By Roya Pourbagher

In a candid confession, US President Donald Trump on November 5 said he was “very much in charge” of the Israeli military aggression against Iran on June 13, which led to the martyrdom of many top military commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as ordinary people.

“Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that,” the megalomaniac, war-mongering US president told media persons at the White House.

“When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together,” he hastened to add.

Israel had earlier framed the aggression as “pre-emptive,” claiming without evidence that Iran was planning an attack on the Zionist entity. If so, doesn’t this confession drive a hole through that justification, since the order appears to have come from Washington?

Also, don’t Trump’s remarks make it clear, once again, that it was a pre-planned aggression engineered by the war hawks in Tel Aviv and Washington?

Let us leave these questions for the legal play at the international community stage, as Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei hinted at during his weekly presser on Monday. He called it “the newest and clearest evidence of America's definitive participation in the military aggression.”

“This explicit confession to the commission of an international crime entails the full responsibility of the US government, and we immediately, in extension of this issue, registered it as a document in the UN Security Council and the United Nations,” he asserted.

The facts are plain and crystal clear for the world to see – glaring at us like the genocide live-streamed over the past two years. US seeks to maintain its dominance in West Asia, and any entity that dares to defy its hegemonic and destabilizing policies becomes a target of Washington’s aggression.

This explains the aggression on Hezbollah and Yemen after they began supporting the Palestinian resistance against America’s “military outpost.”  

Make no mistake, all the crimes carried out by Israel in the region, from the genocide in Gaza to the devastating war on Lebanon, the attacks on Yemen, and the aggression on Iran, were at the behest of Washington because the existence of Israel in the first place was the project of the same powers that rule the US as well.

But, of course, we are dealing with the land of Hollywood, and that means the US political-military-industrial complex will get away with its acts of aggression through blatant lies, selective media framing, and theatrics.

Trump’s admission proved that the US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, lied following the June 13 Israeli strikes on Iran by saying that it was not involved in the attacks.

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said at the time.

US has a long tradition of using false pretenses for fanning the flames of war, and it’s hardly the first time a US Secretary of State has peddled lies to advance Washington’s interests. Colin Powell’s infamous presentation in February 2003 before the UN, claiming Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction to justify an invasion, was later exposed as a fabrication.

Let us not forget that the US did not merely enable the initial strike; it later directly joined the war by striking Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan using B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs.

Trump subsequently celebrated the unprovoked and illegal aggression in a television address, claiming that the nuclear facilities were “completely and totally obliterated.”

However, Iran maintained that its nuclear program cannot be destroyed as it is rooted in knowledge and indigenous innovation. In response to the American aggression, Iranian missiles successfully struck the largest US military base in the region, Al-Udeid in Qatar.

Israeli regime claims to be the strongest military power in West Asia because of the hefty military aid it receives from the US, which has provided at least $16.3 billion in direct military aid to the regime since October 7, 2023.

That’s the legacy he will leave behind – as someone who started wars himself and engaged American proxies in the region to keep the flames burning, because destabilization is what feeds the American war machine. And that’s exactly what the Israeli regime, America’s biggest military outpost in the region, has been doing on its behalf.  

Roya Pour Bagher is a Tehran-based writer.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stated that Western countries will ultimately have no choice but to recognize Iran as a scientific hub for the peaceful nuclear industry.

During a visit to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Monday, Araghchi highlighted Iran’s significant efforts to advance its nuclear industry, emphasizing that the country will never relinquish its rights in this sector. 

He praised Iran’s remarkable progress in nuclear technology, which has grown into a substantial industry advancing rapidly across various fields.

Araghchi pointed out that Iran's nuclear capabilities extend beyond uranium enrichment to include diverse applications in medicine, health, environmental protection, agriculture, and industrial sectors.

He stated that the West's main concern lies not in the potential for Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but rather in the country's advancements in nuclear science.

He explained that Iran has excelled in a “very complex and sensitive” scientific domain that the West seeks to monopolize. 

The top Iranian diplomat explained that this is why Western powers have used nuclear weapons as a pretext for their actions.

Araghchi remarked that for over 20 years, Iran has engaged in negotiations and dialogue with the West, highlighting that if the intention to develop nuclear weapons had existed, it would have been realized by now, given the country's capabilities.

He reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran's peaceful nuclear program, adding, "Wherever necessary, we have built trust and cooperated with international organizations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, but it is crystal clear that they [the West] are seeking pretexts."

The IAEA has carried out about a dozen inspections in Iran since the Israeli-US war in mid-June. However, the UN nuclear watchdog announced last week it had not been given access to nuclear facilities such as Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which the United States bombed on June 22 in a clear violation of international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the IAEA inspectors visited Iranian nuclear sites last week.

“As long as we are a member of the NPT and committed to the Safeguard Agreement, we are fully aware of our commitments, and just last week, IAEA inspectors visited several nuclear facilities, including the Tehran Research Reactor,” Baghaei added.

During a meeting with senior managers at the AEOI earlier this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized that the country’s expansion of its peaceful nuclear industry is aimed at enhancing the nation’s welfare, not acquiring weapons.

“However, the nuclear industry is a vast collection of scientific and industrial capacities and only a tiny fraction of its disproportionate and inhumane consequences relates to bomb-making,” he added.

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*What is more misguidance than despairing of the mercy of God?

✨ *He said, "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except the astray?" 

✨ *(Abraham, peace be upon him) said: "Who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except the astray?"!!* 

(Al-Hijr 56)

✨Despairing of despair means despair.

✨In our daily prayers, we regularly say to God, "O God, do not make us among the astray."

✨One of the verses of the Holy Quran that introduces the astray is this noble verse that considers the despairing as astray.

 ✨The misguided one is the one who has lost the path of truth, is hopeless, does not know what a merciful God he has, who never forgets him, nor is he unkind to him, and is incapable of helping his servant. God is wise, merciful, powerful, and...

✨Quranic practice: Recite this noble verse repeatedly and whenever Satan wants to disappoint you, remind yourself of this verse.

"Whoever injures (bodily or sentimentally) Fatima, injures me; and whoever injures me injures Allah; and whoever injures Allah practices unbelief. O Fatima! If your wrath is incurred, it incurs the wrath of Allah; and if you are happy, it makes Allah happy too."

Fatima, the only daughter of the Holy prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca on 20 Th. Jumadi al- thani 18 BH. The good and noble lady Khadijah and the apostle of Allah bestowed all their natural love, care and devotion on their lovable and only child Fatima, who in her turn was extremely fond of her parents. The princess of the House of the Prophet was very intelligent, accomplished and cheerful. Her sermons, poems and sayings serve, as an index to her strength of character and nobility of mind. Her virtues gained her the title "Our Lady of light".

The United States has submitted a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for lifting sanctions on Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the HTS-led regime in Syria, ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 10.

The draft resolution would also lift sanctions on Syria’s self-proclaimed interior minister, Anas Khattab, who was one of the leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, Jabhat al-Nusra.

It was not immediately clear when the draft resolution, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, could be put to a vote.

The HTS, a former branch of al-Qaeda, along with other militants, seized control of Damascus on December 8, 2024, forcing former President Bashar al-Assad, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, to leave the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described how the Israeli military helped the HTS takeover of Syria in December.

Since May 2014, the HTS has been on the UN Security Council’s sanctions list.

Its leader, Jolani and Khattab are among several HTS members who are also under UN sanctions that include a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo.

However, a Security Council sanctions committee has been regularly granting Jolani travel exemptions this year.

Thus, the HTS leader is still likely to be able to travel to Washington even if the US-drafted resolution is not adopted before Monday.

In May, Trump announced that all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.

Trump made the announcement in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, during his visit to the kingdom, where he met with al-Jolani, who expressed readiness to normalize ties between Damascus and Tel Aviv.

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As New York City heads into its mayoral election, US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding if voters elect Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would be reluctant to send more than “the very minimum” level of federal support to New York if Mamdani, whom he accused of being a “communist”, wins the race.

“It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump said. “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”

“I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad,” he added.

Trump instead urged New Yorkers to vote for former governor Andrew Cuomo, now running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.

“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice,” Trump wrote. “You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not.”

Mamdani dismissed the president’s remark, saying, "It is a threat. It is not the law." He also reiterated that he is a Democratic socialist, not a communist.

Cuomo said Trump’s words did not constitute an endorsement. “He’s not endorsing me. He’s opposing Mamdani.”

Opinion polls show Mamdani leading Cuomo, with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trailing far behind. Trump declined to back Sliwa, saying, “A vote for Curtis Sliwa … is a vote for Mamdani.”

If elected, Mamdani would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than a century.

Meanwhile, Trump has deployed National Guard units to Democratic-led cities as part of a policing crackdown, and sought to deny resources to cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

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Muslim lawmaker Zohran Mamdani has been elected as the 111th mayor of New York, the first person of South Asian descent and the first person born in Africa to lead the largest city in the United States.

The 34-year-old mayoral candidate and assemblyman from Queens emerged victorious in the race on Tuesday to lead New York after polls closed in a heated contest that grabbed the world’s attention.

Mamdani outperformed his chief opponent — former governor Andrew Cuomo — with at least 50 percent of support after 85 percent of the votes had been counted.

"We are on the brink of making history in our city. On the brink of saying goodbye to a politics of the past. A politics that tells you what it can't do, and really what it means to say is what it won't do, and to usher in a new era," Mamdani told reporters earlier in the day.

"We do not get to choose the scale of the crisis we face. We simply get to choose the manner in which we respond," he added.

The Democratic lawmaker promised rent control and free bus travel - a platform funded by a proposed increase in taxes on the wealthiest residents of New York City.

According to data, Mamdani's stance on Israel and Palestine helped him seal the primary win, despite smears of antisemitism for his views on the war, which is now widely bashed as genocide.

Cuomo did not mince words on Tuesday as he cast his ballot, calling it a “civil war in the Democratic Party that has been brewing for a while.”

“You have an extreme radical left that is run by the socialists that is challenging, quote unquote, moderate Democrats,” said Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in June to Mamdani. “And that contest is what you’re seeing here.”

Hours later he conceded defeat, telling supporters at his own election watch party “tonight was their night.”

Mamdani is an immigrant from his birthplace of Uganda, where his Indian-origin father was raised. His mother is Indian.

On January 1, 2026, he will be sworn in to run the largest and most diverse city in the United States with a population of 8.5 million.

According to the City Board of Elections, of the 4.7 million registered voters there, more than two million people voted in this election. This is the first time this has happened since 1969, and far surpasses the numbers from the 2001 election, which was held just weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The New York Times reported that more than 735,000 New Yorkers cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday, making that the highest early in-person turnout ever in a non-presidential election year.

 Only 1.15 million voters cast ballots in the last race in 2021.           

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Israeli forces have demolished a number of Palestinian homes in Gaza City and the southern flanks of the coastal sliver amid ongoing violations of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that came into effect in early October, and at the same time, continued their raids throughout the occupied West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces launched heavy gunfire east of Gaza City on Sunday morning, while simultaneously demolishing residential buildings in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun and al-Shuja’iyya.

In the eastern flank of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Israeli artillery shelling and gunfire also persisted. They were accompanied by demolitions of several residential structures.

Israeli warplanes also launched three airstrikes on the border town of Rafah. There were no immediate reports available about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

On Saturday, Israeli fighter jets, along with artillery and tanks, targeted areas surrounding Khan Younis. The regime’s military destroyed residential structures located east of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 222 Palestinians and left 594 others injured since the ceasefire was implemented, as reported by the Ministry of Health in the region.

Even though aid deliveries have ramped up since the truce was enacted, Palestinians in Gaza still struggle with severe shortages of food, water, medicine, and other essential supplies due to Israeli restrictions.

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated on Thursday that the UN’s humanitarian office has reported that aid collection efforts have been “restricted” as a result of rerouting measures imposed by Israeli authorities.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out a raid on the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to local news outlets.

The assault was the second of its kind within an hour, and occupation troops stormed the city from the Beit Furik checkpoint.

Elsewhere in the village of Kafr Ein, northwest of Ramallah, Israeli forces broke into a house and arrested 14-year-old Abdullah Malik Dar al-Eis. They also assaulted his family.

Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Israeli settler and military attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 10,000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Palestinian property has been targeted over 2,400 times in the past two years, resulting in the displacement of at least 3,055 individuals.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and urged the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.

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Iran’s under-17 robotics team has won the Asian Robotics Championship in Thailand, claiming the top overall title ahead of strong contenders from China and South Korea.

The Iranian delegation achieved outstanding results across multiple categories on Sunday, earning two bronze medals in the Navigation League and one gold, four silvers, and one bronze in the Creativity League.

These victories secured Iran’s position as the overall champion of the competition.

The event, held in Thailand, brought together elite young robotics teams from across Asia to compete in innovation, engineering design, and autonomous navigation challenges.

This victory marks Iran’s second consecutive Asian championship, following a previous triumph in Malaysia.

Students and coaches celebrated their success during the closing ceremony, where organizers commended the Iranian team’s creativity and teamwork.

The nine-member team is expected to return home on Wednesday night.

The win reinforces Iran’s rising profile in international youth robotics competitions and highlights the expanding role of Iranian students in advancing technological innovation across the region.

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More than three million years of human life have been lost in Gaza since Israel launched its genocidal war on the besieged territory in October 2023, a new study has found.

The Lancet medical journal published the findings of a research, calculating that each of the 60,199 Palestinians killed between October 

More than three million years of human life have been lost in Gaza since Israel launched its genocidal war on the besieged territory in October 2023, a new study has found.

The Lancet medical journal published the findings of a research, calculating that each of the 60,199 Palestinians killed between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2025, resulted in an average loss of 51 years of life.

The authors, Sammy Zahran of Colorado State University and Ghassan Abu-Sittah of the American University of Beirut, said the vast majority of life-years lost were among civilians, “even under the relaxed definition of a supposed combatant involving all men and boys of possible conscription age (15–44 years).”

More than one million life-years were lost among children under the age of 15, the study found.

Researchers said that the calculation only accounts for direct deaths from Israeli attacks, excluding those killed by destroyed infrastructure, starvation, dehydration, disease, and the collapse of Gaza’s medical system.

The Israeli regime kills an average of 10 Palestinians per day in the Gaza Strip since October 10, a human rights organization reports.

A previous Lancet study earlier this year revealed that Gaza’s death toll had been severely underreported, estimating the real number of fatalities to be at least 40 percent higher than officially recorded due to Israel’s systematic destruction of health-care infrastructure and record-keeping capacity.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Saturday that at least 68,527 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past two years, with thousands more believed to be missing beneath rubble or lying in areas rescue crews cannot reach amid widespread destruction and continued danger.

More than two-thirds of the total deaths were women and children, according to the local authorities, who say they were often killed with their families in Israeli airstrikes.

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