Australia accuses Iran of directing antisemitic attacks, says Iran’s ambassador will be expelled
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(LONDON) — Australian officials on Tuesday said they would expel Iran’s ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne last year.
Australia’s intelligence agency, ASIO, said it determined Iran was behind attacks on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney on Oct. 20 and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on Dec. 6, according to government officials.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters during a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, according to an official transcript.
ASIO in a statement said intelligence officers had “uncovered and unpicked” links between the attacks and commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accusing the Iranian military of using a “complex web of proxies” to hide its involvement in the attacks in Australia.
Australia’s legislators will seek to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, Albanese said. Iranian diplomatic staff in Australia weren’t involved in directing the attacks, Director-General of Security Mike Burgess said.
“ASIO now assesses the Iranian Government directed at least two and likely more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia,” Burgess said in a statement.
Operations at the Australian embassy in Tehran were suspended, Albanese said, adding that Australian diplomats left the country.
Australian Foreign Minister Peggy Wong said the alleged acts of aggression by Iran “have crossed a line.”
“This is the first time in the post-war period that Australia has expelled an ambassador,” Wong said. “And we have made this decision because Iran’s actions are completely unacceptable.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/ Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said on social media Monday evening that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, signaling a possible end to nearly two weeks of escalating air assaults by the two countries.
The agreement described by Trump involved two 12-hour ceasefire periods, starting at about 12 a.m. EDT starting with Iran. That would come “when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.
Israel would then follow with a second 12-hour ceasefire, Trump said.
After 24 hours, the war would be officially declared ended, according to Trump.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR,'” Trump wrote in the post. In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s announcement, neither Israeli nor Iranian officials publicly commented on the proposal.
In the final hours before the ceasefire was set to go into effect, under the terms described by Trump, Israel said Iran had launched a barrage of missiles, killing at least three people.
Earlier, in a post on social media, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi had denied there was a ceasefire agreement. However, he said if Israel halted its strikes by 4 a.m. Tehran time (8:30 p.m. EDT) “we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”
Araghchi said a final decision “on the cessation of our military operations” would be made later and he thanked Iranian armed forces who he said “responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute.”
Trump’s surprise ceasefire announcement came two days after the U.S. joined Israel’s war, launching strikes on three Iranian nuclear targets.
The war began June 12 when Israel launched a series of strikes against Iran that included dozens of military targets, including the country’s nuclear program. Defending what it called a “preemptive” strike, Israel cited intelligence that it said indicated Iran had “significantly advanced” toward obtaining a nuclear weapon — claims Iran denied.
Earlier Monday, Iran fired missiles targeting Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — the largest U.S. military base in the region — raising concerns about potential escalation after the U.S.. However, a U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. intercepted the missiles with assistance from Qatar and Trump, who called the response “very weak,” struck a de-escalatory tone on social media. One source later called Iran’s move a “failed retaliation.”
(LONDON) — Russia continued its nightly bombardment of Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, shortly after President Donald Trump announced his decision to supply Ukraine with new military equipment and White House threats of further economic measures against Moscow.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia targeted several regions overnight with 267 drones, of which around 200 were Shahed attack drones and the rest decoys. The air force said it shot down or otherwise suppressed 244 drones. Twenty-three drones impacted across seven locations, with falling debris reported in nine locations, the air force said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 70 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning. Among the areas targeted was the southwestern Voronezh region which borders northeastern Ukraine. At least 24 people were injured there, Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would make a decision about how to respond to Trump.
“The U.S. president’s statements are very serious,” Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing. “Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin. We definitely need time to analyze what was said in Washington.”
Dmitry Medvedev — — the former Russian president and prime minister now serving as the deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council — was more forthright, writing on social media that the Kremlin was unmoved by what he called Trump’s “theatrical ultimatum.”
“The world shuddered, expecting the consequences,” wrote Medvedev, who during Moscow’s full-scale war on Ukraine has become known as a particularly hawkish voice within Putin’s security establishment. “Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”
The Kremlin also on Tuesday dismissed reports — first published by The Washington Post and Financial Times — that Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if Ukrainian forces could strike Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The White House, though, confirmed to ABC News that the matter was discussed.
“President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.”
Leavitt said the reports took the discussion “wildly out of context.”
Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday that he would impose “severe tariffs” — though it was not entirely clear if the president was referring to tariffs, sanctions or both — against Russia and its trading partners if a ceasefire deal is not reached in 50 days.
Trump also said he had approved a new tranche of weapons to Ukraine worth “billions of dollars.” But details of what Trump called a “very big deal” remain unclear. Two U.S. defense officials told ABC News on Monday that the Pentagon was still working on exactly what military aid could be sent to Ukraine.
The defense officials said 17 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems that Trump mentioned would come entirely from European allies, who would then purchase new replacement systems from the U.S.
The Patriot systems — of which Ukraine currently has at least six, two of which were provided by the U.S. and four by other NATO allies — have become a key in Ukraine’s defense against Russian drone, missile and airstrikes since they arrived in the country in 2023.
“We’re going to have some come very soon, within days,” Trump said when asked how long the new batch of American weapons would take to arrive. On Patriots specifically, the president said, “They’re going to start arriving very soon.”
Trump’s announcement came after months of rising frustration in the White House over Russia’s intensifying bombardments of Ukraine and its failure to commit to a full ceasefire.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump said of Russian Putin, “He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening. There’s a little bit of a problem there.”
But questions remain about Trump’s threat to impose 100% “secondary tariffs” on nations doing business with Russia. The US has negligible imports from Russia, which account for around 0.2% of U.S. imports, according to Census Bureau data.
The threat of secondary tariffs or sanctions on Russia’s trading partners appears more significant, though may prompt retaliatory measures against the U.S. China and India, for example, are among Moscow’s customers for its fossil fuel exports.
Despite the open questions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “very good conversation” with Trump on Monday. “Thank you for your willingness to support Ukraine and continue to work together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace,” he wrote on social media.
“We discussed with the president the necessary means and solutions to provide more protection for people from Russian attacks and strengthen our positions,” Zelenskyy continued. “We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News he was “cautiously optimistic,” hoping that Monday’s news indicated the beginning of a “maximum pressure” campaign on Putin by Trump.
“The whole situation is a win-win-win situation for Trump, Ukraine and Europe,” he said. “However, the 50-day deadline is of some concern, because Putin might take it as a green light to intensify offensive operations.”
Russia’s summer offensive is already underway, according to the Ukrainian military, with Moscow’s forces pushing for more territory all across the front. Russian efforts are particularly concentrated in the eastern Donetsk and Sumy regions, Kyiv has said.
“To prevent it from happening it is crucially important to provide Ukraine without delay, now, with the maximum military assistance,” Merezhko said, “including offensive weaponry like long-range missiles, for instance Tomahawks.” Ukrainian backers also in the Senate urged Trump to build on Monday’s announcement.
“This announcement, by itself, will not be enough to bring Putin to the negotiating table and finally end this war,” Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a statement sent to ABC News.
“President Trump needs to commit to a sustained flow of security assistance to Ukraine over the long-term,” she added. “And we must move immediately on the tough sanctions package in the Senate, which has overwhelming bipartisan support and will make it harder and harder for Putin to prop up his economy and sustain his illegal war.”
That bipartisan Senate proposal — fronted by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. — proposed secondary sanctions of up to 500% on nations doing business with Russia, though according to Graham it will include an option allowing Trump to waive sanctions on individual nations.
In a post to X, Graham said Trump “put the countries who fund Putin’s war machine on notice: stop financially supporting the war in Ukraine or face 100% tariffs. If I were them, I would take President Trump at his word.”
Asked on Monday whether he would adopt the Senate’s blueprint, Trump told reporters, “We could do secondary tariffs without the Senate, without the House. But what they’re crafting also could be very good.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Anne Flaherty, Zunaira Zaki, Soo Youn and Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.
Smoke rises from the area following an Israeli attack on former Social Development building on August 13, 2025 in Rafah, Gaza. Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved “the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip,” according to an IDF spokesperson.
“As part of the discussion, IDF operations to date were presented, including an attack in the Zeitoun area that began yesterday,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The central concept for the plan for the next stages in the Gaza Strip was presented and approved, in accordance with the directive of the political echelon,” the spokesperson added.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet approved plans for the IDF to seize and occupy Gaza City — the strip’s largest urban area — as part of an expanded military operation to “demilitarize” the strip and remove Hamas from power.
The operation would force the IDF to operate in areas where Israel believes Hamas is holding living hostages.
Netanyahu set out “five principles” for the end of the war.
“One, Hamas disarmed. Second, all hostages freed. Third, Gaza demilitarized. Fourth, Israel has overriding security control. And five, non-Israeli, peaceful civil administration — by that I mean a civilian administration that doesn’t educate its children for terror, that doesn’t pay terrorists and doesn’t launch terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Netanyahu’s plans to expand the war have been sharply criticized by the families of the hostages who call it a death sentence for their loved ones. Israel believes 20 hostages are still alive in Hamas captivity — the terror group is also holding the bodies of 30 killed hostages.
Hospitals across Gaza recorded 123 deaths and 437 injuries over the previous 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
Among the dead were 21 people killed while trying to collect humanitarian aid, the ministry said, while another 185 people were injured.
Eight deaths due to hunger were also recorded across Gaza, the ministry said on Wednesday.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Diaa Ostaz contributed to this report.
