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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)
    Tel Aviv, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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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.

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World

France’s Macron Slams Migrant ‘Return-Hubs’, EU Funding Push

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
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France’s Macron Slams Migrant ‘Return-Hubs’, EU Funding Push

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday slammed the idea of creating deportation centers for irregular migrants outside the EU, saying Paris will oppose efforts to have the bloc fund them.

So-called "return hubs" outside the EU's borders are one of the main features of a tightening of migration rules criticized by human rights groups that won the final approval of the European Parliament this week.

"France does not support that policy," Macron told journalists after a summit of European leaders in Brussels, noting the new rules allowed for people to be sent to countries they had no ties to -- which could receive money in turn.

"I'm not sure that's the Europe we want. I'm not sure those are the fundamental principles on which our Europe was built. And I don't believe, for that matter, that it's effective. The proof is that, so far, I haven't seen anyone make it work."

France was in favor of stricter rules to boost returns of people with no right to stay to their country of origin, but would not be building return hubs, he added.

"I don't believe that this is either effective or in line with our principles," Macron said.

While other EU members were free to go ahead with such plans, Paris was against a move supported by many other member states to have EU money help pay for them, Macron said.

Proponents say return hubs -- which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centers for those expelled -- could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants

But rights groups have criticized them as "legal black holes" that could see migrants stranded in limbo with little oversight.

Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal challenges and a slow uptake.

World

EU Leaders Squabble Over Outreach to Moscow as Ukraine War Rages on

European Council President Antonio Costa speaks during a press conference at the end of European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
European Council President Antonio Costa speaks during a press conference at the end of European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
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EU Leaders Squabble Over Outreach to Moscow as Ukraine War Rages on

European Council President Antonio Costa speaks during a press conference at the end of European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
European Council President Antonio Costa speaks during a press conference at the end of European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)

European Union leaders have been unable to agree on setting up a back-channel with Moscow to ensure that the bloc’s interests are protected should progress be made in negotiations to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, some of them said on Friday.

European Council President Antonio Costa, who chaired their two-day summit, had directed his office to reach out to the Kremlin and proposed a senior official to make contact. Costa said his aim was not to mediate or set up a parallel negotiating track to the one led by the United States, which is making little progress.

Debate has been swirling around Europe in recent months about whether to appoint a mediator for talks with Russia to help get things moving again, but this has been largely rejected as many believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be unlikely to negotiate anyway.

Instead, the 27 EU countries have focused on concessions that Russia should make to secure peace.

Speaking to reporters, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said the leaders had failed to resolve their differences over the approach overnight. “Europe is unable to agree even on whether there will be negotiations or who will lead them,” he said.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said that “opening up a channel is not a mistake in our view, and I trust António Costa.”

“What was very clear last evening is that any negotiations would have to be first and foremost between Ukraine and Russia, but there are no indications that Russia is coming to the table at all,” he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed that peace negotiations must ultimately be conducted by Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the US.

“Who speaks for the European Union is something we don’t need to decide on today,” he said. “We will decide on that when talks come about.”

He added that Costa has “an important to role to play” as president of the European Council, representing the EU, preparing and organizing summits, and “we don’t need to make decisions going beyond that at the moment.”

Merz highlighted efforts to coordinate diplomacy by the so-called E3 group of countries — Germany, France and Britain — a format that he said came about “at the explicit wish of Ukraine.”

Putin has tried to cut out Europe and Kyiv from negotiations with the US over Ukraine’s future. But the Kremlin said on Friday it was “ready for contact” with Europe, on the condition it abandon its desire to talk to Moscow from the position of force.

At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov argued that the EU can not be an impartial peace broker. He again rejected Western claims that Moscow was harboring plants to attack Europe as “provocation” and “nonsense” while warning that Europe’s military buildup poses growing security threats.

“A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia could rapidly escalate into an exchange of nuclear strikes, with catastrophic consequences,” Lavrov said in an essay released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

As the leaders left their meeting overnight, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever joked that Costa would be the envoy to Moscow.

“I was just talking about you, António,” De Wever said while laughing and shaking Costa’s hand. “I was full of praise, saying you are the only one who can represent us and that we will send you to Moscow.”

Margus Tsahkna, foreign minister of Estonia — a nation on the EU’s eastern flank that has faced drone incursions and was once occupied by the Soviet Union — said that “Europe must not assume the role of a neutral mediator” and instead buttress Ukraine’s position to “force the Kremlin into serious negotiations.”

World

UK's Starmer Renews Vow to Fight any Leadership Challenge

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
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UK's Starmer Renews Vow to Fight any Leadership Challenge

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the members of the media on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer renewed his vow Friday to fight any challenge to his Labor party leadership, after his rival carved a path to Downing Street by winning a key by-election, AFP reported.

"If there is a contest then yes I will run, I will stand. I've said repeatedly, I'm not going to walk away from that," he told reporters in London after Andy Burnham was elected an MP in a northwest English constituency.