Iran strike opens door for wider peace deals, Netanyahu says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House in the coming weeks to celebrate their countries’ joint bombing of Iran’s nuclear program, Axios reported Thursday citing three Israeli officials.

Despite prior strains, Netanyahu and Trump now appear “closer than ever,” Axios wrote, presenting the attack as a shared triumph for their nations and political legacies.

President Masoud Pezeshkian appeared at rallies and toured ministries despite multiple drones being assigned to target him during the peak of recent assassinations, his top media aide said Thursday.

“Pezeshkian personally made waves, appearing at rallies and touring ministries even when drones had been assigned to target every key figure, including several aimed directly at the president,” said Elyas Hazrati, head of the presidential media council.

Hazrati rejected that Iran sought a ceasefire with Israel.

“We didn’t ask for a truce. We only said that as long as Israel keeps attacking, we will respond decisively,” he said.

“Stopping the war doesn’t mean the enemy has stopped trying,” Hazrati added. “It continues with assassinations, psychological warfare, and sabotage.”

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry on Thursday warned citizens against engaging with online accounts it said were newly created by Israel’s Mossad to compensate for lost networks inside the country.

“These pages are aimed at extracting information, spreading false news, and laying the groundwork for terrorist operations,” the ministry said in a public statement.

Authorities said the move came after Iranian security forces disrupted communications and access for Israel.

"Individuals found cooperating with such entities would face the maximum penalties under national security laws," the ministry threatened, citing prior directives by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the judiciary.

Funeral processions for the slain commanders and scientists will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, starting at Tehran’s central Enghelab Square and ending at Azadi Square, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said.

Commander Mohammad Bagheri will be buried in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran, the IRGC said.

The remains of former IRGC chief Hossein Salami and several nuclear scientists will be interred at the shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh in northern Tehran near Tajrish Square.

Former Guards’ Aerospace commander Amir-Ali Hajizadeh will be buried in Behesht-e Zahra among the graves of slain Quds Force personnel.

Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, a nuclear physicist, will be buried at the shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in Rey, south of Tehran.

Allowing IAEA inspectors into Iran now amounts to espionage, Iranian former lawmaker Ali Motahari said Thursday, following the official enactment of a law mandating suspension of cooperation with the nuclear watchdog.

“The entry of inspectors into Iran under current conditions is nothing but an act of spying,” said Motahari, a supporter of the law.

His remarks came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged continued Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.