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Donald Trump said after a phone call with Mr Putin on Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear programme.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that he was ready to use Russia’s close partnership with Iran to help with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

Mr Trump said after a phone call with Mr Putin on Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear programme and that he believed Mr Putin agreed that the Islamic Republic should not have nuclear weapons.

Mr Putin, according to Mr Trump, suggested that he participate in the discussions with Iran and that “he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion”, though Iran was “slowwalking”.

“We have close partner relations with Tehran and, naturally, President Putin said that we are ready to use this level of partnership with Tehran in order to facilitate and contribute to the negotiations that are taking place to resolve the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

Asked when Mr Putin could join the negotiations,Mr Peskov said that dialogue with Tehran and Washington continued through various channels.

“The president will be able to get involved when necessary,” Mr Peskov said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100%” against the country’s interests, rejecting a central U.S. demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. 

After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran’s insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran’s refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium – possible raw material for nuclear bombs. 

Mr Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said nothing about halting the talks, but said the US proposal “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can’”.

Amid reports of top Trump aides Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to seek to arrest 3,000 people a day, the department has made the most immigrant arrests in a single day in its history.

Seven people who had come in for check-ins were later seen in handcuffs and were put in unmarked cars. One of the detainees among these was a 30-year-old Colombian man. 
Margaret Cargioli, the directing attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who represents the family, said that the man had gone “to every single [ICE] appointment. He was, you know, very cooperative with all of the requirements that were made of him.”

The situation stands at the possibility of immigrants taken into custody if they show up at an ICE facility and an automatic deportation if immigrants miss an appointment.

An ICE spokesperson said, “Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order.” However, multiple lawyers said that their clients did not have final orders of removal and still got arrested. 

While Trump has promised to deport “millions”, former ICE officials say that hitting that target will not be possible for ICE. According to ICE data, 20,000 ankle monitors were in use by ICE, and 98.5% of people on ATF appear for their check-ins, making them easy targets for ICE arrests as they try to ramp up numbers.

“People are now increasingly afraid and intimidated because of the way that ICE is executing these kinds of enforcement priorities on such a widespread, indiscriminate and mass scale”, Greg Chen, senior director of government relations said.

Moreover ICE has drawn in 5,000 employees from other federal law enforcement agencies to increase arrests.

Jason Houser, who was chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration, said that ““ICE arresting people already on Alternatives to Detention is bureaucratic theater”, as these individuals are vetted, complying and are in custody supervision, and also mostly have legal status.

“Ishan Tharoor of the Washington Post,” the son replied, with a straight face.

Shashi Tharoor made it clear at the outset that the person questioning him at the press conference in New York is his son, Ishan Tharoor, adding with a big smile that “it shouldn’t be allowed”. 

Mr Tharoor, leading the all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, India’s diplomatic effort launched to combat terrorism and disinformation following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, is in the United States to brief key stakeholders on India’s efforts following the deadly attack.

It was during one such press conference at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York that Ishan Tharoor got up to ask a question. 

“You have to stand up. That shouldn’t be allowed. This is my son,” said Shashi Tharoor with a big smile.

“Ishan Tharoor of the Washington Post,” the son replied, with a straight face.

“Definitely asking a question in a personal capacity. And mostly to say hi before you go off to your next engagement,” said the Junior Tharoor, who is a foreign affairs columnist at the Washington Post. 

The columnist son asked his father that as he has been touring countries in the western hemisphere as part of India’s diplomatic outreach efforts, have any of your “government interlocutors asked you to show evidence of Pakistan’s culpability in the initial attacks”.

“Well, I’m very glad you raised this, Ishan. I didn’t plant it, I promise you. This guy does this to his dad,” said the Senior Tharoor, before switching gears to answer the question. 

“Very simply, no one had any doubt and we were not asked for evidence. But the media have asked in two or three places. Let me say very clearly that India would not have done this without convincing evidence,” said Mr Tharoor.

The Congress MP reminded his American audience that Osama Bin Laden was found in a Pakistani safe house near an Army camp.

“But there were three particular reasons I want to draw your attention to all of you. The first is that we’ve had a 37-year pattern of repeated terror attacks from Pakistan, accompanied by repeated denials. I mean, Americans haven’t forgotten that Pakistan didn’t know, allegedly, where Osama bin Laden was until he was found in a Pakistani safe house right next to an army camp in a cantonment city. That’s Pakistan. Mumbai attacks – they denied having anything to do with it…So we know what Pakistan’s all about. They will dispatch terrorists, they will deny they did so until they’re actually caught with red hands…” said Mr Tharoor.

Israel states that it retaliated towards a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah.

At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, local health authorities said, in the third day of chaos and bloodshed to affect the aid operation.

The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire on a group of individuals who had left designated access routes near the distribution centre in Rafah. 

It added it was still investigating what had happened.

The deaths came hours after Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, as its forces pushed ahead with a months-long offensive against Hamas militants that has laid waste to much of the enclave.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters that its field hospital in Rafah received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after.
More than 35 patients required immediate intervention, the spokesperson added.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week in an effort to alleviate widespread hunger amongst Gaza’s war-battered population, most of whom have had to abandon their homes to flee fighting. 

The Foundation’s aid plan, which bypasses traditional aid groups, has come under fierce criticism from the United Nations and established charities which say it does not follow humanitarian principles.

The private group, which is endorsed by Israel, said it distributed 21 truckloads of food early on Tuesday and that the aid operation was “conducted safely and without incident within the site”.

However, there have been reports of repeated killings near Rafah as crowds gather to get desperately needed supplies.
On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials reported that at least 31 people were killed and dozens more injured. On Monday, three more Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians gathering for aid and called reports of deaths during Sunday’s distribution “fabrications” by Hamas.

On Tuesday, it said IDF forces had identified “a number of suspects” moving towards them while deviating from the access routes. “The forces fired evasive shots, and after they did not move away, additional shots were fired near the individual suspects who were advancing towards the forces,” it said.

Mass evacuations ordered

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was “appalled” by reports of Palestinians killed and wounded while seeking aid and called for an independent investigation.

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders to residents of several districts in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip late on Monday, warning that the army would act forcefully against militants operating in those areas.

The military told residents to head west towards the Mawasi humanitarian area. Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the enclave, and that most of its 2.3 million population has become internally displaced.

The territory’s health ministry said on Tuesday that the new evacuation orders could halt work at the Nasser Hospital, the largest, still-functioning medical facility in the south, endangering the lives of those being treated there.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 assault in which Hamas-led gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies. 

In the subsequent fighting, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, local health authorities say.

The 22-year-old Swedish climate activist set sail on Sunday aboard the Madleen, a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), carrying essential supplies for civilians in Gaza. 

As Greta Thunberg sails toward Gaza with a boat full of humanitarian aid, Israel has declared it is “prepared” to act to prevent the flotilla’s arrival, according to a senior military spokesperson.

“For this case as well, we are prepared,” Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Brig General Effie Defrin told The Times of London. “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.” He did not specify what actions the Israeli military might take.

The 22-year-old Swedish climate activist set sail on Sunday aboard the Madleen, a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), carrying essential supplies for civilians in Gaza. The strip has faced a total blockade by Israel for over 90 days and has been under land, sea, and air restrictions since 2007. The aid aboard includes milk, protein bars, baby formula, diapers, flour, rice, water filters, hygiene products, and medical equipment.

The current voyage includes 12 international activists, including Ms Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham. The group said the mission was a “non-violent, direct action to challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes.”

While en route from Catania in southern Italy, the activists reported being followed by drones, believed to be operated by the Greek Coast Guard, and have called on the international community to ensure their safety.

Greta Thunberg has been actively sharing footage from the trip, including images of herself wrapped in a keffiyeh, holding a Palestinian flag, and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

“We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” Ms Thunberg said, breaking into tears during her speech before departure.

Earlier, another vessel affiliated with the FFC was reportedly damaged shortly before arriving in Malta to pick up Ms Thunberg for a similar mission. The group accused Israel of targeting that ship with drones.

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