Closing Summary
We are now closing the live blog. Here is a summary of events today:
Donald Trump hit back at a leaked intelligence report that said US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had likely only set back the country’s nuclear programme by a few months. The US president instead said the country’s nuclear capabilities had been “obliterated”. Earlier in the day Trump had said the intelligence was “very inconclusive” adding: “The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.” The UN watchdog has said that while “no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow”, it is expected to be “very significant”.
Trump had earlier criticised CNN and the New York Times for their reports on the leaked intelligence assessment, claiming they had teamed up to “demean one of the most successful military strikes in history”, and declared Iran’s nuclear sites were “completely destroyed”. The White House earlier called the intelligence assessment “flat-out wrong”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Politico on Wednesday that Iran is “much further away from a nuclear weapon” after a US strike on Iran’s three main nuclear sites over the weekend.
There is a chance that much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium survived Israeli and US attacks because it may have been moved by Tehran soon after the first strikes, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
Trump said the US will hold talks with Iran next week, with a possible agreement on the table about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The US president said that Israel and Iran are “tired” but the conflict between the two countries could start again.
Trump said that “great progress” was being made to end the war in Gaza.
Speaking alongside the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump compared the US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, saying: “This was essentially the same thing: that ended that war; this ended the war.”
Mark Rutte defended Donald Trump’s swearing outburst on Tuesday when commenting on the Israel-Iran war. “Daddy sometimes has to use strong language,” Rutte told reporters.
France is conducting its own analysis on damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities after US and Israeli strikes, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Wednesday.
Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza hope the ceasefire with Iran leads to a truce with Hamas.
Seven soldiers were killed in Gaza on Tuesday after an attack on their armoured vehicle, Israel said on Wednesday, in one of the deadliest incidents for its forces in the more than 20-month war.
Iran executed three more prisoners on Wednesday over allegedly spying for Israel, its state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Iran’s parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, state-affiliated news outlet Nournews reported. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was quoted by state media as saying Iran would accelerate its civilian nuclear programme.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it thought it was too early for anyone to have a realistic picture of damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear facilities by US airstrikes.
Pope Leo XIV urged the warring sides in the Israel-Iran war to “reject the logic of bullying and revenge” and choose a path of dialogue and diplomacy to reach peace as he expressed solidarity with all Christians in the Middle East.
Here is a report by my colleague in Jerusalem William Christou on the seven Israeli soldiers who were killed in Gaza on Tuesday (see earlier post).
Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in a Hamas attack in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Wednesday, one of the deadliest incidents for the force in months. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have killed 74 people in the Palestinian territory over the past 24 hours, according to local health authorities.
The seven Israeli soldiers, in the 605th combat engineering battalion, were killed on Tuesday after militants planted a bomb on their vehicle while they were driving in Khan Younis, causing it to catch fire. Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Rescue forces and helicopters were dispatched to the scene and made attempts to extract the soldiers but were unsuccessful,” said Brig Gen Effie Defrin, an Israeli army spokesperson, on Wednesday. He added that the 605th battalion was finding and demolishing tunnels, as well as killing militants, in Khan Younis.
You can read the full report here:
