Press TV – July 24, 2025
Iran says powerful military response forced Israel to halt aggression unilaterally
Iran's top security body says the powerful Iranian military response as part of True Promise III forced the Israeli regime to halt its aggression unilaterally.
The Secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has said the Israeli regime was forced to unilaterally end its aggression against the Islamic Republic following a determined and powerful response from the Iranian armed forces.
In a statement on Tuesday, hours after the regime halted its aggression after 12 days as part of an agreement between Tel Aviv and Washington, the top Iranian security body lauded the country’s security forces for demonstrating “exemplary courage” in the face of Israeli hostilities.
“In response to the Zionist enemy’s aggression, your brave and self-sacrificing children in the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran heeded the command of the Leader and Commander-in-Chief (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) and responded with exemplary courage to every act of hostility,” it said.
The statement came after Israel confirmed halt of its aggression, initially announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning. Tehran has not officially confirmed the truce, but Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last night that Tehran would halt its retaliatory attacks “provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people.”
The SNSC pointed out that the recent operations by the Iranian armed forces targeted both the US-run Al-Udeid air base in Qatar and the entire occupied territories with missile strikes.
The statement credited “the extraordinary vigilance, timely action, resistance, and solidarity of the Iranian people” for disrupting the enemy’s main strategy and creating the conditions for “the steadfastness and stunning power of the warriors of Islam,” developed over years of innovative and tireless struggle, to be fully deployed during the 12 days of intense and skillful resistance.
It described the outcome as a “divine gift” in return for the nation’s insight, the armed forces’ resolve, and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s, wise guidance, resulting in the enemy’s regret, defeat, and unilateral cessation of hostilities.
It further affirmed that Iran’s armed forces remain on high alert, “ready to deliver a firm and regret-inducing response to any new act of aggression.”
On June 13, Israel launched a blatant aggression against Iran, killing military commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary civilians.
On June 22, the United States joined the Israeli regime in the assault and bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The Iranian armed forces promised to “open the gates of hell” to Israel and began waves of punitive missile and drone strikes on sensitive sites across the occupied territories.
A day later, Iran launched a wave of missiles at al-Udeid air base in Qatar — the largest American military base in West Asia.
In a statement following the successful retaliatory operation codenamed 'Tidings of Victory', Iranian armed forces said it came in response to the “blatant military aggression by the criminal regime of the United States” against the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic.
This base serves as the headquarters of the US Air Force Command and represents the most strategic asset of the American military in West Asia.
Is the 12-day Israel-Iran war really over – and who gained what?
A Trump-brokered ceasefire is in place for now. But what really happened – and did any side emerge stronger from the conflict?
John T Psaropoulos
Since Sunday, the Middle East has lurched from escalating war to fragile ceasefire. A truce seems to be holding, and what US President Donald Trump called “The 12 Day War” between Israel and Iran seems to be over – for now.
Meanwhile, Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran’s leaders have all claimed that the pause in the conflict happened on their terms.
So, what’s the truth? What did Israel achieve? Did Iran manage to defend its strategic assets? And is the truce a pathway to peace?
How did events unfold?
Late on Saturday night, at Israel’s behest, the US entered the Israeli-Iranian war with strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, “completely obliterating” them, in Trump’s words.
On Monday, Iran struck back, firing missiles at the largest US airbase in the Middle East, Al Udeid in Qatar.
It appeared as though the Middle East was poised for a broader, longer war.
But within hours, Trump announced on Truth Social, his social media platform, “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.”
Trump called it “the 12 Day War … that could have gone on for years and destroyed the Middle East”.
Four hours after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect, Israel launched a strike against Iran in retaliation for what it said were two ballistic missiles entering its airspace, launched from Iran. Both were intercepted. Israel’s retaliation destroyed a radar station near Tehran.
Trump was furious. “I’m really unhappy that Israel went out this morning,” he told reporters.
“We’ve got two countries that have been fighting so hard and for so long, that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.”
Iran said it did not fire those missiles. By 11:30 GMT the ceasefire was back in effect. Trump spoke to Netanyahu.
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
What did Israel achieve?
Israel has long claimed that Iran is its number one existential threat, but it has never before struck Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
On June 13, it crossed that red line, bombing the surface installations of the Natanz fuel enrichment plant and the Isfahan nuclear technological complex. Iran retaliated by launching drones and missiles at Israel.
Israel had struck nuclear installations in Syria and Iraq before, but it has now proved it can carry out a complex mission much further afield.
It also withstood international accusations that its mission wasn’t legal. Israel claims it was anticipatory self-defence, but not everyone agrees that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, or that it planned to use it against Israel imminently.
“I speak with world leaders and they are very impressed by our determination and the achievements of our forces,” Netanyahu said on June 18.
Finally, Israel proved it can convince the US to enter a limited Middle Eastern offensive it has started. In previous wars in 1967 and 1973, the US had provided material support to Israel when it was attacked, but had not assisted it with direct operational involvement.
Netanyahu thanked Trump for “standing alongside us”.
Operation Rising Lion against Iran took place in the wake of conflicts that Israel has waged against Iran’s regional allies – the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas and Hezbollah have been weakened over the past two years.
Did Iran manage to defend its nuclear programme?
Israel managed to significantly damage surface targets in Iran, and the US claims to have destroyed underground nuclear facilities.
But while satellite photography shows that their missiles hit their mark, there is no independent confirmation available to verify what was destroyed. That will need on-site inspections.
“At this time, no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow,” said Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, on Monday, after the US strikes. “Given the explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” he said.
Also unknown are the whereabouts of 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of highly enriched uranium that the IAEA has said Iran now possesses.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, suggested the nuclear programme would emerge unscathed. “Preparations for recovery had already been anticipated, and our plan is to prevent any interruption in production or services,” he said on Tuesday in a statement carried by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Meanwhile, confusion lingers over the source of two ballistic missiles that hit Israel on Tuesday morning, three and a half hours after the ceasefire began. Iran’s government officially denied having launched the missiles.
So who did? And were they fired accidentally – like the Iranian missile that accidentally brought down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2021, killing 176 people?
How likely is another strike on Iran?
What Israel and Iran have agreed to is a ceasefire. They haven’t made peace.
On Iran’s nuclear programme, experts say that there are – broadly speaking – two possible future paths.
Renewed UN inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities and a new treaty with Iran, perhaps resembling former US President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of 2015, might help Tehran ease global pressure on its programme, though it was Trump who pulled out of the JCPOA, not Iran.
This is where European powers can play a role. Three of them, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on June 20, along with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in an effort to avert US strikes. That bid failed, but although the EU cannot alone leverage Iran into a compromise, it can act as a counterpoint to US-Israeli hard power.
“Iran will try to involve the Europeans diplomatically by proposing enhanced monitoring and making commitments in its nuclear programme,” Ioannis Kotoulas, an adjunct lecturer in geopolitics at Athens University, told Al Jazeera.
“The US could accept a peaceful nuclear programme – [US Secretary of State Marco] Rubio has already said so. The likelihood is that the US won’t try to force regime change,” he said. “Europe is now Iran’s only way out. Russia is unreliable.”
But Israel has previously tried to scupper any nuclear deal between the West and Iran, and is unlikely yo accept a fresh agreement.
And will Iran even be open to a compromise, after the US pulled out of its previous nuclear deal with Tehran, then changed goalposts during recent talks, and finally joined Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities while they were supposed to be negotiating an agreement?
“That really depends on dynamics within the country and how any climbdown is phrased, but there have already been calls to cease uranium enrichment from activists within the country,” Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at St Andrews University, told Al Jazeera.
So far, Iran sounds unyielding in the pursuit of its nuclear programme.
On Monday, the national security committee of Iran’s parliament approved a bill pushing for the full suspension of Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA if approved in a plenary session.
Meanwhile, Trump emphasised on Tuesday on social media that he would not allow Iran’s nuclear programme to resume.
If that fundamental tension remains intact, another round of strikes and counterstrikes that suck in the US might only be a matter of time.\
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/24/is-the-12-day-israel-iran-war-really-over-and-who-gained
Israel kills more than 80 people in Gaza, including dozens of aid seekers
More than 400 Palestinians have died at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites since their operation began in rising daily killings of the hungry.
Israeli forces and drones have killed at least 86 Palestinians since dawn, including 56 near aid distribution centres, in the latest attacks on desperate people seeking aid in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to medical sources in hospitals.
In Rafah alone, in the south of the enclave, 27 aid seekers were gunned down by the Israeli military on Tuesday.
The overall death toll from Israel’s war has risen to more than 56,000 killed and 131,848 injuries since October 7, 2023.
The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage near aid distribution points established late last month by the controversial Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) has labelled a “death trap”.
Medical sources reported that at least 25 people were killed in an incident on Salah al-Din Street south of Wadi Gaza in central Gaza, according to The Associated Press news agency. More than 140 other people were injured, 62 of them critically.
Footage posted on the social media site Instagram, and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed bodies being brought to al-Awda Hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.
Similar scenes were reported from the Nasser Medical Complex to the south in Khan Younis, following unverified reports that the Israeli army had targeted people waiting for aid on al-Tina Street.
People approaching an aid point in Gaza City were also killed, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from the city in the north of the territory, as well as Rafah in the south.
“Casualties were brought to various health facilities, including al-Shifa Hospital [in Gaza City],” he said. “The emergency ward there turned into a bloodbath, and many died waiting for medical care.”
Witnesses told the AP that Israeli forces had opened fire as people were approaching the aid trucks.
“It was a massacre,” said Ahmed Halawa, reporting that tanks and drones had fired “even as we were fleeing”.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of casualties from fire by its troops after a group of people approached soldiers in an area near the militarised Netzarim Corridor.
Israel has said that previous shootings near GHF aid sites have been provoked by the approach of “suspects” towards soldiers.
Witnesses and humanitarian groups have said that many of the shootings took place without warning.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a media briefing that the number of Palestinian deaths at the sites speaks to “the horrors of what is going on in Gaza”.
“People are being killed just for trying to get food because of a militarised humanitarian distribution system that meets none of the prerequisites for a functioning, fair, independent and impartial humanitarian system,” he said.
Dujarric added: “It is high time that leaders on both sides find the political courage to put a stop to this carnage”.
‘Death trap’
The killing of aid seekers has become an almost daily occurrence since the GHF took over the distribution of food and other vital supplies.
The foundation launched its aid distribution programme in late May after Israel had completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, prompting warnings of mass famine.
The United Nations has refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns that it prioritises Israeli military objectives over humanitarian needs, and condemned it for its “weaponisation” of aid.
The GHF distribution sites have been plagued by scenes of chaos and carnage. More than 400 people have been killed and 1,000 wounded by Israeli soldiers since the GHF aid rollout began.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that the system for aid distribution in Gaza was “an abomination”.
“The newly created so-called aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people,” Lazzarini said at a news conference in Berlin. “It is a death trap costing more lives than it saves.”
In a letter published on Monday, the International Commission of Jurists — a human rights NGO of prominent lawyers and judges — joined 14 other groups in condemning the GHF and calling for “an end to private militarized humanitarian aid operations in Gaza”.
Philip Grant, executive director of Geneva-based NGO TRIAL International, said GHF’s model of militarised and privatised aid delivery “violates core humanitarian principles”.
He added that those who enabled or profited from the GHF’s work faced a “real risk of prosecution for complicity in war crimes, including the forcible transfer of civilians and the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”.
Five Israeli soldiers killed in double ambush by Gaza Resistance
With five Israeli soldiers killed and 17 wounded, reports of missing personnel spark serious concerns over their fate.
Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 17 others were wounded, some critically, after being lured into a complex ambush in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Tuesday evening.
According to the details, Israeli sources noted that the casualties involved two military units from different brigades and division-level formations.
The reports also indicated that several soldiers were still unaccounted for on the battlefield, with serious concerns about their fate. Military helicopters reportedly evacuated the wounded to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv.
Israeli media described the incident as “difficult to comprehend,” given that both the killed and wounded were from two different units.
They reported that Palestinian Resistance fighters had set a sophisticated ambush for an Israeli force, setting fire to an armored personnel carrier of the Puma type while soldiers were still inside.
The cries of the wounded could be heard on video footage captured by Hamas fighters, before a second ambush was launched targeting the rescue team.
Israeli reports confirmed that the families of the killed soldiers had been notified and that some of the wounded remained in critical condition.
Hamas' al-Qassam confirms two ambushes against Israeli forces
In a related context, Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades confirmed that its Resistance fighters carried out a complex ambush targeting an Israeli force that had taken shelter inside a house, using an al-Yassin 105 shell and an RPG in southern Khan Younis.
The Brigades said it inflicted casualties among enemy soldiers, killed and wounded, in the area south of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Moreover, al-Qassam said its fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a Shawaz explosive device and an al-Yassin 105 shell, also south of Khan Younis.
How Israel failed in Iran?
By Ori Goldberg
…….The very real damage to the Israeli heartland should also be considered. Israel achieved aerial dominance over Iran very quickly and struck almost at will. Iranian missiles, however, repeatedly managed to penetrate the famed Israeli air defense system, strike at the heart of Israel and across the entire country, and bring it to a standstill while inflicting an unprecedented number of casualties as well as massive destruction. Israel was running low on interceptor missiles without hopes of immediate replenishment. The Israeli economy was quickly grinding to a halt. This was another triumph for Iran.
Iran emerged from the war bruised and bombed, suffering hundreds of casualties and real damage from incessant bombing around the country. But the Islamic Republic did not crumble, even when facing a massive Israeli force.
Iranian missiles hit home, Iran’s image was not tarnished (it was seen by most of the world as a victim of an Israeli attack), and Iran’s options for response were not severely constrained. Iran successfully de-escalated by warning in advance about its “retaliation” for the US strike on its military base in Qatar.
Iran was powerful enough to convince Trump to warn Israel not to attack after the ceasefire appeared to have been violated. Iran emerged as it prefers to emerge – still standing, and with potential for the future.
Ori Goldberg holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies with a specialisation in Iranian affairs. He is a former university professor and national security consultant. Today he is an independent analyst and commentator.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/24/how-israel-failed-in-iran
