A paraplegic gang-rape victim has died by euthanasia in Spain after courts overruled her father’s efforts to stop the procedure.

Noelia Castillo, 25, from Barcelona, died on Thursday at the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility where she resided, bringing to an end a legal battle that has lasted more than a year and a half. 

Christian Lawyers, the ultraconservative Catholic organisation which has been representing Noelia’s father Geronimo Castillo, said tonight: ‘Noelia has already been euthanised.

‘At Christian Lawyers, we deeply regret her death and denounce that this case highlights the serious flaws in the euthanasia law, which does not protect the most vulnerable people.

‘We urge politicians to use her story to drive urgent changes and prevent something like this from happening again.

‘Thanks to everyone who has empathised with the family during these very difficult times.

‘You can understand that the parents are broken after years of trying to support her in her rehabilitation.’

Before she was euthanised in a procedure which began at 6.30pm local time, Noelia is said to have asked her family to spend extra time with her.

Loved ones were due to leave her alone with a medic who administered her three injections at around 5.30pm but stayed for at least an extra half-hour.

She was alone in the room when she died at her own request apart from the doctor administering her injections. 

Noelia passed away around 20 minutes after receiving the first of the injections.

The 25-year-old had been left paraplegic after jumping from a roof in a suicide attempt.

Her request for euthanasia was approved by the Catalan government in July 2024, but was subsequently delayed when her father, supported by Christian Lawyers, launched a series of legal challenges. 

Those appeals were rejected at multiple levels of the Spanish legal system, including the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the euthanasia to go ahead.

A last-minute attempt to halt it at the European Court of Human Rights was also rejected this week. 

Spain’s euthanasia law came into force in 2021. According to government data, 426 requests for assisted dying were granted in 2024, the most recent year available.

This was the first time that a case went to court for a judge to decide.

Castillo, who had been confined to a wheelchair since 2022, had spoken openly about her decision and the suffering she says led her to it.

‘I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favour of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years?’ she said. 

‘I don’t feel like doing anything: not going out, not eating. Sleeping is very difficult for me, and I have back and leg pain.’

‘The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister,’ she said, referring to her family members, ‘cannot be more important than the life of a daughter’. 

In an interview broadcast on the Spanish Antena 3 programme Y Ahora Sonsoles, she described how she wants to spend her final moments.

‘I’ve told them how I want it to be. I want to die looking beautiful. I’ve always thought I want to die looking good. I’ll wear my prettiest dress and put on makeup; it will be something simple,’ she said.

She invited her family to say goodbye beforehand, but said she wanted to be alone when the injection is administered.

Castillo spent much of her childhood in care due to her parents’ addiction and mental health problems, and said a gang rape in 2022 by three boys in a nightclub was a turning point.

She was reportedly sexually abused by one of her ex-boyfriends and later three other men days before she attempted to take her own life, according to Spanish media.

‘I didn’t report it because it was days before I tried to kill myself,’ she said of the assault.

On October 4, 2022, after using cocaine, she jumped from the fifth floor of a building, leaving her paraplegic.

She suffered a severe spinal cord injury, which left her unable to move from the waist down and caused severe neuropathic pain and incontinence.

‘My father saw me fall and couldn’t do anything,’ the 25-year-old said, ‘But after everything he’s done, I don’t feel sorry for him anymore.’

Her father sought to block her euthanasia through the courts, arguing against her right to die, but she accused him of failing to respect her wishes.

‘He hasn’t respected my decision and he never will,’ she said in her final interview.

‘He wanted to put the house he bought in my name so he could continue collecting child support. After that, he doesn’t want to put the house in my name, or pay for the funeral, or attend the euthanasia, or the burial, and he says he doesn’t want to know anything more about me. That for him I’m already dead.

‘I understand. He’s a father and he doesn’t want to lose a daughter, but he doesn’t listen to me. He never calls me, he never writes to me. The only thing he does is bring me food. Why does he want me alive? To keep me in a hospital?’

Prior to her suicide attempt in 2022, the young woman had reportedly already attempted to take her own life through drug overdoses and self-harm.

Castillo also suffered from borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder with paranoia and suicidal ideation, leading to severe mood swings and instability.

Spain is one of few countries to legalise euthanasia following a 2021 law that comes with strict requirements.

It stipulates that anyone of sound mind who is suffering from a ‘serious and incurable illness’ or a ‘chronic and disabling’ condition can request assistance to die.

The father had said his daughter suffered from mental disorders that ‘could affect her ability to make a free and conscious decision’ as required by law.

He also said there were indications she had changed her mind and that her ailment did not entail ‘unbearable physical or psychological suffering’.

Despite the intense legal fight, Castillo herself contacted Antena 3 after learning the date of her euthanasia to leave a final message.

‘I’ve finally done it. Let’s see if I can finally rest because I can’t take this family anymore, the pain, everything that torments me from what I’ve been through,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be an example for anyone, it’s simply my life, and that’s all.’

Her mother, who also appeared in the interview, said she wished she had a ‘magic wand’ to change her daughter’s mind.

Although she has now died, legal action surrounding the case will continue.

Christian Lawyers has launched further complaints against medical professionals and members of Catalonia’s Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, as well as the former regional health minister, alleging misconduct.

The European Court of Human Rights is also expected to rule at a later date on whether there has been any violation of rights, meaning the wider legal questions. 

In messages published online before Noelia’s euthanasia this afternoon, campaigners against it said: ‘On Thursday March 26 at 6pm Noelia will be euthanised. Pray for her life.’

Sympathiser Carla Gomez responded by saying: ‘Rest in peace and to those who don’t like Noelia’s decision, lump it.

‘It’s her life and she has the right to decide.’

Jose Maria Fernandez, acting for Christian Lawyers, said at the doors of the hospital around the time Noelia was about to be euthanised: ‘The legal system has failed. The euthanasia legislation is being applied as an applied suicide law.

‘The procedural system has failed, and there’s been a failure in this country’s health system.

‘This is a young girl who has had a lot of problems, and obviously a very difficult life and we all regret this.

‘But the only thing the health system has been able to provide her with has been death.

‘We think Noelia should have received treatment a long time ago for her mental health problems.’

He added: ‘We hope this case will serve at the very least to prevent it from happening again so there are no more Noelias.’

For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org 

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У Кабінеті Міністрів відбулася зустріч із представниками Банку розвитку Ради Європи на чолі з директором департаменту кредитування та соціального розвитку банку Крістіаном Табакару. У заході взяли участь віцепрем’єр­міністр з гуманітарної політики — міністр культури Тетяна Бережна, міністр соціальної політики, сім’ї та єдності Денис Улютін, міністр освіти і науки Оксен Лісовий та заступники кількох міністрів.

Головну увагу приділили підтримці людського капіталу та посиленню стійкості України через реалізацію соціально значущих проєктів.

Ішлося про реалізацію стратегічної програми банку на 2023—2027 роки із загальним пакетом фінансування обсягом я1,2 млрд, спрямованим на підтримку вразливих категорій громадян. Також обговорили рішення, які вже дають результат в межах нашої співпраці: стабільні соціальні виплати для ВПО у межах проєкту на 200 млн євро; розвиток соціальної оренди як довгострокового житлового рішення; енергетична стійкість шкіл, що гарантує безперервність навчання; центри життєстійкості для підтримки громад.

Серед пріоритетів подальшої взаємодії — фінансування соціальних проєктів й ініціатив з відновлення, зокрема в секторах житла, медицини, освіти та розвитку громад. Обговорили підготовку до Конференції з питань відновлення України (URC2026), яка відбудеться у червні у Гданську. Зосередилися на проєктах у секторах житла, соціальної підтримки та відновлення, які вже на сьогодні дають результат і переходять до етапу масштабування. Конференція — це можливість представити ці рішення на міжнародному рівні та перейти до наступних етапів реалізації разом із партнерами.

Тетяна Бережна наголосила, що культура — головний елемент національної стійкості та безпеки, що потребує посиленої міжнародної підтримки, зокрема у збереженні культурної спадщини та відновленні інфраструктури.

Крістіан Табакару високо оцінив ефективність взаємодії з Україною, відзначивши динамічність реалізації проєктів, і підтвердив готовність до подальшого поглиблення партнерства, повідомляє Мінкульт.

Міністр соціальної політики, сім’ї та єдності на нараді акцентував на питаннях підтримки внутрішньо переміщених осіб, розвитку соціального житла та посилення спроможності громад.

«Ми вдячні Банку розвитку Ради Європи за послідовну підтримку України зокрема в питаннях фінансової допомоги для ВПО. Це має критичне значення для забезпечення безперервності такої підтримки. Значна частина людей цієї категорії досі не має фінансової спроможності самостійно орендувати чи придбати житло. Тому працюємо над системними підходами, зокрема розробляємо модель соціального орендного житла, яка має забезпечити стійкі рішення для вразливих груп», — зазначив Денис Улютін.

Міністр додав, що уряд очікує ухвалення законодавства щодо соціального орендного житла найближчим часом. Він наголосив на важливості розвитку мережі центрів життєстійкості як головного елемента психосоціальної підтримки на рівні громад зокрема через підготовку фахівців та посилення спроможності громад надавати таку підтримку, повідомляє Мінсоцполітики.

Two people are dead and three more wounded after a missile attack in Abu Dhabi.

The victims were were killed by debris from a falling intercepted missile, the United Arab Emirates media office said.

Iranian attacks injured five people in the central Israeli city of Kafr Qasim and the West Bank.

The casualties pile more pressure on Donald Trump to find an end to the conflict in the Middle East, after the US President claimed the Iranian regime were too scared to admit they were negotiating with him.

Speaking during the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) annual fundraising dinner in Washington DC last night, Trump said Iranian officials were ‘afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people’.

He added that the the US are ‘decimating Iran’ and that the Mullahs are also ‘afraid they’ll be killed by us’.

Iran was lashed with heavy strikes overnight, with missile attacks reported in the city of Isfahan, which is home to a major Iranian air base.

The US has sent a 15-point plan to end the war to Iran, which reportedly include demands for a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme and shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran dismissed the plan and called the American demands ‘excessive’ and ‘not positive’.

Iranian state media has said the country has its own five-point proposal for negotiations.

The regime’s defiance irked US President, who threatened to ‘unleash hell’ if Iran does not accept defeat.

It comes as more than 10,000 military targets in Iran have been struck since the war began last month, according to US Central Command.

Trump will also dispatch more than 1,000 extra troops from an airborne assault unit to the Middle East.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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The UK government is to reopen a carbon dioxide plant with a Government grant of up to £100million amid fears of shortages caused by the war in Iran.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle signed off the grant to reopen the Ensus plant on Teesside, in the North East of England, according to the Financial Times.

It is understood the grant will pay to get the plant up and running again for an initial three-month period.

The plant was mothballed last year after a trade deal with the US cut tariffs on bioethanol, its main product.

It will be reopened due to its ability to produce CO2 as a by-product. The gas is vital for several sectors, including drinks and the nuclear industry, but supply has been disrupted thanks to soaring energy costs on other sources such as fertiliser factories.

The grant for the Ensus plant is the first major intervention by the UK Government aimed at tackling possible shortages caused by the Iran conflict.

But fears range much wider than CO2, with former BP executive Nick Butler telling Times Radio the UK could face oil and gas shortages in two to three weeks.

He said: ‘There will be shortages and I think the Government now should be seriously planning how they’re going to handle that and part of that is maximising supply.’

On Tuesday, Shell chief executive Wael Sawan issued a similar warning at an industry conference.

Ministers continue to insist the supply of petrol remains reliable.

Energy minister Michael Shanks told MPs on Wednesday the Government was ‘absolutely not’ planning for blackouts or petrol rationing, insisting the UK had a ‘strong and diverse range of supplies’.

The key question remains how long Iran’s effective blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz will last.

On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will urge Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as she travels to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in France.

She will make clear that the UK will help ensure safe passage for ships through the strait and provide an additional £2million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

Ms Cooper is expected to hold talks with counterparts, including US secretary of state Marco Rubio, France’s Jean-Noel Barrot, and Germany’s Johann Wadephul.

The strait remained closed on Wednesday evening, despite Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi claiming it was open to ‘non-hostile’ shipping.

The conflict continued with Washington saying it would hit Iran ‘harder’ if Tehran refused to accept it had been ‘defeated militarily’.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt insisted ‘productive’ talks were continuing between Washington and Tehran.

But Mr Araghchi said in a message on his Telegram channel, translated from Farsi, that there had been ‘no negotiations or discussions with the American side’ and suggested the US had effectively admitted defeat.

He said: ‘Didn’t they talk about “unconditional surrender” before? What happened now that they are talking about negotiations and calling for them?

‘I will explain that there are no negotiations, but the fact that they are mobilising their highest officials to negotiate with the Islamic Republic indicates their acceptance of defeat.’

It’s just before 10.30pm on Monday October 20 and one of the Metropolitan Police’s busy 999 call centres receives an urgent call. On the end of the line is a 48-year-old man, with a soft Irish accent, who wishes to report an emergency.

‘Oh, hello,’ he says. ‘Someone just robbed my phone.’

The caller explains that his assailant, a ‘black guy’ in his ‘late teens’ of slim build and average height, had brazenly ‘come on to the pavement to grab my phone and cycled off on a bike’.

Although he’d given chase, it had been in vain: the street criminal travelled ‘a few blocks’ north before turning left into a park and disappearing.

There follows a short conversation in which the phone operator apologises that no one can be deployed to the crime scene, since ‘we are having extreme demand on police officers’.   

They instead offer to take a crime report over the telephone. Details are duly shared, and a couple of minutes later, the victim is issued with a ‘crime reference number,’ and wished goodnight.

So ends what, in Sadiq Khan’s London, is a depressingly common series of events. Some 117,000 phones are pinched in the capital each year, with around 80,000 taken via robberies.

Many, including the one in this incident, are snatched from the hand of an unwitting pedestrian who happens to be texting while walking along a pavement after dark.

Yet in this case, the victim is no ordinary pedestrian. And today, some five months later, his phone (or more particularly its contents) lies at the epicentre of an explosive political scandal.

The controversy revolves around a simple fact: the 48-year-old man in question was none other than Morgan McSweeney, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s then chief-of-staff and one of the most powerful men in Britain. 

His stolen iPhone was a work device. Throughout the almost 18 months since his boss had moved into Downing Street, he’d been using it to run the country.

At the time of the 999 call, McSweeney also happened to be heavily embroiled in the fallout from his close friend and mentor Peter Mandelson’s sacking as UK Ambassador to the United States.

In addition to recommending the Labour Peer’s appointment in the first place, he’d played an extraordinarily, and perhaps inappropriately, active role in a subsequent vetting process which had seen Mandelson parachuted into the £161,000-a-year role – leapfrogging several highly-qualified career diplomats in the process.

It was McSweeney, rather than a member of the Number Ten ‘propriety and ethics’ team, who was instructed to interrogate his old chum over various links to Jeffrey Epstein which had been ‘red-flagged’ during a civil service vetting process. 

Unsurprisingly, he’d then given the paedophile’s associate a clean bill of health, prompting Keir Starmer to rubber stamp Mandy’s move to Washington in December 2024.

That had, of course, ended in tears. And following Mandelson’s chaotic departure from Washington which cost the taxpayer £75,000 in compensation, and caused significant damage to the UK’s reputation, McSweeney’s role in the whole thing was coming under severe scrutiny. One might say that vultures were circling.

Most pressing, was an issue flagged in early October, when a group of Labour whips had attended meetings at which they discussed how to respond to an expected ‘humble address motion’ by the Tories on the whole thing.

It was feared that they would seek disclosure of every email and WhatsApp exchange related to Mandelson’s appointment and resignation.

According to the Spectator, those involved had later told colleagues: ‘If the Tories pass a humble address motion, Morgan is f***ed.’

All of which is broadly what came to pass. Following disclosures made via the Epstein Files, the Government has already released one tranche of official documents (they show how McSweeney had dismissed concerns about his powerful friend via a memo claiming, wrongly, that they had ‘all been dispelled’) and is expected to make more papers public shortly after Easter.

This second tranche of documents should, on paper, contain both formal and informal communications between Mandelson and the Downing Street machine.

Particularly juicy would be the large number of WhatsApp messages he’s believed to have exchanged with McSweeney, in which the duo would, given the Prince of Darkness’s extensive track record, be expected to have exchanged insider gossip about everything from policy to reshuffles, to the competence (or otherwise) of the Prime Minister and various cabinet ministers.

They could, in other words, be political dynamite. But for one important fact: thanks to the conveniently timed mobile phone theft of Monday October 20, those messages appear to no longer exist.

To understand why, we must interrogate both the Metropolitan Police’s transcript of the 999 call plus various pieces of guidance, and public statements, about the whole thing that have been issued by both Downing Street and senior ministers over recent days.

At times, they are strangely contradictory. And in the cold light of day, several aspects of the official account don’t entirely seem to add up, prompting Tory frontbencher Alex Burghart to say yesterday that ‘the whole thing stinks of a cover-up’ while Nigel Farage declared: ‘What a convenient theft for McSweeney. Does No 10 think the British public are complete idiots?’

Back to that emergency call, which raises several significant questions. Not least why McSweeney doesn’t bother to tell the police that he happens to be the Prime Minister’s chief-of-staff, which would surely have seen the force divert significant resources to recovering the stolen device. Instead, he said, somewhat vaguely: ‘It’s a government phone.’

Then there is a strange passage during which McSweeney told the call-handler that the incident had occurred in

‘Belgrave Street,’ an address in Tower Hamlets. In fact, it had occurred in Belgrave Road, a busy thoroughfare connecting Pimlico with Belgravia. 

When the call-handler asked whether he’d followed the assailant to Stepney Green Park (which is again in Tower Hamlets) McSweeney replied, wrongly: ‘Yeah. He turned left there.’

As Andrew Neil observed last night, that ‘couldn’t have been true… It’s almost as if McSweeney [was] deliberately misleading the police call handler to sow confusion.’ 

Then there is the small matter of what happened to the iPhone’s automatic tracking function, which should in theory have allowed either the police or Downing Street’s security staff, who might (in the context) be expected to have taken the incident very seriously indeed, to quickly locate the stolen device.

McSweeney to this end tells the operator: ‘About two minutes before I rung you and I chased… I rang my office to get the phone tracked.’ Yet somehow, Number Ten’s finest sleuths appear to have been unable to find it.

What instead seems to have happened is that they decided to both shut off the stolen device and wipe it remotely. 

Somewhat weirdly, Starmer’s office refused to answer questions yesterday about whether they had subsequently contacted the Met to liaise with them over the incident.

There is further confusion over how the police followed up the incident. On Tuesday, Labour sources were briefing that they’d been ‘too busy’ to mount a further investigation. 

But the Met said yesterday that they’d instead made two calls to the victim the very next day, via the personal phone he’d made the 999 call on. They did not get a response.

Conveniently, given the context, there appears to have then been no way for McSweeney or anyone else to access the WhatsApp messages that were sitting on that phone. 

While most people’s devices are backed up to Apple’s ‘cloud’ services, meaning they are automatically downloaded each time they log into a new telephone, security concerns mean that senior government officials aren’t allowed to use that service.

Neither are they meant to run WhatsApp on their laptops or tablets, which might create alternative records of past correspondence.

Instead, Government guidance states they must either forward or screenshot messages on to an official system, and that they are responsible for protecting personal data from ‘accidental loss’.

That McSweeney seems to have failed to follow such protocols seems, at the very least, careless.

Indeed, some have compared his situation to that of Rebekah Vardy’s agent, who prior to the infamous ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial managed to lose a phone containing a number of key messages relating to her feud with Coleen Rooney, which were expected to cause significant damage to the Vardy case, by dropping it into the North Sea during a fishing trip.

McSweeney resigned from Downing Street last month, saying: ‘The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself… I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.’

As a result, his take on this week’s developments remains unclear.

Former Labour colleagues are meanwhile busy digging themselves into holes. At the weekend, Communities Secretary Steve Reed told LBC radio that the phone had been stolen ‘well in advance of anything happening about Mandelson… Maybe even a year before.’

That was, of course, untrue, prompting SNP leader Stephen Flynn to refer Reed to the PM’s ethics adviser, asking: ‘Why did he lie?’

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was meanwhile handed the poisoned chalice of doing yesterday’s media round. 

‘I can totally understand the cynicism in these sorts of cases,’ he conceded, before insisting that the loss of the Mandelson messages was nonetheless ‘a cock-up rather than a conspiracy’.

Labour hasn’t always been so forgiving when ministers manage to mislay old WhatsApp communications. 

Back in 2023, it emerged that Boris Johnson was unable to access an old phone containing messages he’d exchanged in 2020 and had been asked to provide to the Covid Inquiry.

It led to a furious political row, with Keir Starmer’s then deputy Angela Rayner accusing the Conservatives of ‘a desperate attempt to withhold evidence,’ adding: ‘The public deserve answers, not another cover-up.’

Some might argue that Ms Rayner’s silence over the McSweeney affair reeks of hypocrisy. Others might call it sensible politics. 

But she was right about at least one thing: unless the public starts to get some proper answers, the mystery of the missing iPhone will rumble on.

The Royal Navy will start seizing Russia’s shadow fleet vessels when they slip through UK waters, the prime minister has announced.

Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would join northern European allies in intercepting the tankers as part of a drive to ‘go after’ the sanction-breaking ships fuelling Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

He said: ‘Putin is rubbing his hands at the war in the Middle East because he thinks higher oil prices will let him line his pockets.

‘That’s why we’re going after his shadow fleet even harder, not just keeping Britain safe but starving Putin’s war machine of the dirty profits that fund his barbaric campaign in Ukraine.

‘He and his cronies should be in no doubt, we will always defend our sovereignty and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.’

Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to be made up of more than a thousand ageing tankers.

They illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West since the conflict began.

The Prime Minister has given approval for the UK to start seizing shadow fleet vessels as he travels to Helsinki, Finland, for a summit with national leaders from the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

The JEF, a military coalition of 10 northern European countries led by the UK, aims to defend against Russian incursions.

It also includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years and have supported operations by other countries to seize the ships.

In January, the UK assisted in the seizure of the oil tanker Marinera by the US.

Previously known as the Bella-1, the Russian-flagged vessel was captured by American forces aided by RAF aircraft and the British supply ship RFA Tideforce in the Atlantic.

Later that same month, Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Dagger helped the French seize another sanctioned ship, the Grinch, in the western Mediterranean, shadowing the vessel through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Last week, the French intercepted the Deyna oil tanker in the Mediterranean, supported by the UK.

Libyan authorities have meanwhile towed a suspected shadow fleet oil tanker found drifting in the Mediterranean which was believed to have been hit in a drone strike.

The tanker, carrying liquefied natural gas, was towed to avoid a spill in the Mediterranean.

At the JEF summit, the Prime Minister and other leaders are expected to discuss shared security in the so-called High North and the war in Ukraine.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Donald Trump has brutally slapped down Benjamin Netanyahu’s push for the US to incite a bloody street revolution to topple the Iranian regime. 

‘Why the hell should we tell people to take to the streets when they’ll just get mowed down,’ Trump told Netanyahu during a call last week.

The call came just hours after Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli strike last Tuesday. Netanyahu told Trump the regime was in disarray and that there was a window for a popular uprising, a US official and Israeli source told Axios.

But Trump feared a massacre, mindful that thousands of Iranians had been slaughtered by paramilitary forces during anti-regime protests before the war.

Netanyahu and Trump agreed to wait and see if the Iranians would come out during the annual festival of fire without encouragement, a source said.

But Netanyahu proceeded anyway, stating on TV: ‘Our aircraft are striking terrorist operatives … This is meant to allow the brave Iranian people to celebrate the festival of fire. So go out and celebrate … we are watching from above.’

The rupture lays bare a widening gap between the two leaders, with Washington quietly distancing itself from Jerusalem on regime change despite Trump urging a popular uprising when the war began. 

Netanyahu has since secretly convened his generals and pushed for a 48-hour blitz on Iran’s top targets, even as Trump moves to nail down a swift peace deal. 

Netanyahu convened Israeli commanders in a bunker deep beneath Tel Aviv on Tuesday after reviewing Trump’s 15-point peace plan. 

The Israeli prime minister and his top military advisers were alarmed the US plan did not go far enough to curb Tehran’s military capabilities.

Netanyahu’s Thursday deadline reflects deep concern within the Israeli government that Trump could reach a deal with Tehran at any moment, sources say.

Israeli officials present at Netanyahu’s underground meeting described the atmosphere as ‘tense.’ 

Iran rejected the proposal on Wednesday, but Trump remains bullish on a deal and a ceasefire could come as early as next Saturday, Israeli media has reported. 

Netanyahu’s inner circle is intent on reaching three key war goals: eliminating Iran’s ballistic-missile stockpile, ensuring Tehran cannot develop a nuclear warhead, and fostering an environment within Iran for civilians to overthrow the Islamic regime.

‘If you do not obtain the three objectives, you will not be able to end the war,’ said Boaz Bismuth, a member of Netanyahu’s party. 

Trump has not touched on regime change in his messaging since the early days of the war, and the White House does not list it among in its four official objectives: destroy Iran’s missiles, Navy, armed proxies, and nuclear capabilities.

Pentagon chiefs last night ordered around 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East to join some 4,500 Marines already en route, as Trump’s peace push shows signs of weakening. 

The President is prepared to pull the trigger on a full-scale invasion if Tehran continues to rebuff his diplomatic overtures, according to members of his inner circle.

‘Trump has a hand open for a deal, and the other is a fist, waiting to punch you in the f***ing face,’ a Trump aide told Axios.

The 15-point plan, modeled on Trump’s Gaza deal, would require Iran to dismantle all nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, open the Strait of Hormuz, and abandon proxy terror groups.

But Iranian state TV said Wednesday the regime had rejected the proposal outright, with Tehran demanding the closure of all US bases in the Gulf, reparations, and an end to Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Tehran is also seeking to bring the strait – a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil – under its control, allowing it to charge transit fees on passing vessels, much like Egypt does with the Suez Canal.

A Trump official described Iran’s demands as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘unrealistic’, warning that a deal is now harder to reach than before the war began as the President readies a potential ground invasion force. 

US and Iranian diplomats have not spoken through direct contact and instead communicate via Middle Eastern intermediaries from Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia has made clear that ceding control of the Strait of Hormuz is a non-starter, with Riyadh urging Trump to stay in the fight. 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly urged Trump to finish the Islamic regime in calls over the last week, including the use of ground forces to seize Iran’s energy sites.

Iran remains wary of Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, accusing the pair of ‘backstabbing’ Tehran in negotiations ahead of the US and Israel’s strikes on February 28. 

Iranian officials are pushing for Vice President JD Vance to lead the US negotiating team, believing he is sympathetic after privately expressing doubts about Operation Epic Fury.

Donald Trump will hit Iran ‘harder than they have ever been hit before’ unless Tehran accepts it has been ‘defeated militarily’, the White House has warned.

The president’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump ‘does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell’, adding: ‘Iran should not miscalculate again.’

Earlier, Iran dismissed an American 15-point plan to end the war and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.

Iran’s English-language state television broadcaster quoted an anonymous official as saying Tehran will end the conflict ‘when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met’.

Talks with Iran were still underway, Leavitt said.

‘Talks continue. They are productive, as the President said on Monday, and they continue to be,’ she told reporters.

But she added: ‘If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.’

Leavitt declined to identify which Iranian or Iranians the administration is negotiating with.

The press secretary also declined to comment on a 15-point ceasefire plan put forward by the United States that was rejected by Iran.

She cautioned the White House press pack about ‘reporting about speculative points or speculative plans from anonymous sources’.

‘The White House never confirmed that full plan,’ Leavitt said, adding that ‘there are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual’.

Publicly, Iranian officials poured withering scorn on the prospect ‌of any negotiations with the Trump administration. 

But an apparent delay in providing a formal response to Pakistan, which delivered a 15-point proposal on behalf of Washington, appeared to signal that at least some figures in Tehran may be considering it.

Global equity markets regained some ground while oil prices dipped on Wednesday after reports that Washington ​had sent the proposal to Iran, with investors hoping for an end to a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and risks fuelling inflation.

The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told Reuters.

They would add to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine unit, aboard a huge amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month.

Iran could open a new front at the mouth of the Red Sea if attacks are carried out on its territory, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency ​cited an unnamed military source as saying on ​Wednesday.

The source said that Iran has ⁠the capability to pose a ‘credible threat’ in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.

Iran’s parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said his country would attack an unnamed neighbouring country if it cooperated with efforts by ‘the enemies’ to occupy one of its islands.

Since the start of what the ​US calls ‘Operation Epic Fury’, Iran has attacked countries that host US bases and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth ​of the world’s oil and ⁠liquefied natural gas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that the ‘world is staring down the barrel of a wider war’ in the region.

‘It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder – and start climbing the diplomatic ladder,’ he said at the UN headquarters in New York.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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The Prince and Princess of Wales today attended the installation of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent.

William, 43, deputised for the King as he took part in the ceremony, according to recent tradition. 

The monarch, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, delegates the duty to their successor.

Kate, in a long grey fitted Suzannah coat, held onto her wide-brimmed Juliette Botterill hat amid windy weather as she and the prince were greeted outside the West Door by Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Lady Colgrain. 

The Waleses smiled and clapped along with the 2,000-strong congregation as those gathered for the historic service erupted with applause after Dame Sarah Mullally was formally enthroned.

William and Kate, who had no active role in the ceremony, listened to the first sermon by the new Archbishop, in which she spoke of her hopes for peace in the Middle East. 

She also acknowledged failures on safeguarding in the church, referencing ‘victims and survivors’ and the ‘pain experienced’ by those harmed by ‘actions, inactions, and failures of those in our own Christian churches and communities’.

Heir to the throne William has not been known for his Christian beliefs and is not a regular churchgoer, but will one day be crowned and anointed in holy oil – ‘the conferment of God’s grace upon a ruler’ – as monarch at his coronation.

Three days ahead of Dame Sarah’s installation, an aide to the 43-year-old prince sought to draw a line under debate on William’s stance on religion by saying he had a ‘quieter’ commitment to the Church of England.

The aide added: ‘He understands the importance of the role he will inherit and is committed to carrying it forward with sincerity, authenticity and a clear sense of purpose.’

While the King is head of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and the spiritual leader of the Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The ceremony also featured a mandate – a legal instruction – from the King, which will be read by Principal Registrar of the Province of Canterbury, Darren Oliver, giving the monarch’s instruction to install Dame Sarah as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

She is the first woman to be appointed Archbishop in the role’s 1,400 year history, and today’s service is her formal installation. 

Dame Sarah is the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

William and Catherine previously met her at Lambeth Palace on February 5 and have since indicated their interest in building a warm and meaningful relationship with the most senior bishop in the church and its spiritual leader.

Upon arrival, Their Royal Highnesses were received by the Lord Lieutenant, Lady Colgrain, who then introduced them to the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Reverend Dr David Monteith.

The congregation, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, stood while the Waleses processed side-by-side through the nave to their seats in the quire, as a royal fanfare sounded.

William appeared to particularly enjoy the performance by the African Choir of Norfolk who sang and danced through the cathedral, singing the joyful acclamation Muhona in their brightly coloured dresses, with the prince smiling as the singers entered the quire.

The Prince and Princess of Wales took a few moments to speak to the new Archbishop on their way out.

Dame Sarah gave a small curtsey to Kate and was seen laughing as she responded to remarks made by William.

At one point, Dame Sarah placed her hand on her heart as she continued talking to the couple.

Dame Sarah was welcomed into Canterbury Cathedral, amid fanfare, by schoolchildren from John Wallis Academy in Ashford.

Having walked to the Cathedral’s West Door, she knocked it three times using her pastoral staff – the traditional way for a new archbishop to seek permission to enter.

She was questioned by the schoolchildren as to why she had been sent, to which she answered: ‘I am sent as Archbishop to serve you, to proclaim the love of Christ and with you to worship and love him with heart and soul, mind and strength.’

During the ceremony, Dame Sarah placed her hand on the St John’s Bible to swear the Corporal Oath – the first time this Bible has been used in this way.

The copy of the first Benedictine hand-illuminated Bible for more than 500 years was given to the cathedral in 2023.

The Augustine Gospels, which were used between 1945 and 2013, when the last archbishop was sworn in, are said to be fragile and not easily moved.

Dame Sarah said she was ‘delighted to be with you today’ as she gave her first sermon in the role.

She told a congregation of around 2,000 people at Canterbury Cathedral: ‘Over the last week I have walked the ancient pilgrim path from St Paul’s Cathedral in London to Canterbury Cathedral.

‘Each day my heart and spirits were lifted immeasurably by the people – young and old – we encountered, even though my aching feet and limbs tell a different story.

‘As I have walked, I have been aware that I make this journey both on a personal level – as my ministry moves from being the Bishop of London to the Archbishop of Canterbury – but more significantly, I make this journey with others and in the footsteps of the past.’

Dame Sarah undertook a six-day pilgrimage by foot from London to Canterbury in preparation for her role, arriving in the Kent city on Sunday.

Crowds gathered outside the cathedral ahead of the service, with one person saying they were keen to ‘see this brilliant moment in history’.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch are also among guests in the 2,000-strong congregation inside.

Sir Keir, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, described the position as a ‘key role in our national life’ and said he wished the new archbishop ‘every success’.

Dame Sarah said she is aware of the ‘significance of being the first female archbishop’ and paid tribute to the ‘women that have supported me in my ministry, and also the men as well’.

Wednesday’s ceremony has ‘women’s voices right the way through it’, she added.

She said: ‘There’s something about celebrating women, but also being able to say to other people, in a sense, it’s entirely possible for you to follow your dreams and what you want to do.’

Special features include five of the so-called ‘Africa Six’ – the first female Anglican bishops from across Africa – processing through the Cathedral’s nave in their robes.

And, in celebration of the contribution of female scholars, musicians and writers through the years to the Church, choral music will range from the Renaissance to contemporary, including the anthem All Shall Be Well by British composer Joanna Marsh.