News

During the recent 12-day conflict between the two sides, which ended this week with a ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that his country wanted to execute Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Katz’s statement, in which case Israel did not need US approval to kill Khamenei, appears to refute previous media reports that Washington had vetoed the killing.

In an interview with Channel 13 in Israel, Katz stated, “We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity.”

Katz claimed that Khamenei was aware of the possibility of a suicide attack and went “underground very deeps” to elude contact with commandants who would replace the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps assassinated in the first wave of Israeli airstrikes.

There is no proof Khamenei was disconnected from his generals, despite the fact that he released video messages during the war.

Khamenei’s murder would have caused the conflict to escalate significantly. The supreme leader serves as the de facto head of state in Iran as well as a leading spiritual authority for millions of Shia Muslims around the world.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump both made frequent comments on the potential for regime change. The latter posted a statement on social media last Sunday saying that the conflict would “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN”.

Katz’s remarks came amid conflicting reports about the destruction caused by US bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities, primarily in response to the US’s attacks on sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Cambodiaenei claimed on Thursday that the US had “exaggerated” the impact of strikes.

The Israeli defense minister claimed that Trump has given his nation the “green light” to launch another attack on Iran if its nuclear program is found to be “progressing.”

He claimed, “I don’t see a situation where Iran will eventually restart its nuclear facilities.”

Netanyahu, on behalf of him, claimed on Thursday that the war’s outcome “offered a window of opportunity” for further formal diplomatic ties with Arab states.

After Iran launched a missile attack on Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, which houses US troops, the conflict came to an end with a US-brokered ceasefire.

“We fought with tenacity against Iran,” the victory read. In an apparent reference to the Abraham Accords, which established official ties between Israel and several Arab nations in 2020, Netanyahu stated in a video address that this victory “opens the door to a significant expansion of the peace accords.”

Manchester City sealed top spot in Group G with a 5-2 thumping of Juventus in Orlando at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Jeremy Doku put on a brilliant display with plenty of support, and some help from the opposition, in Thursday’s game as the English side sealed a third win from their three games in the group.

Juventus, like City, had already sealed qualification for the round of 16 with two wins in their opening two games.

“We played well. I’m happy with the victory”, City forward Doku said. “Now we’re just curious to see who we’re going to play against”.

Defender Pierre Kalulu’s gaffe on a cross from Savinho past his own keeper nudged City into the lead, 2-1, at the 26th minute.

In the 52nd minute, striker Erling Haaland scored while shuffling his feet with a touch that bounded into an open net on a dish from Matheus Nunes. It was the 300th career goal combined for team and country for the 24-year-old Norwegian in only his seventh minute in Thursday’s match.

Phil Foden entered off the bench and tapped in the fourth goal of the match in the 69th minute. Haaland’s header failed only for Savinho to power a rebound off the crossbar and into the goal to make it 5-1 in the 75th minute.

Juventus trimmed the lead on a breakaway from Dusan Vlahovic, who scored for the second consecutive match with just over five minutes to play.

Juventus had led the group on goal difference entering the match, but City’s win took them to the top and also bumped them to the top of the tournament’s goalscoring list with 13 strikes.

City also became the only club to win all three matches in the group stage.

As the Group G winner, City stays in Orlando for Monday’s round of 16 match with the Group H runner-up.

The opponent will be determined by Thursday’s later match between RB Salzburg and Real Madrid. Juventus head to Miami as the runner-up in the group.

Man City went ahead 2-1 and held the margin at halftime, marking first at the nine-minute mark when Doku hit the brakes in front of the net and found the top right corner.

Two minutes later, Teun Koopmeiners and Teun Koopmeiners finally came out on top of a close fight.

Federal prosecutors have told a judge in Maryland that the United States government plans to initiate a new round of removal proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man whose mistaken deportation in March drew outcry.

On Thursday, Department of Justice lawyer, Jonathan Guynn, said the removal proceedings would be to a “third country”, not El Salvador, where Abrego Garcia was previously deported.

But the prosecutor also said the government’s plans are not “imminent”. Guynn added that the US government would comply with all court orders.

The government’s plan came to light as part of an emergency request presented to US District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Abrego Garcia is currently being held in Tennessee, where he faces criminal charges. But judges in Tennessee have indicated they plan to release Abrego Garcia – leaving him vulnerable to re-arrest by immigration agents.

His lawyers petitioned Judge Xinis to order the government to take Abrego Garcia to Maryland when he is released in Tennessee, to prevent his deportation before he stands trial.

“We have concerns that the government may try to remove Mr Abrego Garcia quickly over the weekend,” Jonathan Cooper, one of Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, said.

Judge Xinis, however, said she could not move as quickly as Abrego Garcia’s lawyers requested.

Abrego Garcia is one of the most prominent immigrants swept up in President Donald Trump’s recent push for “mass deportation”.

Though he was subject to a 2019 protection order allowing him to remain in the country, Abrego Garcia was arrested and deported around March 15, setting off a high-profile legal battle for his return.

Initially, he was held with hundreds of other deported men in El Salvador’s Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT, a maximum-security prison accused of housing abusive conditions. But by April, amid intense media scrutiny, it was revealed he had been transferred to another facility in the city of Santa Ana.

Prior to his removal, Abrego Garcia had not been charged with a crime. But when the US government announced his abrupt return on June 6, it revealed that it had sought an indictment against Abrego Garcia on human smuggling charges.

That case is ongoing in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers there have argued that the charges are an attempt by the Trump administration to save face.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang and a danger to society. It has relied on a 2022 video of a traffic stop involving Abrego Garcia as evidence: He is seen driving a large vehicle with nine passengers, while a police officer speculates why they do not have luggage.

Officials have previously described Abrego Garcia’s initial March deportation as an “administrative error”.

Separately from the Tennessee case, Judge Xinis has weighed whether the March deportation was unlawful – and whether the Trump administration’s actions constitute contempt of court.

In April, Xinis, and later the US Supreme Court, ruled that the US government had an obligation to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador after his mistaken deportation.

But lawyers for Abrego Garcia have argued that the US government delayed and failed to provide court-mandated information about his return. All the while, they say, the Trump administration was preparing criminal charges against their client.

On Thursday, Judge Xinis said she had to consider the Trump administration’s pending motions to dismiss the case before she could rule on the emergency request to bring Abrego Garcia to Maryland.

She scheduled a July 7 court hearing in Maryland to discuss the emergency request and other matters.