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Deputy FM: IAEA technical team to visit Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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IAEA Team

Speaking to US media, Gharibabadi stressed that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is currently assessing damage to its nuclear facilities caused by recent attacks of the Zionist regime and the US.

Referring to an upcoming meeting with European powers, Gharibabadi described Friday’s planned talks in Istanbul with the E3 (UK, France, and Germany) as “very important”.

He refused to rule out a return to negotiations with the US, underlining the need for preliminary groundwork, including a halt to attacks during talks and mutual understanding that any agreement should benefit both sides.

Regarding the snapback mechanism under the JCPOA, Gharibabadi rejected the legitimacy of its application. He said the deal has not been implemented for over seven years, particularly after the US withdrawal in 2018.

“Europeans ceased their obligations after the US withdrawal…so what do they want Iran to comply with?” he said.

Iran, the deputy foreign minister noted, has not decided to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but believes a fresh dialogue with the IAEA is needed to redefine commitments under current conditions.

He added that a law passed by Iran’s parliament mandates the suspension of IAEA cooperation unless the safety of nuclear facilities and personnel is ensured.

Iran warns of environmental fallout from Israeli strikes in letter to intl. bodies

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The letter was addressed to the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a number of key multilateral environmental institutions.

Ansari’s message expressed grave concern over the targeting of areas near ecologically sensitive zones, energy facilities, oil reserves, and industrial infrastructure. She warned that such attacks could result in chemical leaks, air and water pollution, irreversible ecosystem destruction, and public health crises.

Ansari called for a swift international response to the illegal act with far-reaching ecological consequences.

She urged international institutions to officially condemn the targeting of environmentally sensitive areas.

“The global environmental community must speak with one voice”, she wrote, adding, “Preventing environmental harm during warfare is a shared international obligation.”

Ansari further reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to international law and noted that the nation has a sovereign right to defend its people, territory and environment.

Iranian satellite to launch Friday aboard Russian Soyuz rocket      

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Satellite

According to Tasnim News Agency, the Soyuz space launch vehicle is scheduled to lift off from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome on Friday, at 09:54 AM Iran time.

The mission will carry two primary satellites, Ionosfera-M No. 3 and 4, along with 18 smaller satellites, including Iran’s payload.

This launch is part of Russia’s broader multi-payload satellite deployment program aimed at placing scientific, research, and commercial satellites into Earth orbit.

Full details of the smaller satellites, including their countries of origin and mission objectives, have not been disclosed by Russian authorities.

Iranian Navy helicopter issues stern warning to US destroyer in Gulf of Oman

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iranian Navy

At approximately 10 a.m. local time, the US Navy destroyer identified as USS Fitzgerald attempted to approach waters under the surveillance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Gulf of Oman.

In response, a rapid-reaction team from the Iranian Navy swiftly deployed a helicopter to fly over the foreign vessel and issued a firm warning demanding its departure from the area. According to Iranian military sources, the US destroyer responded by threatening to target the Iranian helicopter, urging it to leave the vicinity.

The Iranian pilot, however, held his ground and renewed the demand for the destroyer to retreat from Iranian-monitored waters.

As tensions escalated, Iran’s air defense units issued a strong message declaring that the Navy helicopter was under full protection and that the US vessel was required to alter its course southward.

Faced with the Iranian Navy’s persistence and the backing of Iran’s defense systems, the heavily-armed US destroyer ultimately changed course and withdrew from the area under Iran’s maritime watch.

Veteran Iranian political figure Ahmad Tavakoli dies at 74

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Tavakoli, who had suffered from Parkinson’s disease in recent years, was hospitalized earlier this month, following a heart attack and was placed in intensive care before passing away.

Born in 1951 in Behshahr, northern Iran, Tavakoli was a key political figure in post-revolution Iran. He served multiple terms in parliament, including as head of the Research Center of Parliament.

A former Minister of Labor under prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, he also ran twice for president, placing second to both Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.

Tavakoli held a PhD in economics from the University of Nottingham and was an associate professor at Shahid Beheshti University until his retirement in 2013.

He was known for founding the Alef news website and the Transparency and Justice Watch NGO.

A vocal advocate of anti-corruption efforts, he maintained a visible presence in political and academic discourse for decades.

Tavakoli is survived by his wife and seven children.

Iran’s president: Talk of ending nuclear program ‘illusion’

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“We categorically reject nuclear weapons. This is our political, religious, human, and strategic stance,” Pezeshkian said, adding that uranium enrichment will continue on Iranian soil in line with global regulations.

The president also warned that Iran is fully prepared for any Israeli military action.

“Our forces are ready to strike deep inside Israel again,” he declared, slamming Israel for launching attacks on Iranian territory last month while concealing the resulting damage.

President Pezeshkian reiterated Iran’s commitment to diplomacy and regional cooperation, saying Iran supports collective security with Arab neighbors and rejects foreign-imposed conditions.

He stressed, “We accept no threats or dictates.”

Referring to a June 23 retaliatory missile strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, President Pezeshkian clarified the Islamic Republic targeted a US base involved in bombing Iran, not Qatar, calling the Persian Gulf state a “brother nation.”

He noted a recent phone call with Qatar’s Emir to reaffirm friendly ties.

Two border police officers killed in militant attack near western Iranian border

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Border Guard

According to a statement, the incident occurred during a confrontation between Iranian border forces and members of an anti-Iranian militant group.

The attackers targeted the Siranband border station, leading to a firefight that resulted in the deaths of two border guards and left one other injured.

Security forces are reportedly investigating the incident, and no group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The region has witnessed periodic clashes between Iranian security forces and various armed groups operating along the western borders, particularly in the Kurdish-populated areas near the Iraqi border.

Columbia University suspends, expels dozens of students over Gaza protests

By
IFP Media Wire
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The student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which has called for the school to cut all financial ties with Israel, said in a statement that nearly 80 students have now been either expelled or suspended for up to three years over their involvement in antiwar protests.

On Tuesday, Columbia said in a statement that its latest punishment of students relates to “disruption of Butler Library in May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024″.

“Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,” the university wrote.

The CUAD group said the university’s sanctions on students “hugely exceed precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations”.

“We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation,” the group added.

The pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024 helped ignite a global movement against Israel’s unrelenting war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The protest sites were eventually broken up when Columbia University allowed hundreds of New York City police officers on campus, leading to dozens of arrests.

Despite the university’s harsh crackdowns, student protesters occupied the Butler Library during final exams in May this year, demanding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Columbia University’s Judicial Board confirmed it issued expulsions, suspensions and degree revocations after what it called a disruption during “reading period”. It did not say how many students were expelled but said that this was “the final set of findings from that period”.

The Ivy League university is in negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration to restore some $400m in federal funding. The Trump administration cut funds to the New York City-based institution over what it claimed were failures to “meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment”.

Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, a former trustee, was booed by students during a May graduation ceremony for her role in cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests.

Fellow Ivy League institution Harvard University, which has also been targeted with billions in funding cuts by the government, has pushed back against pressure to change its policies by taking the Trump administration to court.

The latest disciplinary measures announced by Columbia against students came on Tuesday as Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip continued to cause widespread starvation, with at least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, dying from hunger and malnutrition within a 24-hour period, according to health officials.

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, more than a month after he was released from immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was being held amid a pledge by the US president to deport pro-Palestinian activists.

Iran expresses deep concern over Gaza humanitarian catastrophe

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iranian Foreign Ministry

In a statement, the Ministry called for immediate, effective, and decisive action by the international community and regional countries to halt the genocide and alleviate the suffering of the oppressed Palestinian people.

The statement says the ongoing inhumane blockade of Gaza, the brutal bombardment of refugee shelters, and the transformation of humanitarian aid distribution points into traps for mass killings of hungry and thirsty civilians all attest to the extreme cruelty and heartlessness of the apartheid Israeli regime and its supporters.

Pointing to the killing of over a thousand innocent people while waiting for food and the death of more than 600 due to starvation, it added these mark the height of the Zionist regime’s savagery and constitute clear examples of war crimes and genocide.

According to the statement, the UN Security Council’s failure to fulfill its legal responsibilities in the face of the occupying regime’s aggression and crimes, due to the US’s persistent obstruction, has emboldened the regime and normalized its brutality.

The Foreign Ministry warned that the comprehensive military, economic, and political support provided by the US and certain European countries, particularly Germany, has not only granted the regime near-total impunity but has also paved the way for even more severe crimes aimed at implementing a plan of ethnic cleansing and the forced displacement of Palestinians.

It called on the Islamic countries to use all their capacities, particularly through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations, to compel the supporters of the Zionist regime, especially the US, to halt these crimes and facilitate the urgent delivery of essential aid, especially water, food, and medicine, to the Palestinian people and take action to prosecute and punish the Zionist criminals.

EU warns Israel of action over Gaza war

By
IFP Media Wire
-
The European Union

The warning from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, came on Tuesday, as the United States announced President Donald Trump’s special envoy would be travelling to Europe for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza this week.

In a post on X, Kallas said that “all options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges” to increase humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

She also added Israel’s killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza was “indefensible” and that she had spoken to Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar “to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that [Israeli military] must stop killing people at distribution points”.

Earlier this month, following an EU meeting to review the bloc’s relations with Israel over mounting criticism of its war on Gaza, Kallas stated that Israel had agreed to improve the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

These included pledges to increase the number of aid trucks, crossing points and routes to distribution points.

But aid officials say the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza has not increased despite that agreement.

The US, meanwhile, said that Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be travelling to a European country for talks on a truce, as well as on finalising an aid “corridor” for Gaza. He may then head to the Middle East for more talks, according to media reports.

Axios, a US news outlet, reported that Witkoff will be travelling to the Italian city of Rome on Wednesday and will meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and a senior Qatari envoy on Thursday.

If sufficient progress is made, Witkoff will travel from Rome to the Qatari capital, Doha, towards the end of the week to secure a deal, the website reported, citing two US and Israeli sources familiar with the details.

The US State Department told reporters that Witkoff was heading to the region with “a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow”.

Spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to give further details on the corridor.

“I would suggest that we might have some good news, but, again, as we know, this could be a constantly changing dynamic,” she noted.

Israel cut off all goods from entering the territory in March, but has allowed in a trickle of aid starting in May, mostly through the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and bypassing the United Nations.

The GHF has set up four distribution points in south and central Gaza, and according to the UN, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food aid since the group began its operations in late May.

Most of the victims were killed at or near the GHF sites.

The killings come as the number of people starving to death in Gaza also rises, with health authorities reporting 101 deaths since the war began, including 80 children.

Most of the deaths have come in the last few weeks.

On Tuesday alone, the figure was 15, with four children among the victims.

Israel denies responsibility for the shortages of food in Gaza, while the GHF has also rejected what it said were “false and exaggerated statistics” from the UN about the killings at its aid sites.

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