5 d. ago Netanyahu returns to White House holding all the cards in Gaza talks

Joint attack on Iran puts Israeli PM in powerful position as he dangles prospect of Trump-brokered ceasefire dealDonald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC on Monday as the US president seeks again to broker a peace deal in Gaza and the Israeli prime minister takes a victory lap through the Oval Office after a joint military campaign against Iran and a series of successful strikes against Tehran and its proxies in the Middle East.Netanyahu and Trump have a complex personal relationship – and Trump openly vented frustration at him last month during efforts to negotiate a truce with Iran – but the two have appeared in lockstep since the US launched a bombing run against Iran’s nuclear programme, fulfilling a key goal for Israeli war planners. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Iran’s devastation has hardened hearts towards the west – even for those with no love of the state | Hossein Hamdieh

The double standards and hypocrisy used to justify Israel’s aggression will not be forgotten here, or in other countriesA trembling ceasefire has brought a pause to what had become the familiar sounds of explosions over Tehran. I was born in 1988, a year before the Iran-Iraq war came to an end. For my generation, war was something that belonged to the past – an impossible event, until this summer.For 12 days, we lived in the capital under incessant Israeli attacks, and what we saw has changed us for good: dead neighbours, buildings gutted and worry – endless, deep-etched worry – on the faces of people.Hossein Hamdieh holds a joint PhD in Geography and Anthropology from Humboldt University of Berlin and King’s College London. He is currently based in Tehran, where he works as a social researcherDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please ...

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2 w. ago The Guardian view on annihilation in Gaza: the deaths mount, but the pressure has ebbed | Editorial

Israel’s attack on Iran overshadowed the ongoing carnage. Its allies are complicit in the horror; they must instead help to build a future for Palestinians“We cannot be asking civilians to go into a combat zone so that then they can be killed with the justification that they are in a combat zone.” It defies belief that the Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, should have needed to spell that out this week. And yet each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect aid for their families from food hubs in Gaza, forced to make a lethal choice between risking being shot and letting their families slowly starve. More than 500 have died around the centres since the system was introduced – yet, with attention fixed on Israel’s attacks on Iran, there has been little to spare for recent deaths.The Israeli military has given shifting accounts of events. But soldiers told the newspaper Haaretz that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds that posed no threat. The Israel...

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2 w. ago How Israel pulled off a mass killing of Iran's top military leaders inspired by Game of Thrones

The operation, in which coordinated bombs rained down on Tehran in a stealth attack on June 13, was referred to within Israel's ranks as the 'Red Wedding.'

Events

2 w. ago Caught in the crossfire, Qatar again finds itself Middle East peace broker

The US has turned to Qatar to mediate between Iran and Israel, despite one of the parties firing missiles at the tiny but staggeringly rich nationMiddle East crisis – live updatesCaught in the crossfire, Qatar on Monday night found itself in the unusual position of being asked by the US to mediate to end a war where one of the two parties was firing missiles at it. But then there are few countries as multifaceted as Qatar, or few conflicts quite as tangled as the Iran-Israel war.It seems Monday’s heavily signalled Iranian attack on Qatar’s 60-acre Al Udeid airbase, the largest US military facility in the Middle East, may even have become the opening to resume diplomacy. The attack, which caused no casualties, cleared the ground for Donald Trump and Qatar to work together to secure the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran. It once again highlights Qatar’s role as professional mediator – a bespoke service this tiny but massively wealthy country makes available from the Democratic...

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2 w. ago Israel killed at least 14 scientists in an unprecedented attack on Iran's nuclear know

Israel’s tally of war damage it has wrought on Iran includes the targeted killings of at least 14 nuclear scientists and experts

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2 w. ago I spent five years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison but when Israel bombed it I felt horror and fear | Nazanin Zaghari

Many held there are opponents of the repressive regime. Who is alive now? Who was killed? Were they just collateral damage?Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe denounces Israeli attack on Iran’s Evin prisonOn Monday morning Israeli airstrikes struck the Evin prison’s gate, damaging the court adjacent to the prison and some of the wards, including the women’s political ward where I spent five years. The prison holds a large number of political prisoners and opponents of the Islamic Republic in Iran. Nobody seems to know what has happened to them.Since the bombing of Iran started 12 days ago, I have avoided the news and all requests for interviews. It has felt too sad. But as I was sitting at my desk, I saw the news about Evin popping up on my screen. My hands froze and I felt a shiver down my neck, just as when bad news landed back when I was held. After a couple of minutes I contacted my former Evin cellmates who are now outside to check if they knew anything. They were as horrified and scared...

Events

2 w. ago Tehran warns US, Israel and UK will 'bear full responsibility' for attacks in Iran and declares it is prepared to wage war on the West for the next two years

LIVE UPDATES: Follow live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as Israel has launched an 'unprecedented' attack on 'regime targets' in Tehran and Iran vows retaliation against Israel and the US.

Events

2 w. ago Voices: This is a good moment for Israel to be magnanimous and stop the war with Iran

In tandem with the US military, Israel has dealt Iran a heavy blow. Rather than risk reprisal attacks and further escalation across the Middle East, it should take the win and declare a ceasefire – but it will have to make the first move, says Alon Pinkas

Politics

2 w. ago White House says Trump was 'the first president with the guts to do something' about Iran and is 'confident' nuclear sites were 'completely obliterated'

LIVE UPDATES: Follow live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as Israel has launched an 'unprecedented' attack on 'regime targets' in Tehran and Iran vows retaliation against Israel and the US.

Politics

2 w. ago Israel launches 'unprecedented' strikes aimed at wiping out Iran's Revolutionary guards with 'hundreds' dead as Tehran vows to kill 50,000 US soldiers

LIVE UPDATES: Follow live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as Israel has launched an 'unprecedented' attack on 'regime targets' in Tehran and Iran vows retaliation against Israel and the US.

Events

2 w. ago Trump administration denies wanting war with Iran or regime change after nuclear site bombing raid

With the world reeling after Trump’s attack on Iran, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the operation was only about ending Tehran’s ambitions for nuclear weapons

Events

2 w. ago Israel launches fresh wave of strikes on Iran including second attack on nuclear complex

The US has moved B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying 'bunker-busting' bombs as President Trump continues to debate joining Israel in strikes on Iran .

Events

3 w. ago Do Israeli attacks on Iran risk nuclear contamination? Experts weigh in

Israel has said it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, while avoiding any nuclear disaster in the region

Events

3 w. ago Israel’s attack has exposed Iran’s lack of firepower – but conflict could yet turn in Tehran’s favour

Iran has struggled to respond effectively after Israel killed many of its top military commandersIt is a week since Israel began its largest attack ever on Iran, and in conventional military terms it is clear that Tehran is under extreme pressure. Israel has been able to achieve superiority over Iran’s skies at extraordinary speed, within hours of launching its surprise assault. Its military claimed on Monday to have knocked out 120 Iranian air defence systems through a mixture of air and drone strikes, about a third of Tehran’s pre-war total.In response, Iran’s most effective weapon has been its stock of high-speed ballistic missiles, estimated at about 2,000 by Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) at the outset of hostilities last week. But the heavy targeting by Israel of launch sites in western Iran, in underground bases such as at Kermanshah – coupled with Israel’s grimly effective targeted killing of Iran’s top military commanders – have left Iran struggling to respond militarily and ...

Events

3 w. ago Trump warns Iran: ‘I will make my decision whether or not to go within two weeks’

Sheds first light on a timeline for whether or not president will draw US forces into the conflict between Israel and iran

Events

3 w. ago Iran's cratered nuclear reactor after Israel's precision strike revealed as Tel Aviv threatens to assassinate supreme leader and Trump considers joining war: Live updates

Benjamin Netanyahu has declared 'no one is immune' from an Israeli attack after his defence minister insisted Iran 's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist'.

Events

3 w. ago Here’s what happens next if Trump launches his attack plan on Iran: report

President still mulling joining Israeli assault against Tehran to stop its nuclear program

Politics

3 w. ago Iran's cratered nuclear reactor after Israel's precision strike revealed as Tel Aviv threatens to assassinate supreme leader and Trump considers joining war

Benjamin Netanyahu has declared 'no one is immune' from an Israeli attack after his defence minister insisted Iran 's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist'.

Events

3 w. ago Netanyahu makes chilling threat to Ayatollah after Israeli minister said Iran's leader 'cannot continue to exist'

Benjamin Netanyahu has declared 'no one is immune' from an Israeli attack after his defence minister insisted Iran 's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist'.

Politics