Trump says he would ‘absolutely’ consider bombing Iran again – Middle East crisis live | Middle East and north Africa
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Iran holds state funeral for top brass slain in war with Israel
We have more on the state funeral being held in Tehran for around 60 people, including its military commanders and nuclear scientists.
The proceedings started at 8.00am local time (04.30 GMT) in the capital as government offices and many businesses were closed on Saturday for the occasion, AFP reports.
State TV showed footage of thousands of people wearing black clothes, waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of the slain military commanders.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, along with other senior government officials and military commanders - including Esmail Qaani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards - also attended the event.
The march began near Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran.
A patriotic eulogy blared from loudspeakers as the procession set out across the sprawling metropolis toward Azadi (Freedom) Square, 11 kilometres (seven miles) away.
Iranian people mourn during a funeral ceremony for Iranian military and scientists who were killed in recent Israeli airstrikes. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Among the dead is Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after the Iranian leader.
He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed on the first day of the war, will also be laid to rest after Saturday’s ceremony - which will also honour at least 30 other top commanders.
Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children and four are women.
Trump says US would consider attacking Iran again
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East.
Donald Trump has said he would “absolutely” consider bombing Iran again.
At a White House briefing, he said he would “without question” attack the country if Tehran is enriching uranium to concerning levels.
Trump also reacted sternly to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei’s remarks that Iran “slapped America in the face” by launching an attack against a major US base in Qatar following the US bombing raids. Khamenei also said Iran would never surrender.
In a social media post Trump wrote: “His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life. I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.”
Iran, meanwhile, said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the US ending its “disrespectful tone” toward the Supreme Leader.
“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X in the early hours of Saturday.
In other news:
Iran began a state funeral service Saturday for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel.
Johnnie Moore, head of the controversialUS and Israeli-backed aid group, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has defended its work.
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