President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday meant to try to lower drug costs for American consumers.
The order, according to a White House official, also sets a 30-day deadline for the health department to broker new price tags for drugs. If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in that will tie the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to the lowest price paid by other countries.
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U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, said he could see some “unintended consequences or some U.S. citizens getting swept up” if the Trump administration should suspend habaes corpus without being careful.
“They’ve got to be pitch perfect on that one if they execute,” Tillis said. “No room for error.”
Federal habaes corpus is a legal principle that gives a person — and the federal courts — the ability to review the legality of a person’s incarceration. It has been suspended in regions under U.S. control during times of war and crisis, including during the Civil War and Reconstruction era.
“It is at once the last refuge of scoundrels and the last hope of the innocent,” according to a congressional legal overview.
For Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer. But Trump’s plan threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.
Trump will likely face persistent questions about the plane in the coming days as he travels to the Middle East. He tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he would donate the plane to a future presidential library after his term ends.
Democrats are united in outrage over the plan, and even some of the Republican president’s allies have expressed concerns.
▶ Read more about Trump’s Air Force One replacement
In a win for the Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich has refused to block the IRS from sharing immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S
Nonprofit groups had filed a lawsuit requesting the IRS be blocked from doing so. They said immigrants without documents who pay taxes are entitled to the same privacy protections as U.S. citizens and immigrants who are legally in the country.
The Treasury Department says the agreement with ICE will help carry out Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown.
▶ Read more about the judge’s ruling
House Republicans are seeking to reverse what one GOP leader called “the most reckless parts of the engorged climate spending” approved under former President Joe Biden.
Several moves are aimed at clawing back billions in spending authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The measure was intended to slow climate change and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.
Environmental groups warned that cuts would pave the way for more oil and gas industry activity on public lands and increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
The House committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means are set to discuss the plans Tuesday.
▶ Read more about what Republican House lawmakers are targeting
Trump is on his way to the Middle East, where he had intended to focus on pressing wealthy Gulf nations to pour billions in new investment into the United States.
But Trump finds himself navigating a series of geopolitical crises — and searching for glimmers of hope in the deep well of global turmoil.
Those challenges are casting greater import on his first extended overseas trip of his second term, but the president is brimming with an overabundance of confidence about some of the world’s most intractable problems.
▶ Read more about Trump’s three-nation visit
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that there 8,383 arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico in April. That marks a 17% increase from 7,184 in March, but it is down 94% from nearly 129,000 in April 2024. March’s tally was the slowest monthly rate since 1967.
The Border Patrol averaged 279 arrests along the Mexican border in April, down from more than 10,000 a day on the busiest days of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Illegal crossings fell by about half after Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders in December 2023 and by about half again when Biden imposed severe asylum restrictions in June. They plummeted more when Trump took office and effectively banned asylum altogether.
Trump’s agreement with China to temporarily slash tariffs for 90 days offered the world a bit of welcome relief. But what persists is a sense of uncertainty and the possibility that the damage from the trade war could already be done.
Trump declared the de-escalation of the trade war a victory, saying he would soon chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping about how to preserve the financial relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Regardless, the tariffs are now elevated from when Trump took office, and the scramble to respond to the White House’s mix of threats and olive branches might leave CEOs, investors and consumers unwilling to take risks.
▶ Read more about what’s next with Trump’s trade war truce with China
The S&P 500 jumped 3.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,100 points, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 4.4% on Monday.
Hopes for an economy less encumbered by tariffs also sent crude oil prices higher.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against other currencies, and Treasury yields jumped on expectations the Federal Reserve won’t have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy.
Analysts warned conditions could still quickly change, as has so often happened in Trump’s trade wars.
▶ Read more about the markets’ reaction to the truce in the U.S.-China trade war
A provision tucked in a Republican budget bill could be a financial boon for private and religious schools.
House Republicans are proposing a $5 billion program that would cover the cost of private schools or homeschooling for families that do not want to send their children to public school. It would be funded by donors, who can contribute money or stock and receive a dollar-for-dollar discount on their tax bills.
Backers say they want to provide children ways out from public schools that aren’t working for them. Critics say it would mostly benefit wealthy families by covering private school tuition and offering them tax breaks if they donate to the scholarships.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it is terminating legal protections for thousands of Afghans who have been living in the United States for years, setting them up for potential deportation in about two months.
The decision to terminate the Temporary Protection Status for Afghans will go into effect July 12. DHS said about 11,700 Afghans hold TPS, although some of them have already obtained other legal status.
TPS allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. The program is among those targeted by the Trump administration as officials work to carry out their promises on the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.
Explaining the administration’s decision, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said conditions in Afghanistan have improved and no longer warrant TPS. She also said that “is contrary to the national interest” of the U.S. permitting Afghans to remain temporarily in the country.
Toddlers and other small children — including one walking barefoot in pajamas — held American flags as two U.S. officials welcomed the group of 49 white South Africans to the United States as refugees in an airport hangar outside Washington, D.C.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told reporters Monday that all of the new arrivals had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley says voters were not calling for Medicaid cuts when they went to the polls in November and urged his colleagues to avoid them as part of a massive tax cut and border security package Republicans hope to get to Trump’s desk this summer.
Hawley, writing in The New York Times, said that if Republicans want to be a working-class party and control the majority “we must ignore calls to cut Medicaid.”
Hawley said the party’s “Wall Street wing” wants Republicans to slash health care benefits for the working poor. “But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,” he wrote.
Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau says the white South Africans who arrived as refugees Monday had “harrowing stories” of violence that they faced.
Landau said during a news conference after their arrival that by admitting them the U.S. is “sending a clear message” that it rejects the persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa, where the government has said such allegations are “completely false.” Landau said he spoke to the group about the importance of assimilation in the United States.
Troy Edgar, the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security spoke to the group about how his wife came to the U.S. from Iran.
“The United States has a long history of bringing people over,” Edgar said.
An official from the State Department and another from the Department of Homeland Security were on hand Monday to welcome the small group to the U.S.
Many in the group welcomed at a ceremony at a hanger in Dulles Airport outside of Washington, D.C., held small American flags. Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau told the group that he was happy to see them holding the flags.
“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years. We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years,” Landau said.
The university responded Monday to Education Department threats to halt grant funding by laying out the reforms it was undertaking but also warning that it would “not surrender its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of “unfounded retaliation.”
The letter from Harvard President Alan Garber detailed how the institution had made significant changes to its leadership and governance over the past year-a-half. Among the reforms, Garber said, was an “institution-wide strategy to combat antisemitism and other bigotry.”
Garber also attempted to rebut many of the allegations made by the Education Department. He insisted admission to Harvard was based on “academic excellence and promise” and there were no “quotas, whether based on race or ethnicity or any other characteristic” or a “ideological litmus tests” when it comes to hiring.
Garber also said he wasn’t aware of any evidence suggestion international students were “more prone to disruption, violence, or other misconduct than any other students.”
A group of 49 white South Africans arrived Monday in the United States as the Trump administration welcomes them as refugees.
The decision to admit the Afrikaners has faced pushback by a South African government that disputes that description and by refugee advocates who question why the group is being admitted when the administration has suspended refugee resettlement from other countries.
They arrived at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington on a private charter plane and are expected to be met by a U.S. government delegation.
Trump told reporters Monday that he’s accepting them because of a “genocide that’s taking place.” That’s strongly denied by the South African government and has been disputed by experts in South Africa and even an Afrikaner group.
Air Force One took off from a military base outside of Washington at 11:39 a.m. ET.
It will refuel at a military base in the United Kingdom before arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday morning local time. Trump is also stopping in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before landing back in the United States at the end of the week.
The president made a quick trip to Rome at the end of April to attend the funeral for Pope Francis, but the Middle East swing was always meant to be the first major foreign trip of his return to office.
Trump has signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits over what the government will pay.
The order the Republican president signed Monday calls on the health department to broker new price tags for drugs.
If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in tying the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.
Public health agency leaders will start meeting with drug companies to offer new prices over the next month. Drugmakers argue threats to their profits could impact research to develop new drugs.
The president said he’s optimistic about Thursday’s expected talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul on finding an endgame to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Trump, who is expected to be in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, suggested that he could make a detour to Turkey, if he thinks his presence might be helpful.
“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday,” Trump said. “I’ve got so many meetings … There’s a possibility there I guess if I think things can happen.”
Trump added there is “the potential for a good meeting” between Putin and Zelenskyy.
“Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey, President Erdogan is the great host,” Trump said.
“We may want to take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start,” said Trump, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged him to do so.
The comments were striking change in tone from the president on Syria sanctions and the government of . Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December.
The Trump administration has yet to formally recognize the new Syrian government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, and HTS remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place.
Hawks in the White House and the Republican Party have been skeptical of al-Sharaa’s transformation and insist Syria remains a counterterrorism issue.
Trump says the leadership of Qatar knew that Boeing has encountered delays building the next generation of the Air Force One aircraft and wanted to help by giving a plane to the U.S. government.
He said, “I could be a stupid person and say we don’t want a free plane” but that the gift from Qatar “helps us out” because the models he currently flies on are decades old.
“This was just a gesture of good faith,” Trump said.
News of the $400 million gift prompted criticism from some Democrats and Trump allies.
Trump said the plane would ultimately be decommissioned and go to his future presidential library. He said he would not fly on it after he leaves office.
Trump said that in a post-apartheid South Africa that white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.
Trump said he doesn’t care whether the South African farmers are “white or Black” or “about their height, their weight.”
But at a time when the administration has sought to halt refugee admissions from many other countries undergoing political upheaval, Trump said the U.S. has “essentially extended citizenship” to South African farmers to escape from the violence.
The South African government has said U.S. allegations that white South Africans are being persecuted are “completely false” and the result of misinformation.
Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says he and other top health officials will begin talks with drugmakers to discuss lowering prices over the next 30 days.
“They’re patriotic Americans,” Oz said. “They want what’s right.”
The executive order being signed by Trump on Monday gives the administration 30 days to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. If there is no deal, the U.S. will tie domestic drug prices to the lower rates paid abroad, which is the so-called “most favored nation” policy.
Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, Chris Coons, Chris Murphy and Brian Schatz issued a joint statement contending that President Donald Trump would engage in “a clear conflict of interest” if he accepted a $400 million luxury plane from Qatar.
Multiple news outlets on Sunday reported that Trump was set to be gifted the plane, which would be used as Air Force One during his term and then transferred to a personal foundation.
The senators called on their colleagues to reassert that lawmakers cannot take gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.
“Air Force One is more than just a plane — it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government. No one — not even the president — is above the law.”
Trump says he’s directing his administration officials to investigate foreign countries that “extort” drug companies
The order, according to a White House official, also sets a 30-day deadline for the U.S. Health Department to broker new price tags for drugs. If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in that will tie the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to the lowest price paid by other countries.
As he signed the order, he called it “one of the most consequential executive orders in our country’s history.”
“Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries, which is what we were doing,” Trump said. “We were subsidizing others’ health care.”
— By Seung Min Kim
The Department of Homeland Security says it is opening an investigation into a California program that pays money to some immigrants.
The Department said Monday that it had issued a subpoena to California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants to obtain records about the program.
That California program was created when Congress in 1996 took away federal Supplemental Security Income assistance for legal immigrants in a welfare reform law.
According to the program’s website, it pays money to elderly, blind and disabled people in California who are not citizens. The website says the program is entirely paid for by California.
The Trump administration has targeted states and communities that it considers to be lax when it comes to immigration enforcement.
Fresh off a 90-day tariff rollback to hold talks with China, President Donald Trump said that on trade issues, the “European Union is in many ways nastier than China.”
Trump said while speaking on Monday at the White House that the EU would “come down a lot” on trade restrictions regarding the U.S., tearing into the longstanding ally. The U.S. president insisted that America has “all the cards” in trade talks with Europe because of the vehicles it buys from the continent’s automakers.
Trump said his executive order on pharmaceutical drug prices would mean that Europeans will have “to pay more for health care, and we’re going to have to pay less.”
The U.S. has a separate negotiating period on trade in which goods from the EU are being charged 10% import taxes.
Trump said that the U.S.-Israeli citizen was expected to be released by Hamas in the “next two hours” or “sometime today.”
“He’s coming home to his parents, which is really great news,” Trump told reporters at the White House shortly before he was scheduled to depart for a whirlwind visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Trump credited his special envoy Steve Witkoff in helping win the release of Alexander, 21.
The president said that Witkoff, a New York real estate developer turned diplomat, knew “very little about the subject matter” but learned quickly.
“He has a special way about him,” Trump said of Witkoff.
President Donald Trump says he will likely speak with China’s leader Xi Jinping “maybe at the end of the week.”
That’s after negotiators from the U.S. and China meeting in Switzerland this weekend agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days of talks. The import taxes on China imposed by the U.S. would still remain higher than when Trump took office at 30%.
Trump told reporters on Monday that the reduced tariff rates didn’t include tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum as well as the potentially upcoming import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs.
Trump said he also spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday and he expected the tech company to make additional commitments to invest in domestic production.
Trump said the talks would be great for “unification and peace.”
Trump says the countries ended hostilities for a lot of reasons “but trade is a big one.”
Speaking at the White House on Monday, the president said the U.S. is already negotiating a trade deal with India and will soon start negotiating with Pakistan.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea Saturday in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to stop the escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed rivals that threatened regional peace.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the progress made in in trade talks with Chinese officials over the weekend and said he expects another meeting in a few weeks.
U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on tariffs after the weekend talks in Geneva.
“We had a plan, we had a process and now what we have with the Chinese is a mechanism to avoid an upward tariff pressure like we did last time,” Bessent said on CNBC.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says the Trump administration is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally.
To achieve that, he says the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.
Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller told reporters outside the White House on Friday.
“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”
Trump’s plan to change the pricing model for some medications is already facing fierce criticism from the pharmaceutical industry before he’s even signed the executive order set for Monday that, if implemented, could lower the cost of some drugs.
Trump has promised that his plan — which is likely to tie the price of medications covered by Medicare and administered in a doctor’s office to the lowest price paid by other countries — will significantly lower drug costs.
But the nation’s leading pharmaceutical lobby on Sunday pushed back, calling it a “bad deal” for American patients. Drugmakers have long argued that any threats to their profits could impact the research they do to develop new drugs.
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
U.S. President Donald Trump claims a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was “in effect” on Tuesday, after expressing deep frustration with both sides for violating the agreement he brokered.
Israel earlier accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the truce was supposed to take effect. The Iranian military denied firing on Israel, state media reported.
Trump expressed anger and frustration as he told reporters at the White House that both Israel, a close ally, and Iran had violated the ceasefire plan. But later he said the deal was saved, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office later said he held off on a tougher strike against Iran after speaking to Trump.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in the Tuesday statement that Islamabad welcomes and supports efforts aimed at reviving dialogue and diplomacy in the region.
“Pakistan believes that lasting peace and stability can only be achieved through strict adherence to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and by refraining from the use of force,” the ministry said.
The country has no diplomatic ties with Israel and has said it is ready to play a role in promoting peace in the Middle East.
The IAEA said it has identified additional impact points at the Fordo and Natanz nuclear sites, including possible localized contamination and chemical hazards.
“Regarding the additional strikes to Fordow that were reported early on Monday – after the U.S. bombing of the facility early on Sunday – the IAEA assesses that access roads close to the underground facility and one of its entrances were hit,” the statement read.
At Natanz, the IAEA said that it has identified “two impact holes from the U.S. strikes above the underground halls that had been used for enrichment as well as for storage.”
“Based on its knowledge of what these halls contained, the IAEA assesses that this strike may have caused localized contamination and chemical hazards,” it added.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said that he wrote a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressing the need for a resumption of the agency’s work in Iran and expressing readiness for a meeting.
“Resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful diplomatic agreement to finally resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities,” he said in the statement published by the agency.
The agency’s inspectors have “remained in Iran throughout the conflict and are ready to start working as soon as possible, going back to the country’s nuclear sites and verifying the inventories of nuclear material – including more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% - which they last verified a few days before the Israeli air strikes began on 13 June,” the statement said.
Oil prices are dropping further on hopes that Israel’s war with Iran will not damage the global flow of crude.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude has fallen 4.9% to $65.12. Brent crude, the international standard, has dropped 4.8% to $67.13.
Oil prices have dropped so much in the last two days that they’re below where they were before Israel attacked Iran nearly two weeks ago.
Iran is a major producer of crude, and it could try to block the Strait of Hormuz off its coast. That’s where 20% of the world’s daily oil needs pass through on ships.
The United Nations human rights office has called Israel’s attack on Iran’s Evin prison a “grave” breach of international humanitarian law. It says the prison should not have been a target.
Israel on Monday attacked the prison, which is known for holding political activists. Israel said it attacked “regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran.”
Iran says it has transferred all inmates out of the prison so workers can repair damage.
A top U.S. military official says Iran still possesses “significant tactical capability” in spite of an American strike over the weekend on three of the country’s nuclear sites.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told lawmakers Tuesday that capability was demonstrated by a limited retaliatory missile strike by Iran a day earlier on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
In response to a question about whether Iran still poses a threat to U.S. troops and Americans around the world, he replied, “They do.”
The U.S. entry into Israel’s war with Iran caused travel disruptions to pile up globally this week, with flight cancellations continuing Tuesday.
Airports and skies throughout the region have been on edge since Israel began the deadly war on June 13. And in the days following the escalatory U.S. strikes, more and more carriers canceled flights, particularly in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which sit just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.
Qatar Airways said its flights were suspended because of Monday’s closure of air traffic in Qatar. Qatar Airways shared that it was working to restore operations after the country’s airspace reopened — but noted that disruptions may continue through Thursday.
Emirates suspended all flights to Iran and Iraq, including those serving Baghdad and Basra, through June 30.
Elsewhere, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Dutch carrier KLM were among firms cancelling some flights to Middle Eastern airports.
China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security and “achieving a real ceasefire,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart.
Wang repeated China’s earlier condemnation of the military strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran and thanked Tehran for its support in evacuating Chinese citizens in Iran, according to a readout of their conversation published on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that though Iran and Israel have agreed on a ceasefire, the situation remains unstable.
He said “real negotiations” can only begin once Israel halts its “aggression.”
President Donald Trump has said in a social media post said that “China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran,” suggesting that the ceasefire would prevent the disruption of Iranian oil production.
A 2024 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration contained estimates suggesting that roughly 80% to 90% of the oil exported by Iran went to China.
The Chinese economy could struggle to preserve its industrial production without the roughly 1.2 million barrels of oil and other fossil fuels provided by Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow is ready to help settle the conflict between Israel and Iran, but will not act as a mediator.
Lavrov spoke Tuesday in Moscow. He also asserted that there was no evidence Iran had been readying an attack on Israel before Israel attacked.
Analysts say Russia’s muted response to the U.S. attack on Iran nuclear sites, without any apparent military aid, is likely to disappoint Iran. It also reflects Russia’s diminished influence in the Middle East.
The Kremlin has bristled at suggestions it is abandoning or neglecting Iran. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday denied claims that Moscow had not given meaningful support.
India has welcomed the role played by the U.S and Qatar in bringing about the ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
“There is no alternative to dialogue and diplomacy,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, expressing hope that all concerned parties will work towards sustained peace.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Israel’s ambassador to France said Israeli strikes have killed at least 14 Iranian physicists and nuclear engineers who he alleged were “personally involved” in nuclear weapons development.
Ambassador Joshua Zarka said “the fact that the whole group disappeared is basically throwing back the program by a number of years.”
“I do think that people that will be asked to be part of a future nuclear weapon program in Iran will think twice about it,” he said Monday.
Nuclear analysts say Iran has other scientists who can take their place.
As a cease-fire between Iran and Israel took effect Tuesday, Israel’s emergency services released final figures from 12 days of fighting.
According to the data, 1,347 people in Israel were affected, including 28 killed, 17 seriously wounded, 29 moderately wounded, 872 lightly wounded and 401 treated for anxiety.
Netanyahu’s office says Israel struck an Iranian radar in response to the Iranian missile attack early Tuesday. But it says the Israeli leader held off tougher action after an appeal from President Donald Trump.
“Following President Trump’s conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel refrained from additional attacks,” Netanyahu’s office says.
A high-profile Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in an Israeli strike, Iran state TV said, making him the latest in a list of top atomic experts who are said to have been killed in Israeli attacks over the last 12 days.
Mohammad Reza Sedighi Saber, who the U.S. State Department had sanctioned last month, was killed at his father-in-law’s residence in an early Tuesday morning strike in northern Iran, according to the report.
It added that three projectiles had hit the residence, and an earlier round of strikes had killed his 17-year-old son on June 13.
The Council on Foreign Relations on Monday said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 10 nuclear scientists since the Israel-Iran war broke out. The U.S. State Department last month described Sedighi Saber as the head of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research’s Shahid Karimi Group, which works on explosives-related projects.
Turkey has welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Iran but also said it was closely monitoring statements indicating violations.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry urged all parties to fully observe the ceasefire the “critical period ahead,” saying the Middle East was in need of peace and stability.
The ministry also called for the resolution of the Palestinian issue which it described as being at the “root of many problems in the Middle East.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concerns that the Israel-Iran war has increased the risk that Iranian leaders will continue work in secret to enrich uranium that can be used for nuclear weapons.
“This risk has, it’s true, increased with what has happened recently,” Macron said. He was asked if Iranian uranium-enrichment work could continue in secret after nearly two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and the dropping of giant bunker-busting bombs by U.S. stealth bombers on Iranian nuclear plants.
He repeated France’s desire for negotiations to address concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“Our shared objective is that Iran doesn’t equip itself with a nuclear weapon,” he said.
President Donald Trump says Israel and Iran violated ceasefire terms with attacks following an early Tuesday deadline to cease hostilities.
Trump made the comments to reporters at the White House before departing for the NATO summit at The Hague. He expressed disappointment about the continued attacks.
“They violated it but Israel violated it too,” Trump said. He added, ”I’m not happy with Israel.”
“Attacking Qatar is unacceptable… we were surprised by the attack on the military base,” said Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, referring to Monday’s attack on the Al Udeid Air Base.
The base is a sprawling desert facility in Qatar that serves as a major regional military hub for American forces.
He told reporters Tuesday that the Iranian attack had left a “scar” on his country’s relationship with Tehran.
Al Thani said Qatar will not resort to escalatory steps, but will rely on legal measures and diplomacy instead when responding to the attack. He added that Qatar intercepted all missiles except one that fell in a deserted area.
An Israeli strike Monday on Iran’s city of Karaj near Tehran killed seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including two generals with the paramilitary force, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
A military plane evacuating 101 French nationals from Israel to Cyprus took off from Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday, French authorities said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said similar evacuation flights will follow.
Priority is given to those with medical and humanitarian issues, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Those who can travel on their own can still cross to Jordan and Egypt to take commercial flights, it said.
A deputy governor in Iran’s northern Gilan province along the Caspian Sea said an Israeli strike before the ceasefire killed nine civilians, state media reported.
Iran says it transferred all inmates out of its notorious Evin prison after an Israeli strike targeted the facility on Monday.
Iran’s Prisons Organization said all the inmates had been moved to other prisons around the capital, Tehran. It said the move was necessary for workers to repair damage there.
Evin prison is known for holding both political prisoners and those with Western ties for negotiations with the wider world. It also has a specialized unit overseen by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid told a group of British lawmakers he believes much — but not all — of Iran’s enriched uranium was destroyed by Israeli and U.S. strikes.
“We think at least the majority of it might be, gone, but not everything,” he said.
He said Iran’s nuclear ambitions “were hurt and they were taken backwards significantly. We just don’t know exactly right now how much.”
Lapid told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that Iran likely smuggled some of the uranium out of the facilities that have been attacked.
“There are only a limited number of places they can smuggle the uranium to,” he said. “You don’t take it in a suitcase and put it at home until the fire stops.”
Iran’s military denied Tuesday it fired missiles at Israel hours after a ceasefire proposed by President Donald Trump began, Iranian state television reported.
The report cited the general staff of Iran’s armed forces, which includes its regular military and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Israel reported missile fire some two and a half hours after the ceasefire began. Israeli officials have ordered a strike on Iran in response, though there’s no immediate report of an attack there.
Iran’s top security body has praised its military for its conduct in the 12-day war with Israel, likely signaling Tehran believes the ceasefire will hold.
The statement from the Supreme National Security Council came as Israel said it would conduct immediate strikes on Iran for allegedly violating the terms of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ceasefire in the war.
The council said Iran’s armed forces “will be ready to give a decisive and regretful response to any act of aggression by the enemy.”
Egypt said in a statement Tuesday morning that it welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
“It is a critical point into ending this conflict between both countries and restoring peace in the region,” the statement read.
Egypt called upon the countries to fully abide by the ceasefire and practice full restraint.
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday also welcomed Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, though the hopeful statement came as the agreement was faltering.
“The Kingdom looks forward to all parties committing to de-escalation in the coming period,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Less than three hours after the ceasefire came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran had “completely violated” the ceasefire by launching missiles.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned Iran’s ambassador to the country and stressed that Monday’s attack on a U.S. military base there was a violation of international law and Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it affirmed that it “reserves the right to respond to this blatant violation in accordance with international law.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran had “completely violated” the ceasefire between Israel and Iran by launching missiles more than two hours after the ceasefire came into effect.
Katz said he instructed the Israeli military to resume targeting Iranian paramilitary and government targets in Tehran.
According to Israel’s emergency services, there were no injuries in the missiles launched towards Israel after the ceasefire started.
Overnight, just before the ceasefire started, Israel launched more than 100 munitions targeting dozens of sites in Tehran, including missile launchers.
Drones attacked military bases in Iraq overnight, including some housing U.S. troops, the Iraqi army and a U.S. military official said Tuesday.
Iraqi army spokesperson Sabah Al-Naaman in a statement called the attacks a “treacherous and cowardly act of aggression” and said they had damaged radar systems at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, and at Imam Ali Base in Dhi Qar province.
Iraqi forces shot down drones at other locations, he said.
A senior U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said American forces had shot down drones attacking Ain al-Assad in the desert of western Iraq and at a base next to the Baghdad airport, while another one crashed.
No casualties were reported and no group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Some Iran-backed Iraqi militias had previously threatened to target American bases if the U.S. attacked Iran.
Sirens sounded across northern Israel after Israel said it had identified missiles launched from Iran, less than three hours after the ceasefire began.
Explosions could be heard as Israeli air defenses fired.
“Tehran will tremble,” wrote Israeli firebrand Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich on X after the missiles were launched.
The Awda hospital in Gaza’s urban Nuseirat refugee camp said another 146 people were wounded when Israeli forces and drones opened fire toward hundreds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks.
Among them were 62 in critical condition, who were transferred to other hospitals in central Gaza, it said.
In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident.
The deaths were the latest in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza which killed about 56,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“It was a massacre,” said Ahmed Halawa.
He said tanks and drones fired at people, “even as we were fleeing. Many people were either martyred or wounded.”
Hossam Abu Shahada, another eyewitness, said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds first, then there was gunfire from tanks and drones as people were moving eastward. He described a “chaotic and bloody” scene as people were attempting to escape.
He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many others wounded as he fled the site.
Israeli forces and drones opened fire toward hundreds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in central Gaza early Tuesday, killing at least 25 people, Palestinian witnesses and hospitals said.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on the Salah al-Din Road south of Wadi Gaza.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing eastward to be close to the approaching trucks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has agreed to the bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu said that he had reported to Israel’s security cabinet Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals in the 12-day operation against Iran, including removing the threat of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Israel also damaged Iran’s military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran’s skies, Netanyahu said.
“Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire,” Netanyahu said.
Israel police said the barrage damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in Beersheba.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area.
Hundreds of emergency workers gathered to search for anyone else trapped in the buildings.
Israel police said the impact of the hit was so great that some people were injured even while inside their reinforced safe rooms in each apartment. The safe rooms are meant to withstand rockets and shrapnel but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
Residents evacuated damaged building with their suitcases Tuesday morning in Beersheba.
Some said they were skeptical of the ceasefire announced by Trump.
“I don’t believe the Iranians,” said Ortal Avilevich, a resident who lives five minutes away from the blast. “I’m happy with Donald Trump and I think Iran is afraid of him, but I hope there is quiet right now.”
Israel’s Airports Authority said the country’s airspace has reopened for emergency flights after closing earlier due to an hourslong barrage of missiles from Iran.
Israeli firefighters said they retrieved four bodies from a building hit by an Iranian missile in the city of Beersheba.
The direct hit in the largest city in southern Israel comes just days after the city’s hospital sustained significant damage in a missile strike.
The search and rescue team said they retrieved four bodies from one building in Beersheba and were searching for more.
The Israel Airports Authority said the barrages from Iran forced them to close the skies to all passenger planes, including emergency flights that were expected to land and depart on Tuesday.
Some flights were forced to circle over the Mediterranean Sea, according to Israeli media.
Israel’s airports have been closed since the war with Iran began, but a handful of emergency flights had started arriving and departing over the past few days.
Israeli firefighters said they rescued at least three people, including children trapped in the rubble of an apartment building after an Iranian missile barrage struck southern Israel.
In Beersheba, first responders cordoned off blocks as they tried to assess how many people had been killed and injured.
The streets around the impact site were littered with glass and debris, windows were blown out of buildings as anxious neighbors stood outside their damaged houses.
Iranian state television reported Tuesday that a ceasefire had begun in its war with Israel, even as Israel warned the public of a new missile barrage launched from Iran.
It wasn’t immediately possible to reconcile the messages from Iran and Israel on the 12th day of their war.
Iranian state television announced the ceasefire in a graphic on screen, not immediately acknowledging the new missile barrage coming after the deadline set by President Donald Trump in his earlier ceasefire announcement.
Israel warned of another wave of incoming missiles 20 minutes after the ceasefire was supposed to come into effect.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said at least three people were killed and eight injured in the early morning barrage. A residential building in Israel’s south sustained heavy damage, emergency responders said.
Waves of missiles sent Israelis across the country to bomb shelters for almost two hours Tuesday morning.
A general view shows Tehran skyline, Iran Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Firefighters inspect the site struck by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers and rescue workers carry a body from a residential building destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
People rest and as they take shelter in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A smoke trail from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system streaks across the sky as it intercepts missiles launched during an Iranian attack, as seen from Haifa, Israel, early Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
People rest and as they take shelter in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers and a rescue team search for survivors amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers and rescue team search for survivors amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people, in Beersheba, Israel, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
