Iran Vows to Avenge the Death of 2 IRGC Members in Syria

Site after the Israeli strike in Damascus (Reuters)
Site after the Israeli strike in Damascus (Reuters)
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Iran Vows to Avenge the Death of 2 IRGC Members in Syria

Site after the Israeli strike in Damascus (Reuters)
Site after the Israeli strike in Damascus (Reuters)

Israel awaits with anticipation Iran's retaliation for the airstrike on Syria that killed four people on Monday, including two of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Syrian state media said that two civilians were killed during the attack, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said they were two Syrian militants fighting with pro-Iran militias.

The Observatory said the two dead Iranians killed were affiliated with al-Quds Force. Six militiamen were also wounded, it added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said revenge for Monday's strike will be taken, adding that holding Israel accountable for such attacks "is one of the main goals of the resistance (forces) in the region."

The IRGC's Sepah News website said: "Guard colonels Ehsan Karbalaipour and Morteza Saidnejad were martyred, a crime committed by the Zionist regime, during a rocket attack on the suburbs of Damascus, Syria, yesterday morning."

The site stated that Israel would "pay for this crime."

The strike's target was an ammunition depot operated by Iran-backed militias near Damascus international airport.

SOHR said Israel has carried out raids in Syria at least seven times this year.

Iran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's strongest ally in the conflict. The Syrian army and thousands of Iranian-backed militants are fighting the Syrian opposition, backed by the Russian air force.

According to Walla's military correspondent, Israel is aware of Iran's determination to respond to the killing of the two IRGC members.

The Israeli army raised the state of alert and readiness of its units operating the "Iron Dome" systems along the border with Syria and stated that it was preparing for a possible missile attack from Syria.

In April, Iran admitted to casualties among its forces during an Israeli attack on sites in Syria, including seven fighters killed in an attack on T4 airport east of Homs. A month later, Iran responded with a barrage of missiles fired by armed militia at Israeli sites.

The Quds Force unofficial Telegram channel reported that Iran retaliated for the death of its members at the Syrian T4 base after an Israeli raid that killed seven Iranian forces in 2018.

The channel reported that Tehran responded by bombing an Israeli base in the occupied Golan with fifty missiles, noting that Israelis did not report the attack and the damage incurred.

Several Israeli experts admitted that the firing of 50 missiles from Syria at Israeli bases was an unprecedented matter that surprised observers.



Israel Says Ready to Attack Iran for ‘Third Time if Necessary’

A woman walks past an anti-US mural next to the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, 09 July 2026. (EPA)
A woman walks past an anti-US mural next to the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, 09 July 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Says Ready to Attack Iran for ‘Third Time if Necessary’

A woman walks past an anti-US mural next to the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, 09 July 2026. (EPA)
A woman walks past an anti-US mural next to the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, 09 July 2026. (EPA)

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so "with even greater force". 

The latest remarks came as new fighting erupted between the United States and Iran, raising fears of a return to full-scale war after an April ceasefire and a June US-Iran agreement to end hostilities. 

"The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, in order to regain air superiority and strike again... in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary," Katz said at a military ceremony. 

"If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force," he added. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had been weakened by the two previous military campaigns Israel launched against it. 

But he also acknowledged that the conflict was not yet over. 

"The Iranian axis is weaker than ever before, while Israel is stronger than ever before," he said. 

"We proved that the long arm of the Israeli Air Force can reach anywhere, from Yemen to Iran. Yet we must also acknowledge that the campaign is not over." 

The war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran that killed the country's supreme leader and other senior officials. 

It was Israel's second campaign against Iran, following a 12-day war in June 2025. 


Spain Says Trump Softened Rhetoric After Learning of Madrid’s Contributions to NATO

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives at Ankara Airport ahead of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, July 7, 2026. (Reuters)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives at Ankara Airport ahead of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, July 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spain Says Trump Softened Rhetoric After Learning of Madrid’s Contributions to NATO

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives at Ankara Airport ahead of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, July 7, 2026. (Reuters)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives at Ankara Airport ahead of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, July 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Madrid said on Thursday US President Donald Trump had softened his rhetoric on Spain, hours after threatening to halt trade with the NATO ally, because he had been made aware of a surge in Madrid's contributions to the alliance in recent years.

At a NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, Trump called Spain a "terrible partner" and ordered an immediate halt to all trade with the country after disputes over defense spending and the Iran war.

On his way back to the United States after the summit, he told reporters aboard Air Force One: "I did have issues, and I still do. But Spain, they came back all the way today. Spain was very generous today."

Asked what Spain had done, ‌he said: "They honored ‌a request for lots of payments, and if they didn't, we ‌wouldn't ⁠have even talked to ⁠them."

A spokesperson for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said this was understood to be a reference to Madrid complying with NATO's former defense spending target of 2% of GDP.

At the summit, Sanchez highlighted that Spain would reach that goal this year after more than doubling nominal defense spending from 0.98% of GDP in 2017 to nearly €33 billion ($37.7 billion).

He played down the rift and said he had a "very cordial" conversation with Trump during the summit.

But Trump has repeatedly criticized Spain for not agreeing to a new objective ⁠for NATO member states to spend 5% of GDP on defense by ‌2035. Spain's left-wing government says it wants to respond to ‌real threats rather than increasing spending for the sake of it, as that would imply cuts to ‌social benefits.

It was not immediately clear what the softening of Trump's rhetoric might mean for his ‌threat to halt trade.

Asked about the next steps following Trump's directive, a US official in Washington told Reuters the relevant federal agencies would present Trump with a "menu" of Spanish products that may be embargoed.

Trade lawyers say Trump could invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose a full or partial embargo on Spanish imports. ‌Trump's first administration imposed a 30% anti-dumping tariff on Spanish black olives in 2018.

OPPOSITION CRITICISM

According to the Spanish government's agenda, Defense Minister Margarita Robles ⁠was set to meet ⁠with US Ambassador Benjamin Leon later on Thursday for a "working meeting", without providing further details.

Sources in the Spanish delegation to Ankara cited by El Mundo said Madrid likened the dispute to a staged fight lacking actual conflict and that Spanish officials had not detected any economic consequences or a decline in investment in Spain in recent years despite Trump's criticisms.

Some figures in the main opposition People's Party (PP) blamed Sanchez for the spat but said they stood with their country.

A senior PP official highlighted the interdependence between Spanish and US firms, which meant "economic reality takes precedence over the grandiloquent statements (Trump) seeks to make in order to attack Spain".

In the PP-run region of Aragon - where big US tech firms including Amazon and Microsoft have invested billions of dollars in data centers - officials said it was business as usual.

Santiago Abascal - a Trump ally who leads far-right party Vox - said the tensions with Washington were "absolutely dramatic" and accused Sanchez of "destroying Spain's credibility on the world stage".


Fire at a Shoe Factory Kills 28 in One of China’s Deadliest Blazes in Recent Years

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, firefighters at the scene of a footwear factory fire in Jiangtou village, Chendai township of Jinjiang city, southeastern China's Fujian province, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Zheng Liang/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, firefighters at the scene of a footwear factory fire in Jiangtou village, Chendai township of Jinjiang city, southeastern China's Fujian province, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Zheng Liang/Xinhua via AP)
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Fire at a Shoe Factory Kills 28 in One of China’s Deadliest Blazes in Recent Years

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, firefighters at the scene of a footwear factory fire in Jiangtou village, Chendai township of Jinjiang city, southeastern China's Fujian province, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Zheng Liang/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, firefighters at the scene of a footwear factory fire in Jiangtou village, Chendai township of Jinjiang city, southeastern China's Fujian province, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Zheng Liang/Xinhua via AP)

A fire broke out at a shoe factory in the eastern Chinese province of Fujian on Thursday, killing 28 people, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded “an all-out search and rescue effort," urging a swift investigation of the incident and “strictly hold those responsible accountable.”

The blaze started at a factory in Huiteng shoe company in the city of Jinjiang, the city’s fire department said in a statement. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

There were 237 factory workers and two visitors in the building when the fire broke out. Authorities evacuated or rescued 213 people. Of the 28 people who died, two were pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Xinhua said the factory’s owner and others in charge have been arrested and the company’s accounts have been frozen.

Video by CCTV shows the facade of a building of several floors charred black and covered in white smoke. Earlier footage shows fires were burning on multiple floors and the building shrouded in thick, black smoke.

Jinjiang, the city where the fire happened is known as China’s shoe capital.