Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejects call to surrender as Israel strikes Tehran
Dubai, Jun 18 (AP): Explosions were heard in Iran's capital as Israeli warplanes pounded Tehran overnight and into Wednesday. Less than a week into the conflict, Israel says its aircraft have free rein over the city's skies.
Iran launched a small barrage of missiles at Israel with no reports of casualties, and Israel has eased some restrictions for civilians. Meanwhile, fear has gripped the Iranian capital as the streets are empty, businesses closed and communications patchy at best. Thousands have fled.
Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage” to them.
US President Donald Trump initially distanced himself from Israel's surprise attack on Friday that triggered the conflict, but in recent days has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The US has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.
Here's the latest:
The internet is down in Iran
Late Wednesday afternoon, internet access across Iran crashed.
Authorities offered no immediate explanation.
Giant plume of smoke seen in eastern reaches of Tehran
Just after 4 pm local time, a likely Israeli airstrike sent a giant plume of gray smoke skyward in the eastern reaches of Tehran.
It wasn't immediately clear what was targeted.
Israel eases some restrictions for civilians
Israel is easing some restrictions for civilians that have frozen the country in place over the past week, the military announced on Wednesday, six days into the confrontation with Iran.
While schools are still closed, people will begin returning to workplaces where there is access to shelters.
Restrictions are being eased further in areas along Israel's periphery, which have been targeted fewer times than the country's centre.
“This decision to gradually open the economy in the various regions is a message of victory over the Iranian enemy,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday. Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on, allowing Israeli air defence systems greater accuracy with interceptions.
Iran state TV airs footage of Khamenei giving statement
State television has aired footage of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving a statement that was read out by a TV anchor a short while ago.
The footage strikingly contrasted against the high-quality recording typically produced of his speeches, with his voice echoing as he sat in a room with beige curtains behind him.
A portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who Khamenei succeeded, was over his left shoulder, with an Iranian flag to his right.
Khamenei warned the United States that joining the Israeli strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.”
Germany says Europe is open to negotiating with Iran
Germany's foreign minister has underlined European countries' willingness to talk to Iran about a solution to the crisis over its nuclear program. But he says there needs to be movement from Tehran.
Johann Wadephul said Wednesday that “it is never too late to come to the negotiating table, if you come with honest intentions”.
He spoke two days after he held a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi along with his French and British counterparts and the European Union foreign policy chief.
Wadephul said the European officials made clear that their countries -- which were part of Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers -- “still stand ready to negotiate on a solution”.
But he added that “Iran must now move urgently. Iran must take confidence-building and verifiable measures,” including a credible statement that Tehran is not striving for a nuclear weapon.
Over 400 EU citizens evacuated from Israel
The European Union has helped evacuated about 400 its citizens out of Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate emergency response to the conflict within the 27 nations of the bloc.
“Up till now, we have an estimate that over 400 EU citizens were repatriated via this civil protection mechanism of the EU,” said Eva Hrncirova in Brussels on Wednesday.
She said the EU was fielding requests by Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece and Poland for assistance in evacuating from the Middle East.
“Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to the 75% of the transport costs,” she said.
Iran's supreme leader warns US that joining Israeli strikes will result in 'irreparable damage for them'
Iran's supreme leader has warned the United States that joining the Israeli strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them”.
The comments by 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came in a statement read out by a state television anchor against a still image of the leader.
“Any military involvement by the US in this field will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage for them,” the statement said.
In the message, Khamenei also urged officials to “continue their work with strength and trust in God”.
“God will certainly and surely make the Iranian nation... victorious,” he said.
State television said that a video of Khamenei giving the same address would be aired later.
141 Greeks and other nationals evacuated from Israel via Egypt
Greece's Foreign Ministry says the evacuees included citizens of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
They were flown to Athens early Wednesday from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh on board two military transport planes, the ministry said.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
