Western states lied about Iran’s nuclear program – Russia’s UN envoy

Israel and the US falsely accused Tehran of plans to build a nuclear bomb, Vassily Nebenzia has said

The US and Israel have spread disinformation about Iran’s nuclear program as a pretext for attack, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has said.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, the diplomat condemned the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as illegal under international law and said they had “created a real threat” of radioactive contamination.

Nebenzia noted that the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which carries out inspections in Iran, serve as proof of “the absence of proliferation risks.”

“We want to emphasize that nowhere in the IAEA reports is there any mention of Iran converting its nuclear stockpiles for undeclared or military purposes,” Nebenzia said.

The IAEA has found no evidence indicating the development of nuclear weapons by Iran. Therefore, all claims by Western delegations to the contrary are falsehoods aimed at audiences either unfamiliar with the reports or lacking competence on the matter.

Nebenzia described the attack on Iran as “yet another attempt to legitimize the use of force outside the framework of the UN Charter.”

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Is Berlin planning a strike on Moscow? Merz wrote the justification – just ask Iran

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told Sky News last week that there was no evidence of “any systematic effort” by Iran to manufacture nuclear weapons. He added, however, that the agency had “elements of concern” about Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 60%.

During a press conference in New York on Tuesday, Israeli envoy Danny Danon reiterated his government’s position that Israeli strikes, which began on June 13, were aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran, which denies having a military nuclear program, has condemned the attack as an act of aggression and announced plans to restrict its cooperation with the IAEA.

The US-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect on Tuesday and has so far been upheld.

Netanyahu declares ‘historic’ victory while US intel reports Iran nuclear sites not destroyed

As a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed his army’s damage to Iran’s nuclear and military constituted a “historic victory.” US President Donald Trump later slammed a US intelligence report for concluding his strikes over the weekend only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months, contradicting Trump’s assertion that it had been “obliterated.”

Andrew Cuomo concedes as Zohran Mamdani leads NYC’s Democratic mayoral primary

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani upset scandal-ridden former Governor Andrew Cuomo after Cuomo conceded New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday night. The race will be officially determined by a ranked choice count, but Mamdani’s stunning lead leaves him poised to face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.

Israel-Iran war live: Trump slams claim that strikes only set back Iran nuclear programme by months

President Donald Trump on Tuesday rejected reports of a preliminary US intelligence assessment that found the strikes carried out on Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend have set back Tehran’s nuclear programme by only a matter of months. Trump claimed the nuclear sites in Iran were “COMPLETELY DESTROYED” on Truth Social. Follow our live blog for the latest developments.

Britain must prepare for possibility of attack on UK soil, government warns

The government’s new security strategy said it has to actively prepare for potential wartime scenarios

Britain needs to prepare for the possibility of being attacked on its own soil, the government has warned in its security strategy, laying out in stark terms the range of threats ministers say the UK now faces.

Russia’s military buildup and Iran’s increasing attacks on dissidents abroad mean the country could soon find itself involved in a domestic war, the review says.

The warning echoes recent comments from Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, that without a major increase in defence spending, British people “better learn to speak Russian”. Keir Starmer, who is at the Nato summit in The Hague, has promised to meet Nato’s target of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2035.

The review says: “Some adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and/or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression. For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario.”

In a written foreword to the review, Starmer, the prime minister says: “The world has changed. Russian aggression menaces our continent. Strategic competition is intensifying. Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Technology is transforming the nature of both war and domestic security. Hostile state activity takes place on British soil.”

The document was published on Tuesday, weeks after a separate strategic defence review recommended a major ramp-up of Britain’s defence industry, with a focus on building more drones, more submarines and more capability in artificial intelligence.

The security review goes into fuller detail about the threats which the country is dealing with both at home and abroad, naming Russia as the principal among them, given their frequent cyber-attacks and attempts at sabotage.

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Ukrainian President Zelensky says his intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia is actively planning to attack and carry out military operations against NATO countries.

Ukrainian President Zelensky says his intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia is actively planning to attack and carry out military operations against NATO countries.

He warns that if Putin isn’t stopped now, the war will soon spill into Europe’s own backyard—and he’s… pic.twitter.com/L8X0Ccdvia

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) June 24, 2025


Men guilty of plotting murder and running drugs empire on EncroChat

The duo were arrested after police accessed their online discussions and trawled through thousands of messages.

Two men have been found guilty of plotting a murder and running a drugs empire on an encrypted communications network.

James Harding, 34, and his “loyal right-hand man” Jayes Kharouti, 39, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder on Tuesday.

Harding was also convicted of conspiring with others to import cocaine, which Kharouti, from Epsom in Surrey, had admitted.

Three other members of the organised crime group had previously admitted drug offences.

The men’s criminal empire made £5m in profits from importing drugs over 10 weeks in 2020 alone.

The court heard they had tried to recruit a hitman to put an unnamed rival courier “permanently out of business”.

They armed him with a gun and ammunition for the “full M”, which the court was told meant a murder.

At the time, Harding, who told people he was a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury in Dubai, staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars.

But the plot was scuppered by officers from Scotland Yard, who accessed the defendants’ discussions on EncroChat.

The force was handed the data after French police cracked the encryption code of the communications service.

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