Senator Graham:

President Trump’s decision to take the war to Kharg Island - the crown jewel of Iran’s oil and gas economy - was necessary, bold and in my view, highly effective.

This will help shorten the war. Seldom in warfare does an enemy provide you a single target like Kharg Island that could dramatically alter the outcome of the conflict.

If Iran loses control or the ability to operate its oil infrastructure from Kharg Island, its economy is annihilated.

He who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan:

Israel’s closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to worship is an extremely dangerous step that could trigger new outrage in our region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Lebanon:

Frankly, we are concerned that Netanyahu may embark on a new genocide under the pretext of fighting Hezbollah.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Iran:

We also spoke with my Iranian counterpart after the latest incident. They again do not claim responsibility for the event and say they did not give any such order and have no connection with such an attack.

Of course, there is also technical data available… We are frankly discussing with them the contradiction between their statements and the reality.

Trump:

A lot of them were let in here; they shouldn't have been let in...

Their genetics are not exactly your genetics. It's one of those problems.

NEW: IDF sources say an Israeli fighter jet was nearly shot down during an airstrike in Iran, but the attempt failed due to the pilot’s alertness.

Israel says multiple attempts have been made to down Israeli jets over Iran.

A drone strike hit the UAE Consulate in Erbil, injuring two security personnel and damaging the building.

It is the second drone-related incident targeting the consulate within a week.

The UAE called it a “cowardly terrorist drone attack.”

Iranian newspaper Farhikhtegan reports that Ali Shamkhani, former secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, was buried at Imamzadeh Saleh shrine, and witnesses said his body was without a head.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

Last night, they have attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island with the artillery rocket system, HIMARS as they call it, which is a low-range rocket system.

And they have done it from the soil of our neighbors. This is crystal clear that they are using the territory of our neighbors to attack us by this kind of rockets, and this is absolutely unacceptable.

These attacks were tracked by our forces, and now it is clear that they are fired from the UAE — from two locations in the UAE — from Ras Al Khaimah and from a location very close to the city of Dubai.

And it is very dangerous that they use highly populated areas to launch rockets against us.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

The Strait of Hormuz is open.

It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies.

Others are free to pass.

Of course, many of them prefer not to because of their security concerns. This has nothing to do with us.

There are many tankers and ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and I can say that the Strait is not closed, but it is only closed to American and Israeli ships and tankers, not to others.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 826 people have been killed and 2,009 wounded during 12 days of Israeli attacks.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

They will see soon that there is no problem with the new Supreme Leader. He sent his message yesterday and he will perform his duties.

He is performing his duties according to the constitution and he will continue to do that.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

I think by now it should have been clear and known for everybody that our system is very well rooted in the society.

The Islamic Republic is a system which is not dependent on any individual or any group of people. It is well established.

It's a very well-established political structure and the state is doing its functions. Everything is in place.

They shouldn't have any hope that something happening to individuals will affect the system. It worked properly after the assassination and martyrdom of our Supreme Leader.

You saw that nothing happened and everything remained in order, and still it is under control.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

Russia and China are our strategic partners. And we have had close cooperation in the past, which is still continuous. And that includes military cooperation as well.

I'm not going into any details of that. We have good cooperation with these two countries politically, economically, even militarily.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

How is it possible that the Security Council condemns us for defending ourselves and is not condemning the United States and Israel who started this aggression?

If they want to have a just decision or resolution which can work, they should consider all aspects of any event. We are under attack.

It was the United States and Israel who started this war. They deserve to be condemned, not us.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

What we are doing is only the principle of an eye for an eye, which is very well known.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

I never said that we are going to make bombs.

I said that we have 440 kilos of 60 percent enriched material, and that was not a secret. That is what is mentioned in the reports of the IAEA.

If enriched more, it could be enough for 10 bombs according to your own experts’ claims. So we are ready to give them up, to dilute them, to downblend them into lower degrees.

By saying that, I wanted to say that the concession that we were making was really big.

But how they have interpreted that, I don’t know. Maybe because of lack of knowledge, maybe because of their intentions to justify, as I said, the act of aggression which cannot be justified.

Greece is launching a pilot voluntary military service program for women aged 20–26, aiming to recruit 200 volunteers for 12 months of service starting this summer.

BIG: Trump has rejected efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start Iran ceasefire talks.

A White House official said:

“He’s not interested in that right now… we’re going to continue with the mission unabated.”

Iran also refuses talks until U.S. and Israeli strikes stop.

Mediation attempts by Oman and Egypt have stalled.

Source: Reuters