Politics

Trump warns Netanyahu: Youll be on your own if attacks on Iran continue

United States President Donald Trump has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he might find himself fighting on his own if Israel returns to war with Iran.

The warning on Monday came as Israel and Iran said they would pause attacks following their most serious escalation since a ceasefire took effect in ril.

Israel plays down tensions

The exchanges complicated Trump’s push to end a war that the US and Israel launched on February 28. A ceasefire announced on ril 8 paused all-out warfare. But flare-ups in the Gulf have continued.

For his part, Netanyahu said in a televised statement that he had told Trump that Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required.

Right now, the fire at the front is contained, because after we hit the terrorist regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us, he said.

Netanyahu also warned that should Iran make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, downplayed reports of tension between the US and Israeli leaders, telling Fox News that sometimes, lovers have a spat.

He said that while Netanyahu had decided to lower the temperature at Trump’s request, the US president understands full well that Israel cannot absorb ballistic missiles into our country without responding.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, blamed Washington for the escalation.

The US is directly responsible, he said. They are party to the ceasefire negotiations. Therefore, any act in violation of the ceasefire, be it through the interception of vessels [in the Strait of Hormuz], the targeting of southern Lebanon by Israel, or any other event, will cause the United States to be directly responsible for the escalation in the region.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said the operation against Israel, dubbed Nasr or victory, showcased a new level of deterrence from mighty Iran and that Israel had been forced to beg once again for a ceasefire.

Behind the scenes, diplomatic efforts continue.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that Tehran was still at the negotiating table, while Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said that Washington and Tehran, through Pakistan as an intermediary, are presenting and exchanging views towards an agreement.

Iravani told The Associated Press news agency he was hopeful that very soon the two sides would reach a conclusion.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said efforts for a peaceful diplomatic solution was ongoing earnestly and painstakingly and called for restraint, especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved.

He also said Israel and Iran’s exchange of fire was a reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to.

Attacks on Lebanon continue

The escalation on Monday also drew in Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The group fired missiles at Israel early in the morning and declared a complete ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, warning that all Israeli movements would be considered legitimate military targets.

Later on Monday, air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli port city of Eilat, with the military saying a suspected aerial target was launched from Yemen.

Violence has also continued in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli strike killed five people in the city of Tyre, while another, in the Nabatieh district, left seven dead. A third strike in Marwanieh killed two people, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Trump was trying to give an impression that he was tougher on Israel than he actually is.

The words could be significant if they were matched by actions, she told Al Jazeera.

As long as they’re sending billions of dollars directly to the Israeli military, and as long as they’re protecting Israel from being held accountable in the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, as long as those actions don’t change, the words just don’t mean very much, she added.

Politics

US Navy attacks tanker with 24 Indian crew, all rescued

A fire erupted on a Palau-flagged tanker with a crew of 24 Indians when it was attacked by the US Navy off the coast of Oman on Monday, and all crew members of the vessel sanctioned by the US were later evacuated to safety by the Oman Air Force.

Oman Air Force airlifts a crew member of MT Marivex on Monday. (@AllSeafarers)

The fire was reported by the crew of MT Marivex, which was not carrying any cargo, at 1.30 pm, Opesh Kumar Sharma, director in the shipping ministry, told a media briefing. The vessel was well out of the Strait of Hormuz, and well clear to the south, he said, adding that all the crew members were safe.

Several hours later, the crew members were evacuated by a helicopter of the Oman Air Force. The Indian embassy in Muscat thanked Omani authorities for rescuing all 24 Indian crew members in a social media post.

An audio recording of a SOS message sent by the crew of Marivex featured a crew member saying that the vessel was on fire after a US Navy attack by missile on our engine room.

People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity Marivex had been black-listed and sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US treasury department. OFAC is the body that acts against vessels involved in violating US sanctions on the sale of Iranian and Russian oil.

The vessel is not Indian-owned. Over the last few days, Marivex made four attempts to evade the US blockade of Iranian ports, one of the people said. On three occasions, the vessel turned away after repeated warnings by the US Navy.

The people said Marivex made a fourth attempt to get past the US blockade by using Oman’s territorial waters on Monday. The vessel switched off its signal devices so that it could go undetected. ⁠This pattern made it clear the vessel’s intentions were not above board, they said.

The shipping ministry coordinated with the external affairs ministry, the Indian mission in Oman, the defence ministry and Indian Navy to ensure the safety of the crew members.

The Forward Seamen’s Union of India, one of the country’s oldest organisations representing seafarers, said in a social media post that the attack on a vessel carrying 24 Indian seafarers…is a matter of serious concern. It added, FSUI urges swift and coordinated action to ensure the safety of the crew, provide support to their families, and uphold the security of seafarers at sea.

Oman is located adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran since the start of a conflict with Israel and the US in February. The attack on Marivex came against the backdrop of a fresh flare-up in hostilities between Israel and Iran since Sunday.

Ten Indians have died in West Asia since the start of the conflict, including three seafarers who were killed in attacks on merchant vessels in the early days of the hostilities.

Politics

IAEA chief says Iran-US nuclear talks in complicated phase

NewsFeed

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran-US nuclear talks were in a ‘complicated phase’ and dialogue with Iran ‘broken’ as Iran and Israel traded fire on Monday, the worst escalation since a ceasefire was reached in ril.

Published On 8 Jun 2026

Politics

Environmentalists welcome retention of term Natural Conservation Zone in NCR Regional Plan 2041

New Delhi, Environmentalists have welcomed the retention of ecological safeguards in the NCR Regional Plan 2041, which will soon replace the 2021 plan and provide a development plan for the National Cital Region.

Environmentalists welcome retention of term ‘Natural Conservation Zone’ in NCR Regional Plan 2041

Earlier, a draft of the 2041 plan, released in 2022, replaced the term “Natural Conservation Zone” – mentioned in the 2021 plan – with “Natural Zone”.

Environmentalists said the change meant that conservation was no longer important in the NCR Regional Plan, putting the Aravallis, forest areas, and all water bodies in the region at risk. However, environmentalists say, the latest agenda for the National Cital Region Planning Board’s meeting, to be held on June 16, states, “The concept of ‘Natural Conservation Zone’ of NCR Regional Plan 2021 will be retained in the new NCR Plan 2041.”

In a statement, Neelam Ahluwalia, co-founder of Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, said that it was a “huge relief” for people who had opposed the change in terminology.

She said to oppose the new term’s introduction, several ground protests were organised and people wrote letters to different authorities.

“In all the objection letters… it was suggested that the term NCZ used in 2021 Regional Plan be retained in new Regional Plan 2041, and not be replaced with ‘Natural Zones’… [A]reas categorised as Natural Zones in Draft Regional NCR Plan 2041 do not require mandatory conservation like NCZ areas which the states are bound to conserve as the current NCR Regional Plan 2021 restricts any construction to only 0.5% of the total natural conservation area,” she added.

Dr Rajendra Singh, a water and Aravalli conservationist, said in a statement that the term natural zone in the 2022 draft plan comprised natural features such as mountains, hills, rivers, water bodies, and forests that were notified for conservation under central or state laws, and recognised as such in land records.

“This was a very harsh restriction as it would have excluded a majority of the forests and Aravallis and even rivers, flood plains, and waterbodies in the NCR – as very few of them met both the criteria proposed – of notification and presence in revenue records,” Singh added.

In the NCR Regional Plan 2021, the major natural features, identified as environmentally sensitive areas are the extension of Aravalli ridge in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, forest areas, the rivers and tributaries of Yamuna, Ganga, Kali, Hindon and Sahibi, sanctuaries, have been demarcated as NCZ.

It also includes major lakes and water bodies such as Badkal lake, Suraj Kund and Damdama in Haryana Sub-region and Siliserh lake in Rajasthan, etc.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.