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Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said Trump was guilty of ‘waging war against God’
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Iran’s top cleric has issued a fatwa against US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Netanyahu for being “enemies of God”, according to Iranian state media.
On Sunday, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said the US president and Mr Netanyahu were guilty of “mohareb”, waging war against God, following attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Mr Trump insisted the strikes, which targeted three of Iran’s nuclear sites, were a success, despite US intelligence suggesting damage was limited. He has yet to respond to the fatwa.
After Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei re-emerged from hiding in a bunker, he claimed victory over the US and threatened to bomb more American airbases in the Middle East.
On 13 June, Israel launched aerial attacks on Iran after claiming it was just days away from developing a nuclear bomb.
The US followed days later, striking Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan with 14 30,000-pound “bunker-busting” bombs.
Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu’s corruption trial, in which he faces criminal charges, has been delayed after Mr Trump called for it to be cancelled.
Iran could start enriching uranium for a possible nuclear bomb within months, the UN nuclear watchdog chief warned on Saturday.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the US strikes on three Iranian sites last weekend had caused severe but “not total” damage to Tehran’s nuclear programme.
On Monday, Mr Trump again claimed the US strikes, which hit Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan with 14 30,000-pound “bunker-busting” bombs last Sunday, had “totally obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,” Mr Grossi said.
“[Tehran could have] in a matter of months a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium.”
US president Donald Trump has said he is not talking to Tehran following US airstrikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
“I am not offering Iran ANYTHING… nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their nuclear facilities,” Mr Trump said on social media.
US warplanes attacked Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan with 14 30,000-pound “bunker-busting” bombs last Sunday morning.
Mr Trump has insisted the strikes were a success, despite early US intelligence suggesting damage was limited.
Yesterday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told CBS Iran could resume enriching uranium “in a matter of months”.
A Palestinian human rights organisation has lost a High Court challenge over the Government’s decision to continue exporting parts of fighter jets to Israel amid the conflict in Gaza.
Al-Haq took legal action against the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) over its decision to continue licensing exports of components for F-35 fighter jets, telling a hearing in May that it was unlawful and “gives rise to a significant risk of facilitating crime”.
In September last year, the Government suspended export licences for weapons and military equipment following a review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law in the conflict.
But an exemption was made for some licences related to parts for F-35s, which are part of an international defence programme.
The DBT defended the challenge, with its barristers telling a four-day hearing in London that the carve-out is “consistent with the rules of international law”.
In a 72-page ruling on Monday, Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn said the case was about a “much more focused issue” than the carve-out itself.
Israel has rejected the idea of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict as it would endanger Israel
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said a Palestinian state would “threaten the security” of Israel when asked about the proposal.
Mr Sa’ar said Israel would seek normalisation with Syria and Lebanon as part of the stalled Abraham Accords, but rejected the creation of a Palestinian state as part of that.
Satellite pictures taken in the week after the US airstrikes on Iran’s three nuclear sites show activity at the Fordow facility, which Donald Trump claimed was “completely and totally obliterated” in last week’s attack.
Images from Maxar Technologies show construction vehicles including an excavator near one of the shafts at the Fordow nuclear facility which was struck by US bunker buster bombs on 22 June.
Other images show that the bombardment had completely caved in entrance tunnels to the site.
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Israel is seeking diplomatic ties with Syria and Lebanon, but will not negotiate the fate of the Golan Heights in any peace agreement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day war of 1967 following an attempted invasion of Israel by Arab armies.
An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control. Almost immediately Israel began to settle the Golan.
Iran criticised on Monday US president Donald Trump’s shifting stance on whether to lift economic sanctions against Tehran as “games” that were not aimed at solving the problems between the two countries.
“These [statements by Trump] should be viewed more in the context of psychological and media games than as a serious expression in favour of dialogue or problem-solving,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Donald Trump has urged for progress in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to travel to Washington DC.
Trump declared “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” in a post on Truth Social on Sunday (29 June), after raising expectations on Friday that an agreement could be signed within the next week.
Plans are being made for Israeli prime minister Netanyahu to visit DC in the coming weeks, an Israeli official has told Associated Press, as one of his top advisors Ron Dermer travels to the US this coming week for ceasefire talks.
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Trump-Iran latest: Top cleric issues fatwa against US president and Netanyahu for being ‘enemies of god’ – The Independent
