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Khamenei’s Advisor: We Must Be Ready for All Scenarios

Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Rahim Safavi (Telegram) 
Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Rahim Safavi (Telegram) 
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Khamenei’s Advisor: We Must Be Ready for All Scenarios

Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Rahim Safavi (Telegram) 
Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Rahim Safavi (Telegram) 

An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said his country must be prepared for all potential scenarios and urged authorities not to allow enemy conspiracies to take them by surprise.

“Iran is fighting a hybrid war waged by its enemies,” said Rahim Safavi, a General of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He highlighted the critical need for national unity in pursuing the country’s goals.

Safadi’s comments came after US President Donald Trump left last week the door open to striking Iran's nuclear facilities, but said he wants to reach a deal with Tehran to avoid military strikes.

Meanwhile, Safavi pointed out to the 20-year strategic agreement between Iran and Russia, signed last week during the visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Moscow. He said the agreement requires not only careful planning but also decisive action to achieve its full potential.

“We must be ready for every possibility and ensure that we are never caught off guard by the enemy's plans,” he added.

Iran's main concern is the potential for Trump to reimposes his “maximum pressure policy” through more sanctions on its oil.

Last Wednesday, two US officials gave preliminary outlines of the new US administration’s policy toward Iran, including its readiness to activate the “snapback” mechanism at the UN Security Council.

Trump said Thursday he hoped to avoid military strikes on Iran's nuclear program, an option long mulled by Israel.

Asked if he would support military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump told reporters he was going to speak to unspecified “very high-level people” about the issue.

“That could be worked out without having to worry about it,” Trump said of the Iranian nuclear issue.

“It would be really nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step,” he said of military action.

On diplomatic prospects with Iran, Trump said, “Iran hopefully will make a deal -- and if they don't make a deal, I guess that's OK, too.”

Later during an interview with Fox News, the US President said, “I want them (the Iranians) to have a great country, they have great potential, the people are amazing -- The only thing I said about Iran, is they can't have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump added, “They cannot have a nuclear weapon. And, you know, they get one, you're gonna have everyone else getting them, and then the whole thing is going to be a disaster.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday hinted at potential action against Iran in the “upcoming months,” in his initial congratulatory letter to new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

“Iran and its partners continue to threaten... regional and global stability,” wrote Katz.

“The upcoming months present us with challenges that require military readiness and opportunities that allow us to further our strategic goals. I am confident that together we can succeed, creating long-term stability and a better future for the region,” the Israeli minister said.

 

 

 

 

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World

Starmer Is on the Precipice as Pressure Builds for the UK Leader to Resign

Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Starmer Is on the Precipice as Pressure Builds for the UK Leader to Resign

Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a career-defining decision: step down or fight a possible challenge from Labour Party rival Andy Burnham.

Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in office, but pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude that his time is up. Expectation is growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday. That’s the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Sunday that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.”

“I know he is a prime minister who always puts his country first,” Kyle told the BBC, though he said that reports that Starmer will resign are “speculation.”

Starmer is spending the weekend at Chequers, the country mansion used by prime ministers, with his family. He gave no public hint about his decision, but sent a Father's Day message on social media.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy. Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him,” he wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump weighed in even before an announcement, linking Starmer's potential exit to two of his recurring bugbears: immigration and renewable energy.

“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! President DJT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

It was unclear whether Trump was responding to media reports about Starmer's plans. The two leaders haven't spoken over the weekend.

Starmer's initially warm relationship with the president has soured in recent months over issues including the Iran war, which the UK didn't join.

If Starmer quits, he will be the sixth prime minister to leave office in the past 10 years, an extraordinary rate of churn for the United Kingdom.

Discontent with the prime minister has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to reverse the government’s decline in popularity since Starmer led the center-left party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party and facing a rising Reform UK, the Nigel Farage -led anti-immigration party that consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls.

Burnham, until this week the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwestern England in a special election held Thursday. He took almost 55% of the 45,510 votes cast, over 9,000 more than the Reform UK runner-up.

Now that Burnham is becoming a lawmaker, he’s in a position to challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. Burnham’s acceptance speech left no doubt that he wants to lead both the party and the country.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working,” he said. “Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

It’s unclear whether Burnham would face a coronation or a challenge, if Starmer steps aside. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month to protest Starmer’s leadership, has said that he will run in a contest if there is one.

Starmer congratulated Burnham on Friday, but insisted that he would fight any attempt to oust him.

“I will run, I will stand,” if there is a Labour leadership contest, Starmer said. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

But Charlie Falconer, a senior Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that Starmer has “absolutely no authority” left.

“There should be an agreed transition process in which Andy and Keir cooperate as to when the handover should take place,” he told the BBC.

World

Trump Threatens to Strike Iran Over Support for Hezbollah

Hezbollah supporter carries a Hezbollah flag and a poster depicting Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Qasmiyeh Bridge, southern Lebanon, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
Hezbollah supporter carries a Hezbollah flag and a poster depicting Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Qasmiyeh Bridge, southern Lebanon, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
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Trump Threatens to Strike Iran Over Support for Hezbollah

Hezbollah supporter carries a Hezbollah flag and a poster depicting Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Qasmiyeh Bridge, southern Lebanon, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
Hezbollah supporter carries a Hezbollah flag and a poster depicting Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Qasmiyeh Bridge, southern Lebanon, 19 June 2026. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to strike Iran if it did not stop Hezbollah from "causing trouble," as peace talks between senior US and Iranian officials began in Switzerland.

The negotiations opened against a backdrop of clashes in recent days between the Israeli army and Hezbollah -- a Tehran ally -- in southern Lebanon, threatening to derail the preliminary peace deal between Tehran and Washington.

"Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"

Later on Sunday, Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the United States against making threats at his country, vowing that "our armed forces are ready to respond". 

"Don't they think that if their threats had any effect, they would not have reached today's state of desperation? We do not take American threats into account," said Ghalibaf after Trump’s threat. 

"They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act." 

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people on Saturday in eastern and southern Lebanon, before a lull in the fighting that evening, when the Israeli army was ordered to halt clashes with Hezbollah.

The memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday between the United States and Iran stipulates a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

At the outset of the talks in Switzerland on Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance said he had seen "great progress in the last just couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon."

"We're all working towards regional peace," he said. "I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There's still some additional wood to chop but we're going to keep on working at it."

Vance asserted that Trump and the United States had done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any other country in recent months.

World

Ukrainian Attacks Prompt Russian-Held Crimea to Halt Civilian Gasoline Sales

Cars line up at a petrol station in Simferopol, Crimea, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP)
Cars line up at a petrol station in Simferopol, Crimea, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP)
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Ukrainian Attacks Prompt Russian-Held Crimea to Halt Civilian Gasoline Sales

Cars line up at a petrol station in Simferopol, Crimea, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP)
Cars line up at a petrol station in Simferopol, Crimea, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP)

Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea suspended civilian gasoline sales Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.

Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.

He later wrote on social media that local gas stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.

“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information.”

Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement Sunday that a Crimean oil depot, as well as an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace,” he wrote.

Russian officials in Krasnodar reported earlier Sunday that a drone strike sparked a fire at a Black Sea oil terminal in the village of Chushka. They said that Ukrainian attacks struck a ferry, killing one person.

Motorists struggle to find fuel The Crimean peninsula has had periodic fuel shortages from Ukrainian strikes before, but the current crisis is the worst since its 2014 annexation.

At the end of May, authorities restricted the sale of gas to 20 liters (5 1/3 gallons) per vehicle owner per week, using prepaid coupons. Those were snapped up immediately following their release on an official messaging app channel, and motorists lined up for hours, waiting to refuel.

Social networks have been abuzz with requests and advice on where to find fuel, and authorities launched a hotline for tourists in the area who have found themselves trapped.

Some motorists bring their own gas from Krasnodar and elsewhere via the Kerch bridge, but they are restricted to carrying 100 liters (about 26 1/2 gallons) per vehicle. Some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.

In a rare public acknowledgment, the Kremlin has recognized the scope of the problem and promised to address the issue quickly.

However, Ukraine’s successes have highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and change the course of the conflict while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt. On June 11, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reached its 1,569th day, surpassing the duration of World War I.