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Ukraine said on Saturday it hoped the military escalation between Israel and Iran would not lead to a drop in aid to Kyiv, at a time when European support is stalling without US engagement. Israel unleashed large-scale attacks on Iran on Friday, targeting nuclear and military facilities, high-ranking generals and atomic scientists.Iran in return launched barrages of drones and missile at Israel.The escalation sparked international calls for restraint as fears of broader conflict grow.In Kyiv it also sparked anxiety about future supplies of military aid, fearing Washington might relocate more resources to beef up the defence of its close ally Israel.  “We would like to see aid to Ukraine not decrease because of this,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.”The Ukrainian leader warned that Europe’s support was already stalling without Washington’s engagement.”Europe has not yet decided for itself what it will do with Ukraine if America is not there,” he said.The return to the White House of US President Donald Trump has upended the West’s provision of aid to Kyiv. It has left Europe scrambling to work out how it can fill any gap in supplies if Trump decides to pull US military, financial and intelligence support.Zelensky urged the United States to “shift tone” in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was “too warm” and would not help to end the war.  Trump has sought rapprochement with Moscow and held three phone calls with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin so far this year.He has stunned NATO allies with the stark change in policy from that of the previous US administration, which aborted almost all contacts with Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Israeli attacks on Iran also drove oil prices up, which Zelensky said would benefit Russia. “The attacks led to a sharp rise in oil prices. This is bad for us,” he added, reiterating a call for the West to introduce price caps on Russian oil exports.The Ukrainian leader said he hoped to raise the issue of price caps at a possible meeting with Trump in the near future.He added, however, that the Israeli strikes might prove favourable for Kyiv if they lead to a drop in Iranian supplies of military equipment to Russia, which has relied heavily on Iranian-made attack drones.  – More soldiers return home -Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners on Saturday, the fourth such swap this week, under agreements clinched in Istanbul earlier this month.Kyiv also said it had stopped Russian advances in the northeastern Sumy region.  The deals to hand over killed soldiers and exchange captured ones are the only agreements to have come out of two rounds of peace talks in Istanbul.Russia has rejected calls to halt its three-year invasion. It has demanded Ukraine cede even more territory and renounce Western military support if it wants peace.Since Russia invaded in February 2022, the war has forced millions of people to flee their homes as towns and cities across eastern Ukraine have been flattened by heavy bombardments.As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv also said it had received another 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia. It said Moscow had said they were those of “Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel”Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Meanwhile, Russia intensified its offensive along the front line, especially in the northeastern Sumy region, where it seeks to establish a “buffer zone”.This zone is designed, ostensibly, to protect the Russian border region of Kursk, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelensky said Russia’s advance on Sumy was stopped and that Kyiv’s forces had managed to retake one village. He said 53,000 men Russian soldiers were involved in the Sumy operation.  

Israel warned Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran keeps targeting its civilians and boasted it now had control of the airspace from western Iran all the way to the capital.”The Iranian dictator is turning the citizens of Iran into hostages and bringing about a reality in which they –- especially the residents of Tehran -– will pay a heavy price because of the criminal harm to Israeli civilians,” said Defence Minister Israel Katz.”If (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles toward the Israeli home front –- Tehran will burn.”The Israeli military said its raids had cleared its path to the capital. “We have created aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran… Tehran is no longer immune,” said spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin.The threat came as Israel and Iran exchanged fire a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign that Iran said hit its nuclear facilities, “martyred” top commanders and killed dozens of civilians.Iran has hit back with waves of drone and missile strikes, with a barrage of dozens lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens.Following decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time that Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, with fears of a prolonged conflict engulfing the region.Israel launched the aerial assault early Friday, only days before Iran and the United States had been due to hold a sixth round of talks on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.The operation — dubbed “Rising Lion” — struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant and assassinated Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, among other senior generals.On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had Tehran in its sights after strikes on dozens of missile launchers and air defences.”The way to Iran has been paved,” the military’s chief of staff and air force chief were quoted as saying in a statement. The military “is proceeding according to its operational plans, and (Israeli air force) fighter jets are set to resume striking targets in Tehran,” it added.- ‘Smoke, dust’ -Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in Friday’s first wave of Israeli strikes.Iranian media reported two Revolutionary Guards killed Saturday in an Israeli strike on a base in the country’s centre.Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country’s defence as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up.A report in Iran’s Mehr news agency said the Islamic republic had warned Britain, France and the United States it could retaliate if they came to Israel’s defence.”Any country that participates in repelling Iranian attacks on Israel will be subject to Iranian forces targeting all regional bases of the complicit government,” it said without citing any officials.Overnight, air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters.The Israeli military said three people were killed and 76 injured in Israel since Iran began its attacks.Israel said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired from Iran. AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said.Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday.Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.Speaking to CNN, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.”We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” Leiter said.In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion.Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.- ‘Time to stop’ -The attacks prompted several countries in the region to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday morning, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace.Iran’s airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported.As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X late Friday.Pope Leo XIV appealed for Israel and Iran to show “responsibility and reason”.Asked how long the war would last, Israel’s ambassador to Paris, Joshua Zarka, said: “A small number of weeks.” Prime Minister Netanyahu had said on Friday the strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”.The conflict has thrown into doubt Sunday’s planned Iran-US nuclear talks in the Gulf sultanate of Oman.After Friday’s first strikes, US President Donald Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding the United States was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an allegation it denies.Iran said on Saturday it would be “meaningless” to attend the talks while it was under attack by Israel.

Iran struck Israel with barrages of missiles on Saturday, a day after a massive onslaught against its nuclear and military facilities killed top generals and nuclear scientists.Israeli emergency services said two people were killed when a rocket hit a residential area early Saturday, as the two sides traded fire for a second day despite international calls for de-escalation.Iran called on its citizens to unite in defence of the country as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up against their government.Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts.Israel said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran, with AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showing blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.Israeli rescuers said two people were killed and 19 wounded on Saturday by rocket fire on a residential area in the coastal plain.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.Israeli firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a high-rise building in Tel Aviv on Friday.Resident Chen Gabizon told AFP he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.- Israel braces for more -Speaking to CNN, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.”We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” Leiter said.In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport early Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion.Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.The Israeli military said it had struck Iranian “defence arrays” in the Tehran area in the overnight strikes.Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Friday that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X late Friday.- ‘Dialogue and diplomacy’ -US officials said they were helping Israel defend against the missile attacks, even as Washington insisted it had nothing to do with Israel’s strikes on Iran.US President Donald Trump agreed in a call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “dialogue and diplomacy” were needed to calm the crisis, Starmer’s office said.Trump also spoke with the Israeli prime minister, US officials said without elaborating.Iran’s missile barrages came in response to intense Israeli strikes on Friday that killed several top Iranian generals and most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air arm.Iran’s Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were also among the dead.In a televised address, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to ruin”.Netanyahu urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders, warning more attacks were coming. “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom.”- Radiation levels ‘unchanged’ -Israel pounded Iranian nuclear sites, including its main underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in central Iran.Israel said it had damaged the facility’s enrichment centrifuges but Iran said most of the damage was above ground and no casualties had been sustained.”Most of the damage is on the surface level,” said Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.He said the damage to the Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites was also only limited.The conflict threw into doubt plans for a fresh round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Oman on Sunday.After the first wave of strikes on Friday, Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding that Washington was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had concluded that Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely moribund 2015 agreement with major powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.bur-ds/gv/sco/kir

Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military facilities with a barrage of missiles on Friday, killing several top officials and prompting a counter-attack by Iran.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s attack on its arch-rival would last “as many days” as needed, and cited Israeli intelligence that Tehran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.Iran called the Israeli air assault “a declaration of war” and fired dozens of missiles at Israel later Friday and Saturday.International calls for restraint are multiplying, as fears grow the Middle East could be on the threshold of a broader conflict.Here is what we know:- Nuclear sites hit -Israel’s attacks started in the early hours of Friday, a day of rest and prayer in Iran, and continued through the day, on various sites.A key target was a vast underground nuclear site in Natanz, which Israel hit several times, according to Iranian state television.Radiation levels outside the facility “remained unchanged”, the head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said.Iran said there was limited damage to its Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites.- Commanders killed -Top brass killed included the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, and armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, with replacements swiftly named by supreme leader Ali Khamenei.The Revolutionary Guards said its aerospace commander Amirali Hajizadeh was also killed. He was in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile forces.Iranian media said several nuclear scientists were killed.Iran’s ambassador to the UN said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.- Ongoing strikes -Additional strikes hit sites in Iran’s northwestern East Azerbaijan province, with 18 people killed there, state news agency IRNA said.An Israeli military spokesman said “more than 200 targets” were hit, including nuclear facilities and air bases.Netanyahu’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said “there is currently no plan to kill” Khamenei and other political leaders.Internet restrictions were imposed across Iran, the country’s communications ministry said, adding they would be lifted “once normalcy returns”.- Iran’s response -Iran launched dozens of missiles at Israel, the Revolutionary Guards and Israel said, hours after the Israeli military said “most” of the 100 drones fired by Iran were intercepted outside Israeli territory.Early Saturday, Iran launched a fresh wave of attacks, according to state media, with the Israeli military sounding air raid sirens and reporting more inbound missiles from Iran.Israel said its air force was “operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat”.Israeli rescuers said Saturday that they were treating 21 people wounded in a rocket strike that hit the country’s coast.Rescuers said earlier that 34 people had been wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.- US involvement? -Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the Israeli attacks “a declaration of war” and urged action from the UN Security Council, which held an emergency meeting on Friday.Tehran had previously warned it would hit US military bases in the Middle East if conflict occurred. The United States pulled out non-essential personnel from several sites days ahead of the Israeli attack.US President Donald Trump said Israel fully informed him of its raids ahead of time, but insisted Washington was not involved.He warned Iran that the “next planned attacks” will be “even more brutal” and said Tehran should cut a deal to roll back its nuclear programme “before there is nothing left”.Trump has repeatedly said he will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.His secretary of state Marco Rubio warned Iran not to target US interests or personnel in the Middle East.- Nuclear programme -Tehran has long denied seeking atomic bombs but had been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely obsolete 2015 agreement with major powers.However, Iran’s 60-percent enrichment level is still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.The United States and Iran had been holding talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The next round, scheduled for Sunday in Oman, now looks to be cancelled.- Reactions -The attack, and Iran’s response, is fuelling international alarm.Many capitals have urged restraint, fearing the consequences if the Israel-Iran conflict widened and drew in the United States, and if Middle East oil production and shipments were impacted.The UN’s atomic energy agency planned an emergency meeting for Monday.UN chief Antonio Guterres called on Israel and Iran to halt their conflict, saying: “Peace and diplomacy must prevail.”Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Syria closed their airspaces, and several airlines cancelled flights servicing the region.Oil prices surged on Friday, trading sharply up to around $75 a barrel before falling back a little.Analysts underlined the risk to the 20 percent of the world’s crude oil supplies that are shipped through the narrow Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.burs/rmb/gv/ami/sco/cms

Iran struck Israel early Saturday with barrages of missiles after a massive onslaught targeted the Islamic republic’s nuclear and military facilities, and killed several top generals.Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel overnight, with its military calling on residents to take refuge in bomb shelters Saturday morning.The Israeli military said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran.Smoke was billowing above skyscrapers in downtown Tel Aviv, an AFP journalist reported, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.Israel’s firefighting service said its teams were responding to the aftermath of Iranian missile strikes, including working to rescue people trapped in a high-rise building.Rescuers said 34 people had been wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.Resident Chen Gabizon told AFP he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert notification.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.In Iran’s capital Tehran early Saturday, fire and heavy smoke billowed from Mehrabad airport, an AFP journalist said, as local media reported a blast in the area.Iran said earlier it had activated its air-defence system and explosions could be heard across the capital.Dozens of people took to the streets of Tehran overnight to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.Iran’s ambassador to the UN said Friday that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.After a day of back-and-forth bombardments, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the two nations to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he wrote on X late Friday.- Calls for dialogue -US officials said they were helping Israel defend against the missile attacks, even as Washington insisted it had nothing to do with Israel’s strikes on Iran.US President Donald Trump agreed on a call with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “dialogue and diplomacy” were needed to calm the crisis, Starmer’s office said.Trump also spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday, US officials said, without elaborating.Iran’s missile salvo came hours after Israel said its widespread air raids had killed several top Iranian generals, including most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force.It had launched several rounds of strikes that hit about 200 targets including nuclear facilities and air bases.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to ruin” during a televised address.In Israel, Netanyahu issued a statement calling on the Iranian public to unite against their own government. But he also warned more attacks were coming. “In the past 24 hours, we have taken out top military commanders, senior nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime’s most significant enrichment facility and a large portion of its ballistic missile arsenal,” Netanyahu said.While stressing that it was not involved in the Israeli attacks, the United States warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests.Tehran nevertheless said Washington would be “responsible for consequences”.- Commanders killed -The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.Khamenei swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed.”The senior chain of command of the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had assembled in an underground command centre to prepare for an attack on the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said, adding that its attacks had killed most of them.Iran confirmed that the Guards’ aerospace commander had been killed, along with “a group of brave and dedicated fighters”.AFP images showed a gaping hole in the side of a Tehran residential building that appeared to have sustained a targeted strike.Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were among the dead.Oil prices surged while stocks sank on the Israeli strikes.- Radiation ‘unchanged’ in Natanz area -The conflict raised questions as to whether Sunday’s sixth round of talks planned between the United States and Iran to seek a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme would go ahead in Oman.After the first wave of strikes on Friday, Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding that Washington was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Iran confirmed that above-ground sections of the Natanz enrichment plant had been destroyed, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said radiation levels outside the site “remained unchanged”.”Most of the damage is on the surface level,” said the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran’s spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.Iran said there was only limited damage to the Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites.The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had concluded that Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.Israel had called for global action after the IAEA accused Iran on Thursday of non-compliance with its obligations.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely moribund 2015 agreement with major powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.

Pro-Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remained in US detention Friday despite an expected release, his lawyer said, following reported accusations of inaccuracies in his permanent residency application.US District Judge Michael Fabiarz had issued an order Wednesday that the government could not detain or deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident, based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertions that his presence on US soil posed a national security threat.The order gave the government until Friday to release Khalil. But by Friday afternoon, the Trump administration “represented that the Petitioner is being detained on another, second charge,” the judge wrote.The Department of Homeland Security has provided the court with press clippings from various American tabloids suggesting Khalil, who is married to a US citizen, had failed to disclose certain information about his work or involvement in a campaign to boycott Israel when applying for his permanent resident green card, ABC News reported.”The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father’s Day as a family,” Khalil attorney Amy Greer said in a statement, referring to the US holiday observed on Sunday.”Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians. It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.”Since his March 8 arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump’s willingness to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war, in the name of curbing anti-Semitism.At the time a graduate student at New York’s Columbia University, Khalil was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.Authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to a detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation.His wife Noor Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, gave birth to their son while Khalil was in detention.