Trump administration officials reportedly believed that the Israeli government intended to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators—including the country’s foreign minister—during peace talks with the US in an effort to sabotage diplomatic progress.The New York Times reported Thursday that “American concerns about the targeting of two particular Iranian officials—Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Parliament—spiked during delicate ceasefire negotiations that began in April.” In response, the US “went so far as to ask other countries in the region to warn Iran about the possibility Israel could target the two officials,” according to the Times, which cited unnamed current and former American officials.The US and Israel have killed dozens of top Iranian officials since launching their illegal joint war in late February. But the allied countries reportedly removed Araghchi and Ghalibaf from their target list in late March, opening the possibility of high-level negotiations to end the war.But Israel remained bent on targeting the negotiators, according to the Times, whose reporting was later corroborated by The Washington Post.The Times detailed one dramatic incident in April, when Ghalibaf was planning to travel to Pakistan’s capital to meet with US Vice President JD Vance:Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian airplanes carrying a delegation of more than 70 Iranians from the border of Iran to Islamabad and back again when the session was over.But on the way back to Tehran, an Israeli security threat emerged.Iran’s security forces notified the plane carrying Mr. Ghalibaf back to Tehran that they had picked up intelligence that Israel planned to attack the plane and that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iran’s airspace from its western border near Iraq, the two officials said.Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser for Mr. Ghalibaf, who accompanied him to Islamabad, confirmed this account on his social media page. The plane made an emergency landing in the city of Mashhad, Iran’s closest airport to the Pakistani border, and the Iranian delegation traveled some eight hours by land back to Tehran, Mr. Mohammadi and the two officials said.The Post reported that “cracks emerged” between the US and Israeli approaches to the war following Israel’s assassination of top Iranian national security official Ali Larijani in March.“They’ve wiped out everybody,” Trump told reporters in late March, suggesting Israel’s assassination campaign was making it difficult to find potential negotiating partners.Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote in response to the new reporting that “Israel is a state that, on paper, is a US partner, but in reality is so extreme in its obsession to undermine US diplomacy that it even tries to assassinate those the US engages with in crucial negotiations.”“I can’t recall a government as terrified of peace as the one running Israel,” Parsi added.At present, the Israeli government—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—is endangering tenuous US-Iran peace talks with its continued occupation of and assault on Lebanon, which Iran has highlighted as a key factor in the negotiations.Visiting occupied southern Lebanon earlier this week, Netanyahu declared to Israeli troops that “our insistence is that we will not leave... until the threat is removed.”Parsi wrote earlier this week that “beyond his long-standing desire to use American force to subjugate Iran to Israeli domination and achieve a regional balance favorable to Israel,” Netanyahu “now also has stark political and personal reasons to restart the war” with Iran.“The [US and Iran’s memorandum of understanding] has come at a steep political cost for Netanyahu,” wrote Parsi. “His prospects for reelection in October are weaker than they have been in months. Once seen as the Israeli leader uniquely capable of delivering President Trump, he now confronts the prospect that both the war and the ensuing diplomacy will leave Israel in a strategically weaker position—undermining the very case he has made for his leadership.”“And of course,” Parsi added, “if he loses the elections, he will likely spend the next few years in jail, as he will lose his immunity as prime minister and face trial over corruption charges.”The story was published in partnership with Common Dreams, read the original here.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act is “dead,” according to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who put the chances of the vital voter identification bill passing […]
Majdal Zoun, south Lebanon — The Israel Defense Forces revealed on June 19 that it had discovered an Iranian-financed and designed Hezbollah tunnel in the heart of this town that can be used to launch lethal drones into Israel. The IDF blew up the drone factory and tunnel. An IDF official told me, “It took them […]
A Florida family was completely devastated by the tragedy that unfolded on Monday after a father went to pick up a child at day care in Plantation.The man, who was not identified publicly, believed he had dropped off the child in the morning and went to work. At the end of the day, he went to the day care and let out a scream after finding his horrific mistake.'He opened the door, then slammed it shut. ... And he let out this scream.' The child was found dead in the back seat of the car.Leslie Novoa, the owner and director of A World of Discovery Academy, explained to the South Florida Sun Sentinel why the staff didn't react when the child wasn't dropped off that morning.Novoa said the man and his wife would alternate dropping off two kids at the day care. On that day, they called to inform them that they would not be dropping off the older child.When they didn't drop off any child, Novoa said no one found it suspect."This is a tragedy that happened to them and to all of us," said Novoa, who said the family had been very caring and very loving in their interactions.Novoa said the man had expected to pick up the child and only realized what happened when he opened the back door of the car."He opened the door, then slammed it shut," Novoa said. "And he let out this scream."Plantation Police said they were called to the day care on a report of "a deceased child in a vehicle."Firefighters responded to the emergency and confirmed the child had died.RELATED: Michigan parents charged with murder and torture after their 7-year-old boy dies with disturbing weight The National Safety Council said about 37 children under the age of 15 die each year on average after being left in a vehicle."Nearly every state has experienced at least one death since 1998," the group added. "In both 2018 and 2019, a record number of 53 children died after being left in a hot vehicle."About half of the hot-car deaths result in charges against a parent, and of those, about 80% result in convictions. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Israel attempted to kill Iran’s negotiators on their plane after talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Pakistan, The New York Times reported. The attempt occurred […]
