Israeli attacks on Iran continue as FM says no ceasefire agreed ‘as of now’
This is what we heard from the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, coming out with a post on his X account saying that he cannot confirm so far that a deal has been reached.
Up until the very last hour, we have been able to hear the sounds of explosions across the capital and also reports about the sounds of explosions being heard in different Iranian cities, meaning that Israeli strikes continue.
And from previous statements, I can tell you that Iranians are saying that they are not going to stop as long as Israeli strikes continue.
Israel’s Home Front Command says ‘no change’ to situation as ceasefire reports conflict
Since the announcement by US President Donald Trump, there has been no word from Israeli officials.
Netanyahu actually convened his Security Cabinet – those are top ministers with defence positions and also his security chiefs – to discuss the situation at hand. However, there is a gag order in place.
Netanyahu told his government not to talk about any sort of ceasefire with the Iranians just yet. An indication that perhaps there are details that need to be finalised. That perhaps Israel didn’t agree to this. But there has been nothing official from the Israelis.
In fact, within the last hour, the Israeli military’s Home Front Command… has said that there are no changes in place and people still need to listen to the directives of the government and military. That places are still going to be closed and there are still bans and limitations on public gatherings.
Russia sees little chance of reviving Iran nuclear deal
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says he does not see conditions for restoring the 2015 deal, known as the JCPOA, but that now is the time to ramp up diplomacy.
Ryabkov’s comments to the Izvestia news outlet came before Trump claimed Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire.
“I do not see at the moment, conditions for restoring the [Iran deal],” Ryabkov told Izvestia. “But this does not mean abandoning diplomacy, quite the opposite. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to achieve… to come to some decisions that would help stabilise the situation.”
Ryabkov said that Russia “understood the logic and argumentation of our friends in Tehran, and of course, this means an end to the strikes, an end to further escalation by the other side”.
He said the cessation of attacks was the “clear pre-condition for our Iranian colleagues to consider their political-diplomatic options”.
The Iran nuclear deal, signed in 2015, aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. But Trump pulled Washington out of the pact in 2018, only to begin negotiations this year. Iran, however, cancelled the latest meeting after Israel launched attacks on the country.
