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Air India Flight AI171 crashed into the hostel canteen of the B.J. Medical College (BJMC), a well-known medical college in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025, while students were having lunch inside. Casualties in the building is not known.
What We’re Watching: Air Crash in India, Time running out for Iran nuclear deal, ICE protests move beyond LA, anti-immigration violence in Northern Ireland
Deadly plane crash in India
An Air India flight carrying 242 people crashed into a residential area soon after taking off from Ahmedabad in western India on Thursday. The Boeing Dreamliner aircraft was headed to London, and was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. There was at least one survivor – a British national named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. So far there is no indication of what may have caused the crash. Boeing, the US largest aircraft maker, has recently been under scrutiny for safety lapses.
US-Iran tensions spike with little progress on nuclear deal
The US on Wednesday evacuated nonessential diplomatic and military personnel from Baghdad and several military bases in the region. The move comes as US President Donald Trump’s two-month deadline for a new nuclear deal with Iran is about to expire. Until now, Trump has pushed for diplomacy despite pressure from Israel which wants to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. If attacked, Iran has pledged to strike American assets in retaliation. There is one more round of US-Iran talks scheduled for Sunday. After that... buckle up.
ICE protests spread beyond Los Angeles
Protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies have spread beyond Los Angeles to cities including Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, and Denver. Although some have turned violent and hundreds have been arrested, Trump has not sent federal forces anywhere beyond LA, where Marines and National Guard troops remain in the streets. Will that hold? Hundreds of anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests are planned nationwide to coincide with Trump’s birthday celebration and military parade this Saturday. Watch the streets.
Third-straight night of riots in Northern Ireland
Anti-immigration rioters attacked police with fireworks, bricks and bottles in the Northern Ireland town of Ballymena on Wednesday night, as unrest continued following the Monday arrest of two 14-year-old boys on allegations of rape. Although the police didn’t reveal the boys’ ethnicity, the pair asked for a Romanian interpreter in court. The chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board described the violence, which has targeted immigrant households and families as well, as “racism, pure and simple.”US President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting where Trump announced nuclear talks with Iran, in Washington, D.C., USA, on April 7, 2025.
Bibi and Trump beef over Iran plan
Ten years ago, a US president tried to clinch a nuclear deal with Iran while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to bomb Tehran’s uranium facilities.
Donald Trump now faces the same issue as his old nemesis Barack Obama: the incumbent president wants a deal with Iran, while the Israeli PM wants to bomb it.
But there’s a key difference this time: unlike in 2015, Netanyahu’s government relies on support from far-right figures who are extremely hawkish on Iran. What’s more, Iran is more vulnerable now – Israel has pummeled Tehran’s key proxies Hamas and Hezbollah (just yesterday Israel killed Hamas’ Gaza leader Mohammad Sinwar (Yahya’s brother), plus the pro-Iran Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad fell late last year. This time around, Netanyahu’s threats to bomb Iran might be more than just posturing.
Didn’t Trump dismantle the last deal? Yes indeed! Trump exited the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. Under this plan, Iran had to demolish large parts of its nuclear program, and allow regular inspections of its facilities, in exchange for relief from crippling US and international sanctions on its energy exports and banks. The agreement did, however, allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels until 2030, beyond which the limits were gone.
What’s happened since Trump ditched that deal? Maybe you’ll have guessed it: Iran, whose official position is that its nuclear ambitions are purely for energy, has enriched its uranium up to 60% purity after the US reinstalled the sanctions. Experts warn it is now less than a year away from producing a nuclear bomb.
Enough about the past – give me the update. Much like a decade ago, Bibi is none too happy about the prospect of an US-Iran nuclear deal, as it would strengthen a regime that he’d rather see fall – he views it as an existential threat to Israel.
“Attacking Iran and eliminating the threat of its nuclear program is something that has broad support in the Israeli security establishment and would cement Netanyahu’s status as one of Israel’s great leaders — if he can pull it off,” says Eurasia Group’s Iran expert Greg Brew.
Trump, by contrast, believes Tehran’s weak position makes it the perfect time to cut a deal – the US president said Wednesday that he told Netanyahu not to bomb Iran.
“I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution,” Trump said, adding that the two sides could reach an agreement in the next two weeks. In reality, per Brew, “a full deal is a long way off.”
But what if Israel strikes Iran? Would the US back them? Safe to say that Trump would be rather miffed if Israel proceeds with its attack plans – his reportedly feisty phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday attests to this. However, Bibi requires US support if he wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, so there’s a limit to what he can unilaterally achieve.
If an Israeli attack – with or without US support – prompted an Iranian response, the White House would feel pressure to back its ally, just as it did so when Tehran sent bombs into Israel last year. And if the US gets involved, it would all but kill any hopes of a deal.
American attitudes toward Israel have changed, too. There is something else that has changed since the US and Iran last negotiated a nuclear deal: Americans are much less supportive of Israel. As of March, 46% said they were more sympathetic to Israel amid their war with the Palestinians, the lowest rate in 25 years of polling, and down 16 points from a decade ago. Though the drop in support is sharpest among Democrats, a few hard-right influencers (looking at you, Tucker Carlson) have also questioned America’s support for Israel.
“There’s an outside chance that Trump doesn’t help Bibi but leaves Israel to defend itself against Iranian attack,” says Brew. “This is an immensely risky proposition for Bibi, and one of the reasons why he’s unlikely to attack Iran without first nailing down Trump’s support.”
Thousands of Yemenis gather in Sanaa's Al-Sabeen Square to demonstrate unwavering solidarity with Palestine and vehemently denounce Israel and the US. Organized by the Houthis, the protest included chants against Israeli actions in Palestine, with demonstrators pledging steadfast support for Palestinians amid regional tensions.
Trump reaches pact with Houthis, a positive sign for US-Iran talks
President Donald Trump said this week the US campaign against the Houthis is done for now. “They have capitulated,” he said, “but more importantly… they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”
The Houthis from the Signal chat? The very same. The Trump administration in March ramped up bombings of the Iran-backed group – which controls much of Yemen – to stop its ongoing attacks on ships in the Red Sea, a critical global trade artery.
The Houthis began attacking ships in October 2023 in an act of solidarity with Hamas, protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
Why did the Houthis stop? Not necessarily because of the US airstrikes alone, says Gregory Brew, an Iran expert at Eurasia Group.
“The US hit the Houthis dozens of times,” he said, “but failed to do serious damage to the group’s capabilities.”
Rather, Tehran reportedly pushed the Houthis towards the US pact, a positive sign for US-Iran relations, Brew says. The US and Iran meet for a fourth round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program this weekend.
Meanwhile: the Houthis and Israel continue to clash. Israel leveled Yemen’s main airport this week after a Houthi missile landed near Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. Israel is, notably, excluded from the US-Houthi pact.Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and US President Joe Biden.
A US-Iran (prisoner) deal moves forward
On Monday, the Biden administration informed Congress that it had issued a waiver that will allow South Korean banks to transfer $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen by sanctions to Qatar’s Central Bank. (South Korea is one of the biggest purchasers of Iranian oil.) Qatar will then make the funds available to Iran for what the White House insists are humanitarian purposes like the purchase of food and medicine. Iran will free five detained US citizens, and Washington will release five Iranians detained in the US.
The deal is predictably controversial. The Biden team says it marks a breakthrough in US-Iran relations that could lead to important progress in other areas, including Iran’s nuclear program, and that the $6 billion comes not from US taxpayers but from Iran’s own frozen financial reserves. Republicans say President Biden is buying hostages, which rewards criminal behavior and encourages more hostage-taking.
The White House says Qatar will control and disburse the funds to ensure they are used only for the benefit of Iran’s people in accordance with US sanctions. But Iran’s President Raisi said Monday that only the Iranian government can determine what the Iranian people need, and that Iran will spend the $6 billion “wherever we need it.”
It remains unclear when the deal will be executed and the prisoners allowed to leave, but some speculate that it could be next week when both US President Joe Biden and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
US president Joe Biden
The US and Iran make a deal
By itself, this deal is a significant breakthrough, given the US-Iranian frictions of recent years. But there’s a follow-up question: Is that it? Is this a one-off humanitarian gesture that gives each side something it wants? Or is this the first move in a warming of relations? Cash-strapped Iran wants access to all its frozen assets, and the Biden administration would love to improve relations with its main Middle East antagonist – and to give Iran a reason to cool its relations with Russia.
Could this deal even signal progress toward a return to the Iran nuclear deal? We may know the answer later this month when UN nuclear inspectors issue their latest report on Iran’s uranium enrichment progress.
A new hypersonic ballistic missile called "Fattah" with a range of 1400 km, unveiled by Iran, is seen in Tehran.
Iran unveils hypersonic missile
The Islamic Republic of Iran claims to have developed its first hypersonic missile. At a showy military ceremony usually reserved for North Korean and Russian despots, President Ebrahim Raisi said that the new weapon proved that Iran’s “deterrent power has been formed.”
Crucially, the Iranians claim that the mid-range weapon capable of striking Gulf states can fly at 15 times the speed of sound. For context, a weapon is defined as hypersonic if it travels at between 5-25 times the speed of sound.
Tehran claims that no missile defense system can intercept its new weapon – dubbed Fattah, meaning “conqueror” in Farsi – but that depends on a range of factors, including the missile’s maneuverability. Many Gulf states use the Patriot missile defense system that are apt at targeting ballistic missiles on an unmoving trajectory. Israel, for its part, also has its own suite of missile defenses for these types of weapons.
To be sure, Iranian officials showed no proof on Tuesday that Fattah had been successfully fired, and they’ve claimed in the past to have had a similar weapon that hasn’t yet materialized.
The US and China are reportedly working on their own hypersonic arsenals, though Russia appears to already have developed them. (Ukraine, for its part, claimed in May to have shot them down with a Western-delivered Patriot battery.)
The timing of this grand reveal – that will put the US, Israel, and Gulf states on edge – is strange, coinciding with Iran reopening its diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia after a years-long feud.
Iran getting the bomb? Not as close as you might think
The 2015 Iran nuclear deal is pretty much dead in the water right now. And perhaps the train has already left the station because Tehran is too close to enriching enough uranium to get the bomb.
So, is it too late?
“Having the nuclear material does not mean [that] automatically that you have a nuclear weapon,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. Still, Grossi would like more cooperation from the Iranians.
The IEAE, he says, "wants to provide the diplomatic, technically neutral platform for a good understanding. I hope this message is heard in Tehran.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
What keeps the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog up at night? It's not only Vladimir Putin threatening to use a tactical nuke in Ukraine.
Weeks ago, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi witnessed first-hand how close we came to another Chernobyl disaster thanks to fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. And then there's Iran, on the cusp of getting the bomb, and North Korea, a rogue state amassing an entire arsenal of nukes.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer asks Grossi about the world's nuclear threats and what the IAEA is doing about them. Grossi views himself as a mediator — if leaders are willing to listen to him.
- Iran nuclear deal is dead ›
- US Energy Secretary on the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in peril ›
- Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at risk of disaster, says top nuclear watchdog ›
- US threat levels from foreign and domestic enemies ›
- Nuclear weapons could be used; Russia's war gets more dangerous ›
- Putin hosts Kim Jong Un at arms summit - GZERO Media ›