Iran has been considering striking US military targets in southern and south-eastern Europe if President Donald Trump decides to escalate the conflict, the Financial Times reports, citing two people close to the Tehran regime. According to the newspaper's sources, Iranian forces have been examining possible attacks against US assets in countries such as Bulgaria, which last month authorized the use of the Bezmer air base to refuel US military aircraft. Cyprus was also reportedly considered, after a British base on the island was hit by a drone in March.
Another clash over Hormuz after the expiry of the US-Iran memorandum. Trump publishes a map declaring it "new American territory". “An illusion that will need to be corrected”, replies Tehran, declaring the Strait closed “until Washington respects the terms of the agreement”.
The tycoon, at the lowest point in his popularity with 64% of Americans rejecting him also due to the crisis in Iran, decides to impose sanctions on the president of the ICC, the Japanese Tomoko Akane. “A decision that undermines the rule of law,” they say from the Criminal Court. The US condemns Israel's raids in Syria, "they are not necessary".
The Likud primaries reward Netanyahu but put the re-election of 5 ministers at risk.
Possible Iranian attacks on US bases in Europe? "Nothing is precluded but if I were in the FT I would avoid offering ideas and suggestions." Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, interviewed by Adnkronos, commented on the Financial Times' indiscretion according to which Tehran is considering the possibility of striking US military targets in Europe in the event that US President Donald Trump decides to intensify the conflict and attack Iranian infrastructure. The British newspaper, citing two sources close to the Iranian regime, reports that Tehran's forces have been examining possible attacks against US assets in south-eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, where last month the use of the Bezmer air base by American aircraft for in-flight refueling was authorised. Cyprus would also have been identified among the potential targets, where in March a British base was hit by a drone. A scenario which, in Crosetto's words, is linked to the way in which Tehran would have conducted the conflict. "The tactic with which they faced the war was to bring chaos even to places and nations that had no role in the conflict", underlines the minister. Hence the judgment on the possibility that the escalation could spread beyond the Middle Eastern theater: "With this logic nothing is precluded but if I were in the FT I would avoid offering ideas and suggestions".
A thousand Israeli fans of Hapoel from Tel Aviv are expected in Bergamo tomorrow evening for the Conference League play-offs. To take stock of security, a summit was held this morning in the Prefecture, preceded yesterday by a meeting at the Police Headquarters. The Israeli fans, unlike previous matches, will not be welcomed in the Piazzale Alpini area, but in the Campo Utili area, closer to the stadium. The security machine will be the same as the big European matches that Bergamo has already hosted. No protests or demonstrations have been announced in the city. At the New Balance Arena it will be forbidden to introduce Palestinian flags and, for this reason, there will be filtering at the stadium entrances.
The secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, condemned the Israeli attack on the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Syria's Idlib province, calling it "a flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law, as well as yet another crime in the series of repeated Israeli attacks against Syria and other countries in the region." Fahmy called the Israeli attacks "provocative, unjustified and absolutely unacceptable", accusing Israel of wanting to "sow chaos and expand areas of conflict and confrontation - both in Syria and Lebanon - to serve the political and electoral ambitions of its prime minister, who prioritizes regional security and stability." The Arab League urges the international community and the UN Security Council "to assume their responsibilities by forcing Israel to cease these brazen attacks and put an end to them, in order to prevent an escalation of chaos and violence in the region."
Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed party allied with Iran, will not abandon the strategic heights of Ali Taher, which dominate the city of Nabatiye and which the Israeli occupation forces are trying to conquer. This was stated by the deputy of the Shiite party Hassan Ezzeddine, according to whom the movement "will face any act of aggression". The hills have been the target of Israeli air and artillery raids for weeks. Quoted by Beirut media this morning, Ezzeddine called Ali Taher "one of the key positions of the resistance", adding that the Party of God "will carry out its national duty" in the event of an Israeli attack on the site. The MP also indicated that any support from Iran in this context would represent a source of additional strength, going so far as to state that Tehran "could establish a new equation regarding Ali Taher".
The Israeli military offensive in occupied southern Lebanon does not stop, with air raids and dynamiting operations on the Ali Taher heights, in the Nabatiye district, and on the village of Mansuri, divided in two by the "yellow line" imposed unilaterally by the occupying forces of the Jewish State on over 600 square kilometers of Lebanese territory. This was reported by the National Information Agency, according to which the Israeli air force conducted a series of raids in the middle of the night on the Ali Taher heights and on other positions in the Nabatiye district, as well as near a location in the Marjayun district. The occupation forces also continued dynamiting operations in Mansuri and another area of the Bint Jbeil district, while several artillery shells fell on Majdal Zun, in the Tire district, and the surrounding valleys. Lighting rockets were launched over the regions of Tire and Bint Jbeil, while other artillery fire hit the surroundings of the Zebqine valley, also in the Tire district. Also in the last few hours, an air raid hit and destroyed a home of the Hajj Ali family in the al-Deir neighborhood of Nabatiye al-Fawqa. No victims were recorded, according to Ani. The new violations come as negotiations for a second round of Israeli-Lebanese talks launched in Rome remain stalled, with Beirut calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from points still occupied beyond the demarcation line drawn by the UN in 2000. A new US-mediated negotiating meeting is expected in early September but Lebanon's delegation has not confirmed its presence.
Iran has been considering striking US military targets in southern and south-eastern Europe if President Donald Trump decides to escalate the conflict, the Financial Times reports, citing two people close to the Tehran regime. According to the newspaper's sources, Iranian forces have been examining possible attacks against US assets in countries such as Bulgaria, which last month authorized the use of the Bezmer air base to refuel US military aircraft. Cyprus was also reportedly considered, after a British base on the island was hit by a drone in March. The sources also tell the FT that Tehran has separately examined the possibility of attacking underwater fiber optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a new escalation. According to the newspaper, Iranian leaders are considering broadening the range of possible retaliations beyond US military, energy and infrastructure objectives in the Middle East. Revolutionary Guards and other military commanders have reportedly warned that a new large-scale conflict could involve more distant targets.
Iran warns Gulf countries not to assist US military forces, arguing that any cooperation would amount to involvement in the conflict. The warning was issued by Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, according to Al Jazeera reports. In a statement relaunched by the Iranian Fars agency, Abdollahi said that nothing that happens in the region is "hidden from our eyes". The general cited in particular the presence of numerous military aircraft, especially in-flight refueling planes, at bases in the region, arguing that it would be difficult to explain this presence without knowledge of the countries hosting the facilities. “We warn: any assistance and facilitation to the aggressor US military is equivalent to participation in US military forces,” Abdollahi said, according to Al Jazeera.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad accuse Israel of undermining the peace process in Gaza after an Israeli air raid yesterday killed at least six people, including a 13-year-old boy and his father, and injured more than a dozen, according to doctors at al-Shifa hospital. CNN reports this, citing a joint statement in which the two groups defined the attack as a "clear challenge to the mediators' efforts" to consolidate and implement the ceasefire agreement, calling for greater pressure to stop what they define as Israeli violations. The Israeli army said it had hit "several Hamas commanders". According to a Hamas source cited by CNN, the target was instead a logistical support team tasked, under the current truce agreement, with collecting and storing weapons. The raid came a day after US envoy Jared Kushner urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to contain the almost daily attacks on the Strip, which according to CNN have caused more than 1,200 deaths since the ceasefire began in October. US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News on Monday, also said that Israel should stop attacking Gaza.
The United Arab Emirates has announced the suspension of all trade and financial exchanges with Iran, following the recent missile attacks conducted by Tehran against their vessels. The announcement comes after a period of relative calm in the United Arab Emirates, where there have been no Iranian missile attacks since May, where the confederation had borne the brunt of the attacks in the first weeks of the war in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi, however, has accused Tehran of having repeatedly targeted its sailing oil tankers in recent weeks. “In light of the regional escalation… all trade, financial exchanges and transactions with Iran have been suspended until further notice,” said Afra Al Hameli, director of communications at the UAE Foreign Ministry. The United Arab Emirates is home to a sizeable Iranian community and was - before the conflict - an important trading partner for Iran, a country sanctioned by the United States. The two countries share deep cultural and historical ties, being neighbors across the Gulf, with centuries-old ties between coastal communities, trade routes and family networks.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei denied that Tehran was responsible for the missile attack launched today against the United Arab Emirates. The spokesperson "categorically rejected the UAE's accusations that Iran launched missiles towards their country, expressing regret for the accusations leveled at the Islamic Republic of Iran and calling such behavior contrary to the principle of good neighborliness and harmful to ongoing efforts to strengthen trust between countries in the region and to prevent the rise of insecurity in the region." This was reported by the Iranian Fars agency. Baghaei "called on all regional parties to refrain from unfounded accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran, taking into account the complex dynamics that exist due to the continued destabilizing actions of the United States and the Israeli regime against the peace and security of the region, in particular due to numerous false flag operations."
