Iran’s Supreme Leader at an Ashura religious ceremony in Tehran, July 5, 2025

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: The War of the 3 Egos — Iran’s Supreme Leader, Israel’s Netanyahu, and Trump

EA on WION: Israel-Iran — Will A Tenuous Ceasefire Hold?

Trump Administration Scrambles Over Assessment of Limited Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Sites

UPDATE 1553 GMT:

The US Treasury has sanctioned 22 entities based in Hong Kong, the UAE, and Turkey “for their roles in facilitating the sale of Iranian oil that benefits the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force”.

The Treasury alleges that the front companies are part of a “shadow banking system” enabled Iran to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars, circumventing sanctions.

UPDATE, JULY 10:

A “senior Israeli official” claims intelligence shows that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not removed from three nuclear sites attacked by the US on June 23.

The official declared that around 400 kg (880 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% remained at the Fordoo, Natanz, and Isfahan complexes.

They suggested that the Iranians might be able to reach the enriched uranium, where most of the stockpile is believed to be held, but that it would be very difficult to remove it.

UPDATE, JULY 9:

Iran Vice President Saeed Obadi, who heads the Martyrs Foundation, says 1,060 people were killed during Israel’s 12-day war.

Obadi said on State TV that the number could rise to 1,100 because of critically injured patients and unidentified victims.

UPDATE 1529 GMT:

In an interview, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Israel attempted to assassinate him.

They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed.

It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting….They tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.

UPDATE 0737 GMT:

Almost 450,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the start of June, following Tehran’s order for those without documentation to leave by July 6.

The order potentially affected 4 million of around 6 million Afghans in Iran.

From June 1 to July 5, 449,218 Afghans left Iran, said a spokesman for the UN’s International Organization for Migration. The total for 2025 is 906,326.

Many Afghans reported pressure from authorities; arrest and deportation; or the loss of already limited finances.

UPDATE, JULY 7:

Satellite images and videos indicate that Israel struck four areas of Tehran’s Evin Prison in a strike on June 23, killing at least 71 prison officials, administrative staff, and detainees and their family members.

The struck areas were across 2,000 feet of the prison. A building with administrative offices was destroyed and a medical center heavily damaged.

Death notices and prison records indicate the victims include 43 staff, among them Ali Ghanaatkar, Evin’s top prosecutor at Evin, a doctor, and a social worker; two conscripted soldiers’ and at least four civilians who did not work at the pReza Shafakhahrison, including the social worker’s 5-year-old son and another child.

About 100 transgender inmates are missing after their section of the prison was flattened, and authorities presume they are dead, said Reza Shafakhah, a prominent human rights lawyer.

“Based on the locations, it appears there must have been at least four separate munitions, as nothing that was hit would seem volatile enough to cause damage to spread elsewhere,” said Sean O’Connor, an imagery analyst at the defense intelligence firm Janes.

William Goodhind, a geospatial analyst at Contested Ground, said the images indicate at least six strikes. Access points, such as the gates on the north and south sides of the complex, and staff in the central buildings were targeted.

The Israel Defense Forces said the attack, a day before a ceasefire, was on a complex used for “intelligence operations against the State of Israel, including counterespionage”. It insisted the strike was “carried out in a precise manner to mitigate harm to civilians imprisoned within the prison to the greatest extent possible”.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who was a long-time political prisoner in Evin before she was unconditionally released in March, said Israel’s attack “carried out in broad daylight, in front of families and visitors, is clearly a war crime”.

UPDATE, JULY 6:

Iran’s Supreme Leader has appeared in public for the first time since Israel’s 12-day war in June.

Ayatollah Khamenei waved to the gathering in Tehran for the Ashura religious ceremony. He made no statement.

Facing assassination attempts by Israel as they launched strikes on Iran on June 13, Khamenei spent the war in a bunker. Most of his senior military commanders, some of his top political officials, and around 13 nuclear scientists were slain.

Khamenei’s social media accounts and website posted photos of the ceremony but gave no details.

However, a member of his office proclaimed, “The Hussainiyah exploded [with emotion] when the Supreme Leader arrived… The waves of this explosion will reach Tel Aviv and the White House — a powerful surge of devotion, love, and longing from the people for their leader.

UPDATE, JULY 3:

Iranian authorities have reportedly charged French political detainees Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, detained since May 2022 in Tehran’s Evin Prison, with spying for Israel.

Amid Israel’s 12-day war, Iran has executed at least three Iranian men and arrested dozens of people on allegations of espionage.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the claims about Kohler and Paris are “totallly unjustified and unfounded”. He called for the couple’s “immediate, unconditional release”.

A French diplomat met the political prisoners earlier this week after concerns for their welfare amid Israel’s bombing of Evin on June 23.

UPDATE 0735 GMT:

During Israel’s 12-day war, Iran prepared to mine the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas supplies pass, say “sources familiar with US intelligence”.

The sources said the Iranian military loaded the mines onto ships in the Persian Gulf. The mines were not planted in the Strait, and it is unclear whether they were unloaded from the ships.

They assessed that Iran had no real intention of mining the Strait, but was using the threat to influence the Trump Administration.

Iran’s Parliament voted to block the waterway after the US attacked three nuclear sites on June 21.

UPDATE, JULY 2:

Iran has suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

President Masoud Pezeshkian implemented the law passed by Parliament last week.

The UN agency responded, “We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran.”

Tehran claims the IAEA enabled Israel’s 12-day war and strikes by the US on the Iranian nuclear facilities, with a pre-war resolution criticizing Iran’s breach of obligations and failure to criticize the Israeli and American assaults.

UPDATE 1103 GMT:

Iran’s Parliament has passed legislation imposing the death penalty for collaboration with Israel and other “hostile” nations.

The law classifies intelligence activities, espionage, or operational cooperation with Israel, the United States, or other hostile countries as “corruption on Earth”, a charge punishable by death in Iran.

Provision of military, financial, or technological support to Israel is also defined as a capital offense. Manufacture of military drones, conduct of cyberattacks, or sabotage of infrastructure for enemy states is punishable by death, even if ineffective.

Possession, purchase, or sale of unauthorized communication tools, including Starlink devices, carries a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years. Manufacturing or importing more than 10 devices increases the punishment to 5 to 10 years in prison.

Publishing false news or producing content that causes “division, public fear, or threatens national security” can result in 10 to 15 years of imprisonment. Sending images or videos to foreign media outlets that “affect public morale” carries a sentence of 2 to 5 years. Participation in “illegal” gatherings during wartime is punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison.

Iran’s judiciary announced on Monday that it has established special courts to prosecute “traitors, mercenaries, and those who betrayed their country”.

Spokesman Asghar Jahangir said orders have been issued to prosecutor’s offices across Iran to set up branches to handle cases against people allegedly linked to “hostile networks and conspirators”: “The judiciary immediately acted with force and speed after the enemy’s attack.

UPDATE, JULY 1:

A spokesperson for the Iranian Government says, “Our nuclear sites are seriously damaged.”

She added, “No negotiation date is set, and talks may not be imminent. No decision has been made yet on holding them.”

UPDATE 1233 GMT:

Iran authorities say at least 935 people were killed by Israel’s 12-day war.

Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said 132 women and 38 children are among the victims.

The toll from Israel’s strike on Evin Prison in Tehran last Monday has risen to 79 killed. The attack hit the prison’s infirmary, engineering building, judicial affairs section, and visitation hall.

Israeli authorities have reported 28 deaths in Israel from Iran’s retaliatory strikes.

UPDATE 1222 GMT:

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian has told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that Tehran halted cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency because of “destructive” behaviour towards the Islamic Republic by IAEA head Rafael Grossi.

In a phone call late Sunday, Pezeshkian referred to the Iranian Parliament’s legislation last week for suspension of links with the IAEA.

The action taken by Parliament members…is a natural response to the unjustified, unconstructive, and destructive conduct of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iranian officials have accused the IAEA of complicity in Israel’s war because of a resolution, just before the Israeli attacks began on June 13, citing Iran’s breach of obligations over its nuclear program.

One newspaper close to the Supreme Leader has called for Grossi’s arrest.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that the security of IAEA inspectors cannot be guaranteed following Israeli and US strikes.

In a joint statement, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his German and British counterparts Johann Wadephul and David Lammy said:

France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the agency.

We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA.

We urge Iran to immediately resume full cooperation in line with its legally binding obligations, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of IAEA personnel.

UPDATE 1218 GMT:

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi says the Trump Administration must pledge no further airstrikes before negotiations are resumed.

Takht-Ravanchi confirmed that Iranian officials have heard of the Administration’s desire to meet. No date has been agreed.

Right now we are seeking an answer to this question: are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue? They have not made their position clear yet.

UPDATE 0708 GMT:

Careening between threats and enticements, Donald Trump posted early Monday that he is not offering Iran “anything”.

The Trump Administration reportedly has discussed offering Iran, in return for an agreement over its nuclear program, access to up to $30 billion for civil energy projects.

Trump said in a TV interview on Sunday:

Sanctions cost us a lot of money but I would… start waiving them for countries like Iran, if they behave themselves, where they can sell oil and they can do the things that you want to be able to do.

If they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they’re not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.

But he posted this morning:

I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama, who paid them $Billions under the stupid “road to a Nuclear Weapon JCPOA” (which would now be expired!), nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their Nuclear Facilities.

UPDATE, JUNE 30:

Defying the assessments of the International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence officers, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has told legislators that Iran’s nuclear program was set back “years” by American strikes on June 21.

During the closed-door hearing last week, Ratcliffe said Iran’s only metal conversion facility had been destroyed in a “monumental setback” for Tehran.

He claimed the majority of Iran’s enriched uranium is buried beneath rubble in the Isfahan and Fordoo sites.

Satellite images indicate Iran has begun repairs at Fordoo, buried into the side of a mountain near the holy city of Qom. Heavy equipment, an excavator, and a crane are near two clusters of three strikes on ventilation shafts after the the Iranians created at least two new access roads.

Analysts assess that Iran may be filling craters and conducting engineering damage assessments and radiological sampling.

On Friday, the Iranians began filling a crater at the Natanz site, caused by a bunker buster bomb.

UPDATE 1913 GMT:

In his interview with Fox TV (see 1449 GMT), Donald Trump said:

Sanctions cost us a lot of money but I would… start waiving them for countries like Iran, if they behave themselves, where they can sell oil and they can do the things that you want to be able to do.

If they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they’re not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.

He denied reports that, during Israel’s war, the Administration allowed China to buy sanctioned Iranian oil, insisting that sanctions remained in place.

UPDATE 1808 GMT:

The Twitter account of Iran’s Supreme Leader has jabbed at Donald Trump’s claim of “obliteration” of the Iranian nuclear program:

The President of the United States exaggerated unusually.

Anyone who heard those words understood that beneath their surface, another truth existed. They couldn’t do anything and exaggerated to cover up and keep it secret.

In conversations intercepted by the US, Iranian government officials said US strikes were less destructive than they expected, say “four people familiar with classified intelligence“.

Israel officials claimed last week that the Iranian staff were playing down the extent of damage in false reports to political leaders.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt snapped in reply to today’s article:

It’s shameful that The Washington Post is helping people commit felonies by publishing out-of-context leaks. The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over.

An Administration official insisted the Iranians were “wrong because we’ve destroyed their metal conversion facility. We know that our weapons were delivered precisely where we wanted them to be delivered and they had the effect that we wanted.”

And another official said, “One slice of signals intelligence on its own does not reflect the full intelligence picture.”

UPDATE 1449 GMT:

Donald Trump has repeated his unsupported claim that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated like nobody’s ever seen before” by US strikes on June 21.

“The bomb went through it like it was butter, like it was absolute butter,” he said of the Fordoo facility, built into the side of a mountain. “It’s just thousands of tons of rock in that room right now. The whole place was just destroyed.”

However, amid intelligence from US agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency that the damage was limited and Iran could resume uranium enrichment in months, he hedged in the interview with Fox TV: “That meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.”

Trump defied the intelligence by asserting that the Iranians did not move highly enriched uranium out of the Fordoo site: “I think first it was very hard to do. It’s very dangerous to do. It’s very heavy, very, very heavy. It’s a very hard thing to do. Plus, we didn’t give much notice because they didn’t know we were coming until just then.”

He continued, “The last thing they want to do right now is think about nuclear. They have to put themselves back into condition and shape.”

UPDATE 1444 GMT:

The head of Iran’s military, Abdolrahim Mousavi, says Tehran is not convinced that Israel will honor the ceasefire announced on Tuesday.

We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power, and as we have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force.

UPDATE 0811 GMT:

Iran opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, held in strict house arrest from February 2011 to March 2025, has challenged the regime, “The country’s security capabilities should be focused on containing Israel, not political critics, cultural figures, or even women’s hair.”

Karroubi has been detained along with Mir Hossein Mousavi, the likely first-round victor of Iran’s disputed Presidential election in 2009, and Mousavi’s wife, artist, academic, and activist Zahra Rahnavard.

UPDATE 0648 GMT:

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz has spoken by phone with the new head of Iran’s military, Abdolrahim Mousavi.

The State outlet Saudi Press Agency said the men “reviewed bilateral relations in the defense field and discussed regional developments as well as efforts to maintain security and stability”, in a call initiated by Mousavi.

Mousavi was appointed after his predecessor Mohammad Hossein Baqeri was killed by an Israeli strike in the opening hours of Israel’s war on June 13.

UPDATE 0642 GMT:

Iran’s judiciary says an Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin Prison last week killed 71 people.

The victims included administrative staff, detainees, visiting families, and people living in nearby buildings.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that the airstrike hit the gate of the complex, apparently to enable the escape of prisoners.

UPDATE, JUNE 29:

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi says Iran likely can produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”, repairing damage to nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks.

Donald Trump declared the “total and complete obliteration” of the Iranian nuclear program just after American strikes, including with “bunker buster” bombs, on three Iranian sites on June 21.

However, that assertion was put in doubt by a US Defense Intelligence Agency initial assessment which says there was limited damage to the Fordoo and Natanz underground complexes as well as the Isfahan facility holding most of Iran’s 60% uranium.

Iran, while acknowledging “significant” and “serious” damage, also said it moved out much of the equipment and uranium stock, a claim supported by satellite images.

Grossi said on Friday in an interview with the US outlet CBS News, that “some” of the Iranian program “is still standing”.

“They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” he explained.

The Director General said of Iran’s uranium stock:

We don’t know where this material could be.

So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification.

He added, “We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened.”

However, that task has been complicated by Iran’s suspension of ties with the IAEA.

Iranian officials claim that the Agency enabled Israel’s 12-day war with a resolution, passed days earlier, that cited Iran’s breach of obligations over its nuclear program. Some also have assailed the IAEA for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes.

The Majlis, Iran’s Parliament, passed a bill last week for the end of cooperation. The measure was put into effect with President Masoud Pezeshkian’s signature.

UPDATE 1336 GMT:

Iran State media says Israel not only assassinated a nuclear scientist early Tuesday, just before a ceasefire, but also killed at least 12 members of his family.

The ancestral home of Seyed Mohammad Reza Sedighi Saber, in the Gilan Province in northern Iran, was struck by Israeli missiles around 1:10 a.m.

On June 13, Israel bombed the scientist’s residence in Tehran, killing his 17-year-old son Hamid Reza.

UPDATE 1251 GMT:

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has jabbed at Donald Trump, working in NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s reference to Trump as “Daddy”.

If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers.

The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to “Daddy” to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults. If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran.

UPDATE 1014 GMT:

Satellite images indicate Iran has regained access to the Isfahan nuclear site following last Saturday’s US missile strikes on the complex.

The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told senators on Thursday that bunker-buster bombs were not used on Isfahan, where most of Iran’s 60% enriched uranium was stored, because they could not reach the underground area (see 0757 GMT).

UPDATE 0958 GMT:

Iran’s judiciary has confirmed the killing of Ali Qena’atkar Mavardiani, Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran and head of Evin Prison’s Public and Revolutionary Court, in an Israeli missile strike on the prison on Monday.

The Israeli strike on the entrance caused multiple casualties among prison staff, judiciary employees, and civilians visiting inmates.

UPDATE 0804 GMT:

Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined the streets of Tehran for the funerals of top commanders, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards, and nuclear scientists killed during Israel’s 12-day war.

The caskets of Guards commander Gen. Hossein Salami; the head of the Guards’ ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh; and others were carried on trucks on an 11-km (7-mile) route from Enghelab Square to Azadi Square.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian; Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf; the head of the Guards’ Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Qa’ani; and senior government officials and military commanders attended the event.

The Supreme Leader did not.

UPDATE 0757 GMT:

The US did not use “bunker buster” bombs on one of three Iranian nuclear sites attacked last Saturday.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told senators on Thursday that the Isfahan facility is so deep that the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators likely would not have been effective, said “three people who heard his remarks and a fourth who was briefed on them”.

US officials believe Isfahan’s underground structures hold nearly 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium.

The site was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said after the briefing that some of Iran’s capabilities “are so far underground that we can never reach them. So they have the ability to move a lot of what has been saved into areas where there’s no American bombing capacity that can reach it.”

UPDATE, JUNE 28:

The Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has told colleagues that Iran is no longer a “nuclear threshold state” following Israeli and US strikes, says “a source familiar with the matter”.

Zamir said Iran may still maintain parts of its nuclear program, but it has been set back by years. He cited the assassinations of around a dozen key scientists and the attacks on key nuclear facilities and other elements of manufacture and weaponization.

UPDATE 1900 GMT:

Donald Trump has reacted to provocative remarks by Iran’s Supreme Leader with anger and a threat to bomb Iranian sites again.

Ayatollah Khamenei said on Friday, “[The US] entered the war in an effort to save that [Israel] regime but achieved nothing. The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the US’s face.”

Trump posted:

His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life. I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.

US officials said during Israel’s war that the Administration rejected an Israeli request for support of the assassination of the Supreme Leader.

Trump said he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran to give it a chance for a speedy recovery, but “I get hit with [Khamenei’s] statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more.”

Asked by reporters about the possibility of more bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, he replied, “Sure, without question, absolutely.”

UPDATE 1447 GMT:

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “prepare an enforcement plan against Iran that includes maintaining Israel’s air superiority, preventing nuclear advancement and missile production, and responding to Iran for supporting terror activity against Israel”.

Katz posted on social media:

We will act regularly to thwart such threats. I suggest the defanged head of the snake in Tehran, understand and beware: Operation Rising Lion was only the preview of a new Israeli policy.

After October 7, immunity is over.

UPDATE 1354 GMT:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said in a video message to a conference in Belarus: “The attacks carried out by the United States and the Zionist regime constitute a grave violation of all international norms and an irreparable blow to the integrity of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.”

Pezeshkian declared, “The Israeli assault occurred in the midst of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program — a deliberate attempt to sabotage the diplomatic process.”

He said Israel had “killed outside of the norms of war. They targeted university students and civilians. Many civilians were killed during this war. They hit residential buildings, hospitals, and places of work.”

UPDATE 1348 GMT:

Amid the Trump Administration’s anger over a Defense Intelligence Agency initial assessment of limited damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday he is looking at ways to implement the White House’s directive to limit the classified information that lawmakers can receive.

“We’re looking into that. It’s a real problem,” Johnson said. “Clearly there was a leak, and you can’t have that. When you’re dealing with national security matters it’s a serious problem that you got to address.”

Johnson did not rule out eliminating the classified briefings altogether.

It probably effects what we are able to be told because there are real risks to that. So, it’s unfortunate. It effects how the institution works and that’s a problem so we got to address it.

The White House is scheduled to give a classified briefing to Representatives today, following its presentation to senators on Thursday.

UPDATE 1312 GMT:

“Three senior Israeli officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence” says Iran’s stockpile of 60% is now in underground tunnels in Fordoo and Isfahan which have been “sealed off” because of bombing.

Israeli officials say they believe they will detect any Iranian attempt to recover the uranium.

UPDATE 1221 GMT:

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi say renewed negotiations with the US have been hindered by the American strikes that caused “significant and serious damage” at three nuclear sites.

The attacks “made [the effort] more complicated and more difficult”. Araqchi left open the possibility that Iran would return to discussions but continued, “No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations. No time has been set, no promise has been made, and we haven’t even talked about restarting the talks.”

In a televised interview, Araqchi acknowledged that Iran had briefly broken Tuesday’s ceasefire because of a “misunderstanding”.

He said Iranian operations continued for 3 1/2 hours after Israel halted attacks.

The firing of two Iranian missiles on northern Israel threatened to end the ceasefire as soon as it took effect, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz pledging “intense strikes” on Tehran.

The breakdown was averted when Donald Trump, who had berated Israel’s imminent strikes in a foul-mouthed statement to reporters, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that retaliation would be limited to a single strike on a radar station northeast of Tehran.

Araqchi also rewrote history by claiming Israel had requested the ceasefire. In fact, the halt was arranged by communications between Iran, Qatar, Trump Administration members, and France.

The Foreign Minister said the Government will implement the Parliamentary legislation to halt cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He claimed IAEA head Rafael Grossi enabled Israel’s war with a report citing Iran’s breach of obligations over its past and present nuclear program, and criticized the IAEA’s failure to condemn the US strikes.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: US senators are clashing over the Trump Administration’s attempt to wish away intelligence showing limited damage from American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

After the leak of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s initial assessment, the Trump Administration cancelled a briefing for Congress on Tuesday. Donald Trump called media “real scum” for reporting the intelligence, which took apart his claim of “complete and total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program. His top officials tried to bury the information by attacking the “leaker”, pledging an FBI investigation, and maintaining — without presenting any evidence — that “severe damage” had set back Iran’s program by months or even years.

On Thursday, the Administration held the briefing. However, it excluded the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who had presented the intelligence community’s assessment earlier this year that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

As his officials and the senators were in session, Trump attacked again, “The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!”.

“No Endgame, No Plan, No Specifics”

Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham loyally said after the briefing, “They blew these places up in a major-league way. They set them back years, not months. Nobody is going to work in these three sites any time soon. Their operational capability was obliterated.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, echoed that the strikes had caused “catastrophic damage”.

However, Graham hedged Trump’s proclamation of “tremendous success”:

Have we obliterated their desire to have a nuclear weapon? As long as they desire one, as long as they want to kill all the Jews, you still have a problem on your hands. I don’t want the American people to think this is over.

Democrats gave a different assessment. Sen. Chris Murphy questioned why Gabbard had not attended the briefing.

“The President was deliberately misleading the public when he said the program was obliterated,” he told reporters. “It is certain that there is still significant capability and significant equipment that remain.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader in the Senate, summarized:

What was clear is that there was no coherent strategy, no endgame, no plan, no specific[s], no detailed plan on how Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

What are we doing?

Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, followed up, “The only question that matters is whether the Iranian regime has the stuff necessary to build a bomb, and if so, how fast.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said, “Certainly this mission was successful insofar as it extensively destroyed and perhaps severely damaged and set back the Iranian nuclear arms program.”

However, he returned to the starting point of relying on assessments rather than the political spin of Trump and his officials: “But how long and how much really remains to be determined by the intelligence community itself.”