Dueling Narratives: Iran Admits Nuclear Damage as Khamenei Claims Victory
As Iran’s foreign minister concedes “serious” setbacks from U.S.-Israeli strikes, the Supreme Leader insists the nuclear program remains intact—while talks with Washington are officially off the table
Iran's foreign minister has admitted that "excessive and serious" damage was done to the country's nuclear sites in the recent US and Israeli bombings. Abbas Araghchi told a state broadcaster on Thursday evening that an assessment of the damage is being carried out by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. But, just hours earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the strikes did not disrupt the country's nuclear programme. Khamenei was responding to US President Donald Trump's assertion that the bombs had "totally obliterated" three nuclear sites. Khamenei said the US attacks had failed to "accomplish anything significant". The supreme leader, who has been in hiding since the war with Israel began on 13 June, insisted that Trump had "exaggerated" the impact of the bombs, and declared victory over the US and Israel. But Araghchi's remarks create a different impression. The foreign minister also said there were no plans to resume nuclear talks with the US. Iran cancelled a scheduled sixth round of talks when Israel began its attacks. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said intelligence gathered by the US and Israel indicated the strikes "significantly damaged the nuclear programme, setting it back by years". A leaked preliminary Pentagon assessment downplayed the significance of the damage and said the US strikes only set Iran's nuclear programme back by a few months. The leak has been dismissed by the administration. Iran's health ministry said 610 people were killed during the 12 days of Israel air strikes, while Israeli authorities said 28 were killed in Israel.
BREAKING: The US Supreme Court has issued a 6-3 ruling that will curb judges' power to block President Donald Trump's orders nationwide. Trump called the decision a "giant win" and Attorney General Pam Bondi says it will stop the "endless barrage" of injunctions against the president's agenda. Writing in dissent of the opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor says the Supreme Court's decision is an "open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution.” The case stems from President Trump's order to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. Today's ruling will allow that birthright citizenship order to partially go into effect in 30 days, after judges in lower courts had blocked it. This ruling did not directly tackle the constitutionality of Trump's order, a case likely to end up before the top court at a later date. There is a conservative majority in the Supreme Court and Trump appointed three of the nine justices - BBC
The U.S. State Department is bracing for widespread layoffs as soon as Friday, though one person familiar with the discussions told Semafor that the department would wait for a Supreme Court ruling on its reorganization plan. A decision from the high court — which is weighing a lower-court judge’s decision to block planned layoffs and the broader reorganization — is expected imminently. In the meantime, multiple sources forecasted reduction in force notices this week that could number in the thousands, in line with the proposal Secretary of State Marco Rubio has submitted to Congress. A spokeswoman for the American Foreign Service Association, which represents State’s foreign service officers, said the group remains concerned that layoffs might occur in advance of a court ruling giving them legal approval. Even if the layoffs don’t land until the Supreme Court rules, the State Department has already started preparing. Earlier this month, civil service employees were asked to provide their resumes to “prepare for the reorganization,” Government Executive reported. And more recently, the State Department updated its Foreign Affairs Manual to aid in the reorganization - Semafor
The Canadian government is demanding answers from the U.S. following the death of a Canadian citizen in immigration custody. It occurs as the relationship between Canada and the U.S. has crumbled during President Trump's second term as he's sought to annex America's neighbor and started a trade war with a vital economic partner. Johnny Noviello, 49, died on Monday while in custody in Miami pending removal proceedings, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Wednesday. He had been in the U.S. for nearly 40 years. Seven other detainees have died in ICE custody in 2025. "Today, the Government of Canada was notified of the death of a Canadian citizen while in custody in the United States," Anita Anand, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, said Thursday on X. "Canadian consular officials are urgently seeking more information from U.S. officials. I offer my sincere condolences to the family." Noviello entered the U.S. in 1988 on a legal visa and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991, per ICE. In 2023, he was convicted in Volusia County, Fla., and sentenced to 12 months in prison for racketeering, trafficking oxycodone and hydrocodone, and using a two-way communication device for a crime. This year, he was arrested by ICE at the Florida Department of Corrections Probation Office and was being processed for deportation because of his criminal conviction - Axios
The United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the U.S., a White House official said on Thursday, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies. President Donald Trump earlier said the United States had signed a deal with China on Wednesday, without providing additional details, and that there might be a separate deal coming up that would "open up" India. During U.S.-China trade talks in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing non-tariff countermeasures imposed against the United States since April 2, although it was unclear how some of those measures would be walked back. As part of its retaliation against new U.S. tariffs, China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. "The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said on Thursday. The understanding is "about how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the U.S. again", the official said. A separate administration official said the U.S.-China agreement took place earlier this week - Reuters
An Israeli entrepreneur who runs trendy restaurants around the world is now promoting a new food distribution group in the Gaza Strip that is drawing international controversy — as Gaza health officials report hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands wounded by Israeli troops while approaching the group's food distribution sites. Shahar Segal — whose global restaurant empire includes the Michelin-starred Shmoné in Manhattan — is now affiliated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), serving as its spokesman for the Israeli media. This Tuesday alone, Gaza health officials reported 44 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops while approaching GHF food sites. The U.S. has for the first time acknowledged it will directly fund GHF, authorizing $30 million for the group, the State Department announced Thursday. "A track record of distributing over 46 million meals distributed to date, all while preventing Hamas' looting is absolutely incredible and should be commended and supported," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters. Internal U.S. government documents obtained by NPR lay out detailed talking points for government spokespeople extolling the "incredible work" of GHF. They express skepticism about Palestinians killed by Israeli fire while approaching GHF sites, alleging the accounts are promoted by "Hamas-linked outlets." But the internal documents also acknowledge media coverage of "criticism from other humanitarian organizations that the GHF risks being complicit in alleged Israeli war crimes as concern grows over Palestinians being killed near food distribution sites." - NPR
Gaza’s Government Media Office says at least 549 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while trying to access humanitarian supplies in the past four weeks, and a further 4,066 were injured at or near US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution sites. At least 47 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since the early hours of this morning, hospital sources said - Al Jazeera
An Israeli court has rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial. Netanyahu’s lawyer on Thursday asked the court to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needed to concentrate on “security issues” after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran. The Jerusalem district court said in a judgement published online that “in its current form [his request] does not provide a basis or detailed justification for the cancellation of the hearings.” Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, and his supporters have described the long-running trial as politically motivated. In a first case, he and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours. In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described the case against Netanyahu as a “witch-hunt”, saying the trial “should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero”. - Al Jazeera
Robert Fico, Slovakia's prime minister, confirmed on Thursday that he would continue to vote down the next package of sanctions that the European Union wants to impose on Russia in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With sanctions subject to unanimity rules, Fico's decision makes it impossible to approve the proposal, which is considered ready to go after diplomats spent the last day polishing the technical details in anticipation of a formal endorsement. Fico confirmed his veto after holding a bilateral meeting with EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. In the days leading up to the summit, officials in the Commission had sounded optimistic that a compromise of sorts would be reached and the 18th package of sanctions would sail away before the end of the month. But then, the Slovak put his foot down - Euronews
New weather warnings for this weekend were issued for large parts of the Mediterranean region, with temperatures expected to get above 40 degrees celsius this weekend. AFP reported that in Spain, emergency medical staff readied to deal with an expected surge in heatstroke cases, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children, elderly people and people with chronic illnesses. In neighbouring Portugal, the national meteorological agency IPMA said the heatwave would hit from Saturday, with temperatures passing 40C in the south of the country as well as in the central Tagus and the Douro valleys in the north, AFP said. 21 cities in Italy were put on red alert warning, too, including Rome, Milan and Venice, with people told not to leave their homes between 11am and 6pm. (Yes, that’s Venice, where private jets and super-yachts deliver guests to three-day wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez protesters say will turn Venice into a playground for the rich.) Florence is also expected to see temperatures up to 37 degrees celsius on Saturday - The Guardian
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