Official Israel Vs. Iran 2025 thread: First post updates! US, Israel attacks set Iran back months at best. Ceasefire in effect. Everybody wins(?)

[Afro]

What Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Al Jazeera​

Here are the key takeaways from our interview with Esmaeil Baghaei:

• Any direct engagement by a third country in the war between Israel and Iran would be an invitation to a full-scale conflict that “would engulf all the region and even will go beyond that”.
• Iran is “for the time being” focused on targeting Israeli territory only and it trusts its neighbours would not allow the US to use their territory for attacks against it.
• When asked if Iran is willing to engage in dialogue with the US, he said, “Diplomacy never ends,” but added that Tehran no longer trusts Washington.
• Iran is in contact with other countries, including Russia, because it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and “we expect everyone that has a leeway, that has a mandate under the UN Security Council, to act to help having a resolution in condemnation of this attack.

 

[Afro]

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Iran acting in self-defence​

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of waging “crazed” attacks against Iran that amount to “state terrorism”.
Iran’s response, Erdogan said, is natural, legal and legitimate.
Speaking to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party in parliament, Erdogan said Turkiye wants to see the crisis resolved diplomatically and Ankara could play a constructive role.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [File: Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu]

 

[Afro]

2h ago
(10:39 GMT)

Iran won’t accept ‘imposed war or peace, won’t surrender’: Khamenei​

Iran “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace”, the supreme leader says in a televised address reported by the Tasnim news agency.
“This nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition.”
Khamenei also pointed to statements made by Trump, saying those who know Iran and its history “know that Iranians do not answer well to the language of threat”.
“And the Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable consequences.”

 

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2h ago
(10:50 GMT)

Qatar receives letter from Iran’s president​

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has received a letter from Pezeshkian, the Qatari Foreign Ministry says.
The content of the letter was not revealed by the ministry.
Qatar is among the countries that have appealed to Washington to press Israel to agree to a ceasefire and resume talks with Tehran aimed at achieving a nuclear deal.

 

[Afro]

2h ago
(11:00 GMT)

Israel says 40 sites hit in Iran today​

“This morning, Air Force fighter jets completed a wave of strikes against military targets in western Iran, under the direction of the Intelligence Branch,” an Israeli army post on X says.
“Approximately 25 fighter jets attacked more than 40 missile infrastructures aimed at the State of Israel, missile storage sites, and military operatives of the Iranian regime,” it adds.
Earlier, we reported that Israel claimed it had bombed at least two nuclear centrifuge production facilities in Iran, including the main nuclear facility in Tehran.

 

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4 hr 36 min ago

Israeli foreign minister claims Iran has a "strategic plan" to eliminate Israel ​

From CNN’s Eugenia Yosef and Nadeen Ebrahim
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council claiming that Iran has a “strategic plan” to eliminate his country, saying Israel is determined to defend itself.

“Iran has a strategic plan to eliminate Israel. Israel cannot and will not accept the threat of extermination!” Sa’ar wrote on X when sharing a copy of the letter.

Israel’s attack on Iran, he wrote in his letter, “was launched following a critical development in Iran’s nuclear weapons program and aimed also at thwarting the imminent threat of additional Iranian missile and proxy attacks.”

The decision to attack was taken “as a measure of last resort,” the letter said.

 

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2 hr 35 min ago

Germany’s Merz says Israel is doing the world’s "dirty work" by attacking Iran​

From CNN’s Christian Edwards

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday.
Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has praised Israel for doing the “dirty work for all of us” by striking Iran and preventing it from building a nuclear weapon.

In an interview with Germany’s ZDF broadcaster on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, Merz was asked if he agreed that Israel was doing the world’s “dirty work” against a regime that in the West is viewed as a “disruptive” force.

Merz said he was “grateful” for the interviewer using the term “dirty work.”

“This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us,” he said. “The (Iranian) regime has brought death and destruction to the world with attacks, with murder and manslaughter, with Hezbollah, with Hamas.”

Merz said attacks like the one launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 “would never have been possible” without the regime in Iran.

“I can only say I have the greatest respect for what the Israeli military and government has had the courage to do,” Merz said. The alternative, he claimed, would have been many more “months and years of this regime’s terror – and then possibly with a nuclear weapon in its hand.”

Some context: Due to its role in the Holocaust, Germany believes it has a special responsibility to protect Jewish life and sees Israel’s security as a “Staatsräson” — a “reason of state.” But German leaders are often criticized for being too lenient towards Israel’s foreign policy decisions.

Merz did, however, issue a rare public rebuke of Israel last month, saying he was “dismayed by the fate of the civilian population” in Gaza.

 

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2 hr 13 min ago

Iranians living "a nightmare" following Israel’s barrage of overnight strikes​

From CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim
Iranians in Tehran said they were living through “a nightmare” after Israel’s barrage of strikes overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it had launched a wave of strikes involving more than 50 aircraft on Iranian centrifuge and missile production sites overnight.

All Iranians who spoke to CNN declined to be named for fear of their safety.
“I am living in a nightmare,” a 28-year-old Iranian woman told CNN.



Another Iranian man, 32, said that “after the calm of the afternoon there was a barrage of bombs,” adding that there were between “30 to 40 explosions about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from our house.”


“The sound was insane, and the street was destroyed,” he said, adding that he and his family are still trying to decide whether to leave their home.


Residents also recounted a mood of suspicion among authorities in Tehran.


Another Iranian man said he was filming the empty streets in Tehran, when he was stopped by an undercover police officer who “asked for ID and looked through my phone.”

 

[Afro]

1 hr 25 min ago

Striking Iran would open "Pandora’s box" and likely consume Trump’s presidency, analyst warns​

From CNN’s Olivia Kemp

A message addressed to US President Donald Trump is pictured in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday.
Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump is facing a critical decision between taking “a diplomatic off ramp” or “a war of choice,” Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN.
“Leaders always have a choice in these moments,” she said. “Trump has, in the past, stepped back from the brink of war with Iran, he has the ability to do so again.”



Geranmayeh added that “Iran will view this as a declaration of war,” if Trump decides to strike its nuclear facilities.

“Once you open up this Pandora’s box, we have no idea where things go,” Geranmayeh said, adding that the conflict would “most likely consume the rest of President Trump’s presidency.”

For Iran, she added, “surrender is not an option.”

“It also knows it is not going to win militarily, but it’s trying to ensure that there are only losers here,” Geranmayeh said.

 

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35 min ago

Israel will ease domestic restrictions in "message of victory" over Iran​

From CNN’s Eugenia Yosef and Christian Edwards
Israel has approved recommendations from its military to ease domestic restrictions, in a change Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday described as a “message of victory” over Iran.

Following a meeting with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Home Front Command (HFC), Katz announced that restrictions would be relaxed from Wednesday evening.
“Alongside intensified combat against Iran to remove threats — we will reopen the economy, gradually release the public, and return Israel to a path of activity and security,” Katz said.



Katz said the decision to reopen the economy was “a message of victory over the Iranian enemy.


“They come to harm and shut down, while we attack them, protect our population, and also begin a phased process of reopening the economy and affected areas — all in line with security considerations,” he added.


Iran’s blunted response: Katz’s decision came after Iran fired around 30 missiles at Israel overnight on both Monday and Tuesday. These smaller salvos have led some military analysts to speculate that Israel’s strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles have hampered the regime’s ability to strike back.


The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, DC, said in a report Tuesday that Israel has “likely degraded Iran’s ability to conduct ballistic missile attacks.”

 

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35 min ago

Khamenei criticizes Israel for taking military action while Iran was negotiating with the US​

From CNN’s Christian Edwards
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticized Israel for launching its military campaign while Tehran was holding talks with the United States over its nuclear enrichment program.

When Israel attacked Iran last week, US President Donald Trump initially cautioned Israel against taking military action while US-Iran talks were ongoing, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that Israel’s action was “unilateral.”

However, Trump administration officials have since voiced support for Israel’s operation, and there is speculation that the US might join its campaign. Trump said last week that he had given Iran “chance after chance to make a deal” to shutter its nuclear enrichment program, which Tehran failed to do.

But in a pre-recorded video message today, Khamenei stressed that Israel’s attack “occurred at a time when our officials were engaged in indirect negotiations with the United States, and there was no indication of any aggressive, military, or hardline action from Iran.”

He claimed that the fact that Israel’s “American allies are stepping in is a sign of the Zionist regime’s weakness and inability.”

“The punishment that the Iranian nation and armed forces have carried out, are continuing to carry out, and have planned for the future is a severe one, and it has weakened the enemy,” he said.

Khamenei urged the Iranian people to continue their lives “with strength.”

 

[Afro]

1h ago
(11:20 GMT)

Israel-Iran crisis could ‘resurrect’ Iran-allied groups in region​

• 
  Ali Hashem

Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq
The Iranians have long said any base with American assets launched towards Iran will be retaliated against.
But there is another layer to this: the potential resurrection of Iran’s allies and factions around the region. Despite the hits Iran-allied groups have taken in recent months, including with Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, there are still roots of these groups that could be resurrected.
In Iraq, we’ve previously seen attacks by Iran-allied factions on bases and logistical convoys used by the US. This could be repeated if the Americans get more involved in this war.
There is a regional concern that what is happening right now might have implications for each and every country.

 

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1h ago
(11:30 GMT)

Iran urges neighbours to prevent infiltration across borders​

Iran’s border guard says it expects neighbouring countries to take action against potential infiltration into Iran originating from their territory, Tasnim news agency said, quoting its commander.
Border police, along with the army and the IRGC, are monitoring border movements, it added.
During its initial salvo against Iran last week, Israel revealed that drone and car bomb attacks were carried out by Israeli intelligence agents from inside Iranian territory.

 

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1h ago
(11:47 GMT)

‘Strong messages about retaliation’ from Iran’s Khamenei​

• 
  Tohid Asadi

Reporting from Tehran, Iran
We’ve heard a very important statement from the Iranian supreme leader.
There are at least three messages he tried to send to the Americans.
First, he said [Israel’s initial strikes] happened when Iran was engaged in indirect nuclear talks with the US and that there was no sign of any military or harsh action from Iran during this time.
Second, he said that the Americans should know that Iran is not going to surrender and that any American military intervention will bring about irreversible damage.
And third, he said the American engagement is a sign of Israel’s weakness.
He also gave a message of solidarity to Iranian citizens who are suffering from Israeli strikes.

 

[Afro]

1h ago
(12:00 GMT)

Putin urges quick end to Israel-Iran conflict, offers to mediate​

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken by phone with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the Israel-Iran crisis, with both leaders expressing “deep concern” and the need for a quick resolution, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
During the call, Putin reiterated Russia’s willingness to help mediate the crisis and updated his Emirati counterpart about his conversations with other regional leaders, TASS reported.