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Iran warns of 'real capabilities' if Trump doesn't drop 'disrespectful' tone toward supreme leader

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Iran warns of 'real capabilities' if Trump doesn't drop 'disrespectful' tone toward supreme leader

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned President Donald Trump Friday to drop what he called a “disrespectful” tone toward Tehran’s supreme leader or face serious consequences. 

In a blunt post on X, Araghchi said if Trump truly wants a deal with Iran, he must show respect instead of insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Araghchi wrote that Trump should “put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone” toward Khamenei and “stop hurting [Khamenei’s] millions of heartfelt followers.”

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER SLAMS TRUMP JUST DAYS AFTER US STRIKES ON NUCLEAR SITES

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks Thursday in a televised speech under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Araghchi wrote, “The complexity and tenacity of Iranians is famously known in our magnificent carpets, woven through countless hours of hard work and patience. But as a people, our basic premise is very simple and straightforward: we know our worth, value our independence, and never allow anyone else to decide our destiny.”

Araghchi’s most provocative line came as he mocked Israel’s reliance on the U.S. during the recent military confrontation. 

“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles,” he wrote, referring to U.S. intervention in striking Iranian nuclear sites.

The jab was a pointed reference to the longstanding U.S. and Israeli alliance and a not-so-subtle attempt to portray Israel as weak and dependent.

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The post concluded with a clear threat.

“If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran. Good will begets good will, and respect begets respect.”

IRAN’S KHAMENEI LAUNCHES BLISTERING ATTACK ON TRUMP AFTER MIDDLE EAST VISIT

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to X Friday with a message for President Trump. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Araghchi’s broadside comes just days after the war between Iran and Israel ended and less than a week after U.S. airstrikes ordered by Trump destroyed Iran’s key nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

The 12-day conflict ended June 24 under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, yet postwar tensions remain high. Khamenei declared that Tehran had beaten Israel and even dealt Washington a “slap” in the confrontation.

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Trump rejected Khamenei’s victory claims as false and “foolish.” He promptly froze any talk of sanctions relief for Iran in response and claimed he personally stopped Khamenei from being killed during the conflict, writing on Truth Social that he refused to let U.S. or Israeli forces “terminate” the ayatollah despite knowing his secret location. 

damage at the Fordow enrichment facility

A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows damage at the Fordow enrichment site in Iran after U.S. strikes last weekend. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Araghchi also rejected President Trump’s recent claim that new nuclear talks were imminent, telling reporters that “there are no negotiations underway” and that Tehran would make decisions “based on our national interests.”

According to Reuters, the foreign minister flatly denied any plans to meet with U.S. officials next week, contradicting Trump’s earlier remarks suggesting diplomacy was back on track.

“I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “PEACE!!!”

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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system

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Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system.

It’s an unprecedented snapshot of “time zero,” scientists reported Wednesday, when new worlds begin to gel.

“We’ve captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born around young protostars,” said Leiden Observatory’s Melissa McClure from the Netherlands, who led the international research team. “For the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps of planet formation are happening right now.”

The observations offer a unique glimpse into the inner workings of an emerging planetary system, said the University of Chicago’s Fred Ciesla, who was not involved in the study appearing in the journal Nature.

“This is one of the things we’ve been waiting for. Astronomers have been thinking about how planetary systems form for a long period of time,” Ciesla said. “There’s a rich opportunity here.”

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NASA’s Webb Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory in Chile teamed up to unveil these early nuggets of planetary formation around the young star known as HOPS-315. It’s a yellow dwarf in the making like the sun, yet much younger at 100,000 to 200,000 years old and some 1,370 light-years away. A single light-year is 6 trillion miles.

In a cosmic first, McClure and her team stared deep into the gas disk around the baby star and detected solid specks condensing — signs of early planet formation. A gap in the outer part of the disk gave allowed them to gaze inside, thanks to the way the star tilts toward Earth.

They detected silicon monoxide gas as well as crystalline silicate minerals, the ingredients for what’s believed to be the first solid materials to form in our solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The action is unfolding in a location comparable to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter containing the leftover building blocks of our solar system’s planets.

The condensing of hot minerals was never detected before around other young stars, “so we didn’t know if it was a universal feature of planet formation or a weird feature of our solar system,” McClure said in an email. “Our study shows that it could be a common process during the earliest stage of planet formation.”

While other research has looked at younger gas disks and, more commonly, mature disks with potential planet wannabes, there’s been no specific evidence for the start of planet formation until now, McClure said.

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In a stunning picture taken by the ESO’s Alma telescope network, the emerging planetary system resembles a lightning bug glowing against the black void.

It’s impossible to know how many planets might form around HOPS-315. With a gas disk as massive as the sun’s might have been, it could also wind up with eight planets a million or more years from now, according to McClure.

Purdue University’s Merel van ’t Hoff, a co-author, is eager to find more budding planetary systems. By casting a wider net, astronomers can look for similarities and determine which processes might be crucial to forming Earth-like worlds.

“Are there Earth-like planets out there or are we like so special that we might not expect it to occur very often?”

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AP video journalist Javier Arciga contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Iran's leader threatens 'even bigger blow' against US, Trump says he's in ‘no rush’ to talk

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Iran's leader threatens 'even bigger blow' against US, Trump says he's in ‘no rush’ to talk

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday issued his latest threat against the U.S. and “its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime [Israel]” as nations urge nuclear negotiations but eye sanctions options. 

“The fact that our nation is ready to face the power of the United States and its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime, is very praiseworthy,” Khamenei said in comments translated by Reuters to state TV. 

Khamenei went on to claim that last month’s attack on the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar was just the beginning of what Tehran could throw at Washington and warned that “an even bigger blow could be inflicted on the U.S. and others.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the media during the voting for the Parliament Elections in Tehran, Iran, on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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IRAN VOWS RETALIATION IF UN SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES SNAPBACK SANCTIONS ON ANNIVERSARY OF NUCLEAR DEAL

While the U.S. has assessed that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back by up to two years following its strikes on the Fordow atomic site in June – which followed a series of strikes issued by Israel on Tehran’s nuclear and military sectors – much of Iran’s missile capabilities remain intact. 

It is unclear the exact extent that Iran’s missile and drone program was degraded after the Israeli strikes targeted its stockpiles and launching capabilities, but security experts have warned Tehran’s missile and drone programs remain a “significant” threat.

Israel has estimated that even after its strikes, Iran likely still possesses some 1,500 medium-range ballistic missiles and 50% of its launching capabilities, reported Bill Roggio, senior fellow and editor of Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD) “Long War Journal.”

Similarly, Iranian expert Behnam Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital that “Post strikes, the program still exists and, despite being handicapped, poses a significant regional threat.”

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Iran ballistic missile stands next to image of Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A big banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 26, 2024 on the sideline of an exhibition which marks the 44th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

IRAN CLAIMS ITS PRESIDENT WAS INJURED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE LAST MONTH

“This is especially true at shorter distances since Iran’s single-stage solid fuel short-range ballistic are much more precise,” Ben Taleblu, senior director of the FDD’s Iran program, said. “This means that in another iteration of an Israel-Iran-America conflict, the chances of retaliatory strike on U.S. regional bases remains high.” 

Khamenei’s threats followed similar warnings by other top Iranian officials as western nations mull reinforcing snapback sanctions if Washington is unable to make headway on nuclear negotiations “by the end of the summer.” 

President Donald Trump has said he is committed to continuing talks with Iran to avoid further military action, but on Tuesday evening, he told reporters he’s “in no rush to talk” despite the ever-looming deadline for when a deal needs to be reached. 

Security experts have told Fox News Digital that snapback sanctions pose their own risk as the measure could prompt Iran to withdraw from the world’s largest nuclear agreement – the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which some 190 nations have signed on to.

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Iran missile

A model of a missile is carried by Iranian demonstrators as minarets and the dome of a mosque is seen in the background during an anti-Israeli gathering at the Felestin (Palestine) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

“A sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution that addresses the security interests of the international community is essential,” the German Foreign Ministry confirmed for Fox News Digital this week. “If such a solution is not achieved by the end of the summer, the snapback mechanism will remain an option for the E3.

“We continue to coordinate closely with our E3 partners on this issue,” the ministry added in reference to the European nations that signed the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which are France, Germany and the U.K.

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Iraq reopens Mosul airport 11 years after ISIL conflict, destruction

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Iraq reopens Mosul airport 11 years after ISIL conflict, destruction

The airport, which has not been operational since the group seized Mosul in 2014, will have a main terminal and VIP lounge.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has inaugurated the northern city of Mosul’s newly restored airport, more than a decade after it was destroyed in a series of battles to dislodge the now vanquished ISIL (ISIS) group.

“The airport will serve as an additional link between Mosul and other Iraqi cities and regional destinations,” the prime minister’s media office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Al-Sudani’s flight landed at the airport, which is expected to become fully operational for domestic and international flights in two months. Wednesday’s ceremony was held nearly three years after then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi laid the foundation stone for the airport’s reconstruction.

Airport director Amar al-Bayati told the AFP news agency that the “airport is now ready for domestic and international flights.” He added that the airport previously offered international flights, mostly to Turkiye and Jordan.

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In June 2014, ISIL seized Mosul, declaring its “caliphate” from Iraq’s second biggest city after capturing large swaths of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, imposing hardline rule over millions of people, displacing hundreds of thousands and slaughtering thousands more.

Nouri al-Maliki, who was the Iraqi prime minister at the time, declared a state of emergency and said the government would arm civilians who volunteered “to defend the homeland and defeat terrorism”.

At its peak, the group ruled over an area half the size of the United Kingdom and was notorious for its brutality. It beheaded civilians, massacred 1,700 captured Iraqi soldiers in a short period, and enslaved and raped thousands of women from the Yazidi community, one of Iraq’s oldest religious minorities.

A coalition of more than 80 countries led by the United States was formed to fight the group in September 2014. The alliance continues to carry out raids against the group’s hideouts in Syria and Iraq.

The war against the group officially ended in March 2019 when US-backed, Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured the eastern Syrian town of Baghouz, which was the last sliver of land ISIL controlled.

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The group was also defeated in Iraq in July 2017 when Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul. ISIL then declared its defeat across the country at the end of that year. Three months later, the group suffered a major blow when the SDF took back the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, its de facto capital.

The airport, which was heavily damaged in the battle, has not been operational since the initial fall of Mosul.

It now includes a main terminal, a VIP lounge and an advanced radar surveillance system, al-Sudani’s office said, adding that it is expected to handle 630,000 passengers annually.

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