An Post suspends all postal services to Israel and Iran
Due to the non-availability of flights into both Israel and Iran, all postal services to these countries have been suspended with immediate effect and until further notice, An Post has announced.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender in the face of Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage” to them, in an official statement read by a state TV anchor.
The remarks from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has only been seen once since the strikes began, came after US president Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” in a social media post and warned Mr Khamenei that the US knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now”.
Mr 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.
Last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin called on global powers to work together in a bid to de escalate the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking in Cork on Saturday, Mr Martin expressed concern about violence between Israel and Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. He said that there was an urgent need for a return to a rules based international order.
“It is deeply concerning that we have so much conflict in the Middle East.
"It is dangerous in terms of its impact on civilian populations in the first instance. We see the horrors of Gaza - Syria is coming out of the embers of a horrible civil war.
"A new Government is installed there endeavouring to find and create some stability - we have instability and war in Lebanon, a new Government there trying to create stability and sustainable life for people in Lebanon."
"We have the appalling settlements in the West Bank. Iran should have engaged a long time ago on its nuclear programme and to dismantling it."
"But there has to be a return to a rules-based international order. At the moment it is receding before our very eyes. It is being eroded."
