World
US House approves aid package worth billions for Ukraine, Israel
The Democratic-majority Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The United States House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support has passed a $95bn legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite bitter objections from Republican hardliners.
The legislation proceeded on Saturday to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago.
US leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.
The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week, sending it to Biden to sign into law.
The bills provide about $61bn to address the conflict in Ukraine, including $23bn to replenish US weapons, stocks and facilities; $26bn for Israel, including $9bn for humanitarian needs; and $8bn for the Asia Pacific, including Taiwan.
Zelenskyy thanks the House
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his thanks, saying US lawmakers moved to keep “history on the right track” by supporting his country after it was invaded by Russia.
“The vital US aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Zelenskyy said on X.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, said the new US legislation would “deepen crisis throughout the world”.
“Military assistance to the [Kyiv] regime is a direct sponsorship of terrorist activities,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
It was unclear how quickly the new military funding for Ukraine will be depleted, likely leading to calls for further action by Congress.
Biden, who had urged Congress since last year to approve the additional aid to Ukraine, said in a statement: “It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia.”
The vote on the passage of the Ukraine funding was 311-112. Only 101 Republicans supported the legislation, with 112 voting against it.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said the number of Republicans who voted against the bill in the House is significantly high.
“It is very notable that 112 Republicans voted ‘no’ for different reasons,” she said.
“Some believe the European Union should do more to help Ukraine, while some others said the money should be spent at home and Ukraine has no accountability on how it spends the funds.
“This package passed, but it calls into question what might happen next if Ukraine needs more funds in the future,” our correspondent added.
House backs Israel
Meanwhile, the House’s actions during a rare Saturday session put on display some cracks in what is generally solid support for Israel within Congress.
Saturday’s vote, in which the Israel aid was passed 366-58, had 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans in opposition.
Al Jazeera’s Culhane said the Democrats who voted against the bill on Israel were very vocal in their criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The number might not sound like a lot… but this is really remarkable. It would be unimaginable a decade or two ago,” she said. “I believe it shows a great shift in the Democratic Party.”
The passage of the long-awaited legislation was closely watched by US defence contractors, who could be in line for huge contracts to supply equipment for Ukraine and other US partners.
House Speaker Johnson this week chose to ignore removal threats by hardline members of his fractious 218-213 majority and push forward the measure that includes funding for Ukraine as it struggles to fight off the two-year Russian invasion.
The unusual four-bill package also contains a measure that includes a threat to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, as well as a potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
Some Republicans repeatedly raised the threat to remove Johnson. who became speaker in October after his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was taken down by party hardliners.
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One of the leading American institutes devoted to research on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program sounded an alarm this week over the regime’s uninspected underground site in the Zagros Mountains.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have not been allowed to visit the secret site, known as Pickaxe Mountain.
The highly fortified facility is casting serious doubt on Iran’s willingness to abide by the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached with the Trump administration. The United States, together with Israel, launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, 2026, targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
Experts from the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) argue that halting work at Pickaxe Mountain and allowing IAEA inspectors access would be a key good-faith measure to test whether Iran is prepared to abandon its pattern of deception.
OBAMA-ERA INSPECTION FLAWS IN IRAN COULD PERSIST AS EXPERTS WARN OF NUCLEAR BLIND SPOTS
A satellite image shows an overview of the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel complex in Natanz. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
Spencer Faragasso, a senior fellow with the group who covers Iran, North Korea, illicit trade, and nuclear issues, wrote on X: “Important update by us at @TheGoodISIS. The ongoing work at Pickaxe Mountain is deeply concerning. This work has continued steadily since at least 2020. In my view, this is a hedge by Iran in case negotiations fail — they will then have a nuclear facility in a late stage of construction. We assessed that Pickaxe is likely large enough to hold an enrichment plant.”
Iran has used facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan to enrich uranium, the key material for a nuclear weapons program.
Faragasso added, “If Iran is serious about negotiating, it should halt construction at Pickaxe Mountain as a token of good faith. But what can be expected from a regime as brutal and conniving as Iran’s?”
The institute posted a detailed analysis of new satellite imagery from late June 2026 showing continued activity at Pickaxe Mountain.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT
Vice President JD Vance prior to a meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Bürgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/Keystone via AP)
The institute wrote that “at Pickaxe Mountain, vehicle activity can be seen on the roads leading to the open set of Western tunnel portals, indicating that construction inside the tunnel complex, as well as hardening of the tunnel entrance, are ongoing. The MOU signed between the United States and Iran requires that Iran maintain the status quo, which should prohibit construction at any nuclear-related facility, including Pickaxe Mountain.”
In late June, the IAEA declined to answer a detailed Fox News Digital query on whether it would seek access to the Pickaxe Mountain facility. According to the satellite imagery obtained by the institute, “at Natanz, little activity can be seen. The access points to the below-ground enrichment halls have not been repaired.
“The personnel entrances remain destroyed, and vehicle entrances remain severely damaged. A single vehicle can be seen on the road outside of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), which was destroyed in June 2025 but was later covered by Iran.”
As U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, and a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged. (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via Reuters)
The institute also reported, “As of June 29, 2026, there is no observed activity at Esfahan. The tunnel portals remain backfilled with dirt.” ISIS tracked developments at the Fordow site, buried inside a mountain north of the holy Islamic city of Qom.
“At Fordow, as earlier reported by the Institute, between May 10 and May 18, Iran added passive defensive measures in the form of earthen/rocky mounds and other objects on the roads leading to the tunnel entrances. The alternating placements of the piles/objects are very precise, which creates a series of chicanes, indicating they are not intended as obstructions but rather to prevent rapid ingress and egress by any vehicle toward the tunnels.”
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The institute added, “The June 21 Vantor image shows that the objects along the road remain there. The tunnel portals also remain backfilled with dirt” at Fordow.
Fox News Digital sent questions to the State Department and the Iranian Mission to the United Nations.
Published On 6 Jul 2026
The funeral procession for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has begun in Tehran as authorities prepare for crowds that could rival those that turned out for his predecessor nearly four decades ago.
After lying in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex, the body of Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the United States-Israel war on Iran, began its journey on Monday through the capital, accompanied by large crowds of mourners, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that marred the 1989 funeral of Khamenei’s predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Crowd surges during Khomeini’s funeral killed more than 10 people and injured over 10,000.
Thousands filled the Grand Mosalla on Sunday to pay their respects to Khamenei and his four family members who were killed with him on February 28 in air strikes on his office in Tehran.
Monday’s procession will be followed by similar events in the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei’s burial in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.
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