Iran Official Warns Israel that its Embassies Are Not Safe

FILED - 06 April 2024, Iran, Tehran: An undated picture shows Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (R), a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, who was killed the previous days following Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian embassy's consular annexe in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Photo: Sepahnews/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
FILED - 06 April 2024, Iran, Tehran: An undated picture shows Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (R), a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, who was killed the previous days following Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian embassy's consular annexe in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Photo: Sepahnews/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT
20

Iran Official Warns Israel that its Embassies Are Not Safe

FILED - 06 April 2024, Iran, Tehran: An undated picture shows Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (R), a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, who was killed the previous days following Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian embassy's consular annexe in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Photo: Sepahnews/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
FILED - 06 April 2024, Iran, Tehran: An undated picture shows Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (R), a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, who was killed the previous days following Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian embassy's consular annexe in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Photo: Sepahnews/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

A top Iranian military adviser on Sunday warned Israel that none of its embassies were safe following last week's strike in Damascus blamed on Israel that killed two elite Iranian generals.

The remarks by Gen. Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, signaled that the attack on a diplomatic mission could be met with a similar response.

“None of the embassies of the (Israeli) regime are safe anymore,” Safavi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim agency. He spoke at a ceremony in Tehran for the generals killed in the strike that flattened an Iranian consular building.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for any response. “Whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them," he told a Cabinet meeting.

Israel has not confirmed it was behind the strike on Damascus. Its leaders have said in more general terms that they are operating against Iran, which backs militant groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both of which have been in combat with Israel for the past six months.
The United States is also on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region.



Russia Says Western Arms Flows to Ukraine Would Need to Stop During Any Ceasefire

 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
TT
20

Russia Says Western Arms Flows to Ukraine Would Need to Stop During Any Ceasefire

 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)

Russia would require a halt to US and European arms supplies to Ukraine during any potential ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with ABC News.

"Otherwise, it will be an advantage for Ukraine. Ukraine will continue their total mobilization, bringing new troops to (the) frontline," Peskov said.

"Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones. So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?"

US President Donald Trump urged Russia and Ukraine on Friday to "get this stupid war finished", as he pushed for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine says it is willing to agree to.

But Peskov, in the interview, restated Russian concerns that Putin had made public as far back as March 13 and set out in a phone call with Trump on March 18.

"A ceasefire was supported by President Putin, but he asked several questions. He said that right now we have certain dynamics on the front, Russian troops are advancing, and advancing in quite a confident way," he said.

"So, if we speak about ceasefire, what are we going to do with shipments of weapons coming every day from the United States and from European countries?"

His comments underlined the lack of any shift in Russia's position on a ceasefire since mid-March. During that time Trump, who previously had applied intense pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has shown growing impatience with Russia and questioned whether Putin was "tapping me along".

Peskov denied that was the case, and said it was Ukraine that was refusing to enter direct negotiations.

"President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means. But having no peaceful and diplomatic means at hand, we have to continue the military operation," he said.

Russia hoped that mediation by Trump would help to bring "a little bit more flexibility, a little bit more political will and wisdom to the Kyiv regime," Peskov said.

Putin declared a brief Easter ceasefire last month, which both sides accused each other of violating countless times, and another three-day pause this week as Russia marks the 80th anniversary of victory in World War Two. Ukraine did not agree to the latest truce, saying it wanted a halt of 30 days or more.