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Injustice of nuclear-weapons state Israel’s strikes against Iranian nuclear sites

Your leading article (“Reckoning”, Jun 14) states: “No
country can be expected to stand idly by while an avowed enemy works
steadily, decade after decade, in secret to create the ultimate weapon.”
Although written to justify Israel’s actions, this sentiment surely applies
both ways. Israel’s nuclear programme is shrouded in secrecy and the
country is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Furthermore, Israel does not accept International Atomic Energy Authority
scrutiny of its activities, whereas Iran was locked in via the Obama
agreement. It’s this kind of asymmetric situation that is likely to fuel a
sense of injustice and unfairness in the minds of Iranians, and a
determination to strengthen their position by creating a nuclear weapon.

Times 16th June 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/times-letters-israels-strikes-against-iranian-nuclear-sites-kvtkkqtst

June 17, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Iran and Israel at War

Trump reaffirmed his support for Israel and called the overnight strikes “a very successful attack.”

 June 13, 2025 , https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-and-israel-at-war

Iran commenced its retaliation against Israel late on 13 June, unleashing a massive barrage of missiles aimed at the city of Tel Aviv, which resulted in multiple direct hits, including strikes on the Israeli army headquarters. 

Tehran targeted “dozens of targets, military centers and air bases” across Israel, according to a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It said the operation was named “True Promise 3.”

The US-Israeli war that was launched overnight on Friday killed several nuclear scientists and high-ranking members of the IRGC.

Air defenses remained active in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and near strategic nuclear sites as Israeli warplanes bombed the country throughout most of the day.

“We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out. They can still work out a deal however, it’s not too late,” US President Donald Trump told Reuters.

“We are in a historic event. This is not an operation, this is a planned war, 1,500 kilometers from Israel,” an Israeli army official told reporters on Friday evening.

Israeli warplanes launched surprise attacks across Iran during the early hours of 13 June, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, army bases, missile storage sites, and residential neighborhoods as part of Operation ‘Lion’s Courage.’

At least 78 people have been confirmed killed and 329 injured.

Tehran has suspended all domestic and international flights, according to the civil aviation authority, as Israeli strikes continued Friday morning across various cities, including Tabriz, Kermanshah, Hamedan, Qasr-e Shirin, and Kangavar.

“With this crime, [Israel] has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself, and it will inevitably face it. It must await severe punishment, for the powerful arm of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave it alone, God willing,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said following the start of the US-Israeli war.

“The people of Iran and the country’s officials will not remain silent in the face of this crime, and the legitimate and powerful response of the Islamic Republic of Iran will make the enemy regret their foolish actions,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Friday.

Iranian drones have been reportedly shot down over the skies of several Arab nations on their way to Israel. The Iranian military is reportedly preparing a significant ballistic missile attack in retaliation.

The UN Security Council is expected to meet later on Friday at the request of Tehran, according to unnamed diplomats who spoke with Reuters.

In a phone interview with CNN, Trump reaffirmed his support for Israel and called the overnight strikes “a very successful attack.”

“Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know I gave them, I don’t know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61,” Trump said.

“They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late. It will be too late for them. You know the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners … They didn’t die of the flu; they didn’t die of Covid,” the president added.

June 17, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA participated in Israeli air defense using Patriot and THAAD systems

Patriot and THAAD missile defense batteries, operated by U.S. military personnel and originally deployed under the Biden administration, participated in Israeli air defense Friday evening, according to U.S. defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. That represented a more limited participation in Israel’s defense than last year, when American air and sea assets helped shoot down incoming Iranian missiles during two retaliatory Iranian attacks. – from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/12/israel-attacks-iran-tehran-explosions/#link-45PWIAZSNNE57OYKVRHWOA6Z3I

June 17, 2025 Posted by | Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear submarines plan is an expensive mistake – there are better things for UK to spend money on: Andy Brown

Keeping the public safe is one of the prime responsibilities of any government. So, it is easy to understand that the government needs to spend money on defending our country.

Nuclear submarines plan is an expensive mistake – there are better things
for UK to spend money on: Andy Brown. Keeping the public safe is one of the
prime responsibilities of any government. So, it is easy to understand that
the government needs to spend money on defending our country. What is a lot
harder to understand is why the government would appear to be quite so
enthusiastic about wasteful and excessive expenditure that is supposed to
protect us from some forms of harm but slow and reluctant to act to protect
us from others.

Yorkshire Post 16th June 2025 https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/nuclear-submarines-plan-is-an-expensive-mistake-there-are-better-things-for-uk-to-spend-money-on-andy-brown-5175376

June 17, 2025 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Pacific Rim countries say no to U.S.-China war

The question that the people of the Pacific and Pacific Rim countries are asking is: Why do we have to respond to this demand by the U.S.? We are not threatened by China. Where is the dire urgency that demands such a huge distortion of our public spending on the military?

The indications are that the United States is preparing for war against China, but cannot wage such a war from the West Coast of the USA. It needs military bases, port facilities and airfields in the countries on the west side of the Pacific Rim; for example, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Guam, Micronesia and Australia. Without these bases, without the backing of the military forces and munitions and manufacturing capabilities of the Pacific Rim countries, the United States cannot launch and sustain a war against China.

By Bevan Ramsden | 16 June 2025, https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/pacific-rim-countries-say-no-to-us-china-war,19837

As the U.S. pushes Pacific Rim allies to ramp up military spending for a possible war with China, a new campaign asks: at what cost and for whose benefit? Bevan Ramsden writes.

THE PACIFIC and Pacific Rim countries have a geographical commonality. They are encircled by, or have a border with, the vast, blue, peaceful Pacific Ocean. They also share a political commonality. The people and countries of this region are under pressure to lift their military spending at the expense of addressing their social needs.

The pressure comes from the United States, whose Defence Secretary, Peter Hegseth, at the recent Singapore Defence Summit, declared that the U.S. expects its allies in this region to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP. His justification was a “possibly imminent threat” posed by China. He emphasised how the U.S. is “reorienting towards deterring aggression by China” and made it clear that the Donald Trump Administration’s defence strategy revolves around stifling the rise of China.

Responding to this expectation would involve the doubling of South Korean expenditure on military defence, from 2.6% of its GDP to 5%.

It would mean Japan’s military defence spending would have to triple from 1.8 % of its GDP to 5%.

In Australia, such an increase would represent a two-and-a-half times increase from 2% to 5% of its GDP.

These examples show that the 5% target represents a massive increase in military spending, which can only be made by reducing funding for urgent infrastructure, social needs such as health and education and loss of resources to address the real threat to their living environments, the climate crisis. 

The question that the people of the Pacific and Pacific Rim countries are asking is: Why do we have to respond to this demand by the U.S.? We are not threatened by China. Where is the dire urgency that demands such a huge distortion of our public spending on the military?

Another commonality among the countries of the Pacific Rim, particularly those on the western and southern rim of the Pacific, is U.S. troops and U.S. military installations stationed on their territory. In the case of South Korea, these are substantial, close to 30,000 and put that country’s military virtually under the control of the U.S.

Japan has 57,000 U.S. troops, including 20,000 on Okinawa, where the U.S. Kadena Air Base is its largest outside of the USA. Clearly, this level of foreign military occupation exerts substantial pressure on Japan’s foreign policy.

The Philippines has four U.S. bases with troops rotating through its territory and training with its defence forces, and is setting up logistic centres for equipment and munitions.

The people of Guam, a territory under direct U.S. control, are subject to 7,000 U.S. troops, with almost a third of the land controlled by the U.S. military. The Joint Region Marianas is a U.S. military command combining the Andersen Air Force Base and the Naval Base Guam.

Andersen Air Force Base hosts B-52 bombers and fighter jets. Naval Base Guam is the home port for four nuclear-powered fast attack submarines and two submarine tenders. American military commanders have referred to the island as their “permanent aircraft carrier”.

 Australian governments, in their subservience to the U.S., have signed the Force Posture Agreement, giving the U.S. military unimpeded access to Australia’s ports and airfields and enabling the establishment of a Northern Territory base for its B-52 bombers, some of which are nuclear-capable. The Agreement is giving the U.S. fuel and munitions storage areas to support war operations and an $8 billion port facility for servicing their nuclear submarines and storage of their nuclear waste.

The people of Pacific Rim countries, including Australia, need to ask: Why does the U.S. have these extensive military facilities in our countries and why are they demanding such huge military expenditures from us?

The answer, unfortunately, is not for the benefit of the people of this region but for its own foreign policy objectives, which include maintaining its dominance in the region by “containing” China and preventing the rise of its influence.

The indications are that the United States is preparing for war against China, but cannot wage such a war from the West Coast of the USA. It needs military bases, port facilities and airfields in the countries on the west side of the Pacific Rim; for example, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Guam, Micronesia and Australia. Without these bases, without the backing of the military forces and munitions and manufacturing capabilities of the Pacific Rim countries, the United States cannot launch and sustain a war against China.

So the United States needs us but we don’t need such a war.

It would only bring devastation to our lives and our economies, and if it turned nuclear, who would survive?

The Pacific Peace Network, with representatives from the Pacific Rim countries and together with World Beyond War, has produced a solidary campaign which is being launched on 21 June 2025.

This is a campaign in which the people of each country on the Pacific Rim, including Australia, can say no to such a war and no to an increase in military spending for it, through a common petition which is a call on their governments.

The common petition can be accessed here at the World Beyond War website.

This call on governments reads:

For sustainable peace and the survival of our peoples and environment, we ask you:

  • refuse to join military preparations for a U.S.-China war;
  • declare you will not fight in a U.S.-China war;
  • declare neutrality should such a war break out; and
  • do not allow your territory or waters to be used in such a war, including the collection and relay of military intelligence, sales of weapons and hosting combatant troops and facilities.

Later this year, the petitions will be presented to their respective governments by peace activists in each country.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | ASIA, AUSTRALIA, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Satellite imagery reveals damage to key Iran nuclear sites

Satellite imagery shared with BBC Verify has provided a clearer picture of
damage inflicted on two of Iran’s key nuclear sites as well as other
military targets. Imagery from two different providers shows damage to the
Natanz nuclear facility as well as a missile site south of the city of
Tabriz – hit in the first round of strikes against Iran on Friday.

Other images show damage to other known missile bases. Israel is continuing to
target numerous sites across Iran, which has prompted retaliatory strikes.
Newly released optical satellite imagery from Maxar shows the clearest
picture yet of what happened at key Iranian nuclear sites at Natanz and
Isfahan. At Natanz, we can see damage to the pilot fuel enrichment plant
and an electrical substation, according to analysis by the Institute for
Space and International Security (ISIS).

BBC 15th June 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7808xvv737o

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Iran, weapons and war | Leave a comment

World entering new era as nuclear powers build up arsenals, SIPRI think tank says

By Johan Ahlander, June 16, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/world-entering-new-era-nuclear-powers-build-up-arsenals-sipri-think-tank-says-2025-06-15/

  • Summary
  • Nuclear states are modernizing arsenal
  • Russia and U.S. hold 90% of nuclear warheads
  • China’s nuclear arsenal growing the fastest

STOCKHOLM, June 16 (Reuters) – The world’s nuclear-armed states are beefing up their atomic arsenals and walking out of arms control pacts, creating a new era of threat that has brought an end to decades of reductions in stockpiles since the Cold War, a think tank said on Monday.

Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12,241 warheads in January 2025, about 9,614 were in military stockpiles for potential use, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its yearbook, an annual inventory of the world’s most dangerous weapons.

Around 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles, nearly all belonging to either the U.S. or Russia.

SIPRI said global tensions had seen the nine nuclear states – the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – plan to increase their stockpiles.

“The era of reductions in the number of nuclear weapons in the world, which had lasted since the end of the Cold War, is coming to an end,” SIPRI said. “Instead, we see a clear trend of growing nuclear arsenals, sharpened nuclear rhetoric and the abandonment of arms control agreements.”

SIPRI said Russia and the U.S., which together possess around 90% of all nuclear weapons, had kept the sizes of their respective useable warheads relatively stable in 2024. But both were implementing extensive modernization programmes that could increase the size of their arsenals in the future.

The fastest-growing arsenal is China’s, with Beijing adding about 100 new warheads per year since 2023. China could potentially have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as either Russia or the U.S. by the turn of the decade.

According to the estimates, Russia and the U.S. held around 5,459 and 5,177 nuclear warheads respectively, while China had around 600.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

The whole planet is being kept hostage by a death cult

And were we about to enter this particular dangerous territory, Iran can play the ultimate card: shut down the Strait of Hormuz and collapse the global economy.

Pepe Escobar, June 13, 2025, https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/06/13/the-whole-planet-is-being-kept-hostage-by-a-death-cult/

It’s no wonder Washington is all in. This is now the Circus Ringmaster War.

Let’s cut to the chase. The devastating attack on Iran by the psychopathological genocidal “chosen” ethno-supremacist set up in Tel Aviv – a de facto declaration of war – was coordinated in detail with the President of the United States, Circus Ringmaster Donald Trump.

This infantilism-afflicted Narcissus Drowned in the Pool of his Own Image gave away the game, himself, in a rambling post. Selected highlights:

“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal”. No “deal”; actually his unilateral demands. After all, he torpedoed the original deal, the JCPOA, because it was not his “deal”.

“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told.” The decision to strike had already been made.

“Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but (…) they are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” Gloating comes with the territory.

“The next already planned attacks being even more brutal.” Total alignment with the trademark Israeli “decapitation” strategy.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire”. It was Persian (italics mine) Empire – but after all this is a man who doesn’t read, or study. Notice the Art of Diplomacy: Take my deal, or drop dead.

This – incandescent – decade was launched by an assassination, of Gen. Soleimani in Baghdad, as I emphasized in my 2021 book Raging Twenties. He was on a diplomatic mission. The green light personally came from then President of the United States, Donald Trump.

The mid-Raging Twenties is now hurled to the brink of a devastating war in West Asia, with global repercussions, by the serial assassination of the IRGC leadership, in Tehran, by the psycho-genocidal Zionist entity. After an elaborate kabuki of deception, the green light to Tel Aviv – go ahead and do it – also came from the President of the United States, Trump 2.0 (who claimed he was “aware’’ of the attacks).

A pre-emptive war against the BRICS

The psycho-pathological genocidal masterplan is to force Tehran to capitulate – without even putting up a fight. The preamble kabuki was masterfully executed. The indirect nuclear negotiations in Oman were taken seriously in Tehran, lulling the Iranian leadership, civilian and military, to sleep. They fell into the trap and were caught, literally, in their sleep.

Ayatollah Khamenei – who himself is in physical danger, as Israel is applying the same decapitation model it unleashed on Hezbollah – has a very tough decision to make: capitulation or total war. It will be total war – and with the U.S. as a direct participant.

The Iranian leadership – actually more the Pezeshkian presidency, crammed with proponents of an “accommodation” with the West – was induced into a false sense of security, forgetting that serial killers don’t do diplomacy.

So the price to pay now, for Iran, will be even more unbearable. Tehran will respond – assuming capabilities are still in place. In this case its oil industry runs the risk of being destroyed. It’s an open question whether two other top BRICS members alongside Iran – Russia and China -, for different reasons, will allow that to happen.

And were we about to enter this particular dangerous territory, Iran can play the ultimate card: shut down the Strait of Hormuz and collapse the global economy.

The attack on Iran, fully endorsed by the Empire of Chaos, is above all a pre-emptive attack on the BRICS energy core. It’s part and parcel of the imperial war against BRICS, especially Russia-China. Moscow and Beijing must be drawing the necessary conclusions in real time.

Iran, China and Russia are linked by interlocked strategic partnerships. Last month, I was in Iran tracking the progress of the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), which links Russia, Iran and India. This is only one among a series of key strategic infrastructure projects that will solidify even more Eurasian economic connectivity. A devastating war in West Asia, and a collapsing Iran, will represent a killer blow to increased Eurasia integration.

That’s exactly what suits the Empire’s designs.

So it’s no wonder Washington is all in. This is now the Circus Ringmaster War.

A devastating response; a nuclear weapon; or capitulation

Tehran’s message is, “We did not start the war, but Iran will determine how it ends.”

The burning question is whether they still retain a significant deterrent – and offensive – capacity.

The genocidals are hitting ballistic missile storage systems at will in Iran’s northwest and even civilian Mehrabad airport in Tehran. Air defenses are nowhere to be seen. It’s immensely painful to watch.

IDF spin – nothing verified so far – claims that some missile silos and mobile complexes were destroyed even before they were placed on combat alert. Yet the fact is that the overwhelming majority of Iran’s vast arsenal of ballistic missiles is stored in deep, deep underground silos and tunnels, capable of withstanding massive air strikes and overloaded air defenses.

For the moment, Tehran is eerily silent. That makes sense, because they need, in record time, to re-establish a unified chain of command which was smashed by the attacks; make sure that missile launchers can be deployed and not be neutralized by Israeli air supremacy; reorganize the True Promise 3 operation, which was ready to go, as some of us learned in Tehran last month, but now adapted to the new situation (losses included); and plan how to deliver painful blows to Israel’s economic infrastructure.

There is no evidence that the attacks destroyed Iran’s nuclear infrastructure – which is buried deep underground. As it stands, the leadership in Tehran is learning the hard way that diplomacy – committees, letters to the UN, statements to the IAEA, ministerial meetings – all that is eviscerated when it comes to the law of the jungle.

Iranians were naïve enough to let the IAEA visit their strategic sites, when proverbial spies collected all the info they needed to facilitate Israeli strikes. The DPRK would have never fall into such a trap.

The elimination of a top figure such as Ali Shamkhani, Khamenei’s key advisor, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, with decades of influence across the IRGC and intelligence apparatus, is a serious blow.

Systematically erasing Iran’s military and diplomatic leadership in a matter of hours fits the rationale of smashing Khamenei’s close circle. That has started long ago with the Trump-ordered killing of Soleimani and certainly includes the mysterious death of former President Raisi and FM Abdollahian in that dodgy helicopter “accident”. It’s all about creating the conditions for regime change.

On a rare auspicious note, the IRGC let it be known, before the attacks, that they have been developing a secret technology to intensify the impact of its missiles on Israel.

We are all riders on the storm now. Once again, there’s no way out: either a devastating blow to the psycho genocidals, or Iran assembles a nuclear weapon in no time. The third option is capitulation, emasculation, and regime change.

Meanwhile, the whole planet is hostage to a lethal threat. Andrea Zhok is professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Milan, and apart from his brilliant analyses, he wrote the preface of the Italian edition of my book Raging Twenties, published last year.

Prof. Zhok has succinctly pointed out how no political construction in modern history has amassed a toxic combination of messianic ethnic supremacism; supreme disregard for human life (everyone else, not “chosen”, is “amalek” anyway); supreme disregard for international law; and unlimited access to lethal firepower.

So what is to be done with such a voracious, out of control death cult?

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel Launches ‘Operation Rising Lion’ To Strike Iran’s Nuclear Program, Netanyahu Vows To Eliminate Threat

Dozens of Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets executed the first stage of the operation, striking multiple military and nuclear sites across various regions of Iran, stated IDF on Friday. Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared an emergency situation across the country due to Israel’s action in Iran.

By : news24desk, Edited By : Vaidika Thapa Jun 13, 2025 https://news24online.com/world/israel-launches-operation-rising-lion-to-strike-irans-nuclear-program-netanyahu-vows-to-eliminate-threat/584738/

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched a preemptive and precise combined offensive targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, confirmed the launch of ‘Operation Rising Lion’, a targeted military offensive to roll back the Iranian threat. PM Netanyahu stated that operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

In a video statement, Netanyahu said, “Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

Dozens of Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets executed the first stage of the operation, striking multiple military and nuclear sites across various regions of Iran, stated IDF on Friday. Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared an emergency situation across the country due to Israel’s action in Iran.

“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” stated Kataz as reported by The Times of Israel.

In its statement, the IDF emphasised the existential threat posed by Iran’s progress towards acquiring nuclear weapons. “Today, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime threaten the State of Israel and the wider world,” the statement read.

The Israeli government asserted it has no choice but to defend its citizens and will continue to take necessary actions whenever required. “The State of Israel remains committed to fulfilling its obligation to protect its people, just as it has done in the past,” the statement further read.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Hidden Costs: Nuclear Weapons Spending in 2024.

The report profiles the companies heavily involved in the nuclear weapons industry and shows how in 2024, they earned more than $42 billion for their nuclear weapons activities. Many of these companies also invested in lobbying, and the report shows they spent $128 million on those efforts in the US and France, the two countries for which data is available.

More than $100 billion was spent by the nine nuclear-armed countries on their nuclear arsenals last year, as ICAN shows in “Hidden Costs: Nuclear Weapons Spending in 2024” released today.

The United States once again topped the charts as the biggest spender, at almost $57 billion dollars alone. China spent $12 billion, and the UK spent $10 billion last year. Every country with nuclear weapons is increasing how much they spend on their arsenals, and the report shows 11% growth across the board.

For the first time, ICAN also examined the hidden costs required to host nuclear weapons for other countries. With the US deploying nuclear weapons to Belgium, Germany, Italy, Türkiye and the Netherlands and the nuclear sharing agreement between Russia and Belarus- the financial cost to the citizens in those countries is largely kept hidden from citizens and legislators, avoiding democratic scrutiny.

Nuclear-armed Israel’s attack today on Iran’s nuclear facilities underlines the urgency of eliminating nuclear weapons and the need for all nuclear-armed states to disarm. The resources devoted to nuclear weapons must be redirected to funding activities that improve real human security and promote peace and sustainability.

The report profiles the companies heavily involved in the nuclear weapons industry and shows how in 2024, they earned more than $42 billion for their nuclear weapons activities. Many of these companies also invested in lobbying, and the report shows they spent $128 million on those efforts in the US and France, the two countries for which data is available.

Over the past five years, global spending on nuclear weapons has gone from $68 billion to $100 billion. Money that could have been used to fund measures to address the threats posed to our security by climate change and the loss of animal and plant species, or to provide funding for improving essential public goods, such as healthcare, housing and education. If these countries really cared about a secure future, they could have paid for almost 28 years of the UN budget for what they spent on nuclear weapons in 2024 alone.

Information is power. Countries that have nuclear weapons use those weapons to justify keeping secrets – from the public, from parliaments, from the world. Less information means less democratic oversight. Nuclear weapons take away democracy, but they cannot take away our power.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

European Commission assesses nuclear investment needs of around €241 billion by 2050

Delivering Member States’ plans regarding nuclear energy will require significant investments, of around €241 billion until 2050, both for lifetime extensions of existing reactors and the construction of new large-scale reactors. Additional investments are needed for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) and microreactors and in fusion for the longer-term future, the Commission has assessed in its eighth nuclear illustrative programme (‘PINC’).

June 16, 2025 Posted by | EUROPE, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Staring Down The Barrel Of War With Iran Once Again

Caitlin Johnstone, Jun 12, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/staring-down-the-barrel-of-war-with?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=165756570&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Well it looks like the US is on the precipice of war with Iran again.

US officials are telling the press that they anticipate a potential impending Israeli attack on Iran while the family members of US military personnel are being assisted with evacuation from bases in the region.

This comes as Tehran issues a warning that it will strike all US military bases within range of its missiles if it comes under attack. There are reportedly some 50,000 US troops in 10 bases which could come under fire should this occur.

The US is also evacuating its embassy in Iraq, and has authorized the departure of non-essential personnel from its embassies in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Asked by the press about the evacuations, President Trump said, “They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens. We’ve given notice to move out.”

Trump is openly declaring a willingness to strike Iran if nuclear negotiations fall through, while saying he is now “much less confident” that any deal will be made.

“If they don’t make a deal, they’re not gonna have a nuclear weapon; if they do make a deal they’re not gonna have a nuclear weapon too,” the president said in an interview published on Wednesday, adding that “it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying.”

If the US backs an Israeli attack on Iran and then Iran retaliates by killing a bunch of US military personnel, we could be looking at a full-scale direct war between the US and Iran.

As I’ve said in this space many times before, this would be the absolute worst-case nightmare scenario for the middle east, unleashing horrors that dwarf all the other terrible abuses currently happening in the region. As Trump’s now-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in 2019 (back when she publicly opposed Trump’s warmongering), “What is important that the American people know is a war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk.”

It’s so stupid that this keeps happening. This could all be avoided by the US simply ceasing to support the genocidal apartheid state of Israel no matter what it does. The fact that Washington has continued to pour weapons into Israel despite all its warmongering and genocide since 2023 means the US supports everything that Israel has been doing.

If a war with Iran does occur, you will doubtless hear western pundits and politicians trying to spin this as America getting “drawn into” another war in the middle east, or Trump being tricked or manipulated into war. But make no mistake: the US could have turned away from this path at any time, and still can.

If this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be because the US empire knowingly chose to open it.

June 15, 2025 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

‘TO THE POINT OF UNINHABITABILITY’

Israel’s war to destroy Hamas has destroyed Gaza itself

Seymour Hersh, Jun 14, 2025

A few weeks ago the media office of the Gaza government issued a statement declaring that the Israeli Defense Forces now control over 77 percent of the territory in the Gaza Strip, much of it in ruins from the continuing Israeli Air Force attacks on suspected Hamas sites. Many of the known Hamas leadership at the time of its October 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel have been killed or have fled Gaza. But the organization has survived and now there are as many as 20,000 Hamas members. Young recruits today try to control the delivery of relief food and other goods to Gaza along with the black market that dominates what is left of its economy.


Israel has not won its war against Hamas—a war that at one time was promised to be ended within a span of four or five months. The Israeli leadership responded to that failure by taking the war to the people of Gaza, though Israelis were assured that the terrifying and around-the-clock Israeli air force bombing attacks in Gaza would stop when Hamas was driven from its fortified tunnels………………………(Subscribers only) https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/to-the-point-of-uninhabitability?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1377040&post_id=165876879&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

June 15, 2025 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel Starts Bombing Iran, IRGC Chief Reported Killed

The Israeli military is preparing for a very heavy missile attack from Iran in response

by Dave DeCamp | Jun 13, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/06/12/israel-starts-bombing-iran/

The Israeli military has begun bombing Iran, an attack that could provoke a major, catastrophic war in the region involving the US.

Heavy airstrikes have hit the Iranian capital of Tehran, and videos show plumes of smoke rising from the city. Photos also show damaged residential buildings, and deaths of women and children have been reported. Strikes have also hit several provinces across Iran.

The IDF said that it has launched “dozens” of airstrikes on Iran in an attack it said is targeting the country’s civilian nuclear program. Iran’s PressTV has reported that strikes hit the Natanz nuclear facility.

Israel has also targeted senior Iranian military officials, and Iranian reports say Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been killed. The bombing has also killed several other senior IRGC officials and nuclear scientists.

The Mossad reportedly launched sabotage attacks against Iranian air defense systems and missile facilities that coincided with the Israeli airstrikes.

Israel has dubbed the operation the “Nation of Lions.” The Israeli military is also warning that Iran could launch a major counterattack against Israeli territory and said that its operation against Iran could last several days.

“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Israel has taken “unliateral action” against Iran and claimed the US wasn’t involved. “Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” Rubio said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it holds the US responsible for the attack. “The Zionist regime’s aggressive actions against Iran cannot have been carried out without the coordination and authorization of the United States. Accordingly, the United States government, as the main supporter of this regime, will also be responsible for the dangerous effects and consequences of the Zionist regime’s adventure,” the ministry said.

Media reports have said that Iran planned to attack without US backing, but CBS News reported that the Trump administration was weighing options regarding how to support Israeli military action. According to Israel’s Channel 12, the US participated in a campaign to lull Iran into thinking an attack was not going to happen immediately.

In a video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump for his “steadfast stance” on Iran.

The bombing began hours after President Trump said that an Israeli attack on Iran could happen soon, although he claimed that he still wanted to pursue a nuclear deal with Tehran despite his repeated demand that Iran must eliminate its nuclear enrichment program, which is a non-starter for Tehran.

Previous reports said that Israel was considering bombing Iran to sabotage the diplomacy between the US and Iran. The attacks come as there is no evidence that Tehran is working toward a nuclear weapon, which is the consensus of the US intelligence community.

June 14, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

‘We Are Preparing for War’ With China ‘Threat’, Says US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered an extremely hawkish speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit in which he demonized China as a “threat” and said, “We are preparing for war” in the Asia-Pacific region.

By Ben Norton, 5 June 25, https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/06/06/preparing-war-china-threat-us-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth/

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered an extremely hawkish speech in which he demonized China as a “threat” and said, “We are preparing for war”.

“Those who long for peace, must prepare for war. And that’s exactly what we’re doing. We are preparing for war, in order to deter war — to achieve peace through strength”, Hegseth stated.

The top Donald Trump administration official made these aggressive remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2025, a summit held in Singapore on 31 May.

“The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent. We hope not, but it certainly could be”, Hegseth claimed, indicating that the Pentagon was preparing for a war over Taiwan.

“Beyond our borders and beyond our neighborhood, we are reorienting toward deterring aggression by Communist China”, he stressed.

The message of Trump’s Pentagon: war is peace

The Trump administration’s Pentagon has essentially pushed the message “war is peace”.

Hegseth has incessantly reiterated the slogan “peace through strength”.

“President Trump said it himself [in May] in Riyadh – and will never hesitate to wield American power swiftly and decisively if necessary. That is re-establishing deterrence”, the defense secretary emphasized in Singapore.

Hegseth is a war hawk and a religious fundamentalist. He made his name as a former host on the conservative TV network Fox News, where Trump discovered him.

In 2020, Hegseth published a book called “American Crusade”, in which he proudly identified as a “crusader” and wrote that the US right wing is waging a “holy war” against China, the international left, and Islam.

“Communist China will fall—and lick its wounds for another two hundred years”, he promised in the extremist book.

Trump admin pressures Asia-Pacific countries to minimize “economic cooperation with China”

In his speech in Singapore in May 2025, Pete Hegseth noted that it was his second time in his four months serving as secretary of defense that he had visited the Asia-Pacific region (which Washington has sought to rebrand as the “Indo-Pacific”).

In March, Hegseth traveled to Japan and the Philippines, where he threatened China and boasted of US “war-fighting” preparations and “real war plans”.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, Hegseth half-jokingly threatened the Asia-Pacific region with his endless presence……………………………..

The Trump administration essentially told countries that they must choose between either the United States or China — that they can’t have good relations with both sides, because a war could be coming soon.

Hegseth said (emphasis added):

Facing these threats, we know that many countries are tempted by the idea of seeking both economic cooperation with China and defense cooperation with the United States. Now that is a geographic necessity for many. But beware the leverage that the CCP seeks with that entanglement. Economic dependence on China only deepens their malign influence and complicates our defense decision space during times of tension.

China opposes hegemony, while the US empire seeks it

Defense Secretary Hegseth claimed in his May speech in Singapore that, supposedly, “China seeks to become a hegemonic power in Asia. No doubt”.

This is false. China has consistently emphasized, over decades, that it does not seek hegemony. In fact, Beijing does not want any country to have hegemony.

Principled opposition to hegemony has been a constant since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under Mao Zedong in 1949, through the Reform and Opening Up initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, and into the New Era launched by President Xi Jinping in 2012.

The Chinese government has always stressed what it calls its “unequivocal commitment to supporting other developing countries in their efforts to defend national sovereignty, develop national economy and fight imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism”.

In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, Deng Xiaoping stated, “If one day China should change her color and turn into a superpower, if she too should play the tyrant in the world, and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression, and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social-imperialism, expose it, oppose it, and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it”.

In fact, when the PRC normalized diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan in the 1970s, a source of diplomatic tension was China’s insistence that, in the joint statements signed by Beijing and Washington and Beijing and Tokyo, there had to be an “anti-hegemony” clause.

It is actually the United States that has consistently sought to impose its hegemony on the rest of the world.

This was spelled out clearly in a 1992 document published by the US Department of Defense, known as the Wolfowitz Doctrine (because it was co-written by Paul Wolfowitz, who then served as US under secretary of defense for policy, before later returning as secretary of defense under George W. Bush).

The Pentagon’s Wolfowitz Doctrine stated (emphasis added):

Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power. These regions include Western Europe, East Asia, the territory of the former Soviet Union, and Southwest Asia.

The Trump administration’s foreign policy is still consistent with much of the Wolfowitz Doctrine. Although Trump has de-prioritized Western Europe and the territory of the former USSR, he has dedicated significant resources to US military operations in East Asia and Southwest Asia (also known as the Middle East).

In fact, the main theme of Hegseth’s speech was that the Pentagon will not accept China challenging US dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We will not be pushed out of this critical region”, Hegseth said, in a clear message to Beijing.

This was the US empire stating clearly that it seeks to impose its hegemonic control over East Asia.

Bipartisan warmongering in Washington

This aggressive anti-China stance is bipartisan in Washington.

A former top Joe Biden administration official said he agreed with the thrust of the anti-China policy pursued by Pete Hegseth, a right-wing extremist and religious fanatic.

Ely Ratner, who served as the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs in Biden’s Pentagon, wrote approvingly on Twitter/X, “Rhetoric aside, on actual defense policy Secretary Hegseth’s speech was near total continuity with the previous administration”.

“That’s good, but we’ll need heightened urgency, attention, and resources to address the China challenge”, Ratner added.

Biden’s neoconservative Secretary of State Antony Blinken had also maintained a hardline anti-China position.

In a speech in 2022, Blinken announced what was essentially a containment policy targeting China.

“We cannot rely on Beijing to change its trajectory. So we will shape the strategic environment around Beijing”, he said.

Blinken added, “The scale and the scope of the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China will test American diplomacy like nothing we’ve seen before”.

June 13, 2025 Posted by | China, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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