Iran and Afghanistan

In a statement released on Thursday (19 June), the U.S. President set a two-week deadline to decide whether the United States should launch a military strike on Iran amid growing concerns over Tehran’s alleged nuclear capabilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Wednesday to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic program while assuaging Israeli security concerns, AP reported. Speaking to senior news leaders of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin noted that “it’s a delicate issue,” but added that “in my view, a solution could be found.” Meanwhile, Iran launched a fresh salvo of missiles at Israel on Thursday, with a hospital reported hit, as US President Donald Trump warned he was weighing US military action in the conflict.

The G7 summit, a gathering of major world leaders meeting at Kananaskis, in the Canadian Rockies, has concluded with a joint leaders statement urging a "de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza". It stopped short of calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The leaders' statement, published as US President Trump left Canada, said Israel had a right to defend itself, and that Iran was a source of terror that should not have a nuclear weapon. According to the BBC, its call for a resolution of the crisis that led to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East amounted to a diplomatic compromise that preserved G7 unity but watered down the statement's impact.

Iran  has responded to Israeli attacks on Thursday night, firing missiles at targets in Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Both side say that civilians got killed in the attacks. Clouds of war are now gathering across the Middle East  and there is fear that this conflict may expand to other players. The Iranian FARS News agency quoted the new commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as saying that Iran would would take Israel to the gates of hell over the latter’s deadly onslaught against Tehran which led to the death of senior military commanders, including the IRGC own commander, Major General Hossein Salami.