Gaza Family Mourns Children Killed in Israeli Strikes amid UN Polio Campaignhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5071723-gaza-family-mourns-children-killed-israeli-strikes-amid-un-polio-campaign
Gaza Family Mourns Children Killed in Israeli Strikes amid UN Polio Campaign
A man crouches, as Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Gaza Family Mourns Children Killed in Israeli Strikes amid UN Polio Campaign
A man crouches, as Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 15, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Holding his teddy bear, Gazan mother Asmaa al-Wasifi mourned her 10-year-old son, who was killed in an Israeli strike before he could take his second polio shot.
The United Nations began the second round of its polio campaign in central areas of the enclave on Monday, though many Gazans said the effort was futile given the ongoing Israeli campaign to crush Hamas.
"The time for second vaccine was here, but the (Israeli) occupation did not let them live to continue their lives and their childhood," said Asmaa, crying as she went through her son's clothes and school books, Reuters reported.
Yamen, along with four of his cousins - the oldest of whom was 10 - were killed when Israel hit their family home on Sept. 24 in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
The children had received their first polio vaccines three weeks earlier in a UN campaign that prompted rare daily pauses of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in pre-specified areas.
The campaign began after a baby was partially paralysed by the type-2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
Yamen's grandmother Zakeya, who lost at least 10 of her family members, called for the war that has ravaged the tiny enclave of 2.3 million people for more than a year to end.
"We don't want any drinks or any aid. We want them to give us safety and security - for the war to end," she said.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire so far have faltered, with Israel and Hamas unable to agree on key demands.
Her son Osama, 35, said his wife's body was unrecognisable after the strike that also killed their four children.
The children had just had fresh haircuts to get ready for school, he added.
"They were happy like butterflies... Ten minutes later, the targeting happened. I found them all in pieces," he said
Surviving Strike, Shamkhani Resumes Central Role in Iran’s War Roomhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5244853-surviving-strike-shamkhani-resumes-central-role-iran%E2%80%99s-war-room
Image from a video released by Iranian television shows Shamkhani talking about his assassination attempt on June 13, 2025.
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Surviving Strike, Shamkhani Resumes Central Role in Iran’s War Room
Image from a video released by Iranian television shows Shamkhani talking about his assassination attempt on June 13, 2025.
Ali Shamkhani, who taunted Israel after being pulled alive from the rubble of his Tehran home following a strike in June 2025, has survived at the center of Iranian policy-making during its most testing military confrontations and diplomatic endeavors.
The 70-year-old former Revolutionary Guard commander is a trusted adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a high-stakes standoff with the US that could determine whether the Islamic Republic, born from revolution in 1979, survives to half a century.
“Bastards, I am alive,” Shamkhani told Iranian filmmaker Javad Mogouei in an interview published in October, referring to his narrow escape from the Israeli strike that destroyed his home and evoking the 1973 Hollywood prison escape film Papillon.
This year, Khamenei confirmed Shamkhani as secretary of Iran’s newly established Defense Council, created after last year's 12-day war in which Israel and the US launched military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and military sites.
His appointment returns him to the core of Iran’s decision-making apparatus. The Council is tasked with coordinating Iran's wartime actions at a time when the US is threatening new air strikes from nearby warships if negotiations do not produce a new deal curtailing Tehran's nuclear program.
US President Donald Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday, saying he would not allow the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies being a sponsor of terrorism and has long said it has no intention of building nuclear weapons, although Western nations and Israel believe that is the goal of what Tehran calls its peaceful nuclear program.
"A 'limited strike' is an illusion. Any military action by US - from any origin and any level - will be considered the start of war, and its response will be immediate, all out, and unprecedented, targeting heart of Tel Aviv and all those supporting the aggressor," Shamkhani said on X in January 2026.
A veteran of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war when the newly created republic battled for survival, Shamkhani has served as a political adviser to Khamenei since his 2023 departure from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
He led that council for a decade, including during Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and Washington's 2018 US withdrawal from the agreement, an episode that reinforced his skepticism of the accord.
The SNSC is the overarching body setting security and defense policies, and Shamkhani acted as Khamenei’s representative there during his tenure.
As tensions with Washington rise and speculation grows about Iran’s fate in the event of war, Shamkhani looks poised to wield influence among a politically astute cohort of former elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders.
FORGED IN WAR
Born in 1955 to an ethnic Arab family in oil-rich Khuzestan province, Shamkhani rose through IRGC ranks in the Iran-Iraq war, first commanding its forces in his home province which was the main battlefront against Saddam Hussein's forces.
By 1982, he was deputy to IRGC commander-in-chief Mohsen Rezaei, another Khuzestan native with whom he had participated in anti-shah activism in the 1970s. By the war’s end he had commanded the Guards’ ground forces while holding a cabinet post.
In 1989, the newly appointed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei transferred him to the regular navy, which had been heavily damaged in clashes with US forces. Within a year, he was given simultaneous command of both the regular and IRGC navies, overseeing a shift toward asymmetric maritime tactics designed to counter conventionally superior adversaries.
SECURITY OPERATOR AND DIPLOMATIC CHANNEL
Shamkhani has also been deployed in diplomatic roles. His appointments have often coincided with moments when Tehran sought to engage adversaries without appearing to concede ground.
That balancing act was visible during last decade’s nuclear negotiations. While serving under President Hassan Rouhani, Shamkhani was involved in implementing the 2015 nuclear agreement and navigating its aftermath after the US withdrew.
Rouhani later came to regret his appointment, believing Shamkhani had supported parliamentary measures that hardened Iran’s negotiating position by mandating higher uranium enrichment.
In the October 2025 interview, Shamkhani went further, saying that in hindsight Iran should have considered building nuclear weapons in the 1990s, remarks that underscored his emphasis on deterrence after Iran sustained major air strikes from both Israel and the US during the 12-day war.
SANCTIONS ECONOMY AND SCRUTINY
Shamkhani has over the years faced allegations and sanctions over his family’s own dealings. In 2020, he was sanctioned by the US Treasury, which also targeted his son Mohammad Hossein in 2025 for operating a network of vessels transporting sanctioned oil from Iran and Russia to international buyers.
According to the treasury, the Shamkhani family’s “shipping empire” allowed it to accrue massive wealth and become a key actor facilitating Iran’s circumvention of US sanctions.
Shamkhani has not publicly commented on allegations of corruption.
His daughter Fatemeh faced a backlash in 2025 over a widely shared video of her in a revealing gown at her opulent wedding, fueling accusations of elite privilege and highlighting tensions between the ruling establishment’s conservative ethos and the lifestyles of those close to power.
Countries Issuing Middle East Travel Advisories as Iran Tensions Risehttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5244845-countries-issuing-middle-east-travel-advisories-iran-tensions-rise
Vehicles pass a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP)
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Countries Issuing Middle East Travel Advisories as Iran Tensions Rise
Vehicles pass a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP)
Several countries have begun withdrawing dependents of diplomatic personnel and non-essential staff from some locations in the Middle East, or advising citizens to defer travel to Iran, amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Here are some of the moves:
AUSTRALIA: The government has told dependents of Australian diplomats in Israel and Lebanon to leave the two countries, citing a deteriorating security situation in the region. It also offered voluntary departures to Australian diplomats' dependents in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar. It continues to advise citizens in Israel and Lebanon to consider leaving while commercial options remain available. (Foreign Ministry X account)
SERBIA: Serbia has told its nationals in Iran to leave as soon as possible due to increased tensions and the risk of a deterioration of the security situation. (Foreign Ministry)
POLAND: Polish citizens should leave Iran immediately. (Prime Minister Donald Tusk)
UNITED STATES: The US is pulling non-essential staff and eligible family members from its embassy in Lebanon amid Iran tensions. (Senior State Department official)
SWEDEN: The Foreign Ministry advised its citizens to avoid all travel to Iran and leave the country immediately on January 12. The foreign minister said in February that people who decided to stay should not expect help from the government to be evacuated. (Foreign Ministry website)
INDIA: The Indian embassy in Iran advised citizens currently in Iran to leave by available means of transport, including commercial flights. (Post on X by Indian embassy in Iran, on February 23)
CYPRUS: Cyprus advised its citizens to avoid all travel to Iran and leave the country immediately on January 13. (Foreign Ministry)
SINGAPORE: Singapore advised citizens to continue to defer all travel to Iran. (Singapore Foreign Ministry)
GERMANY: Germany has urged its citizens to leave Iran, noting commercial flights out are still operating and departure by land is also possible (Foreign Ministry, January 20)
BRAZIL: Brazil recommended last week that its citizens leave Iran, following a similar alert to citizens in Lebanon in January. The government last year recommended that Brazilians not travel to the two countries.
A Look at the Long, Fraught Timeline of Iran Nuclear Tensions as Talks with US Loom https://english.aawsat.com/features/5244210-look-long-fraught-timeline-iran-nuclear-tensions-talks-us-loom%C2%A0
A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. (EPA)
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A Look at the Long, Fraught Timeline of Iran Nuclear Tensions as Talks with US Loom
A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. (EPA)
Iran and the United States are due to hold new talks in Geneva on Thursday over Tehran's nuclear program.
The talks come as America has assembled the largest fleet of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to force Iran into a deal after it saw nationwide protests against its theocracy.
Here's a timeline of the tensions over Iran's atomic program:
Early days
1967 — Iran takes possession of the Tehran Research Reactor supplied by America under the “Atoms for Peace” program.
1979 — US ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fatally ill, flees Iran as popular protests against him surge. Khomeini returns to Tehran and the revolution sweeps him to power. Students seize the United States Embassy in Tehran, beginning the 444-day hostage crisis. Iran’s nuclear program goes fallow under international pressure.
August 2002 — Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group reveal Iran’s secret Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
June 2003 — Britain, France and Germany engage Iran in nuclear negotiations.
October 2003 — Iran suspends uranium enrichment under international pressure.
February 2006 — Iran announces it will restart uranium enrichment following the election of hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Britain, France and Germany walk out of stalled negotiations.
June 2009 — Iran’s disputed presidential election sees Ahmadinejad reelected despite fraud allegations, sparking protests known as the Green Movement and a violent government crackdown.
October 2009 — Under US President Barack Obama, the US and Iran open a secret back-channel for messages in the sultanate of Oman.
July 2012 — US and Iranian officials hold secret face-to-face talks in Oman.
July 2015 — World powers and Iran announce a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limits Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, center, heads to the venue for talks between Iran and the US, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP, File)
The nuclear deal collapses
May 8, 2018 — Trump unilaterally withdraws the US from the nuclear agreement, calling it the “worst deal ever.” He says he’ll get better terms in new negotiations to stop Iran’s missile development and support for regional militias. Those talks don’t happen in his first term.
May 8, 2019 — Iran announces it will begin backing away from the accord. A series of regional attacks on land and at sea blamed on Tehran follow.
Jan. 3, 2020 — A US drone strike in Baghdad kills Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East.
Jan. 8, 2020 — In retaliation for Soleimani’s killing, Iran launches a barrage of missiles at military bases in Iraq that are home to thousands of American and Iraqi troops. More than 100 US service members suffer traumatic brain injuries, according to the Pentagon.
As Iran braces for a counterattack, the Revolutionary Guard shoots down a Ukrainian passenger plane shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s international airport, reportedly mistaking it for a US cruise missile. All 176 people on board are killed.
July 2, 2020 — A mysterious explosion tears apart a centrifuge production plant at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran blames the attack on archenemy Israel.
April 6, 2021 — Iran and the US under President Joe Biden begin indirect negotiations in Vienna over how to restore the nuclear deal. Those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, fail to reach any agreement.
April 11, 2021 — A second attack within a year targets Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, again likely carried out by Israel.
April 16, 2021 — Iran begins enriching uranium up to 60% — its highest purity ever and a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Feb. 24, 2022 — Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow ultimately will come to rely on Iranian bomb-carrying drones in the conflict, as well as missiles.
July 17, 2022 — An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Kamal Kharrazi, says Iran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb, but has not decided whether to build one.
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, listens to the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, on April 9, 2025. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)
Middle East wars rage
Oct. 7, 2023 — Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip storm into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage, beginning the most intense war ever between Israel and Hamas. Iran, which has armed Hamas, offers support to the movement. Regional tensions spike.
Nov. 19, 2023 — Yemen’s Houthi militants, long supported by Iran, seize the ship Galaxy Leader, beginning a monthslong campaign of attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor that the US Navy describes as the most intense combat it has seen since World War II. The attacks mirror tactics earlier used by Iran.
April 14, 2024 — Iran launches an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, firing over 300 missiles and attack drones. Israel, working with the US, intercepts much of the incoming fire.
April 19, 2024 — A suspected Israeli strike hits an air defense system by an airport in Isfahan, Iran.
July 31, 2024 — Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, is assassinated during a visit to Tehran after the inauguration of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel later takes responsibility for the assassination.
Sept. 27, 2024 — An Israeli airstrike kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
Oct. 1, 2024 — Iran launches its second direct attack on Israel, though Israel shoots down most of the missiles.
Oct. 16, 2024 — Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.
Oct. 26, 2024 — Israel openly attacks Iran for the first time, striking air defense systems and sites associated with its missile program.
A satellite image shows un‑buried tunnel entrances at Isfahan nuclear complex, in Isfahan, Iran, November 11, 2024. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
Trump returns and reaches out
Jan. 20, 2025 — Trump is inaugurated for his second term as president.
Feb. 7, 2025 — Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says proposed talks with the US are “not intelligent, wise or honorable.”
March 7, 2025 — Trump says he sent a letter to Khamenei seeking a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
March 15, 2025 — Trump launches intense airstrikes targeting the Houthis in Yemen, the last members of Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” capable of daily attacks.
April 7, 2025 — Trump announces the US and Iran will hold direct talks in Oman. Iran says they'll be indirect talks, but confirms the meeting.
April 12, 2025 — The first round of talks between Iran and the US take place in Oman, ending with a promise to hold more talks after US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke” together.
April 19, 2025 — The second round of talks between the US and Iran are held in Rome.
April 26, 2025 — Iran and the US meet in Oman a third time, but the negotiations include talks at the expert level for the first time.
May 11, 2025 — Iran and the US meet in Oman for a fourth round of negotiations ahead of Trump's trip to the Middle East.
May 23, 2025 — Iran and the US meet in Rome for a fifth round of talks, with Oman saying the negotiations made "some but not conclusive progress."
Israeli soldiers search through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central Israel, June 15, 2025. (AP)
The Iran-Israel war begins
June 9, 2025 — Iran signals it won't accept a US proposal over the nuclear program.
June 12, 2025 — The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency finds Iran in noncompliance with its nuclear obligations. Iran responds by announcing it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility.
June 13, 2025 — Israel launches its war against Iran. Over 12 days, it hits nuclear and military sites, as well as other government installations.
June 22, 2025 — The US intervenes in the war, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites.
June 23, 2025 — Iran responds to the US attack by targeting a military base in Qatar used by American troops, causing limited damage.
June 24, 2025 — Trump announces a ceasefire in the war.
July 25, 2025 — Iranian and European diplomats hold talks in Istanbul over Iran's nuclear program.
Aug. 8, 2025 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom warn Iran in a letter that it will reimplement UN sanctions if there is no “satisfactory solution” to the nuclear standoff by Aug. 31.
Aug. 28, 2025 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom say they've started the process to “snapback” UN sanctions on Iran.
Sept. 9, 2025 — Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency reach a deal over potentially starting inspections, but questions remain over its implementation.
Sept. 19, 2025 — UN Security Council declines to stop “snapback” sanctions on Iran.
Sept. 26, 2025 — UN Security Council rejects China and Russia's last-minute effort to stop “snapback.”
Sept. 28, 2025 — UN reimposes “snapback” sanctions on Iran barring any last-minute diplomacy.
In this handout photograph released by the US Navy on February 6, 2026, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) sails alongside Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) and Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) in the Arabian Sea, on February 6. (AFP / US Navy/ Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jesse Monford)
New protests roil Iran
Dec. 28, 2025 — Protests break out in two major markets in downtown Tehran after the Iranian rial plunges to a record low — 1.42 million rials to one US dollar — compounding inflationary pressure and pushing up the prices of food and other daily necessities.
Jan. 3, 2026 — Khamenei says “rioters must be put in their place,” in what is seen as a green light for security forces to begin more aggressively putting down the demonstrations.
Jan. 8, 2026 — Following a call from Iran’s exiled crown prince, a mass of people shout from their windows and take to the streets in nationwide protests. The government responds by blocking the internet and international telephone calls in a bid to cut off the country of 85 million from outside influence. An ensuing security force crackdown kills thousands and sees tens of thousands detained.
Jan. 13, 2026 — Trump says he has called off any meetings with the Iranians and promises that unspecified “help is on its way.”
Jan. 26, 2026 — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships arrive in the Middle East amid Trump’s threats to attack.
Feb. 3, 2026 — A US Navy fighter jet shoots down an Iranian drone approaching the Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Iranian fast-attack boats attempt to stop a US-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Feb. 6, 2026 — Iran and the US hold indirect nuclear talks in Oman, with the head of the US military's Central Command also coming.
Feb. 17, 2026 — Iran and the US hold talks in Geneva while Tehran says it has temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.
Feb. 26, 2026 — Iran and the US are due to hold another round of talks in Geneva after Washington assembles the largest fleet of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.
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