Iran Israel News: Iranian Parliament Votes To Suspend Co-Operation With UN Nuclear Watchdog IAEA

As a fragile ceasefire hangs by a thread over Iran and Israel, US President Donald Trump, the man responsible for the truce, is clearly angry and frustrated over Israel not falling in line with his peace move. He is irritated with Iran as well, but much more so with his friend Benjamin Netanyahu for unloading a pack of bombs over Central Tehran soon after he announced a ceasefire on social media.

Israel possibly wanted to do as much damage as possible before the deadline, and fired a couple of missiles at Israel in retaliation.

"I am not happy with Israel", a clearly frustrated and angry Trump told reporters in Washington, moments before leaving for The Hague to attend the NATO summit.

He promised to call Netanyahu from the plane. CNN has reported that the phone call did happen and Netanyahu was advised not to disrupt the ceasefire.

Read Full Story

According to reports, an early Pentagon intelligence assessment of America's attack on Iran on Saturday has cast doubt on the administration's claims that the nuclear programme was "obliterated".

US media reported, it is estimated the attack only set Iran back "a few months, tops", and that any resumption of its nuclear programme may be based on how long it takes the country to dig out and make repairs.

The US struck three nuclear facilities in Iran - Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan - with "bunker buster" bombs capable of penetrating 18m (60ft) of concrete or 61m (200ft) of earth before exploding.

Donald Trump has responded to reports about the leaked intelligence assessment on the US strike on Iran.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump lashed out at the US media and their reporting.

"FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY. THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!"

Steve Witkoff has dismissed an intelligence report that said US air strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites did not destroy the country’s nuclear programme.

“All three of those had most, if not all, the centrifuges damaged or destroyed in a way that it will be almost impossible for them to resurrect that programme,” Witkoff told Fox News.

“In my view, and in many other experts’ views who have seen the raw data, it will take a period of years.”

Witkoff also called the leaking of the report as “treasonous”.

“It ought to be investigated. And whoever did it, whoever is responsible for it, should be held accountable,” he added.

- Al Jazeera

Oil prices sank for a second straight day and stock markets mostly rose as a ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to be holding firm for a second day.

Crude futures slumped in volatile trading after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, extending earlier steep losses in oil after Iran’s response to the US attack on its nuclear programme did not hit energy infrastructure in the region.

Wall Street stocks spent the entire session in positive territory following the improved dynamics in the Middle East due to the ceasefire.

- Al Jazeera

The US embassy in Israel has lifted all restrictions and resumed regular consular services, as the ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to hold for a second day.

In a statement posted on the embassy’s website, the US government said “shelter in place orders” for government employees and their family members have also been lifted.

Passport and other consular service appointments are back to normal scheduling, the statement added, while visa operations will resume in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Monday, June 30, reported Al Jazeera.

The BRICS group of countries – a bloc of emerging economies that includes Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Russia – has expressed “grave concern” over the recent Israeli and US strikes against Iran, describing them as a “violation of international law” and the UN Charter.

In a statement issued after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect, the BRICS group criticised the attacks on Iran’s “peaceful nuclear installations”, which it said were carried out in violation of international law and regulations of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

The bloc urged the warring parties to return to diplomacy, “with a view to de-escalating the situation and resolving their differences through peaceful means”.

BRICS, which also includes Iran and the UAE, said there is a “need to break the cycle of violence and restore peace” through dialogue.

Steve Witkoff said, “We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising. We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran."

“Now it’s for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement, and I am very confident that we are going to achieve that,” he added.

- Al Jazeera

We have more from Trump, who says he doesn't want to see regime change in Iran.

"I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos," he adds.

Trump also says Vladimir Putin called to offer his help with the Iran conflict, but he says he rejected the offer and told the Russian president: "No I don't need help with Iran, I need help with you."

A ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel announced by United States President Donald Trump appears to be holding as US media report that the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites did not completely destroy the facilities.

According to a leaked US intelligence report, the bombing has only set the programmes back by a few months.

Source: Al Jazeera

There is enormous relief here that Israel's bombing has stopped, but great scepticism too.

Daily rhythms have started to resume, but only slowly. Authorities still haven't restored the internet, the airports are shut, the sale of petrol is restricted.

University students have been unable to sit their exams and government employees are still working form home. Iranians' lives as they know it have changed and the future feels uncertain.

Source: BBC

Quoting three US officials, NBC News reported that the Israeli military is “running low” on some key weaponry after its 12-day war with Iran.

NBC News quoted two unnamed US officials as saying Israel is specifically low on munitions.

The development comes as a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel mediated by US President Donald Trump continues to hold.

Source: Al Jazeera

NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said he stands by his message of congratulations to US President Donald Trump for his “decisive action in Iran.”

Rutte congratulated Trump and called the US attack on Iran “truly extraordinary,” in text messages posted by the president to social media Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in the Netherlands Wednesday morning, Rutte said that he was not reconsidering his praise of US attacks after media reports called into question their efficacy.

Source: CNN

Iranian lawmakers voted Wednesday in favour of suspending cooperation with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, state TV said, after a 12-day war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear facilities

Iran’s Nournews site reports that the country’s parliament has passed a bill to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Under the plan, IAEA inspectors could only enter Iran with explicit approval from the Supreme National Security Council and if the agency guarantees the security of the country’s nuclear facilities, Nournews quotes a member of parliament’s presidium as saying.

Source: Al Jazeera

Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State has said that the US’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites did “very significant, substantial” damage, setting their nuclear capacities far back.

“The bottom line is, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action,” Rubio told Politico.

“That’s the most important thing to understand – significant, very significant, substantial damage was done to a variety of different components, and we’re just learning more about it.”

His analysis comes amid conflicting reports over the extent of damage caused by the U.S. strikes.

Source: Al Jazeera

The Iranian parliament Wednesday morning voted to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency until the security of nuclear facilities is guaranteed,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the parliament, said in a statement, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

“Iran’s peaceful nuclear program will progress at a faster pace,” he added.

The Iranian parliament has voted to suspend co-operation with the UN's nuclear watchdog, according to reports in state media.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) refused to condemn Israeli and US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and has "put its international credibility up for auction".

Ghalibaf says Iran's nuclear authorities "will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed".

While the vote is symbolic, the move needs to be approved by senior figures within the Iranian government, and is not official policy as it stands.

Source: BBC

US President Donald Trump is speaking to reporters at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, alongside the organisation's Secretary-General, Mark Rutte.

The World Bank has approved US$250m in financing for Lebanon to aid in the reconstruction of critical public infrastructure and the management of rubble in areas affected by Israel’s war in 2023 and 2024, the organisation has stated.

Source Al Jazeera

Trump has addressed the latest Israel-Iran ceasefire on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague.

Trump said he thinks the ceasefire is progressing “very well”.

He said he is “proud” of Israel because “they brought the planes back” yesterday after he appealed to them not to carry out a planned aerial attack on Iran that he felt would jeopardise the truce.

“It was a great thing,” said Trump.

As we reported yesterday, following a call with Trump, Israeli PM Netanyahu said he would go ahead with a scaled-down strike on Iran—claiming it was necessary due to an alleged Iranian truce violation—but would refrain from further attacks.”

Source Al Jazeera

Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte jumps in and says the US "took out the nuclear capability of Iran".

He says this was crucial, with the attack carried out out in an "impressive way".

Rutte says the signal this shows to the rest of the world is one of strength.

Source BBC

Donald Trump is asked how long he thinks the Iranian nuclear programme has been set back by the strikes.

"I think basically decades," he responds. "I think they've had it, they just went through hell... the last thing they want to do is enrich."

"That hit ended the war," he adds.

Source BBC

Trump continues to rail against several US media organisations, singling out CNN and the New York Times for reporting on the intelligence leak.

The US president describes the industry as "scum".

Referencing his use of the word "obliteration" in reference to damage at Iran's nuclear sites, Trump says it is a strong word, but that it is a characterisation he says Israel has also used.

Source BBC

Trump says he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he says is offering to help on Iran.

The US president says he told Putin: "Help us on Russia, not on Iran".

Source BBC

The head of the UN nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, says his inspectors’ top priority is returning to Iran’s nuclear facilities to assess the impact of recent military strikes on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was speaking to reporters at an Austrian cabinet meeting in Vienna.

Grossi also called for a long-term solution to the Iranian nuclear program, and that the agency’s reports indicate that Israel’s 12 day war and US strikes only set it back by a matter of months.

Source Al Jazeera

Pope Leo XIV has appealed to Iran and Israel not to pursue further hostilities after 12 days of war, which the US joined with air strikes in support of Israel.

“May all logic of oppression and revenge be rejected, and may the path of dialogue, diplomacy, and peace be chosen with determination,” the pontiff said in remarks at the end of his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square.

Source Al Jazeera

Iran could rethink its membership of a landmark treaty aimed preventing the spread of nuclear weapons in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear sites, the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi suggested.

Source CNN

The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, says his inspectors need to return to Iran and re-engage with the country.

Grossi says his top priority is to return, but adds that it would not be an easy thing.

“There's a chance for a diplomatic solution, an opening. We shouldn't miss that opportunity. It is not important whether it's two months or three months, we need a solution that will stand the test of time.” said Grossi

When asked about reports that Iran’s nuclear programme had only been set back a few months by strikes on its nuclear facilities, Grossi says: "I don't like this hourglass approach, it's in the eye of the beholder. In any case, the technological knowledge is there, the industrial capacity is there, that no one can deny."

Source BBC

The Israeli PM says “it is a very difficult day for the people of Israel” after the news of seven soldiers killed by an explosion in southern Gaza.

“Our heroic combatants fell in the battle to defeat Hamas and free our hostages in the south of the Gaza Strip,” wrote Netanyahu on X. “Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I mourn and grieve the fall of seven of our soldiers from the Combat Engineering Battalion. May their memory be a blessing.”

Source Al Jazeera

The European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has suggested it’s still not clear whether US strikes on Iran were legal.

She says everybody who uses force “also has to justify that this is under international law”. When asked directly whether the US strikes were legal, she says it is “not absolute”.

Kallas says she believes the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites have set back its programme. But she says it has not “erased” Iran’s nuclear “know how” - which, she says, underlines the need for a diplomatic solution.

Source BBC

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the Iranian parliament’s move to suspend cooperation with the nuclear watchdog is concerning, but attributed it to Israel’s “unprovoked attack” on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In comments carried by Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency, Peskov claimed the IAEA’s reputation has suffered serious damage to those attacks.

Source Al Jazeera

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has spoken to Al Jazeera about the status of Iran’s nuclear programme in the aftermath of US and Israeli strikes on its facilities.

Asked about US claims that Iran’s major nuclear sites are now “completely destroyed”, Baghaei said Iran plans to keep pursuing nuclear energy.

“What I have to say is that Iran’s right to nuclear peaceful energy remains intact. Iran has every right under the NPT [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]… to enjoy using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. And Iran is prepared to reserve that right under any circumstances.”

Source Al Jazeera

Iran's communications minister says that the internet in Iran has returned to its "previous state" - meaning before the recent disruption imposed by the government - following the ceasefire.

Sattar Hashemi writes in a post on X that Iran "will not experience the situation again".

The Iranian government announced on 17 June that the authorities had slowed down the internet to "combat cyber-attacks", however near-total internet blackouts have been reported.

The ban on major social media platforms - such as X - is still in place in Iran, and people inside the country use VPNs and other methods to circumvent it.

Many Iranian officials, such as Iran’s supreme leader, also have accounts on X, despite the ban imposed on it by the country itself.

Source BBC

Sources at hospitals in the Gaza Strip give us this updated death toll, adding that at least 14 of them were killed today near aid distribution centres.

The killing of Palestinian aid seekers, once met with shock and international condemnation as Israeli-backed aid sites opened late last month, has now become a daily occurrence, as the starving population remains desperate to get any food aid that they can, even at the cost of their safety.

Source Al Jazeera

A spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development says that the airspace will remain closed through 1400 local time, or 1030 GMT, tomorrow.

His comments were carried by Iran’s judicial news outlet.

Source Al Jazeera

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believed the war between Iran and Israel was finished, as both sides were keen to end the fight. Asked why he was confident the conflict was over, Trump told reporters: "I dealt with both and they're both tired, exhausted."

"They fought very, very hard and very viciously, very violently, and they were both satisfied to go home and get out," said Trump. (AFP)

Source AFP

US President Donald Trump has begun his news conference at the NATO summit in the Netherlands.

Trump touted the success of the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during the opening of his remarks.

“As you know, last weekend the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities and it was very, very successful. It was called obliteration. No other military on earth could have done it, and now this incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace with a historic ceasefire agreement,” Trump said.

Source CNN

President Donald Trump said that the U.S. is looking to talk to Iran "next week" as part of continued efforts to secure a nuclear deal following the country's war with Israel.

Trump added that he didn't think an agreement to curtail its nuclear program was "that necessary," because the U.S. "destroyed the nuclear.