Tag: Iran

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Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize as the two meet at White House

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Donald Trump he was nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize as the two hailed their recent joint strikes on Iran ‘s nuclear facilities as an unmitigated success.

The pair sat down with their top aides for a dinner in the White House on Monday night, to mark the Iran operation and discuss efforts to push forward with a 60-day ceasefire proposal to pause the 21-month conflict in Gaza.

“He’s forging peace as we speak, one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter he said he sent the Nobel committee.

The call for the peace prize comes after the Israeli leader for years had pressed Trump and his predecessors to take military action against Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump ordered US forces to drop “bunker-buster” bombs and fire a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on three key Iranian nuclear sites.

It also allowed Netanyahu to further ingratiate himself with Trump, who for years has made little secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize and sees himself as a capable peacemaker.

Netanyahu’s outwardly triumphant visit to the White House, his third this year, was dogged by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.

But in an exchange before reporters before the dinner got underway, both leaders expressed optimism that their success in Iran would mark a new era in the Middle East.

“I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East,” Trump said. “And, they respect us and they respect Israel.”

Trump says Iran wants to restart talks, but Iran hasn’t confirmed that.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu may also give new urgency to a US ceasefire proposal being discussed by Israel and Hamas. (ITV)

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Iran attacks Al Udeid Air Base housing US troops in Qatar

Iran has said it launched an attack on United States forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, after Tehran said it would retaliate against the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with the Qatari authorities saying missiles were successfully intercepted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officially confirmed on Monday that it launched a retaliatory missile attack targeting the Al Udeid base, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports. Tasnim said the operation is called “Annunciation of Victory”.

US military officials said that Al Udeid Air Base was the only US military base targeted by Iran, according to the Reuters news agency. The official confirmed there was no impact on the base just outside Qatar’s capital, Doha. A US defence official added that “Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today”.

“At this time, there are no reports of US casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available,” the official said.

Following the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a post X that “we have not violated anyone’s rights, and we will not under any circumstances accept any violation against us, nor will we surrender to anyone’s aggression; this is the logic of the Iranian nation.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later added that the country is ready to respond again if the US takes any further action, according to a statement posted on Telegram.

United States President Donald Trump said Iran had “a very weak response” and thanked the country’s leadership for providing “early notice” of the retaliatory attack.

“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”

Flares were visible over Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Monday. It was initially not immediately known if this was the air defence system or missiles.

Loud explosions were also heard, although so far no injuries have been reported. Qatar’s Ministry of Defence says its air defence systems successfully intercepted missiles targeting Al Udeid Air Base.

In a statement, the ministry said the incident resulted in no deaths or injuries, crediting “the vigilance of the armed forces and precautionary measures taken”.

Qatar has confirmed that a total of 19 missiles were fired from Iran. It added that only one of those hit Al Udeid Air Base but caused no casualties. (AlJazeera)