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US knew about Israel attack plans in advance – Netanyahu
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel had informed the US about its plans to attack Iran before carrying them out.
“I leave the American position to the Americans. We updated them ahead of time. They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President (Donald) Trump. He makes his decisions independently,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
“I am not going to speak for him (Trump). He does that very convincingly and assertively. He said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, they cannot have enrichment capabilities.”
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Trump says 'we knew everything' about Israel’s strike on Iran
President Donald Trump has said “we kew everything” about Israel’s strikes on Iran. Israel’s prime minister said a short while ago that the US had advanced warning of its attack on Iran.
Trump also told Reuters in a phone interview that it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country.
Trump told Reuters the US still has nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday, but that he is not sure if they will still take place. He said it was not too late for Iran to make a deal. “I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” Trump said.
He also said he is not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel’s strikes.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA said that radiation levels outside Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment site following Israeli strikes “remained unchanged”.
“The type of radioactive contamination present inside the facility, mainly alpha particles, can be managed with appropriate protective measures,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi wrote on X.
US warns of missiles, drones, rockets over Iraq airspace
The US State Department has warned of missiles, drones or rockets flying over Iraq in a security warning that said Iraq has suspended air traffic at all airports and closed its airspace, Reuters reports.
“Due to regional events, there are indications there may be missiles, drones, or rockets flying over Iraqi airspace. In the event of such an incident seek overhead cover and shelter in place. Do not expose yourself to falling debris,” the department said in a security alert.
US knew about Israel attack plans in advance – Netanyahu
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel had informed the US about its plans to attack Iran before carrying them out.
“I leave the American position to the Americans. We updated them ahead of time. They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President (Donald) Trump. He makes his decisions independently,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
“I am not going to speak for him (Trump). He does that very convincingly and assertively. He said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, they cannot have enrichment capabilities.”
Egyptian authorities have detained or deported more foreign nationals seeking to join a pro-Palestinian march to Gaza, Reuters reports.
Hundreds of international activists arrived in Egypt this week for the Global March to Gaza, an initiative aimed at pressuring Israel to end its blockade of the enclave.
Groups of foreign participants were being held at checkpoints, and sit-ins had begun at two locations on the road leading to the Rafah crossing, organisers said.
They said police were stopping vehicles about 30 km (20 miles) from Ismailia, close to the Sinai peninsula, en route to Rafah, nearly 300 km away. Police were forcing passengers with non-Egyptian passports to disembark, they said.
Security sources confirmed that at least 88 individuals had been detained or deported from Cairo airport and other locations. Three airport sources told Reuters on Thursday at least 73 foreign nationals had been deported on a flight to Istanbul after authorities said they violated entry protocols, and that about 100 more were at the airport awaiting deportation.
French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France was determined to recognise a Palestinian state despite what was happening in the region, referring to the military attack Israel launched earlier on Iran.
Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that Iran missed an opportunity to make a nuclear deal with the United States, but it may now have another chance to strike an agreement.
“They missed the opportunity to make a deal. Now, they may have another opportunity. We’ll see,” Trump was quoted as saying by NBC.
Trump told NBC that Iranian representatives were calling him to suggest they still want a deal.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the UN security council emergency meeting on Friday over Israel’s strikes on Iran will take place at 7pm GMT (8pm in the UK, which is currently on BST).
The newly appointed commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Pakpour, threatened to open “the gates of hell” in retaliation for Israel’s attacks that killed his predecessor Hossein Salami.
“In retribution for the blood of our fallen commanders, scientists and citizens, the gates of hell will soon be opened upon this child-killing regime,” Pakpour said of Israel in a message carried by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
A United Nations conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia aimed at forging a plan towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians has been postponed after Israel launched a military attack on Iran, two sources told Reuters on Friday.
A western diplomatic source in Riyadh said the Saudi-French conference would be postponed, partly because of the strikes on Iran. A second source familiar with the situation told Reuters some delegations from the Middle East would not, or could not, come because of the developments.
France and Saudi Arabia had planned to host the high-level gathering between 17-20 June in New York, aiming to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.
President Emmanuel Macron, who was expected to attend on 18 June, has previously suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference, a move opposed by Israel.
US president Donald Trump’s administration sent a diplomatic cable earlier this week to discourage governments around the world from attending the conference, according to a US cable seen by Reuters.
Saudi Arabia’s government media office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. France’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment either, said Reuters.
Macron is scheduled to hold a press conference later on Friday, where he is expected to talk about the Israeli strike on Iran and the situation in the Middle East.
Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the ambassador of Switzerland, which represents US interests in Tehran, state media said on Friday.
“During the meeting, the Islamic Republic of Iran conveyed its deep outrage and strong protest over this act of aggression by Israel and the support extended to it by the United States,” said the official news agency IRNA, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Spanish government has called for “restraint” from Israel and Iran, in a statement on Friday. It also called for an “immediate end to the violence”.
The statement read:
The Spanish government calls for restraint from all parties and an immediate end to the violence.
Spain reiterates its commitment to stability in the Middle East and will continue working with its partners for lasting peace in the region.
Spain’s embassies in Iran and in the countries of the region remain fully operational to assist Spaniards in any eventuality.
Masoud Pezeshkian, responding to a series of Israeli attacks overnight, promised harsh and decisive action.
Israel said it targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran building an atomic weapon.
Pezeshkian’s speech has been subtitled in English in the video below.
The Guardian graphics team have shared this map that shows where the Israeli airstrikes have been reported in Iran.
Reported Israeli airstrikes on Iran.Reported Israeli airstrikes on Iran.IAEA to convene extraordinary board meeting on Monday following Israel attack: diplomats
The Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will next week convene an extraordinary meeting of its board of governors at the request of Iran after Israeli strikes on the country, diplomats told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday.
The meeting will begin at 10am (8am GMT/9am BST) on Monday at the IAEA’s Vienna headquarters, two diplomats told AFP.
Iran media says 8 killed in Israeli strike on Tabriz
Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least eight people and injured 12 others in Iran’s north-western Tabriz city and its surroundings, the provincial governor told Iranian news agency ISNA.
“At least eight people … were killed following the attacks of the Zionist regime,” said Majid Farshi, governor of East Azerbaijan province, of which Tabriz is the capital.
Libby Brooks
UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that she agrees with Israel’s strikes on Iran and that the UK “should not be confused about whose side we’re on” as she spoke to reporters at the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh this afternoon.
Badenoch said:
We cannot have Iran getting nuclear weapons. Iran has tried to carry out terrorist attacks on our soil. Let’s be very clear, Iran getting nuclear weapons would be destructive for the UK, so yes [I agree with Israel’s attacks].
Asked whether she disagreed with calls by prime minister Keir Starmer to de-escalate the conflict, she said:
Things do need to de-escalate, but if Israel sees Iran getting nuclear weapons, I don’t think he [Starmer] should sit back and put his feet up and say, ‘well, we’re de-escalating’, because the country that will escalate is Iran, and that would be absolutely disastrous for the entire world.
This is not an area where we should be confused about whose side we’re on, and we can’t just assume that warm words are going to stop Iran from doing something that would destroy our way of life.
