Manhandling of US senator ups California tensions with Trump admin

California’s stand-off with President Donald Trump’s administration ratcheted up Thursday, after a sitting US senator was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a press conference on immigration raids that have spurred days of protests.The shocking incident, which came after the Republican president sent troops into Los Angeles over the objections of local and state officials, was swiftly slammed by furious Democrats who said it “reeks of totalitarianism.”Video footage shows Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, being pushed from the room at a federal building in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the raids.”I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he said as two men grappled with him in front of journalists, including from AFP.Footage filmed by Padilla’s staff outside the room shows the senator being pushed to the ground and handcuffed.Democratic-led California is currently embroiled in battles with the White House on several fronts, with Governor Gavin Newsom branding Trump “dictatorial” as his lawyers prepared to face off with the administration over the deployment of 4,700 troops to the city.”If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question… you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community,” Padilla told reporters later at a press conference.The incident “reeks of totalitarianism,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, calling for an investigation.”Trump and his shock troops are out of control,” Newsom posted on social media, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the incident “abhorrent.”The White House hit back, claiming it was a “theater-kid stunt” and claiming without evidence that Padilla “lunged toward Secretary Noem.”Noem slammed Padilla’s interruption as “inappropriate.” A Homeland Security spokesman said she later met with the senator for 15 minutes.Noem was addressing reporters after almost a week of protests in Los Angeles ignited by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.The mostly-peaceful demonstrations have been marred by some eye-catching violence, with cars torched and rocks thrown at police officers.Trump, who has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest, deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines.Critics have accused him of a power grab and a judge was set to review the deployments’ legality. Trump took credit Thursday for making Los Angeles “safe and sound.”Anger at Trump’s crackdown and the use of masked, armed immigration agents, backed by uniformed soldiers, is spreading to other cities. Nationwide protests were planned for Saturday.- ‘Fear and terror’ -A federal judge in San Francisco was set to hear arguments on whether use of the troops is constitutional, with Newsom alleging the president “is creating fear and terror.”Trump on Thursday said Newsom — seen as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — had “totally lost control of the situation” and should thank him for “saving his ass.”California also sued Trump’s administration Thursday over his move to scrap the state’s tailpipe emission rules and its drive to phase out gas-powered cars.Trump was elected last year after campaigning on a promise to launch historic mass deportations.But with his mounting crackdown rippling through industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor — such as farming, construction and hospitality — Trump said he had heard employers’ complaints and hinted at a forthcoming policy shift.”We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think. We can’t do that to our farmers — and leisure too, hotels,” he said.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke up Thursday, saying she had told a visiting US official that “we didn’t agree with the use of raids to detain people working honestly in the United States.”Protests also took place in Spokane, Seattle, Tucson, Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston, according to US media.A nationwide “No Kings” movement was expected on Saturday, the same day Trump attends a highly unusual military parade in the US capital.The parade, featuring warplanes and tanks, has been organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army but also happens to be on the day of Trump’s 79th birthday.

At least 265 dead in India plane crash, one passenger survives

A London-bound passenger jet crashed in a residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing at least 265 people on board and on the ground — but one passenger has miraculously survived.An AFP journalist saw bodies being recovered from the crash site, and the back of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — which had 242 passengers and crew on board — hanging over the edge of a building it hit around lunchtime.The government opened a formal investigation into the cause of the crash, and rescue teams worked into Friday morning scouring the charred wreckage with sniffer dogs.”The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after Air India’s flight 171 crashed following takeoff. “It is heartbreaking beyond words”.Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai told reporters said that “265 bodies have reached the hospital”.That suggests that at least 24 people died when the jet ploughed into a medical staff hostel in a blazing fireball — and that the toll may rise further as more bodies are located.- ‘Devastating’ -The AFP journalist saw a building ablaze after the crash, with thick black smoke billowing into the air, and a section of the plane on the ground.”One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families,” said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name.”The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch,” he said.Krishna said he saw “about 15 to 20 burnt bodies”, while he and his colleagues rescued around 15 students.India’s civil aviation authority said two pilots and 10 cabin crew were among the 242 people on board.Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the scenes from the crash were “devastating”, while the country’s King Charles III said he was “desperately shocked”.- ‘Sole survivor’ -But while everyone aboard the flight was initially feared killed, state health official Dhananjay Dwivedi told AFP “one survivor is confirmed” and had been hospitalised.Air India said in a statement that the “sole survivor is being treated in a hospital”, adding that the “survivor is a British national of Indian origin”.The survivor is believed to be 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters he was speaking to them “after meeting him”.The BBC and Britain’s Press Association news agency spoke to Ramesh’s family members.”He said, ‘I have no idea how I exited the plane'”, his brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, told PA in the British city of Leicester.- ‘Devastating’ -The plane issued a mayday call and “crashed immediately after takeoff”, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.Ahmedabad, the main city of India’s Gujarat state, is home to around eight million people and the busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas.”When we reached the spot, there were several bodies lying around and firefighters were dousing the flames,” resident Poonam Patni told AFP.”Many of the bodies were burned,” she said.The AFP journalist saw medics using a cart to load bodies into an ambulance, while a charred metal bed frame stood surrounded by burnt wreckage.US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner.The UK and US air accident investigation agencies announced they were dispatching teams to support their Indian counterparts.Tata Group, owners of Air India, offered financial aid of 10 million rupees ($117,000) to “the families of each person who has lost their life in this tragedy”, as well as funds to cover medical expenses of those injured.India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board.Experts said it was too early to speculate on what may have caused Thursday’s crash.”It is very unlikely that the plane was overweight or carrying too much fuel,” said Jason Knight, senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth.”The aircraft is designed to be able to fly on one engine, so the most likely cause of the crash is a double engine failure. The most likely cause of a double engine failure is a bird strike.”India’s airline industry has boomed in recent years with Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), last month calling it “nothing short of phenomenal”.The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world’s fourth-largest air market — domestic and international — with IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade.

At least 265 dead in India plane crash, one passenger survives

A London-bound passenger jet crashed in a residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing at least 265 people on board and on the ground — but one passenger has miraculously survived.An AFP journalist saw bodies being recovered from the crash site, and the back of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — which had 242 passengers and crew on board — hanging over the edge of a building it hit around lunchtime.The government opened a formal investigation into the cause of the crash, and rescue teams worked into Friday morning scouring the charred wreckage with sniffer dogs.”The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after Air India’s flight 171 crashed following takeoff. “It is heartbreaking beyond words”.Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai told reporters said that “265 bodies have reached the hospital”.That suggests that at least 24 people died when the jet ploughed into a medical staff hostel in a blazing fireball — and that the toll may rise further as more bodies are located.- ‘Devastating’ -The AFP journalist saw a building ablaze after the crash, with thick black smoke billowing into the air, and a section of the plane on the ground.”One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families,” said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name.”The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch,” he said.Krishna said he saw “about 15 to 20 burnt bodies”, while he and his colleagues rescued around 15 students.India’s civil aviation authority said two pilots and 10 cabin crew were among the 242 people on board.Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the scenes from the crash were “devastating”, while the country’s King Charles III said he was “desperately shocked”.- ‘Sole survivor’ -But while everyone aboard the flight was initially feared killed, state health official Dhananjay Dwivedi told AFP “one survivor is confirmed” and had been hospitalised.Air India said in a statement that the “sole survivor is being treated in a hospital”, adding that the “survivor is a British national of Indian origin”.The survivor is believed to be 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters he was speaking to them “after meeting him”.The BBC and Britain’s Press Association news agency spoke to Ramesh’s family members.”He said, ‘I have no idea how I exited the plane'”, his brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, told PA in the British city of Leicester.- ‘Devastating’ -The plane issued a mayday call and “crashed immediately after takeoff”, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.Ahmedabad, the main city of India’s Gujarat state, is home to around eight million people and the busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas.”When we reached the spot, there were several bodies lying around and firefighters were dousing the flames,” resident Poonam Patni told AFP.”Many of the bodies were burned,” she said.The AFP journalist saw medics using a cart to load bodies into an ambulance, while a charred metal bed frame stood surrounded by burnt wreckage.US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner.The UK and US air accident investigation agencies announced they were dispatching teams to support their Indian counterparts.Tata Group, owners of Air India, offered financial aid of 10 million rupees ($117,000) to “the families of each person who has lost their life in this tragedy”, as well as funds to cover medical expenses of those injured.India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board.Experts said it was too early to speculate on what may have caused Thursday’s crash.”It is very unlikely that the plane was overweight or carrying too much fuel,” said Jason Knight, senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth.”The aircraft is designed to be able to fly on one engine, so the most likely cause of the crash is a double engine failure. The most likely cause of a double engine failure is a bird strike.”India’s airline industry has boomed in recent years with Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), last month calling it “nothing short of phenomenal”.The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world’s fourth-largest air market — domestic and international — with IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade.

La tension monte entre les démocrates de Californie et le camp Trump

Un sénateur américain qui tentait jeudi d’interpeller une ministre de Donald Trump a été évacué de force et menotté, nouvel accès de tension entre les démocrates et l’administration sur sa politique anti-immigration, au coeur des récentes manifestations à Los Angeles.Cette ville à l’importante population hispanique est depuis des jours le théâtre de manifestations contre l’interpellation musclée d’étrangers en situation irrégulière, dans l’ensemble pacifiques mais également marquées des dégradations et des violences.Donald Trump a attribué jeudi le relatif retour au calme à Los Angeles depuis deux jours au déploiement d’environ 4.000 réservistes des Gardes nationaux et 700 Marines qu’il a ordonné. Mais le couvre-feu décrété par la maire démocrate de la ville a aussi pu y contribuer.La justice doit se pencher jeudi sur le recours du gouverneur de Californie Gavin Newsom contre l’envoi exceptionnel de militaires sans l’assentiment des autorités locales, qui dénoncent un virage autoritaire.Gavin Newsom “avait totalement perdu le contrôle de la situation. Il devrait me dire MERCI de lui avoir sauvé les fesses, au lieu d’essayer de justifier ses erreurs et son incompétence!!!”, a asséné le président jeudi.Figure centrale de l’opposition démocrate, M. Newsom, 57 ans, est considéré comme un possible candidat démocrate à la présidentielle de 2028.- Sénateur à terre -Si le gouverneur de Californie a dénoncé “le fantasme fou d’un président dictatorial”,  c’est un autre démocrate de l’Etat qui s’est retrouvé sous les projecteurs jeudi.Le sénateur Alex Padilla a été évacué  manu militari pour avoir interrompu une conférence de presse à Los Angeles de la ministre de la Sécurité intérieure Kristi Noem, selon un photographe de l’AFP.Dans une vidéo virale, on l’entend s’identifier et interpeller la ministre avant d’être forcé à terre et menotté par les agents.La porte-parole de la Maison Blanche, Karoline Leavitt, a affirmé sur X que “le sénateur Padilla devrait avoir honte de son comportement puéril”. Le sénateur et la ministre ont ensuite échangé pendant un quart d’heure, d’après la porte-parole de cette dernière, Tricia McLaughlin.Mais le sort réservé au sénateur, poste particulièrement prestigieux aux Etats-Unis, a indigné les démocrates, leur chef de file au Sénat Chuck Schumer évoquant des “relents de totalitarisme”.Au Congrès, une dizaine de parlementaires  d’origine hispanique sont allés dans les bureaux du chef de la Chambre des représentants, le républicain Mike Johnson, pour lui demander de défendre leur collègue et “l’institution du Congrès, contre-pouvoir démocratique” .”Il y a une campagne d’intimidation pour essayer de réduire au silence l’opposition”, a affirmé l’élu démocrate Adriano Espaillat.- “Ils ont peur” -Dans la deuxième métropole du pays, la situation semblait revenue à un certain calme.”En général, tout est sous contrôle ici à Ground Zero”, a déclaré à l’AFP Lynn Sturgis, enseignante à la retraite de 66 ans, devant les bureaux du gouvernement fédéral, épicentre des manifestations dans le centre-ville.Les manifestations se sont étendues ces derniers jours à d’autres villes américaines, toujours dans des proportions limitées, comme à Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta ou Boston.Les migrants “ont autant le droit que nous d’être ici, peu importe s’ils sont arrivés légalement ou illégalement”, a déclaré une manifestante prénommée Apples au Las Vegas Review Journal. “Cela me rend malade pour mon petit ami et sa famille. Ce sont des réfugiés cubains, ils ont peur d’aller faire les courses, d’aller travailler”.Au Mexique, d’où sont originaires nombre de sans-papiers présents au Etats-Unis, la présidente Claudia Sheinbaum a expliqué avoir dit à un haut responsable américain qu’elle n’était “pas d’accord sur le fait de recourir à des descentes de police pour arrêter des personnes qui travaillent honnêtement”.Donald Trump avait promis pendant sa campagne de s’en prendre aux “criminels venus de l’étranger”.Mais ses efforts pour lutter contre l’immigration clandestine ont largement dépassé ce cadre et visé en particulier les immigrés latino-américains, indispensables à certains secteurs d’activité.Sur le plan économique, il a admis devoir “faire quelque chose” rapidement pour préserver les nombreux travailleurs immigrés de l’agriculture et de l’hôtellerie.

La tension monte entre les démocrates de Californie et le camp Trump

Un sénateur américain qui tentait jeudi d’interpeller une ministre de Donald Trump a été évacué de force et menotté, nouvel accès de tension entre les démocrates et l’administration sur sa politique anti-immigration, au coeur des récentes manifestations à Los Angeles.Cette ville à l’importante population hispanique est depuis des jours le théâtre de manifestations contre l’interpellation musclée d’étrangers en situation irrégulière, dans l’ensemble pacifiques mais également marquées des dégradations et des violences.Donald Trump a attribué jeudi le relatif retour au calme à Los Angeles depuis deux jours au déploiement d’environ 4.000 réservistes des Gardes nationaux et 700 Marines qu’il a ordonné. Mais le couvre-feu décrété par la maire démocrate de la ville a aussi pu y contribuer.La justice doit se pencher jeudi sur le recours du gouverneur de Californie Gavin Newsom contre l’envoi exceptionnel de militaires sans l’assentiment des autorités locales, qui dénoncent un virage autoritaire.Gavin Newsom “avait totalement perdu le contrôle de la situation. Il devrait me dire MERCI de lui avoir sauvé les fesses, au lieu d’essayer de justifier ses erreurs et son incompétence!!!”, a asséné le président jeudi.Figure centrale de l’opposition démocrate, M. Newsom, 57 ans, est considéré comme un possible candidat démocrate à la présidentielle de 2028.- Sénateur à terre -Si le gouverneur de Californie a dénoncé “le fantasme fou d’un président dictatorial”,  c’est un autre démocrate de l’Etat qui s’est retrouvé sous les projecteurs jeudi.Le sénateur Alex Padilla a été évacué  manu militari pour avoir interrompu une conférence de presse à Los Angeles de la ministre de la Sécurité intérieure Kristi Noem, selon un photographe de l’AFP.Dans une vidéo virale, on l’entend s’identifier et interpeller la ministre avant d’être forcé à terre et menotté par les agents.La porte-parole de la Maison Blanche, Karoline Leavitt, a affirmé sur X que “le sénateur Padilla devrait avoir honte de son comportement puéril”. Le sénateur et la ministre ont ensuite échangé pendant un quart d’heure, d’après la porte-parole de cette dernière, Tricia McLaughlin.Mais le sort réservé au sénateur, poste particulièrement prestigieux aux Etats-Unis, a indigné les démocrates, leur chef de file au Sénat Chuck Schumer évoquant des “relents de totalitarisme”.Au Congrès, une dizaine de parlementaires  d’origine hispanique sont allés dans les bureaux du chef de la Chambre des représentants, le républicain Mike Johnson, pour lui demander de défendre leur collègue et “l’institution du Congrès, contre-pouvoir démocratique” .”Il y a une campagne d’intimidation pour essayer de réduire au silence l’opposition”, a affirmé l’élu démocrate Adriano Espaillat.- “Ils ont peur” -Dans la deuxième métropole du pays, la situation semblait revenue à un certain calme.”En général, tout est sous contrôle ici à Ground Zero”, a déclaré à l’AFP Lynn Sturgis, enseignante à la retraite de 66 ans, devant les bureaux du gouvernement fédéral, épicentre des manifestations dans le centre-ville.Les manifestations se sont étendues ces derniers jours à d’autres villes américaines, toujours dans des proportions limitées, comme à Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta ou Boston.Les migrants “ont autant le droit que nous d’être ici, peu importe s’ils sont arrivés légalement ou illégalement”, a déclaré une manifestante prénommée Apples au Las Vegas Review Journal. “Cela me rend malade pour mon petit ami et sa famille. Ce sont des réfugiés cubains, ils ont peur d’aller faire les courses, d’aller travailler”.Au Mexique, d’où sont originaires nombre de sans-papiers présents au Etats-Unis, la présidente Claudia Sheinbaum a expliqué avoir dit à un haut responsable américain qu’elle n’était “pas d’accord sur le fait de recourir à des descentes de police pour arrêter des personnes qui travaillent honnêtement”.Donald Trump avait promis pendant sa campagne de s’en prendre aux “criminels venus de l’étranger”.Mais ses efforts pour lutter contre l’immigration clandestine ont largement dépassé ce cadre et visé en particulier les immigrés latino-américains, indispensables à certains secteurs d’activité.Sur le plan économique, il a admis devoir “faire quelque chose” rapidement pour préserver les nombreux travailleurs immigrés de l’agriculture et de l’hôtellerie.

Bolivie: cinq morts dans les heurts entre police et partisans d’Evo Morales

Les heurts entre forces de l’ordre et partisans de l’ex-président bolivien Evo Morales, qui bloquent depuis onze jours des routes du pays pour réclamer la démission du président Luis Arce, ont fait au moins cinq morts, dont quatre policiers, a annoncé jeudi le gouvernement.Les soutiens de l’ancien chef d’État rendent le président Arce responsable de la crise économique dans le pays et l’accusent d’avoir écarté leur leader de la présidentielle du 17 août.Mercredi, de violents affrontements ont éclaté dans la ville minière de Llallagua, dans la région de Potosi, au sud-ouest de la Bolivie, où la police s’était rendue pour tenter de lever, sans succès, un blocage.Le gouvernement avait initialement annoncé la mort de trois policiers par arme à feu. Jeudi, le ministre de la Justice, César Siles, a indiqué que le bilan s’élevait désormais à quatre membres des forces de l’ordre tués.- Explosifs -L’un des policiers, un lieutenant, “a été enlevé” puis tué par un engin explosif introduit dans son corps avant qu’il n’explose, a annoncé le vice-ministre de l’Intérieur, Jhonny Aguilera. Le ministre de l’Intérieur, Roberto Rios, a précisé que le bilan incluait un manifestant décédé, selon un rapport préliminaire, alors qu’il manipulait un engin explosif non loin de la ville de Cochabamba, dans le centre du pays.  Au total, 54 blessés parmi la police, les manifestants et des habitants excédés qui ont tenté mardi de débloquer la route à Llallagua, ont été rencensés, a indiqué le ministère de la Santé. Nelson Cox, avocat d’Evo Morales, a assuré à l’AFP qu’il y avait eu “trois morts” parmi les manifestants. Il a également fait état de 15 manifestants blessés et plus de 30 détenus.”L’armée va entrer à Llallagua, car ce que nous voulons c’est garantir un état de calme et de paix”, a assuré le vice-ministre Aguilera. “Des niveaux de violence inacceptables ont été atteints”, a dénoncé M. Rios. Les blocages routiers se poursuivent depuis le 2 juin dans le pays bien qu’ils tendent à se réduire. Selon l’autorité nationale des routes, il y avait jeudi 19 points de blocage dans le pays, contre 21 mercredi et 29 mardi.Pour le gouvernement, ces barrages visent à empêcher le scrutin présidentiel et forcer une candidature de M. Morales, qui a gouverné à trois reprises entre 2006 et 2019 et que la justice a déclaré inéligible pour avoir dépassé le nombre autorisé de réélections.Le parquet a ouvert lundi une enquête contre Evo Morales pour “terrorisme”, “incitation à commettre des délits” et “atteinte à la sécurité des services publics” entre autres infractions pénales, après une plainte du gouvernement l’accusant d’encourager les protestations.L’ex-président vit retranché sous la protection de ses partisans dans son fief du centre du pays, dont il n’a pas pu sortir depuis octobre dernier, étant visé par un mandat d’arrêt pour une affaire de traite de mineure qu’il nie.

Trump warns Israeli attack on Iran ‘could very well happen’

President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Israel may soon strike Iran’s nuclear sites, but urged the key US ally to hold off as he stressed his commitment to a diplomatic solution.Tensions have soared in the region in the last two days with Trump warning of a “massive conflict” and drawing down US staff. Tehran meanwhile defiantly vowed to increase its output of enriched uranium — a key sticking point in talks with Washington — after being censured by the UN’s atomic watchdog.”I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if an Israeli attack loomed.Trump said he believed a “pretty good” deal on Iran’s nuclear program was “fairly close,” but said that an Israeli attack on its arch-foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.The US leader did not disclose the details of a conversation on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”Trump quickly added: “Might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”News outlet Axios reported that Trump had said the United States would not participate in any strikes.- US troops in crosshairs -Trump later appeared to want tensions dialed down in a post on social media, while insisting that Iran must “give up hopes” of developing a nuclear weapon.”We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.Tensions have rapidly escalated in the past few days amid growing speculation that Israel could push ahead with air strikes on Iran.Trump’s Middle East pointman Steve Witkoff is set to hold a sixth round of talks with Iran on Sunday in Oman, which has mediated efforts towards a nuclear deal so far.But Iran has also ramped up rhetorical pressure before the talks, including with a threat to strike American bases in the region if the negotiations break down and conflict erupts.”If the talks fail, the risk of military escalation becomes much more immediate,” said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.The United States on Wednesday said it was reducing embassy staff in Iraq — long a zone of proxy conflict with Iran.Israel, which counts on US military and diplomatic support, sees the cleric-run state in Tehran as an existential threat and hit Iranian air defenses last year.Netanyahu has vowed less restraint since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, which triggered the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza.- ‘Non-compliance’ -The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it has repeatedly denied.Israel again called for global action after the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran on Wednesday of non-compliance with its obligations. The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke a “snapback” mechanism, which expires in October, that would reinstate UN sanctions eased under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by then US president Barack Obama.Trump pulled out of the deal in his first term and slapped Iran with sweeping sanctions.Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, slammed the resolution as “extremist” and blamed Israeli influence.In response to the resolution, Iran said it would launch a new enrichment center in a secure location.Iran would also replace “all of these first-generation machines with sixth-generation advanced machines” at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close, though still short, of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.

Trump warns Israeli attack on Iran ‘could very well happen’

President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Israel may soon strike Iran’s nuclear sites, but urged the key US ally to hold off as he stressed his commitment to a diplomatic solution.Tensions have soared in the region in the last two days with Trump warning of a “massive conflict” and drawing down US staff. Tehran meanwhile defiantly vowed to increase its output of enriched uranium — a key sticking point in talks with Washington — after being censured by the UN’s atomic watchdog.”I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if an Israeli attack loomed.Trump said he believed a “pretty good” deal on Iran’s nuclear program was “fairly close,” but said that an Israeli attack on its arch-foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.The US leader did not disclose the details of a conversation on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”Trump quickly added: “Might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”News outlet Axios reported that Trump had said the United States would not participate in any strikes.- US troops in crosshairs -Trump later appeared to want tensions dialed down in a post on social media, while insisting that Iran must “give up hopes” of developing a nuclear weapon.”We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.Tensions have rapidly escalated in the past few days amid growing speculation that Israel could push ahead with air strikes on Iran.Trump’s Middle East pointman Steve Witkoff is set to hold a sixth round of talks with Iran on Sunday in Oman, which has mediated efforts towards a nuclear deal so far.But Iran has also ramped up rhetorical pressure before the talks, including with a threat to strike American bases in the region if the negotiations break down and conflict erupts.”If the talks fail, the risk of military escalation becomes much more immediate,” said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.The United States on Wednesday said it was reducing embassy staff in Iraq — long a zone of proxy conflict with Iran.Israel, which counts on US military and diplomatic support, sees the cleric-run state in Tehran as an existential threat and hit Iranian air defenses last year.Netanyahu has vowed less restraint since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, which triggered the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza.- ‘Non-compliance’ -The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it has repeatedly denied.Israel again called for global action after the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran on Wednesday of non-compliance with its obligations. The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke a “snapback” mechanism, which expires in October, that would reinstate UN sanctions eased under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by then US president Barack Obama.Trump pulled out of the deal in his first term and slapped Iran with sweeping sanctions.Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, slammed the resolution as “extremist” and blamed Israeli influence.In response to the resolution, Iran said it would launch a new enrichment center in a secure location.Iran would also replace “all of these first-generation machines with sixth-generation advanced machines” at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close, though still short, of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.