hearing almost nothing from those self-proclaimed champions of human rights,” he said.
Iran will respond firmly if US becomes directly involved in Israeli strikes, says UN ambassador
Iran said it had conveyed to Washington that it will respond firmly to the United States if it becomes directly involved in Israel’s military campaign, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday.
Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, told reporters that he saw the US as “complicit in what Israel is doing”.
Israel launched its air war on Iran on Friday after saying it had concluded the Islamic Republic was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
The US has so far only taken indirect actions in the current conflict with Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel. It is reportedly deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes.
Bahreini said Iran will also respond strongly to Israeli strikes.
“We will not show any reluctance in defending our people, security and land – we will respond seriously and strongly, without restraint,” Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, told reporters.
Trump accuses Obama of wanting war with Iran in resurfaced clip
Trump accuses Obama of wanting war with Iran in resurfaced clip
Iran downs remote-controlled Israeli aircraft
Iran has downed a remotely piloted Israeli aircraft, Israel’s military has reported.
In a statement on X, the Israeli military said the aircraft fell in Iranian airspace after being targeted by surface-to-air missiles.
They said there were no casualties.
What is a bunker buster bomb? US weapon could be key to destroying Iran’s nuclear sites
Chinese flee Iran overland by bus to safety of neighbouring countries
The first Chinese evacuees from Iran have started sharing on social media their desperate efforts to reach the Islamic Republic’s borders and the safety of Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as the Israel-Iran air war entered a sixth day.
Several thousand Chinese nationals are thought to reside in oil-rich Iran, according to state media reports highlighting Beijing’s efforts to deepen strategic and commercial ties with the theocratic regime over the past two decades.
“My heart was pounding but amid the haze of war, everything became clear: I packed my bags and tried to evacuate to the embassy,” wrote a Chinese travel blogger under the alias Shuishui Crusoe, a nod to Daniel Defoe’s fictional castaway, Robinson Crusoe.
The travel blogger had decided to leave after sitting through Israel’s overnight bombings last Friday when the conflict began, even as the embassy advised her to stay put.
Emboldened by news of fellow citizens who made it across to Armenia, 466 miles from the Iranian capital Tehran, she chose the same route, arriving by bus in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Monday, a day before China’s embassy officially urged citizens to leave Iran.
China started evacuating its citizens from Tehran to Turkmenistan by overland bus on Tuesday, a distance of 715 miles, state-run China News Service reported Wednesday.
More than 700 Chinese nationals have been transferred to places of safety, and more than 1,000 more are in the process of being transferred, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Iranian nuclear facilties in ‘good’ state, says atomic energy chief
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami has claimed that the status of the country’s nuclear facilities is “good” despite reports that Israel struck a centrifuge production site overnight.
Watch: First flight of Israelis stranded abroad after Iran strikes lands
The plane, which brought home Israelis stuck in Larnaca, Cyprus, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport just outside of Tel Aviv on Wednesday (18 June).
Since the Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliatory attacks broke out overnight Friday (13 June), Israel’s transport ministry estimates that more than 50,000 stranded residents are trying to come home.
Last week, Israel closed its airspace for civil aviation after it launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear program and military leaders.
Watch as the first flight of Israelis stranded abroad after Iranian strikes lands
Iran state TV shares footage of Israeli drone shot down in Isfahan province
Iranian state TV has published footage that appears to show a downed Israeli Hermes drone in central Iran, south of Tehran.
Satellite images show aftermath of 1,400-mile Israeli strike on Iran
Satellite imagery has shown the aftermath of a more than 1,400-mile Israeli missile strike on an airport in Iran.
The attack two days ago was the longest strike since tensions flared up again between Israel and Iran last week.
It is believed the target at Mashhad Hashemi Nejad airport in eastern Iran was a refuelling plane.
Footage from the airport that has recently been published appears to show a destroyed plane, though it is unclear if this was the intended target.
Source: independent.co.uk
