15 h. ago Two months after its war with Israel, Iran braces for another showdown

As Europe considers triggering the JCPOA's snapback mechanism and reimposing sanctions, Independent Persian’s editor-in-chief Camelia Entekhabifard warns about the possibility of a second Iran-Israel war

Politics

45 h. ago ‘Far more dangerous than war’: Iranians brace for prospect of UN sanctions

Some Tehran residents are bullish about withstanding the hardship sanctions would cause but others say the regime should relentAs the worshippers streamed into the vast Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran to hear a call to prayer, the mood was one of determination, and some trepidation, as they faced the real prospect of UN sanctions in 30 days and even a rerun of the 12-day war with Israel.With guards watching, a worshipper giving his name simply as Mousavi said: “The reality is that many countries have nuclear power and are not subject to these rules but Iran is singled out for controls because we oppose Israel. We are dealt with in a different way because of our foreign policy. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Iran faces return of sweeping sanctions from UK, France and Germany

Decision by European powers follows Iran’s failure to readmit UN inspectors to all of its nuclear sitesThe UK, France and Germany are expected to announce on Thursday that they will reimpose sweeping sanctions on Iran for failing to readmit UN inspectors into all of its nuclear sites.The decision, under consideration for months, is likely to provoke the worst crisis in Iran’s relations with the west since Israel’s attacks on the country’s nuclear sites in June. Iran is already preparing countermeasures. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Sir Tony Blair has briefed Donald Trump on how to rebuild Gaza 'when the war ends in the next four months'

The former Prime Minister held talks on the Middle East peace process with the US President and his son-in-law Jared Kushner at the White House.

Politics

4 d. ago Brooklyn Beckham's savage swipe at family as he tells reason he'd return to UK

Brooklyn Beckham has been at war with his family in recent months, with the Beckham's being snubbed from his vow renewal ceremony with wife Nicola Peltz

Politics

4 d. ago Return of UN nuclear inspectors to Iran met with protests by MPs

Some Iranian officials say readmission breaches law passed after Israel and the US attacked the country in JuneThe partial return of UN inspectors to Iran for the first time since Israel and the US attacked Iran’s nuclear sites has been met with protests by officials in Tehran, who claim the strict preconditions they set have been breached. Some even described the return as criminal.Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, tried to quell the backlash by saying the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not be visiting any of the bombed sites and that discussions about these were still to be had. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Amsterdam’s squatter wars are back – and wealthy Dutch homeowners have only themselves to blame | Senay Boztas

Those already on the property ladder are fuelling a shameful disparity. Until they wake up, the krakers will keep comingThe late Dutch author and Holocaust survivor Marga Minco once wrote about an empty house in Amsterdam where she and a group of artists and students took refuge towards the end of the second world war. Last month, the house she lived in for decades was squatted by a new generation of the dispossessed. In the Dutch capital’s overpriced, overcrowded housing market, where homes fetch more per square metre on average than they do in London, the squatters, or krakers, are back.They are the byproduct of a crisis that has spiralled out of control, in which growing anger is justifiably focused on a startling and unsustainable unfairness: the cost of the country’s generous tax breaks for homeowners, who make up more than half of the population, is being borne by hard-working tenants. The return of squatting is a symptom of a public mood that is increasingly furious about the...

Events

6 d. ago Maryam Abu Daqqa spent months photographing the war in Gaza. It claimed her life – but her images will endure

Maryam worked tirelessly to document the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip, writes her colleague at Indy Arabia, Ezz Al Din Abu Eisha

Events

6 d. ago The truth about Katie Price and JJ Slater's relationship: As star, 47, goes to war with her exes her 18 month romance with MAFS star, 32, reaches a major turning point

Katie Price's relationships have been back in the spotlight as her feuds with exes Peter Andre, Kieran Hayler and Alex Reid are reignited.

Events

8 d. ago ‘Very sick and very tired’: the reality of famine for Gaza’s most vulnerable

Catastrophic hunger caused by aid blockade is most keenly felt by elderly people, the young and the destituteIn the overcrowded, rubble strewn streets of Gaza City, there was little surprise at the announcement that UN-backed experts believed the scenes of desperation could now be formally described as a famine.“This is something we have been saying for months now, and we have witnessed this and we have been living this and suffering this. We feel very powerless and very sick and very tired,” said Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO Network, who has been in Gaza City throughout the 22-month war. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Chance of nuclear war 'massively higher than should be tolerable' warns expert

The UK and several other countries have increased defence spending in recent months as the threat of all-out war really does feel closer than ever . . . and it is, apparently

Events

1 week ago Trump calls Israel’s Netanyahu a ‘war hero’ and says ‘I guess I am too’

The president made the remarks in a radio interview complaining he was not given enough credit for bombing Iran’s nuclear sites

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s tariffs replace diplomacy as other US tools of statecraft are discarded

Measures meant to rebalance America’s economy are wielded instead against the likes of Canada, India and Brazil ‘to compel loyalty to the president’On the campaign trail, Donald Trump pledged to use tariffs to revitalise American industry, bringing jobs home and helping to make America great again. But more than six months into his administration, experts say the president’s trade war is increasingly being wielded as a political cudgel, in lieu of more traditional forms of diplomacy.The president’s current target, India, has been unable to reach a trade agreement and Trump appears ready to follow through with his threat to impose a further 25% tariff on Delhi – bringing the total to 50% – the joint highest levy on any country, along with Brazil. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Theatre of war: making an Edinburgh Fringe show about Iran while your country is being bombed

As Israel bombed Iran in June, Sara Amini was preparing to bring a play about her childhood in Tehran to the Edinburgh Fringe. Here the writer and performer explores the impact of war - then and now - on her creative work

Events

1 week ago Hamas says it accepts proposal for Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages

Deal would include 60-day halt to military operations and exchange of half of living Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisonersHamas officials say they have accepted a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal that would include the release of half of the approximately 20 remaining living Israeli hostages as part of a phased resolution to the war, as Gaza health officials said 62,000 Palestinians had died in the 22 months of war.The proposed deal follows negotiations between Hamas and Egyptian and Qatari officials that have been taking place in Cairo in recent days, and comes after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was confronted on Sunday by Israel’s biggest protests of the war, which called for a deal to secure the release of the hostages. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Gaza war death toll surpasses 62,000, says Palestinian Health Ministry

The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war

Events

2 w. ago ‘It’s a horrible picture’: Gaza faces new threat from antibiotic

Fatal infections more likely due to malnutrition, injuries and lack of medical facilities under Israel’s blockadeGaza is facing a new threat as diseases resistant to antibiotics spread across the devastated territory, research has revealed.Medical supplies are desperately scarce and tens of thousands of people have been injured in the 22-month war, while many others have been weakened by malnutrition, so the high levels of drug-resistant bacteria will mean longer and more serious illnesses, a more rapid transmission of infectious diseases and more deaths, experts said. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Israel warns Iran's Ayatollah to 'look up and listen for any buzzing when he emerges from his bunker' after Tehran publishes 'hit list' of Netanyahu and IDF chiefs

Katz made the threat on X in response to a list released by the Iranian regime of people in Israel's political and security leadership who Tehran has marked as targets to be assassinated.

Events

3 w. ago ‘Do I need to purchase camels?’ Australian preppers have found their voice since Covid, but tough questions remain

Once a secretive subculture, survivalism has edged into the mainstream. But what happens if you dedicate your life to preparing for civilisation to collapse and doomsday never comes?Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastShortly after Israel announced its attack on Iran in June, Trevor Andrei sent a message to some of his fellow Australian preppers telling them to stock up on petrol and buy a few hundred dollars’ worth of groceries.“I was like, OK, this is super significant, there’s going to be a response shit’s going to go down,” Andrei says. “Most years, [Australia is] lucky if we’ve got 28 days [of petrol reserve] so if anything hits the world’s oil supply, we can be out of petrol in a month.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Photos show Israelis demonstrating for the release of hostages and ending the Gaza war

Israelis held protests calling for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and for an end to the 22-month war. Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City to pressure Hamas renewed international calls to end the conflict and stirred fears for hostages still in Gaza.

Events