 "Iran questions Israel’s ceasefire commitment after deadly 12-day war")
Iran on Sunday warned it had little faith in Israel’s commitment to a fragile ceasefire that ended the most intense and destructive confrontation between the two foes to date.
The 12-day war erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its nuclear programme. Tehran responded with ballistic missile attacks on Israeli cities.
Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing an atomic weapon – an ambition Tehran has consistently denied, insisting it has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes.
The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which later joined its ally Israel’s campaign with bunker-busting strikes on nuclear facilities.
“We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,” Iranian armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.
“We have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force” if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.
The conflict has rattled the already shaky relationship between Iran and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has rejected the IAEA’s request to inspect its bombed nuclear sites, accusing its chief Rafael Grossi of “betraying his duties” by failing to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIranian lawmakers voted this week to suspend cooperation with the agency.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Grossi’s request to visit the targeted facilities “meaningless” and “possibly malign in intent”.
Tehran also cited a June 12 IAEA resolution criticising Iran’s lack of nuclear transparency as a pretext used by Israel to justify launching its offensive the following day.
The backlash drew a sharp rebuke from Germany and Argentina, Grossi’s home country.
“I commend Director General Rafael Grossi and his team for their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X.
Argentina’s foreign ministry said it “categorically condemns the threats against him coming from Iran”.
Neither specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi to be an Israeli spy.
“It should therefore be officially announced that he will be tried and executed upon arrival in Iran for spying for the Mossad and participating in the murder of the oppressed people of our country,” the newspaper said.
‘Compensation’
In a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi demanded the Security Council formally hold Israel and the United States to blame for starting the war, “and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations”.
The United States carried out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran’s atomic programme.
Trump has threatened further strikes should Iran enrich uranium to levels capable of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
The IAEA said Iran had previously enriched uranium to 60 percent, well above the 3.67 percent limit set by a 2015 nuclear agreement from which Trump unilaterally withdrew during his first term in 2018.
To make a weapon, Iran would need to enrich uranium up to 90 percent.
Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.
‘A new road’
Iran’s health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the war with Israel.
Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, Israeli authorities say.
During the war, Iran arrested dozens of people it accused of spying for Israel, also saying it seized equipment including drones and weapons.
Iran’s parliament on Sunday voted to ban the unauthorised use of communications equipment, including tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, said the official news agency IRNA.
On Sunday, Washington’s envoy to Turkey said the Iran-Israel war could pave the way for a new Middle East.
“What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: ‘Time out. Let’s create a new road’,” Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is also the US special envoy to Syria, told the Anadolu state news agency.
“The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story,” he added.
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