Katz: Israel Awaiting US Green Light to 'Return Iran to Stone Age'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
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Katz: Israel Awaiting US Green Light to 'Return Iran to Stone Age'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was "prepared to resume the war against Iran", adding that his country was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to "the Stone Age".

"The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively, and the targets have been marked," Katz said in a video statement.

"We are awaiting a green light from the United States -- first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty... and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure," he added.

The opening US-Israel attack of the war on February 28 killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose son later succeeded him but has yet to appear in public, creating speculation over his condition and if he is still alive.

"This time, when the attack resumes, it will be different and lethal, adding devastating blows at the most sensitive points -- following the tremendous strikes the Iranian terror regime has already sustained -- that will shake and bring down its foundations," AFP quoted Katz as saying.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which came into effect on April 8, to create space for talks with Tehran.

Plans for renewed negotiations in Pakistan hang in the balance.

The Middle East war has engulfed the region, leaving several thousand people dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and continuing to destabilize the global economy.



Iran Reportedly Received Letter from US Vice President, Has Not Replied Yet

A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Reportedly Received Letter from US Vice President, Has Not Replied Yet

A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iranian media reported on Thursday that Tehran had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance but had not yet responded, amid efforts to revive peace talks between the countries.

Tasnim news agency reported that "Iran has received the letter but has not yet responded," while Fars news agency carried a similar account, citing "a source familiar with the matter.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance had sent the letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei at the direction of US President Donald Trump, in a bid to revive negotiations and avert new US strikes.

The letter and subsequent contact between US and Iranian officials focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specific terms for a peace deal, the newspaper reported.

The war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and US assets in the region and imposed restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

The United States has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

The reported correspondence comes as diplomatic efforts to end the war have yet to produce a lasting agreement.

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was discussing a plan with mediators, mainly Qatar and Pakistan, to end the war and reopen the waterway.

Tehran insists that Washington meet seven conditions it has set for reopening the strait.

The conditions include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

Tasnim reported that "any position that undermines this firm framework established by Iran is unacceptable.”


Three Dead in Rock Spire Collapse at Türkiye's Cappadocia

This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
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Three Dead in Rock Spire Collapse at Türkiye's Cappadocia

This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)

A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall caused a rock spire to collapse in Türkiye's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Cappadocia region on Thursday, bringing the death toll to three, officials said.

Türkiye's Cappadocia region, a magnet for tourists from around the world, is home to cone-shaped rock formations known as "fairy chimneys,” created by ancient volcanic activity.

"According to initial findings, two people were killed and five others injured in the incident," Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X.

Rescue teams pulled another body from the rubble, bringing the death toll to three, Nevsehir Governor Huseyin Kok said, according to AFP.

The nationalities of the dead were not immediately known.

"Search and rescue teams are continuing intensive, coordinated operations to locate any other victims who may be trapped under the debris," the minister said.

Television footage showed heavy machinery digging through the rubble as rescue teams gathered at the site in an effort to recover people.

Excavators and rescue workers worked into the night at the site, using powerful floodlights as the search operation continued.

The incident occurred at 3:15 pm local time (1215 GMT) when a landslide triggered a rockfall in the town of Goreme near the open-air museum, local governor Kok said.

The area was closed to the public following the collapse, according to reports.

Eyewitnesses described hearing a loud noise as the rock spire near a car park collapsed, sending up a huge cloud of dust.

Türkiye's culture and tourism ministry has launched restoration work in the region to help preserve the fragile rock formations from climate-related damage, natural erosion and human activity.

In 2024, another rockfall was reported in Cappadocia, although no deaths or injuries were recorded.

A UNESCO heritage site since 1985, Goreme national park and the rock sites of Cappadocia are "a landscape of harmony combining human interaction and settlement with dramatic natural landforms," according to the UN agency.

Some of the cones and pillars have experienced earthquake damage, but this is seen as a naturally occurring phenomenon.

"Overuse by tourists and some vandalism have been reported and some incompatible structures have been introduced," it said on its website.

The Cappadocia region is also home to rock-carved underground cities and early Christian churches.

In 2025, some 4.5 million domestic and foreign tourists visited the region, according to tourism ministry figures.

Hot-air ballooning in Cappadocia is a thriving industry that sees dozens of balloons take to the skies on clear mornings. But concerns have been raised about safety following a series of accidents.

"Winter Sleep,” the acclaimed drama by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan that won the Palme d'Or in 2014, was set in the Cappadocia region.


One Injured in Fire at South Carolina Nuclear Site

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
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One Injured in Fire at South Carolina Nuclear Site

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo

A fire on Wednesday at a South Carolina complex that produced plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War left one person with minor injuries, a US Department of Energy spokesperson said.

The spokesperson, citing officials at the Savannah River Site that includes the Savannah River National Laboratory where the fire was reported, said the fire was extinguished and no contamination has been reported. The spokesperson said the person injured was an employee who was taken to the hospital.

The Savannah River Site did not say what caused the fire.

The fire prompted a "site area emergency." The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted flights in the area because of the fire, according to its website. The Savannah River Site said rail, river and ground travel in the area also was restricted and that employees not involved in emergency response or shutdown operations were sheltered as a precaution.

After producing material for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the Savannah River National Laboratory now focuses on waste cleanup and nuclear materials management.

It was built near Jackson, South Carolina, in the early 1950s.