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Thai PM refuses to be ‘bullied’ as tension flares in a long-running dispute that turned deadly last month.

Cambodia has threatened to halt imports of fruit and vegetables from Thailand unless its neighbour lifts border restrictions as tempers flare during a long-running dispute that turned deadly last month.

The ban will take effect if Thailand doesn’t lift all border crossing restrictions within 24 hours, Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen said in a televised speech on Monday. The announcement followed weekend talks that had aimed to defuse the tensions.

“If the Thai side does not open border crossings to normalcy today, tomorrow, we will implement throughout the border a ban on the imports of fruit and vegetables to Cambodia,” said Hun Sen, a former prime minister and father of the current premier.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra retorted that her country would not be bullied or threatened and warned that “unofficial” communication would harm diplomatic efforts.

“Messages via unofficial channels do not bring good results for both countries,” she said after meeting Thai military commanders and officials from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs.

The rhetoric and diplomatic efforts come after decades of arguments over border territories have flared up.

On May 28, soldiers exchanged fire in a disputed area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. A Cambodian soldier was killed during the skirmish.

The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they acted in self-defence but agreed to reposition their soldiers in a bid to avoid future confrontations. However, heightened tensions remain.

Bangkok has tightened border controls since the clash and threatened to close the border and cut off electricity supplies to Cambodia.

Phnom Penh ordered troops on Friday to stay on “full alert” and announced it would cease buying Thai electric power, internet bandwidth and produce while also ordering local television stations not to screen Thai films.

Little progress

Amid the rise in diplomatic temperature, officials from the two countries met over the weekend in Phnom Penh to discuss their conflicting territorial claims.

While both sides said the meeting was held in a good atmosphere, it appears little progress was made.

The dispute dates back to the drawing of their 820km (510-mile) frontier, largely done during French colonial rule of Indochina from 1887 to 1954.

Parts of the land border are undemarcated and include ancient temples that both sides have contested for decades. The region has seen sporadic violence since 2008, resulting in at least 28 deaths.

Cambodia on Sunday formally asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to help resolve the dispute in four areas, including the site of last month’s clash and three others where ancient temples are located.

Cambodia has repeatedly asked Thailand to join the case, but Bangkok insists on a bilateral solution. It rejected a 2013 ICJ ruling that a disputed area next to the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.

Both countries have agreed to participate in another round of meetings on border issues in Thailand in September.

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Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets caused the price of oil to surge more than 7% on Friday since Tehran is one of the world’s major producers of oil, despite sanctions by Western countries limiting its sales.

A wider war could slow the flow of Iranian oil to its customers and keep prices of crude and gasoline higher for everyone worldwide. But early Monday, those concerns appeared to abate slightly.

Oil prices were still volatile on the fourth day of the Israeli-Iran crisis, before giving back a bit of their gains. On Monday morning, the US benchmark crude oil was traded at $73.71 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, cost $74 per barrel, down from Friday but still 7% higher than the price before the missile fire started. 

Military strikes between Israel and Iran are fuelling concerns that oil exports from the Middle East could be significantly disrupted. However, there is currently no indication that the oil flow is impacted, and concerns are running high.

Meanwhile, major oil companies are being rewarded on the stock market: BP and Shell both gained more than 1% in the Monday morning trade in Europe. 

“Gains in oil majors and defence contractors have helped to push the FTSE 100 onto a positive footing in early trade,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown financial services company.

Shares in the FTSE 100’s top banks were also rising on inflation fears that could result in higher key interest rates. Standard Chartered rose nearly 3%, Barclays and Natwest were up by more than 1% by 11 am CEST. 

Also strengthening the banking sector’s gains in London, Metro Bank shares soared by more than 14% following speculation that investment firm Pollen Street Capital would take over the lender, Sky News first reported over the weekend.

Investors in London also gained confidence after data for May showed a 6.1% year-on-year jump in retail sales in China, the world’s second biggest economy. However, it was coupled with lower-than-expected growth in industrial output, which still rose 5.8% from the previous year.

After 11 am in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.3% to 8,876.26. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% to 23,572.39 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.6% higher to 7,728.66. 

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.

During Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.3% to 38,311.33, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 1.8% to 2,946.66.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 0.7% to 24,060.99 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4% to 3,388.73.

The price of gold has climbed as it remains a safe haven asset. An ounce of gold added 1.4% on Friday, but gave back some of its gains on Monday morning, and was traded at around $3,437 an ounce.

Prices for US Treasury bonds are also on the rise when investors are feeling nervous, but Treasury prices fell Friday, which in turn pushed up their yields, in part because of worries that a spike in oil prices could drive inflation higher.

Inflation in the US has remained relatively tame recently, and it’s near the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. However, concerns remain high that it could accelerate due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

A better-than-expected report Friday on sentiment among US consumers also helped drive yields higher. The preliminary report from the University of Michigan stated that sentiment improved for the first time in six months after Trump put many of his tariffs on pause, while US consumers’ expectations for future inflation eased.

In currency trading early Monday, the US dollar gained to 144.18 Japanese yen from 144.03 yen. The euro rose to $1.1582 from $1.1533.

What is expected for the week?

The Middle East conflict is set to be the focus of the G7 meeting of leaders of wealthy nations in Canada this week.

There are also hopes that Trump will sign more trade deals, which keeps trade optimism a bit higher.

“It’s a big week in terms of decisions on interest rates and the direction of monetary policy,” Streeter said.

“The Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates on hold this week but comments from chair Jerome Powell will be closely watched for future direction of policy.”

Meanwhile, there is a monetary policy meeting of the Bank of England this week, where “policymakers are expected to press pause on rate cuts,” Streeter explained, citing the potential impact of higher energy costs. 

Meanwhile, the UK government’s infrastructure plans are going to be revealed in more detail this week. “The 10-year strategy, worth £725 billion (€850.8 bn), is the backbone of the Starmer administration’s plan to kickstart growth,” Streeter said.

Israel and Iran have launched more strikes on one another overnight and into the morning as the military confrontation between the two traditional adversaries persists.

Iranian attacks on Israel on Monday morning killed at least eight people and wounded dozens, officials reported, while Tehran said Israeli attacks overnight hit military and civilian targets.

The mutual strikes pushed the death toll from four days of open conflict between the foes close to 250.

Raised rhetoric emanating from both countries following the strikes suggested there is little prospect of the hostilities halting soon, with the risk of an escalation into a wider regional conflict persisting.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and pledged further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday.

In Israel, state broadcaster Israeli Army Radio reported that eight people were killed – five in the central part and three in the port city of Haifa.

That takes the total death toll in Israel to more than 20 since it launched air attacks on Iran four days ago. More than 300 others are reported wounded.

A branch of the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv sustained “minor damage” as a result of the attack, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said.

Earlier, Israel carried out further strikes on Iran. The Israeli military said its jets struck several command centres in Tehran belonging to Quds Force, an elite arm of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

“In these command centers, Quds operatives advanced terrorist attacks against the State of Israel using the proxies of the Iranian Regime in the Middle East,” it wrote in a post on X.

On Sunday, Iran said Israel had struck oil refineries, killed the IRGC’s intelligence chief and hit population centres in intensive aerial attacks.

‘Make a deal’

Much of the world has urged restraint since the conflict broke out on Friday when Israel launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities, killing military commanders and scientists.

Israel said the action was necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons that would threaten its survival.

Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles, and the countries have been engaged in an exchange of strikes since.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he hoped the adversaries would “make a deal”, but added that they might have to “fight it out” first.

A staunch ally of Israel, Trump has maintained erratic messaging since the strikes began, raising concern that the conflict could escalate.

Iran has said the US is complicit in the Israeli military action, and suggested it could target US forces in Syria and elsewhere in retaliation.

Trump has insisted that Washington has “nothing to do” with Israel’s bombing campaign, but also threatened to unleash “the full strength and might” of the US military if Iran attacked its interests in the Middle East.

That has helped encourage a rise in the hardline rhetoric emerging from Tel Aviv and Tehran, which continued on Monday, suggesting there is little chance either side is ready to step back.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that residents in Tehran would “pay the price” for Iran’s killing of Israeli civilians in its overnight missile attacks.

“The boastful dictator from Tehran has turned into a cowardly murderer, deliberately firing at Israel’s civilian home front in an attempt to deter the (Israeli military) from continuing the offensive that is crippling his capabilities,” Katz wrote on his Telegram channel. “The residents of Tehran will pay the price – and soon.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, urged people to put aside differences and unite against Israel.

“Every difference, issue, and problem that has existed must be put aside today, and we must stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence,” he said, addressing parliament.

Israel has suggested that regime change in Iran could be one result of the conflict, hoping to press opposition to the regime in Tehran to rise.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s response will stop when Israel halts its attacks.

The IRGC warned through a statement to the official IRNA news agency, “effective, targeted and more devastating operations against the vital targets” in Israel “will continue until its complete destruction”.

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, told Al Jazeera that few signs of a let up have been seen.

“I think it’s going to continue escalating because we are just in the first days of the war,” he said. “The Israeli officials, the prime minister and the army, have all warned Israeli society that this war is going to be heavy and … the price is going to be extremely high.”

Meanwhile, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Iran would likely welcome an end to hostilities in the non-too-distant future.

“I don’t sense they have the confidence that they can stay in this game for long. Remember, Iran is alone. It’s got no friends, it’s on its own. Israel’s got the US, most of Europe and plenty of other friends … and that should obviously be of concern for Tehran.”

The Japanese player will pitch for his MLB side for the first time since his signing a $700m contract with them in 2024.

Shohei Ohtani is set to return to the mound as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team has announced.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts originally told reporters on Sunday that Ohtani was set to pitch a simulated game in the coming days, but the team decided to give him the nod against the rival Padres on Monday.

“He’s getting very eager, very excited,” Roberts said. “I think the thought is that given where we’re at right now, anything he can give us is additive, even if it’s an inning or two innings on the front end.”

This will mark Ohtani’s first big league pitching appearance since August 23, 2023, and his first with the Dodgers. The two-way player had Tommy John surgery on his elbow in September 2023, three months before signing a 10-year, $700m contract with the Dodgers.

Ohtani has been ramping up for a return to the mound in June. On Tuesday, the right-hander threw 44 pitches over three simulated innings against minor leaguers from the Dodgers’ Arizona spring complex.

Ohtani’s return could not come at a better time for Los Angeles. Starters Roki Sasaki (right shoulder), Blake Snell (left shoulder) and Tyler Glasnow (right shoulder) are all on the injured list. Sasaki was recently forced to shut down his throwing programme after feeling discomfort this week. There is no timetable for his return this season.

In total, the Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the injured list – the most in the MLB.

Over his career in the majors, Ohtani is 38-19, with a 3.01 ERA in 86 career starts, all with the Los Angeles Angels. In 481 2/3 innings, he has compiled 608 strikeouts and 173 walks.

A three-time MVP, Ohtani is hitting 0.297 with 41 RBIs in 70 games this season, leading the National League with 25 home runs and a 1.035 OPS.

World number one Scottie Scheffler finished seventh, while a struggling Rory McIlroy ended the major on 17th.

JJ Spaun has won the US Open golf championship by two shots from Robert MacIntyre after draining an incredible 64-foot birdie putt that snaked across a sodden 18th green following a chaotic final round at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, United States.

“Just to finish it off like that is just a dream,” the Californian said after claiming his first major on Sunday.

“To have my own moment like that at this championship, I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.”

Spaun needed only a par at the closing hole to avoid a Monday playoff but went one better, sinking the huge putt in the rain to win the year’s third major and erase the disappointment from his close call at The Players Championship in March.

When the clinching putt dropped, Spaun tossed his putter, delivered a fist pump, hugged his caddie and then walked off the green with his two young daughters in tow on Father’s Day to celebrate a career-defining win.

“It was so cool to just have my whole family there on Father’s Day,” Spaun said. “It’s just incredible. I have no words to describe the moment and them being able to see me as the winner.”

Spaun reached the drivable par-four 17th hole level with Scotland’s MacIntyre, who was already in the clubhouse after a two-under 68, and delivered the shot of his life – a 309-yard strike that settled 17 feet from the cup.

The 34-year-old American sent his eagle putt past the hole but made the comebacker,  and then went on to secure the win in style at the 18th, where he said he did not look at the scoreboard so as not to alter his plan.

“I knew based off of, like, what the crowd was saying that I felt like if I two-putted I would probably win, but I didn’t want to look,” said Spaun. “I didn’t want to do anything dumb trying to protect a three-putt or something.”

The final round was interrupted by a 96-minute weather delay after heavy rains forced puddles of water to form on the greens and fairways and forced the grounds crew at Oakmont to use squeegees to get the course ready.

Rory McIlroy needs ‘right frame of mind’

The triumph comes three months after Spaun lost in a playoff to world number two Rory McIlroy at The Players Championship, a defeat which was hard to take but left him knowing he could mix it with the game’s elite.

Viktor Hovland (73) finished three shots back in third place, while Cameron Young (70) and LIV Golf players Tyrrell Hatton (72) and Carlos Ortiz (73) finished a further shot back in a share of fourth place.

Sam Burns (78), who took a one-shot lead over Spaun and Adam Scott into the final round, struggled late in his round and finished five shots back.

Twice major champion Jon Rahm, who began the day 11 shots back, closed with a three-under 67 that was the day’s joint low round, with the Spaniard finishing five shots back in a share of seventh with world number one Scottie Scheffler (70) and Burns.

World number two Rory McIlroy also saved his best for last and carded a 67 to reach seven over.

McIlroy, who had been struggling to find form since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters, is looking forward to some downtime before the British Open being held next month at Royal Portrush in his home country of Northern Ireland.

“I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks,” McIlroy said.

“But as I said, getting home and having a couple of weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.”

New Delhi, India — India has distanced itself from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) condemnation of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran, signalling a potential rift in the influential Eurasian political bloc over the conflict.

World leaders have repeatedly called for de-escalation amid Israel’s unprecedented attacks on its regional rival, Iran, which threaten to destabilise the region. Last Friday, the latest round of fighting began after Israel launched attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear sites.

This follows two rounds of direct military conflict between Iran and Israel in 2024, which were triggered by Israeli strikes on Iranian targets and subsequent Iranian retaliation.

Iranian authorities say Israeli attacks since Friday have targeted residential and military areas in Tehran as well as many cities across the country, killing at least 80 people, including civilians. Several Iranian nuclear scientists and university professors were killed along with several top-ranking commanders of the Iranian armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Israeli attacks on Saturday hit refineries, power stations and oil reserves across Iran. Tehran has retaliated by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens. Meanwhile, Tehran has also paused nuclear negotiations with the United States.

So, why did India refuse to take part in the discussions or endorse the SCO’s position on Israel’s attacks? Is India backing Israel? And what is at stake for these countries?

What did the SCO say?

The SCO, a political and security bloc founded in 2001, includes China, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran is the most recent entrant, having joined the SCO under India’s chairmanship in 2023.

On Saturday, the SCO, currently chaired by China, said its member states “express serious concern” over the escalating Iran-Israel tensions and “strongly condemn the military strikes carried out by Israel” on the territory of Iran.

The SCO statement further noted that Israel’s “aggressive actions against civilian targets, including energy and transport infrastructure, which have resulted in civilian casualties, are a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter”.

“[Israeli attacks] constitute an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, cause damage to regional and international security, and pose serious risks to global peace and stability,” the statement added, extending condolences to Iran’s government and people.

“The SCO member states firmly advocate for the resolution of the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program exclusively through peaceful, political, and diplomatic means,” the statement noted.

India’s ‘delicate balancing act’

After Israel’s initial strikes on Tehran, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in which he “conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events”.

Jaishankar “urged avoidance of any escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy,” according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. The ministry also underlined its concerns in a separate statement on Friday.

“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation, including reports related to attacks on nuclear sites,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said, urging both sides to use existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy to “work towards a de-escalation of the situation”.

“India enjoys close and friendly relations with both the countries and stands ready to extend all possible support,” the statement noted.

Shanthie D’Souza, a senior research fellow at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, told Al Jazeera, “Unlike other SCO nations, India is in a unique position given that it has to maintain defence ties with Israel and its economic ties with Iran.”

India is Israel’s largest weapons buyer, and in 2024, Indian weapons firms also sold Israel rockets and explosives amid the war in Gaza, an Al Jazeera investigation revealed. At the same time, India has been developing Iran’s Chabahar Port as a gateway for its exports to Central Asia and Afghanistan.

“India has maintained a delicate balancing act [in the latest round of fighting between Israel and Iran],” D’Souza said.

After the SCO statement condemning the Israeli strikes on Iran, New Delhi said it did not participate in discussions about the statement.

“The overall position of India as stated above was communicated to other SCO members,” the Foreign Ministry said, referring to its earlier statement for India’s official position.

Is India backing Israel?

Not explicitly. But by distancing itself from the bloc’s stance, New Delhi has weakened the force of the SCO’s condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Iran.

A day before distancing itself from the SCO statement, India abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution that demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza.

To Kabir Taneja, the deputy director of the strategic studies programme at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, India’s abstention at the UN was perplexing. He suggested that it may have been influenced by India’s desire to maintain good relations with the US, noting how India is close to a trade agreement with Washington – a deal it is trying to clinch before US President Donald Trump’s threatened 27 percent tariff on Indian goods is lifted in early July.

National interests aside, Taneja noted that New Delhi’s distancing from the SCO on the Israel-Iran tensions also “reflects on the construct of the SCO, where India is sort of an outlier inside”.

While China and Russia are close to Iran, Taneja said, given India’s relationships with the US and Israel, “it would have been very difficult [for India] to subscribe to SCO’s particular wording and statement”.

Is US pressure on Iran threatening India’s regional ambitions?

Before Trump imposed sanctions following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2017, Iran was India’s third-largest oil supplier.

In February, after Trump returned for a second term in office, he doubled down on economic pressure tactics to corner Iran by suspending sanction waivers “that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief, including those related to Iran’s Chabahar port project”.

The port would allow India to bypass its rival, Pakistan, by trading with landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia via Iran. India had secured a sanctions waiver from the US during the first Trump administration for work related to Chabahar.

Now, Trump’s sanctions put New Delhi’s multimillion-dollar investment in the strategically located maritime facility at risk.

But India’s interest in maintaining strong ties with Iran goes beyond just the port project. Taneja noted that India values Iran’s geographic position because it provides it with access to Afghanistan and Central Asia – regions important for India’s trade, security, and influence.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Vance Boelter arrested after two-day manhunt in Midwestern state.

The suspect in the assassination of one lawmaker and the attempted assassination of another in the US state of Minnesota has been captured.

Vance Boelter, 57, was arrested on Sunday following a two-day manhunt in the Midwestern state, law enforcement officials said.

“The face of evil. After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody,” Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post accompanied by a photo of Boelter being taken into custody.

“Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer.”

Boelter is alleged to have shot two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses in a politically motivated attack on Saturday morning.

Melissa Hortman, a state representative, and her husband, Mark, were killed in the attack, while state Senator John A Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were injured.

Boelter faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday night.

More to follow…

Tehran, Iran – Iran has promoted several commanders to the top of its military leadership after Israel killed their predecessors in a series of air attacks.

The leadership of Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has shifted significantly as the country defends against Israeli attacks and launches retaliatory strikes.

Let’s take a look at which commanders were killed, who replaced them, and what this means for the deadly conflict going forward.

How senior were the killed commanders?

Some of Iran’s top military leaders were killed during Israel’s multipronged assault, which started early Friday.

Iran’s highest-ranking military commander, General Mohammad Bagheri, was among the casualties. The veteran of the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s was chief of staff of the armed forces and only answered to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Other members of the General Staff of the Armed Forces were also among the dead, including Deputy for Operations Mehdi Rabani and Deputy for Intelligence Gholamreza Mehrabi.

The IRGC also lost a considerable number of top figures in its command chain, chief among them being Hossein Salami, the leader of the force.

The elite aerospace division of the IRGC, which is tasked with developing Iran’s sprawling missile programme, confirmed the killing of eight senior commanders who were convening in an underground bunker in Tehran.

Longtime aerospace chief Ali Akbar Hajizadeh was among those killed, as were commanders leading the missile defence and drone wings of the force.

Who are the new commanders?

Khamenei tapped Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, to become the new chief of staff of the armed forces.

The 65-year-old brigadier general has now become the first army commander to assume the position – previous figures who held the post came from within the IRGC.

Mousavi is also a war veteran and completed his military training and studies at the Supreme National Defense University in the aftermath of Iran’s Islamic revolution of 1979.

To lead the IRGC, Khamenei selected Mohammad Pakpour, a veteran commander who started and made his career within the elite force. He led the IRGC’s armoured units and then a combat division during the war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Pakpour led the IRGC ground forces for 16 years before he was appointed commander-in-chief. He was also a deputy for operations at the IRGC and used to lead two major headquarters of the force.

Iran’s supreme leader also promoted Amir Hatami to the rank of major-general, appointing him as commander of the army.

The 59-year-old is another career military man who rose through the ranks during the Iraq invasion, particularly after Operation Mersad. That was when the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), who had helped win the revolution but later fell out with the theocratic establishment, led a ground assault on Iranian soil with Iraqi forces – and were dealt a resounding defeat.

Brigadier General Majid Mousavi is also the new aerospace chief of the IRGC. He is believed to have been a prominent figure working to develop Iran’s ballistic missiles, drone systems, and Western-criticised space launches. He also worked closely with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, known as the “father of Iran’s missile programme”, who died in an explosion at a missile depot in 2011 that Iran ruled as accidental.

All newly promoted commanders have proclaimed their commitment to the retaliation against Israel, with slogans on banners across the country reading: “You started the war, we will finish it”.

Hatami said in a statement that, under his command, the army will “deal decisive and effective blows to the fake and child-killing Zionist regime”, referring to Israel.

Continuation

The new commanders have overseen the launch of hundreds of explosives-laden drones and ballistic and cruise missiles fired at Israel over the past three nights, and signalled readiness for a prolonged campaign.

Iran’s projectiles have so far hit military bases and residential buildings, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more.

Commanders in Tehran also started hitting Israel’s energy infrastructure overnight into Sunday after Israeli warplanes targeted Iran’s oil and gas facilities, petrochemical, steel and automotive plants, as well as many residential buildings.

Iranian authorities have said more than 220 people, including at least 25 children, were among the victims of Israeli strikes across Iran.

Sounds of explosions continuously rang out across Tehran on Sunday as the Israeli military bombed Niavaran to the north, Saadat Abad to the west, and the Valiasr and Hafte Tir neighbourhoods in downtown Tehran.

Iran has now withstood three days of Israeli attacks, which have killed more than 120 Iranians, including several members of its military leadership.

But its own response has been to hit back in a manner that Israel has never had to experience – with Iranian missiles causing devastating damage in Israel’s biggest cities – including Tel Aviv and Haifa.

How much damage both sides have caused – and in many cases what sites have exactly been hit – is unclear, with accurate facts hard to come by due to the information war that has accompanied the military conflict.

It is also hard to know how many missiles and munitions both sides still have in their stockpiles, and how long Israel and Iran can sustain this fight.

What we do know is that Iran is believed to have the largest missile programme in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic missiles available with varying ranges and speeds. At the current rate, Iran could likely carry on attacking Israel for weeks – enough time for Israel to experience significant damage, which its population is not used to after years of only really being exposed to attacks from weaker armed groups in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Yemen.

Iran is also revealing how effective its more advanced missiles can be. The Haj Qassem missile, used for the first time against Israel on Sunday, was able to evade Israeli air defences, and footage from Israel clearly shows the difference in power and speed compared to the older missiles that Iran had been using in its earlier barrages.

Of course, Iran does not have an unlimited amount of these more advanced missiles, and ultimately will have to ration their use, but coupled with its more standard missiles, and thousands of drones, Iran has enough military ability to cause Israel damage – and confound those who believe that Iran does not have the strength to continue the fight in the short term.

Avoiding a US fight

Israel’s Iron Dome is being severely tested by Iran’s missile barrages, but it has been able to lean on its principal ally, the United States, to provide assistance in intercepting the attacks.

The US, led by President Donald Trump, has insisted, however, that it is not a party to the current conflict between Israel and Iran, and has threatened that the consequences will be severe if Iran does attack US interests in the region, which include military bases dotted throughout the Middle East.

For Iran, any attack on US bases or personnel is a worst-case scenario that it wants to avoid. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has typically made cautious moves and will not want a direct fight with the US, or to give an excuse for Washington to add its own offensive military might to Israel’s.

A joint Israeli-US attack would likely have the ability to destroy Iran’s most well-protected nuclear sites, and give the Israelis a far stronger position.

It would also likely involve attacks against US bases located in countries – such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye – that are not direct enemies of Iran, and which Tehran will not want to bring into the conflict. These countries are also valuable to Iran as potential mediators.

But Iran has other options. It has has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between itself and Oman, immediately stopping the transit of millions of barrels of oil a day. Oil prices – which have already briefly shot up to a high of $78 per barrel on Friday before falling back – would likely rise higher than $100 if that were to happen, experts believe.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a strong card the Iranians have to play, and is a possibility in the short term should the fighting continue.

Off-ramps

But ultimately Iran will be looking for an off-ramp that would end a conflict that has the potential to escalate into a regional war against two nuclear powers – Israel and the US – and cause untold damage to its own economy, with the possibility of domestic unrest as a result.

Iran will also know that while Israel will have its own limit on how much fighting it can endure, the support of the US gives it the ability to replenish munition stocks easier than Iran can.

The Iranian government has already made it clear that it will reciprocate if Israel stops its attacks, and is willing to return to nuclear talks with the US. “Once these [Israeli] attacks come to a stop, we will naturally reciprocate,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.

This, however, depends on the US and its unpredictable president. Trump will need to put pressure on Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop, and it is unclear whether the US president is willing to do so.

Trump’s rhetoric on the conflict is constantly changing. On one hand, he has repeated calls for an end to the fighting, while at the same time threatening Iran.

Iran also knows that Trump is not someone who can be trusted or relied on. The US was involved in the deception prior to Israel’s attack last week, with the Americans maintaining the pretence that nuclear talks with Iran would go ahead on Sunday despite secretly knowing that Israel was planning to attack.

Still, an American-brokered agreement is the likeliest option Iran has to restrain Israel and end a conflict that has shown Iran’s strength, but will be increasingly difficult for it to sustain.

Iran has launched a new wave of ballistic missiles against Israel soon after loud explosions were heard in its capital Tehran, as the two countries continue to trade heavy fire for a third consecutive day and as US President Donald Trump hints both at peace coming “soon” and at the possibility of the United States joining the conflict.

On Sunday, residents in Tehran reported shuddering blasts in different areas in the heart of the city. Reports say missiles struck in Niavaran and Tajrish, in the capital’s north, and around the Valiasr and Hafte Tir squares in the city centre.

Other cities attacked by Israel included Shiraz and Isfahan, where a military base of the Defence Ministry was hit. The Israeli army said it struck an aerial refuelling aircraft at Mashhad Airport in eastern Iran, describing it as its longest-range attack since launching operations against Iran last week.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “Iran has not experienced a war to this extent since the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988. There were similar Israeli strikes last year, of course, but nothing compared to what’s been happening since Friday.”

“The government said earlier today that metro stations, schools and mosques are going to be ready to host people. But parts of these facilities, including mosques and schools, do not seem safe enough to be used as a sort of shelter,” he added.

Iranian officials say at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday, half of them children, when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. There were no reports as yet of casualties from Sunday’s attacks.

In Israel, authorities said on Sunday that several missiles were launched from Iran, most of which were intercepted.

Rescue workers were searching for survivors in the rubble from the previous night’s wave of Iranian strikes. The hardest hit area was the town of Bat Yam, where more than 60 buildings were damaged. “Iran will pay a heavy price for the murder of civilians, women and children,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from a balcony overlooking blown-out apartments in Bat Yam, a city just south of Tel Aviv.

Overnight, Iran struck the port city of Haifa and neighbouring Tamra, where at least four women were killed. Since the start of the conflict on Thursday, at least 13 people have been killed and 380 have been wounded in Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said, “The damage from Iranian attacks is certainly extensive and unprecedented. This is the first time that Israel has confronted a state with a formidable army in the region, certainly the first time since 1973 [against Egypt]”.

“To the north, in Haifa, oil and gas pipelines were damaged, but activities continue at the oil refineries”, she added.

Israel launched its operation with a surprise attack on Friday that killed several members of the Iranian military’s top echelon, killed several nuclear scientists, and damaged the country’s nuclear sites. Since then, Israel’s attacks have been broadening in their scope, hitting residential areas and Iran’s civilian and energy sectors and raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.

Diplomacy

As both parties continue to pound each other with strikes, hopes for a diplomatic solution seem distant for now, though they will no doubt be high on the agenda of the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday in Canada.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran does not seek to expand the conflict to neighbouring countries unless forced to.

Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s opposition to nuclear weapons but defended its right to peaceful nuclear development. He said Iran had been ready to offer assurances in the now-cancelled sixth round of US talks, which could have led to an agreement, though Israel derailed the diplomatic progress.

The US and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to try to find a path to a new nuclear deal that would replace a 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in office.

Araghchi also said Israel’s attacks on his country could not have materialised without the agreement and support of the US.

“We have well-documented and solid evidence of the support provided by American forces in the region and their bases for the military attacks of the Zionist regime”.

He said Trump has publicly and explicitly confirmed he knew about the attacks, that they could not have happened without US weapons and equipment, and that more attacks are coming. “Therefore, the US, in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility.”

Talking to Fox News, Netanyahu seemed to clearly confirm that, saying he informed Trump ahead of launching the attacks.

He described the cooperation with the Trump administration as “unprecedented”, adding that the Israeli intelligence shares “every bit of information” with Washington. Netanyahu projected that regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel’s attacks.

Trump has denied any involvement and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets, but also didn’t rule out more direct US involvement beyond the vast arsenal and intelligence the US provides to Israel.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” the US president said in a message on Truth Social.

He also claimed peace could be reached “soon”, suggesting that many diplomatic meetings were taking place.

“We can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but Western countries say could be used to make a bomb.

Trump told ABC he would be “open” to Russian President Vladimir Putin being a mediator. “He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it”.

The US president’s words were a first hint at Washington’s diplomatic involvement in the ongoing conflict. In recent days, the US has ratcheted down its diplomatic presence in countries in the region, anticipating that air strikes on Iranian military sites would be taking place.

Videos show fire and thick plumes of smoke rising from Mashhad Hashemi Nejad airport in eastern Iran following an Israeli missile attack. Israel claims it targeted an Iranian refuelling plane. It would be the furthest strike since the start of the military operation, at a distance of approximately 2,300km.

“We are in an existential war” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the Iranian missile strike that targeted a residential block in Bat Yam, Israel. Netanyahu called the attacks an existential threat and warned of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Iran’s government has defended its retaliatory attacks on Israel as ‘self-defence’ after launching a second barrage of missiles on Saturday night. Iran’s strikes came after Israel’s military bombed civilian areas and energy infrastructure across Iran, saying it was targeting Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israel has unleashed air attacks across Iran for a third day and threatened even greater attacks, while some Iranian missiles have evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country.

The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side has showed any sign of backing down since.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop”.

Araghchi said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in the country’s Bushehr province on the Gulf. He said Iran’s retaliatory strikes also targeted “economic” sites in Israel, without elaborating.

The conflict has raised prospects of a broader assault on Iran’s heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.

United States President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can avoid further destruction only by agreeing to a new nuclear deal. But talks scheduled on Sunday in Oman were called off, with Tehran calling the dialogue “meaningless”.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have killed at least 80 people and wounded 800 others in Iran over the past two days, including 20 children. In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in overnight strikes by Iran, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13.

Israel’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

The incident comes days after an Air India plane crashed in the western Ahmedabad city, killing all but one of the 242 on board.

Seven people, including a toddler, have been killed in India’s northern Uttarakhand state when a helicopter ferrying them for a Hindu pilgrimage crashed in the Himalayas, officials say.

Officials from the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority told reporters the chopper took off at about 5:30am (00:00 GMT) on Sunday from the temple town of Kedarnath for Guptkashi, a town some 37km (23 miles) away, but crashed shortly after takeoff.

The deceased have been identified as the pilot, Captain Rajveer Singh Chauhan, and passengers Vikram Rawat, Vinod Devi, Trishti Singh, Rajkumar Jaiswal, his wife Shraddha Jaiswal and their two-year-old daughter, Kashi.

The bodies were badly burned in a fire that followed the crash, authorities said.

Uttarakhand’s State Disaster Response Force told the ANI news agency that the crash site is located in a remote and dense forest area, adding that the rescue operation is under way in coordination with the local police.

#WATCH | Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand: Today, a helicopter operating a flight on the sector Shri Kedarnath to Guptkashi was involved in an accident. A total of 07 people were on board this helicopter, who died on the spot. Rescue teams were immediately dispatched under the direction… pic.twitter.com/DFSa7glmrI

— ANI (@ANI) June 15, 2025

Officials said the crash was believed to have been caused by poor weather conditions.

In a post on X, Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called the incident “very sad”.

Kedarnath, standing at an altitude of 3,584 metres (11,759 feet), is home to one of the four most sacred Hindu temple shrines and receives tens of thousands of pilgrims each year during the summer season.

To avoid the arduous trekking in the mountainous terrain, affluent pilgrims often use helicopter charter services. But mishaps are common in the treacherous region, where sudden weather changes and high-altitude flying conditions can pose risks.

On June 7, a helicopter operating in the Kedarnath Valley made an emergency landing on a highway due to a technical fault shortly after taking off. The pilot was injured, but all five passengers on board were unharmed.

Last month, a helicopter crashed in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, killing six people, including the pilot. One person survived.

Indian media reports said Sunday’s crash was the fifth such incident in less than two months. It also came only days after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad city, killing all but one of 242 passengers on board and dozens of others on the ground.

Here’s where things stand on Sunday, June 15:

Fighting

• Ukraine destroyed three Russian air defence systems in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia region, Kyiv’s military intelligence said in a post on Telegram on Saturday.
• In his nightly address on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s forces recaptured Andriivka village in the northeastern Sumy region as part of a drive to expel Russian troops from the area.

Diplomacy

• Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Saturday that Moscow is ready to hold another round of peace negotiations with Kyiv after June 22, when the warring sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers’ bodies.
• Zelenskyy is set to attend the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Canada that begins Sunday. He is expected to meet Trump on the sidelines of the summit on June 17.
• Discussing sanctions against Russia and achieving a ceasefire is expected to be a part of the G7 agenda. A joint statement of G7 foreign ministers following an earlier meeting in Quebec in mid-March said they “discussed imposing further costs on Russia” if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire.
• Finland accused senior officers of the Eagle S, a Russia-linked vessel that damaged undersea cables last year between Finland and Estonia, of criminal offences related to the wreckage. The European Union’s executive commission has described Eagle S as part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers – vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine.
• Germany is eager to increase defence spending in the EU’s next budget, the Financial Times reported. Berlin’s move came in response to Russia’s threats to Europe and Trump’s call to the continent to do more for its own security, the report said.