Israel-Iran conflict: Xi and Trump comments, more Hungarian citizens evacuated from the Middle East
Today’s latest news on the Israel-Iran conflict:
Israel reports new missile attacks from Iran amid escalation
ISTANBUL (AA) – Iran launched a new missile barrage targeting central Israel on Tuesday evening, local media said.
Air-raid sirens sounded in a series of communities in the Greater Tel Aviv area, Gush Dan, Sharon, Shfela, and Samaria regions in central Israel, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said.
Israeli Channel 7 said that eight missiles were launched from Iran in the latest barrage.
Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom, said four Israelis sustained minor injuries while rushing to shelters, Anadolu says.
Regional tensions have escalated since Friday, when Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said that at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since Friday.
Iran, for its part, said that at least 224 people have been killed and over 1,000 others wounded in the Israeli assault.
Trump dismisses US intelligence, says Iran was ‘very close’ to having nuclear weapon
WASHINGTON (AA) – President Donald Trump dismissed the conclusions Tuesday of the US intelligence community after it assessed that Iran is not seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, maintaining that Tehran was “very close” to obtaining one before Israel carried out a series of strikes that have sparked reciprocal attacks from Iran.
“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
The president was responding to congressional testimony from the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard who told lawmakers in March that the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”
“The IC continues to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program,” she said, using an acronym for the US intelligence community.
Gabbard told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill that her March testimony aligned with Trump’s statements.
“What President Trump is saying is the same thing I said in my annual threat assessment in March to Congress,” Gabbard was quoted by US media.
“Unfortunately, too many people in the media don’t care to actually read what I said,” she added.
CNN separately reported Tuesday that US intelligence does not believe Iran is currently building a nuclear bomb and estimates it would take at least two to three years to produce and deploy one to target a country of its choosing. It cited four anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
Regional tensions have escalated since Friday when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks. Iran said at least 224 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the Israeli assault.
US intelligence believes that Israel’s attacks may have only set Iran’s nuclear program back by a matter of months, one of the officials said. CNN said that while there has been significant damage to the enrichment site at the Natanz site, the heavily fortified facility at Fordow remains essentially untouched by Israel’s strikes.
‘We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran’: Trump
WASHINGTON (AA) – US President Donald Trump claimed to have “complete and total control” of Iranian airspace Tuesday after five days of Israel’s bombing that targeted military and nuclear sites.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump said in a social media post. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
The comments come one day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the US deployed additional military assets to the Middle East, a move he and other senior Trump administration officials have maintained is “defensive” in nature amid speculation that American forces could join Israel’s military campaign.
A defense official told Anadolu on Monday that Hegseth directed the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group to the CENTCOM area of responsibility to sustain “our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel.”
Regional tensions have escalated since Friday when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Hungarian citizens evacuated
Six more Hungarians have left Jordan, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Tuesday, noting that the government, with Slovakia’s help, has ensured that 13 Hungarian citizens have reached safety.
The conflict zone around the Iran-Israel war has widened and more Hungarians are in danger and want to reach safety, the minister noted in a statement, adding that 800 citizens have asked for consular protection.
Seven Hungarian citizens left Jordan the previous day and are now in Cyprus, he said. After arriving in Bratislava, they will be helped to return home, he added.
He said two big evacuation operations are under way in the Middle East. “I cannot give details because I do not want to jeopardise the success of these operations,” he said, noting “many Hungarians” were affected.
Detailed information may be forthcoming in the evening once it is safe to reveal it, he said, adding that Iranian and Israeli airspace are closed, complicating the operations and requiring very careful planning “to prevent any evacuation operation from turning into a tragedy”.
read also – Israel-Iran conflict: Hungarian and EU evacuation operation, Wizz Air announcement
China’s Xi blames Israeli attacks on Iran for ‘sudden escalation of tensions’ in Middle east
ISTANBUL (AA) – China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday blamed Israeli attacks on Iran for “the sudden escalation of tensions” in the Middle East, urging an end to military conflicts.
“China is deeply concerned about the sudden escalation of tension in the Middle East caused by Israel’s military action against Iran. We oppose any act that infringes on the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries,” Xi told Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during a meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
The duo was in Astana to attend the second China-Central Asia summit, according to China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. “Military conflict does not provide a solution, nor does escalation of the regional situation serve the common interest of the international community,” said Xi. The Chinese president urged “all parties” to “de-escalate the conflict as soon as possible and avoid further deterioration of tension.” “China is ready to work with all parties to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability to the Middle East,” he added.
Beijing had earlier urged its citizens to leave Israel and Iran “as soon as possible” due to the conflict in the region. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday also decried US President Donald Trump’s call for Iranians to evacuate the capital, Tehran, as “adding fuel to the fire.”
‘Churches vital to stabilising Middle East’
Churches, a central part of Middle Eastern societies, are a vital to education, health care and promoting stabilisation in the region, Christian Democrat MEP György Holvényi said after attending a conference on Lebanon on Tuesday.
Holvényi told Hungarian journalists in Strasbourg that Christians in the Middle East promoted stability in the region and this was security issue rather than a religious one.
The people of Lebanon “have paid a heavy price” for their rulers’ economic and political mistakes over the years, he said, referring to fragile or collapsed state social services, education and health care. Churches, for the most part, have filled the gaps, he added.
Lebanon, he noted, has a president and government once again. “Hopefullly, political stabilisation will endure and lead to an economic recovery,” he said.
He said the three big religious groups — Christians, Shiites and Sunnis — were now more in balance with each other but emigration could change this situation for the worse. Christians and those from other religions are keen that people who escaped the perilous security and economic situation should return to Lebanon as soon as possible, he added.
Hungary Helps, the Hungarian state secretariat for helping Christians, maintains several social and church initiatives in the region, he noted. In Lebonon in particular, Hungary has supported local Christian communities for decades, he added.
Holvenyi expressed hope that the Israel-Iran conflict would deescalate as the security and stability of the entire Middle East was at stake.
Regarding the Hungary Helps programme, Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli Youssef Soueif expressed thanks in a statement: “I know how much Hungary loves Lebanon.” “Hungarian efforts make a difference” in amid the current economic and financial crisis, he added.
Read here for more news about the Middle East