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Trump Slams Israel's Prosecutors over Netanyahu Corruption Trial

FILE - President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
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Trump Slams Israel's Prosecutors over Netanyahu Corruption Trial

FILE - President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

US President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at prosecutors in Israel over the corruption trial that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced, saying Washington, having given billions of dollars worth of aid to Israel, was not going to "stand for this".

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust - all of which he denies. The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases, Reuters said.

On Friday, the court rejected a request by Netanyahu's lawyers to delay his testimony for the next two weeks because of diplomatic and security matters following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran this month.

He is due to take the stand on Monday for cross examination.

"It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu," Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that the judicial process was going to interfere with Netanyahu's ability to conduct talks with the Palestinian group Hamas, and Iran.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prosecution declined to comment on Trump's post.

Trump's second post over the course of a few days defending Netanyahu and calling for the cancellation of the trial went a step further to tie Israel's legal action to US aid.

"The United States of America spends billions of dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this," Trump said.

Netanyahu "right now" was in the process of negotiating a deal with Hamas, Trump said, without giving further details. On Friday, the Republican president told reporters that he believes a ceasefire is close.

Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end it if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.

Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened in the wake of the US and Israeli bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities.

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World

Satellite Imagery Shows ‘Recent Activity’ at Iran Nuclear Facility

An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
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Satellite Imagery Shows ‘Recent Activity’ at Iran Nuclear Facility

An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP
An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP

New satellite imagery shows recent activity at the Natanz nuclear facility that was damaged during June's 12-day war with Israel, according to the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

During the June conflict, the IAEA confirmed Israeli strikes hit Iran's Natanz underground enrichment plant.

The think tank said the satellite imagery from December 13 show panels placed on top of the remaining anti-drone structure at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), providing cover for the damaged facility.

It suggested the new covering allows Iran to examine or retrieve materials from the rubble while limiting external observation.

The Natanz uranium enrichment facility, located some 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, is one of Iran's most important and most controversial nuclear facilities in the Middle East.

Although the facility “likely held several kilograms of highly enriched uranium,” ISIS stressed that such material is “not negligible” in the broader context of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

While PFEP shows renewed activity, ISIS said it has not observed similar signs at other major nuclear sites, including the underground Fordow facility also damaged in June by airstrikes.

Inspections
On December 15, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has reiterated that Iran must allow inspectors access to the three key nuclear facilities that enrich uranium and were hit by the US and Israeli airstrikes last June.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, Grossi said the agency’s activities in Iran are very limited. “We are only allowed to access sites that were not hit.”

In October, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog told AP that Iran does not appear to be actively enriching uranium but that the agency has recently detected renewed movement at the country’s nuclear sites.

Grossi said that despite being unable to fully access Iranian nuclear sites, inspectors have not seen any activity via satellite to indicate that Tehran has accelerated its production of uranium enriched beyond what it had compiled before the 12-day war with Israel in June.

“However, the nuclear material enriched at 60% is still in Iran,” Grossi said in an interview at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

“And this is one of the points we are discussing because we need to go back there and to confirm that the material is there and it’s not being diverted to any other use,” he added, “This is very, very important.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on December 8 that resuming the agency’s inspections is currently not possible because “there is no protocol or guideline” for inspecting facilities he described as “peaceful.”

ISIS reported on October 3 that new satellite imagery shows that Iran is ongoing construction efforts at a mountainous area just south of the Natanz enrichment site known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain.

On Sept. 26, The Washington Post said according to a review of satellite imagery and independent analysis, Iran has increased construction at a mysterious underground site in the months since the US and Israel pummeled its main nuclear facilities, suggesting Tehran has not entirely ceased work on its suspected weapons program and may be cautiously rebuilding.

World

Rubio: Venezuela Cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Rubio: Venezuela Cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused the illegitimate regime in Venezuela of cooperating with criminals that threaten the national security of the United States.

Rubio said Friday the regime of President Nicolas Maduro openly cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah, and drug trafficking groups.

“They (Venezuela regime) operate and cooperate with terrorist organizations against the national interest of the United States, not just cooperate, but partner with and participate in activities to threaten the national interest of the United States,” he told reporters at a news conference at the State Department.

According to Rubio, Venezuela is a country that is not just an illegitimate regime that does not cooperate with the US but also a regime that openly cooperates with criminal and terrorist elements, including Hezbollah, Iran and others.

“And clearly these narco groups cooperate openly from there,” the Secretary of State said.

“We have a regime that cooperates with Iran, that cooperates with Hezbollah; that cooperates with narcotrafficking and narcoterrorist organizations, inclusive not just protecting their shipments and allowing them to operate with impunity, but also allows some of them to control territory,” he added.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, according to an interview with NBC News published on Friday.

“I don't rule it out, no,” he told NBC News in a phone interview.

Trump also said there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters, according to the interview. The US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.

“If they're foolish enough to be sailing along, they'll be sailing along back into one of our harbors,” he told NBC News.

On Tuesday, Trump ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of income, following which Venezuela's government said it rejected Trump's “grotesque threat.”

World

Iran Says it Executed Man Accused of Spying for Israel

A general view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Tehran, Iran, 19 Dec 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
A general view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Tehran, Iran, 19 Dec 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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Iran Says it Executed Man Accused of Spying for Israel

A general view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Tehran, Iran, 19 Dec 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
A general view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Tehran, Iran, 19 Dec 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran executed on Saturday a man convicted of spying for the Israeli intelligence and army, state media reported.

According to The Associated Press, State TV identified the executed man as Aghil Keshavarz, saying he had “close intelligence cooperation” with the Mossad and took photos of Iranian military and security areas.

Keshavarz was arrested while taking pictures of a military headquarters in the northwestern city of Urmia, some 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Tehran in May. He was accused of carrying out more than 200 similar assignments for the Mossad in various cities of Iran, including Tehran.

He was tried and given the death sentence, a ruling the Supreme Court upheld, the report said.

Keshavarz, 27, reportedly studied architecture.

Iran is known to have executed 11 people for espionage since a 12-day air war that Israel waged against Iran in June, killing nearly 1,100 people, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. In return, Iran’s missile barrage killed 28 in Israel.

In October, Iran executed an unknown person convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in the city of Qom.