Israel-Iran conflict LIVE: ‘Hard slap to America’s face’, Iran’s supreme leader hails ‘victory’ over Israel, US

“I’ll tell you what, we’re going to talk with them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump told a press conference during the NATO summit in the Netherlands.

The POTUS said he wasn’t particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that US strikes had destroyed its nuclear program.

“The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done,” he said.

Iran has not acknowledged any talks taking place next week. But US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Israel and Iran are tired but the conflict between the two countries could start again.

“I dealt with both and they’re both tired, exhausted… and can it start again? I guess someday, it can. It could maybe start soon,” Trump told reporters.

US President Donald Trump will head to Iran for talks next week following a ceasefire agreement negotiated on Tuesday.

“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi extends its heartfelt gratitude to all noble and freedom-loving people of India — including the esteemed citizens, political parties, honorable members of Parliament, non-governmental organizations, religious and spiritual leaders, university professors, members of the media, social activists, and all individuals and institutions who, in recent days and in various forms, stood firmly and vocally with the great nation of Iran,” the Embassy wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump revelled in the swift end to war between Iran and Israel, saying he now expected a relationship with Tehran that would preclude rebuilding its nuclear programme despite uncertainty over damage inflicted by US strikes. As exhausted and anxious Iranians and Israelis both sought to resume normal life after the most intense confrontation ever between the two foes, Iran’s president suggested that the war could lead to reforms at home.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed Wednesday that the country’s nuclear facilities had been “badly damaged” in American strikes over the weekend.

Speaking on Al Jazeera, Baghaei refused to go into detail but conceded the strikes on Sunday by American B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs had been significant.

“Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure,” he said.

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday as investors assessed the stability of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, while support also came from data that showed U.S. demand was relatively strong.

Brent crude futures were up 48 cents, or 0.7%, at $67.62 a barrel at 1030 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 44 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.81.

Brent settled on Tuesday at its lowest since June 10 and WTI at its lowest since June 5, both before Israel launched a surprise attack on key Iranian military and nuclear facilities on June 13.

Prices had rallied to five-month highs after the U.S. attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend.

“The intelligence was … very inconclusive,” Trump told reporters while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a summit in The Hague.

“The intelligence says, ‘We don’t know, it could have been very severe.’ That’s what the intelligence says. So I guess that’s correct, but I think we can take the ‘we don’t know’. It was very severe. It was obliteration,” Trump added.

Later, during the same round of comments, Trump argued that Iran’s nuclear deal had been set back “basically decades, because I don’t think they’ll ever do it again”.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it thought it was too early for anyone to have a realistic picture of damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear facilities by U.S. airstrikes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about damage assessments offered by President Donald Trump who has suggested that the U.S. attack obliterated Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Peskov said that Moscow viewed the attacks on Iran as unprovoked and the situation as concerning.

Russia had indications that Washington and Tehran had open communications channels though, he said, and Moscow was closely monitoring developments and still talking to Iran itself.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, aka ‘The Trump Whisperer,’ shared enthusiastic messages praising the US president with him. “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer,” he wrote in a text message. The former Dutch PM’s comments came just ahead of Trump’s trip to the annual summit at The Hague. He further extolled, saying that the POTUS would be “flying into another big success in The Hague this evening.”

” It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed onto 5 percent! Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” Rutte continued fawning over the American leader. “You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”

Donald Trump, in turn, boasted on social media by posting the chat on Truth Social.

The Iranian parliament has backed the bill to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As per the state media report, a total of 221 members voted along these lines.

US State Secretary Marco Rubio reiterated claims made by Donald Trump that American airstrikes on the three key Iranian nuclear facilities did “very significant” damage.

Despite emerging contradictions about the full extent of damage incurred by these sites, the US official slammed the CNN report stating that Iran’s nuclear program has only suffered a months-long setback.

“The bottom line is, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action,” Rubio told Politico. “That’s the most important thing to understand – significant, very significant, substantial damage was done to a variety of different components, and we’re just learning more about it.”

He further asserted that the “false” CNN report “really shouldn’t be rereported.”

23 people suspected to be spying for Israel were indicted by Iranian prosecutors in the country’s Khuzestan province, according to Tasnim news agency. The prosecutors have accused these individuals of engaging in “subversive activities,” including gathering information “for the enemy.”

Official confirmations are awaited.

As Trump vented against both Israel and Iran on camera, saying, “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel.”

He added, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing.”

Trump’s major expletive-laden rant eventually became the subject of discussion on Late Night With Seth Myers. The comedy host said that they would be plugging in the president’s bleeped clip whenever needed, or even out of context.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right National Security Minister, said that the “gates of hell need to be opened” for the enemies of Israel. His comments came in an interview with Israel’s public radio Reshet Bet on Wednesday, as he noted their country had “achieved success in Iran.”

He is one such Israeli minister who is already being sanctioned by the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Norway for inciting “violence against Palestinian civilians.”

Israel is reportedly running low on munitions. NBC News quoted three US officials, saying that the Israeli military is facing a dearth of key weaponry after the 12-conflict with Iran.

Pro-Palestinian protests raged on against the backdrop of NATA summit in The Hague, Netherlands. As per visuals shared by Reuters, a crowd of demonstrators gathered on the Zuiderstrand beach. Lying on the sand, they demonstrated against the violence in Gaza.

Yet another video emerging on social media depicted activists blocking a railway to protest “NATO members’ complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

US President Trump has reiterated that he doesn’t want a regime change in Iran. Amid the ceasefire deal announcement, he said, “I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don’t want to see so much chaos,” as per BBC.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that that Israel would attack Iran again if it goes ahead with plans to rebuild its nuclear program. Saying that Israel had gotten rid of “the threat of nuclear annihilation” in the 12-day conflict, Neyanyahu added his country had “no intention of easing off the gas pedal.”

Tucker Carlson and American investor, ex-TV news anchor Clayton Morris reacted to the ‘Breaking News’ on Iran’s retaliation in the aftermath of the US airstrikes on its nuclear program. The news came out when the ex-Fox News anchor was hosting Calyton on his “The Tucker Carlson Show.”

After Iran hit Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Carlson said that the base in question “exists to protect Israel.”

“I know we’re constantly, Bari Weiss is constantly attacking Qatar,” he went on. “Qatar has done more to protect Israel. But anyway, hosting this base that they don’t need at all, it’s the richest country in the world. They’re doing it to be nice.”

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NATO Leaders, including Donald Trump, are set to meet on Wednesday while global conflicts rage in the background.

Following the Israel-Iran ceasefire announcement, the Indian Rupee is expected to open higher on Wednesday, as per Reuters. Holding above the 86 level, its sustenance was supported by a fall in the demand for the dollar.

Trump sounded off his frustration with both Israel and Iran while ceasefire between them appeared to hold despite initially setbacks.

The US president said the countries had fought “for so long and so hard” that they had lost track of what they were doing.

His remarks followed as an early report issued by the Defence Intelligence Agency contradicted Trump’s statements about the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. He proclaimed that their nuclear program was “completely and fully obliterated.”

While the stability of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran is still under scanner, oil price losses continued on Wednesday.

Bent crude futures rose 85 cent, or 1.3%, to $67.99 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 87 cents, or 1.4%, to $65.24.

“Global energy prices are moderating following the Israel-Iran ceasefire. The base case for our oil strategists remains anchored by fundamentals, which indicate sufficient global oil supply,” said JP Morgan analysts in a client note.

Seven Israeli soldiers were killed after an armoured vehicle was struck by an explosive in southern Gaza. According to The Times of Israel, the six deceased soldiers have since been named: Matan Shai Yashinovski (21), Ronel Ben-Moshe (20), Niv Radia (20), Ronen Shapiro (19), Shahar Manoav (21), and Maayan Baruch Pearlstein (20).

They all served with the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion.

A seventh soldier was also killed in the same incident, as per Reuters. However, his name has yet to be cleared for publication.

According to Reuters, Iran has arrested 700 people said to have ties with Israel during the 12-day conflict.

Iran has executed three men on Wednesday, after they were convicted of collaborating with Israel’s spy agency Mossad and smuggling equipment used in an assassination, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem will resume its operations today, June 25, after a truce between Iran and Israel.

“U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice.  Transit between these three areas, including to and from Ben Gurion Airport, is authorised.  Transiting Route 1 to and from Allenby Bridge is also permitted,” US Department of State Consular Affairs said on X.

The US House voted overwhelmingly to set aside an effort to impeach President Donald Trump on a sole charge of abuse of power after he launched military strikes on Iran without first seeking authorisation from Congress.

An Iranian news agency, ISNA, shared a video of the destruction at Evin Prison after the Israeli attack.