Khamenei Adviser Threatens Retaliation if Nuclear Deal is Terminated

Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
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Khamenei Adviser Threatens Retaliation if Nuclear Deal is Terminated

Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

“If Trump exits the deal, Iran will surely pull out of it… Iran will not accept a nuclear deal with no benefits for us,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System Mohsen Rezaee recommended that the threats made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's supreme national security council, should be taken seriously, mainly Iran’s threat to pull out from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Salami said that government officials should be more authoritative, and revealed that IRGC suggested over politicians that they withdraw from the nuclear deal and from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and to resume an unlimited nuclear activity. At the same time, he threatened to wipe out Israel.

Defence Secretary James Mattis on Thursday said no decision had been made on whether the United States is going to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. He also played down concerns about whether a potential US withdrawal from the deal would undermine attempts to strike an agreement with North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

“I think we need to focus on what is in the best interest of Middle East stability and the threat that Iran poses,” he added.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Macron later told reporters that he has no inside information on Trump’s decision on the Iran deal but noted that it’s clear the US president is not very much eager to defend it. Macron statement came hours after his speech infront of the Congress, where he confirmed that Iran won’t be capable of owning a nuclear bomb, demanding that Trump’s administration doesn’t withdraw from the deal.

Russia does not see any room for changes or additions to the Iran nuclear deal, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Zakharova also said Moscow was seriously concerned by comments made by the presidents of France and the United States about the deal.



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
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Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.