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Trump Threatens to Bomb Iran to Smithereens for “Playing By the Rules”

there is no provision in international law or under the UN Charter that allows one country to attack another country based on its own subjective perception of what ‘may or may not’ constitute a threat.

Did we mention that the Trump campaign was given over $100 million by wealthy Zionist donors whose driving ambition is to topple the government in Tehran and absorb territorial Iran into Greater Israel?

Mike Whitney • June 9, 2025, https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/trump-threatens-to-bomb-iran-to-smithereens-for-playing-by-the-rules/

President Donald Trump is threatening to launch air strikes on Iran for activities that are approved under the terms of Iran’s treaty obligations. This is not a matter on which there should be any debate. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) explicitly grants all parties, including Iran, the “inalienable right” to develop, research, produce, and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This “inalienable right” includes the enriching of uranium.

Trump either doesn’t understand what a “treaty” is or thinks its terms should not apply to Iran. For the sake of clarity, a treaty is a formal, legally binding agreement between sovereign states that is governed by international law. It establishes mutual obligations, rights, or rules on matters such as trade, security, nuclear non-proliferation, or environmental protection. A treaty is not optional and cannot be repealed by executive fiat. States that ratify treaties are legally obligated to comply with their terms in good faith. Political leaders, as representatives of the state, are expected to uphold these obligations.

This is all very straightforward which is why we find so it hard to understand why Trump is threatening a country that is clearly “in compliance” with its obligations under the NPT. Here’s what Trump said on Friday on Air Force One:

“They won’t be enriching. If they enrich, then we’re going to have to do it the other way… (air strikes) And I don’t really want to do it the other way but we’re going to have no choice. There’s not going to be enrichment.”

Trump has no legal authority to determine whether Iran can enrich uranium or not. It’s simply not his decision to make. Even Grok — with its obvious pro-Israel bias — understands this. Check it out:

Donald Trump, whether as a private citizen or as U.S. president, has no legal authority under international law to demand that Iran stop enriching uranium. Iran, as a sovereign state and signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has the right under Article IV to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including uranium enrichment, provided it complies with its safeguards obligations under Article III and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). No individual state, including the United States, has the unilateral legal authority under international law to prohibit Iran from exercising this right. Any demand from Trump would be a political or diplomatic action, not a legally binding directive, unless backed by a UN Security Council resolution, which would require agreement from other permanent members (e.g., Russia, China). Grok

Trita Parsi explains how Trump has adopted John Bolton’s Iran policy.[0n original]

Also, there is no provision in international law or under the UN Charter that allows one country to attack another country based on its own subjective perception of what ‘may or may not’ constitute a threat. That’s insanity, and it flies in the face of the UN’s efforts to ensure peace and security through collective action and multilateralism. Besides, there is no credible legal case against Iran, because Iran is not violating the rules. What the MSM stubbornly refuses to tell the public is that Iran has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear weapons program. And—according to the IAEA—Iran has been “in compliance” since 2003 and has never diverted nuclear material to a weapons program. In other words, there’s no legal case against Iran at all. Zilch.

So, what is the point of Trump’s fulminations? Why is he threatening a peaceful country that is clearly “playing by the rules”?

Did we mention that the Trump campaign was given over $100 million by wealthy Zionist donors whose driving ambition is to topple the government in Tehran and absorb territorial Iran into Greater Israel?

Could that be a factor? Could that explain why Trump convened 5 separate meetings with Iranian negotiators without once mentioning the issue of “nuclear enrichment”, but then—Surprise, Surprise—did a swift 180 after which he made “zero enrichment” the foundational demand for which he has declared unflinching support?

Could that be a factor? Could that explain why Trump convened 5 separate meetings with Iranian negotiators without once mentioning the issue of “nuclear enrichment”, but then—Surprise, Surprise—did a swift 180 after which he made “zero enrichment” the foundational demand for which he has declared unflinching support?

How do you explain that sudden about-face? Is Trump pursuing an Israeli agenda or putting “America First”?

And why would Trump stake-out such a flimsy, untenable position when he knows that enrichment is the one provision in the NPT on which Iran will never budge?

The obvious answer is that Trump doesn’t want an agreement; he does not want to resolve the issue peacefully. That’s why he focused on the one issue on which there is no flexibility, figuring (quite rightly) that enrichment can be used as a pretext for war. And that’s the goal, war with Iran.

(Readers who have been following developments with Iran closely may recall that Trump’s original demand was that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”. (Iran has agreed to that demand.) But now, he has sneakily changed the wording to “no enrichment” as if the two things are the same. Naturally, the pro-Israel media has not drawn attention to the president’s sleight-of-hand fearing that it would reveal the deceptive game he is playing. But, the fact remains, Trump used the negotiations to look like he genuinely wanted peace, and then quickly moved the goalposts as the “talks” progressed. Bottom line: A peaceful settlement was never Trump’s objective.

This is from an article at The Times of Israel (June 8, 2025)

This is how desperate the Trump team (and their Israeli allies) are to cast suspicion on Iran’s perfectly legal activities. They’ve actually dug up the details of research that was conducted in 2003. (a period during which Iran has admitted to “aspects of a nuclear weapons program.”) Notice that the IAEA report does not suggest that anything illegal is going on today, or that there is any indication that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program, or even that they are diverting nuclear material to some other location. No. What they’re referring to happened more than two decades ago. It’s a joke.

And the same rule applies to the uranium that has been enriched to 60% which the Iranians have admitted to many times in the past. They’re not hiding anything; they’re looking for sanction’s relief, that’s all. Turns out, they don’t like economic strangulation. Are you surprised?

By the way, under the terms of the NPT, Iran is allowed to enrich uranium to 60% as the treaty does not explicitly set a maximum enrichment level for non-nuclear-weapon states. This is a fact, but it is a fact that is omitted in 100% of the MSM coverage of the issue. Why would that be?:-

Iran Needs Nuclear Energy

Many people believe that a country with vast oil resources like Iran has no need for nuclear energy, but that’s simply not true. Much of Iran’s electricity generation takes place at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran’s primary nuclear power facility, that uses low-enriched uranium to generate significant electrical power and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Iran also uses nuclear technology to produce radioisotopes for medical diagnostics and treatment,… widely used in cancer diagnosis and imaging. Iran claims its nuclear program supports healthcare by providing isotopes for over 1 million patients annually.

Iran also uses nuclear energy in industrial applications, agriculture, water resource management, scientific research, cancer treatment, technology and radioisotope production. The fact is, no country would join the NPT if they were denied the “peaceful use” of nuclear power. Why would they?

Finally….

Americans should realize that nothing one reads about Iran in the western media can be trusted; it is all poisoned with the same, vile anti-Iran hatred and bias. Since the 1979 Revolution to today, US policy towards Iran has been an unbroken chain of relentless hectoring, belligerence and demonization. Washington has never treated Iran with the respect it deserves nor will it in the future. That’s because—on a fundamental level—the entire US political class despises Iran for asserting sovereign control over their-own vast resources and for failing to kowtow to their mucky-muck overlords in Washington. That’s the real issue; Iran has refused to cave in to Uncle Sam’s diktats which is why it must be punished with economic strangulation, “maximum pressure” and, inevitably, war. That is how America treats the peasants in the provinces, with an iron fist.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi summed up Iran’s approach at a recent ceremony for the late Ayatollah Khomeini. He said:

“The main foundation of Iran’s foreign policy is based on the principle of renouncing foreign domination. Trump’s ban on enrichment is itself domination, and this is unacceptable to the Iranian people.”

To its credit, Iran has never ‘given an inch’ to Washington’s endless badgering and saber-rattling. They have stuck by their principles and defended their right as a free country to choose their own development model, their own political system and their own collective future without bullying or coercion.

Iran should be applauded for shrugging off Washington’s threats and intimidation, and for its unflinching commitment to the principle of sovereign independence. They have preserved their dignity through 45 years of nonstop hostility and antagonism.

Bravo, Iran.

June 18, 2025 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump Praises ‘Excellent’ Israeli Strikes on Iran.

A source said Washington provided Tel Aviv with “exquisite” intel for the assault

by Kyle Anzalone | Jun 13, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/06/13/trump-praises-excellent-israeli-strikes-on-iran/

President Donald Trump endorsed the massive Israeli strike on Iran early on Friday morning, calling the attack “excellent.” A source explained that the US provided Israel with intelligence for the operation. 

Speaking with ABC News on the phone following the Israeli strikes across the Islamic Republic, Trump said, “I think it’s been excellent.” He continued, “We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. A lot more.”

Trump refused to provide details about the US role in the attack, saying, “I don’t want to comment on that.”

However, elements of Washington’s support for Tel Aviv are becoming public. Israeli officials told the Jerusalem Post and Axios that the White House helped to create the illusion that the US was still seeking a diplomatic settlement with Iran.

Just hours before the attack, President Trump declared that he was committed to a “Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue!” But it appears he had already greenlit the Jewish state’s attack on the Islamic Republic.

A source provided further details of the US support, telling ABC News that Washington provided Tel Aviv with “exquisite” intelligence. Additionally, the source said the US will help Israel defend against any Iranian response.

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.

Since starting the assault early Friday morning, Israeli forces have delivered multiple rounds of strikes targeting Iranian military sites, nuclear facilities, and residential buildings. Top Iranian nuclear scientists and generals have been confirmed killed.

Tel Aviv said the operation, dubbed “Nation of Lions,” will last several days.

Israel is seeking more support from the US. The Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz will hold a call with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth later on Friday to lobby Washington for more military assistance. Additionally, Trump is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone.

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.

June 18, 2025 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die

it has always been clear that Washington will sell us its submarines only if it is absolutely certain Australia would commit them to fight if the US goes to war with China.

The Albanese government has never acknowledged it is willing to make that commitment.

it has always been clear that Washington will sell us its submarines only if it is absolutely certain Australia would commit them to fight if the US goes to war with China.

The Albanese government has never acknowledged it is willing to make that commitment.

Hugh White, Jun 16, 2025, https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2025/06/16/aukus-submarines-review-australia

The first clear sign the Trump administration was taking a long hard look at AUKUS came two weeks ago, when US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth gave his first major speech on US strategic policy in Asia at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

In a long presentation that catalogued a host of initiatives with America’s Asian allies, AUKUS was not mentioned once.

This was noteworthy, because under the Biden administration, AUKUS was the poster-child for US military engagement in the region, name-checked at every opportunity. Now we understand why.

The Pentagon’s review of AUKUS, announced last week, marks the first time any of the three partners – the US, Britain and Australia – has tested the AUKUS dream against hard military and strategic realities. It is unlikely to survive.

AUKUS was always a long shot, right from the start. That was clear from the moment, back in September 2021, that then prime minister, Scott Morrison, sprung the dream of an Australian nuclear-powered submarine force on an astonished public. For that dream to be realised, a lot of things would have to go right, and most of them were much more likely to go wrong.

But the flaw that looks set to kill the AUKUS dream is one that was not part of the original plan. The way Morrison and his then defence minister, Peter Dutton, originally conceived it, there would be no need for Australia to acquire US-built Virginia-Class subs in the 2030s before taking delivery of Australian-built subs to replace the Collins-class boats. They were confident that subs built in Australia, almost certainly to a British design, could be delivered fast enough to enter service as the old Collins subs were being retired, ensuring no gap in our capability.

It became clear this was not going to work out only after Labor took office in 2022, as the new government tried to turn Morrison’s vague idea into a viable project. It soon found there was simply no way to bring new Australian-built nuclear subs into service until long after the Collins boats had to be retired.

To save the AUKUS dream, it was necessary to fill the gap between the retirement of the Collins and the delivery of the first of what we now know as the UK-designed, Australian-built SSN-AUKUS class of submarine. That was when the idea of Australia getting ex-US Navy Virginia class boats first surfaced.

It was a desperate measure that vastly increased the already formidable risks of the whole AUKUS idea. One reason is that it meant the Royal Australian Navy had the almost impossible task of managing and operating not one but two very different kinds of nuclear submarine, powered by two very different nuclear power plants.

For a navy that has struggled to keep the much simpler Collins subs at sea, the task of operating just one class of nuclear-powered subs was truly formidable. To expect it to effectively operate two quite different classes of nuclear submarine simultaneously was frankly absurd.

But there is another reason why the decision to buy Virginia subs to cover the capability gap undermined the viability of the whole AUKUS plan.

Very simply, the US has no submarines to spare. The facilities and workforce that build and maintain its submarines have never recovered from the savage cuts imposed in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. No serious steps were taken to rebuild it even after it became clear China had become a formidable new maritime rival.

The result is that America’s two submarine construction yards have for many years been delivering barely half as many Virginia-class subs as the Pentagon now says America needs – about 1.2 a year instead of two a year.

This problem was acknowledged when the AUKUS partners announced the detailed plan in 2023. It was optimistically claimed that everything necessary would be done to increase production to the level of 2.3 subs a year required to meet US needs and provide extra boats for Australia.

So far, there is no sign of that happening. Elbridge Colby, the senior US official conducting the Pentagon’s AUKUS review, will almost certainly puncture the irresponsible optimism around this crucial issue and make it clear that unless there is a miracle in US submarine production, America will not sell any Virginia-class subs to Australia.

But that’s not all. Even if that miracle is achieved, US leaders and officials still have to ask whether it makes sense for America to pass the extra submarines to Australia rather than bring them into service with the US Navy.

Any subs sold to Australia weaken America at a time when it is already struggling to match China’s fast-growing navy. So it has always been clear that Washington will sell us its submarines only if it is absolutely certain Australia would commit them to fight if the US goes to war with China.

The Albanese government has never acknowledged it is willing to make that commitment. The Biden administration, desperate for its own reasons to keep the AUKUS dream alive, did not press Canberra on this very sensitive point.

The Trump administration will be much tougher. Colby’s review will also certainly conclude that America should not sell Virginia-class subs to Australia, unless Canberra offers much clearer and more public guarantees that Australia will go to war with China if the US ever does.

For Canberra, this could well be a deal-breaker, making the end of the AUKUS dream. It certainly should be.

Hugh White’s new Quarterly Essay, Hard New World: Our Post-American Future, is published this month.

Hugh White, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

June 18, 2025 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel claims it damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility “significantly.” But questions remain

By François Diaz-Maurin Bulletin, June 13, 2025

Early Friday, Israel conducted air strikes on the Natanz nuclear facility, Iran’s main enrichment site. The strikes were part of a larger operation by the Israeli military that targeted nuclear sites, long-range missile facilities, military leaders, and nuclear scientists across Iran.

It was not clear how much damage the Natanz nuclear site—which hosts both a commercial fuel enrichment plant for use in things such as powering civilian nuclear reactors, and the more technologically advanced and opaque so-called pilot fuel enrichment plant (PFEP)—had sustained from the strike. Israel’s military published its own assessment of the attack, claiming that they have damaged the underground area of the site. This area reportedly contains a multi-story enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and additional supporting infrastructure, which can be used to enrich uranium to military-grade levels. During a briefing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Efi Defrin said the Natanz nuclear site was “significantly damaged.

“It’s difficult to assess the consequences of the strikes on the nuclear program itself and the facilities, as we are still waiting for independent analyses of the satellite imagery,” Héloïse Fayet, a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations and an expert of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, told the Bulletin.

Unverified footage shared on social media from near the Natanz facility seemed to show repeated explosions at four locations. This seems to be consistent with the description of the facility, believed to consist of three underground buildings and six above-ground buildings.

As the operation was reportedly still ongoing, many questions about the attack remain unanswered. Here are some of the unknowns about the attack.

When will the attack be over? During a live briefing on Friday morning, Defrin said that “more than 100 targets have been struck across Iran.” And in his address, Netanyahu said that the operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove that threat.”

Defrin added that pilots were “still striking military targets and targets from the nuclear program across different areas in Iran,” which the Israeli military said involved about 200 fighter jets.

It is not clear how long the attack will last.

What are the other nuclear facilities targeted? On early Friday, the IAEA confirmed with Iranian authorities that the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, located near Qom in central Iran, had not been targeted during Israel’s attack. But new reports later suggested that Israel was actively attacking the plant, with residents reportedly having heard large explosions coming from the plant’s underground complex and smoke seen rising from several locations in the vicinity of the site.

The IAEA also said the Isfahan nuclear complex had not been targeted, contradicting reports of explosions near the site. The Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, located 340 kilometers south of Tehran, hosts nuclear research reactors, a uranium conversion plant, and a fuel production plant, among other facilities. On Friday evening, the IDF confirmed that it also targeted the Isfahan complex, but offered no evidence.

Was the United States involved in the attack? According to The Washington Post, Trump officials have said that there was no US military support in the attack. But it is still unknown whether the United States provided indirect intelligence or logistical support for the attack.

Some news reports claim Israeli officials as saying that the United States may be opposing the attack only publicly, adding that the Trump administration did not express opposition in private. “We had a clear US green light,” one official reportedly told Axios.

Was the attack necessary? Israel’s military called its operation “preemptive” due to the imminent nuclear threat from Iran. During his address moments after launching the attack, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was necessary because “Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs,” adding that “Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.” For its part, Israel’s military said “[Iran’s] program has accelerated significantly in recent months, bringing the regime significantly closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Reports that Israel was preparing to conduct such attacks have been made for over a year, and right-wing columnists have, for years, openly called on Israel to do so.

But several agencies and analysts dispute the claim that the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb was imminent. A May 22 report to the House Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that “the US intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking nuclear weapons-related activities,” although adding that “Iran could enrich enough uranium for more than a dozen nuclear weapons within weeks if it chose to do so.”……………………………………………………….

Did the attack successfully roll back Iran’s nuclear program? Despite several Iranian nuclear facilities reported as being targeted by heavy military strikes, it is difficult at this stage to assess how successful Israel’s operation has been, especially as it was still ongoing as of Friday evening.

But Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear expert and director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists, is skeptical that the attack may have significantly altered Iran’s nuclear program. “Iran has likely been planning for this day for months or years. We have to assume they have stored a lot of capabilities to rebuild and even to build a weapon in short order.”

According to Wolfsthal, Israel’s attack may be counterproductive.

“You cannot bomb away a nuclear program.” https://thebulletin.org/2025/06/israel-claims-it-damaged-irans-natanz-nuclear-facility-significantly-but-questions-remain/

June 18, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Was Iran months away from producing a nuclear bomb?

 The Israeli military said it had accumulated intelligence showing that
“concrete progress” had been made “in the Iranian regime’s efforts to
produce weapons components adapted for a nuclear bomb”, including a uranium
metal core and a neutron source initiator for triggering the nuclear
explosion. Kelsey Davenport, director for non-proliferation policy at the
US-based Arms Control Association, said Israel’s prime minister “did not
present any clear or compelling evidence that Iran was on the brink of
weaponizing”. “Iran has been at a near-zero breakout for months,” she told
the BBC, referring to the time it would take Iran to acquire enough fissile
material for one bomb if it chose to do so.

“Similarly, the assessment that
Iran could develop a crude nuclear weapon within a few months is not new.”
She said some of Iran’s nuclear activities would be applicable to
developing a bomb, but US intelligence agencies had assessed that Iran was
not engaged in key weaponization work.

 BBC 14th June 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn840275p5yo

June 18, 2025 Posted by | Iran, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Sources: US Will Enter Israel’s War With Iran

 By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com, June 16, 2025, https://scheerpost.com/2025/06/16/sources-us-will-enter-israels-war-with-iran/

Sources familiar with the matter have told Antiwar.com Editorial Director Scott Horton that the Trump administration is poised to enter Israel’s aggressive war against Iran directly. US airstrikes on Iran could begin as soon as Monday.

Please contact the White House by sending an email or calling the comment line starting at 10 am EST on Monday  (202‑456‑1111). Tell them that you do not want the US to enter this disastrous war, which could lead to heavy American casualties at US bases across the Middle East.

The US has supported the war by reportedly providing Israel with intelligence and helping intercept Iranian missiles and drones, but so far, there have been no direct US attacks on Iran. Iranian officials have warned that Tehran would hit US bases in the region in response to any US strikes.

Axios reported on Saturday that Israel is urging the US to join the war since Israel lacks the bunker-busting bombs necessary to do serious damage to Iran’s Fordow plant, which is buried deep underground. An Israeli official told Axios that President Trump had previously suggested the US could strike Fordow.

Trump himself said on Sunday that it was “possible” that the US would get directly involved in the war, which Israel launched early Friday morning with airstrikes across Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the war under the pretext of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. But it was the consensus of the US intelligence community that there was no evidence Iran was working toward a nuclear weapon, and Tehran made clear they were ready to make a deal with the US that would significantly lower uranium enrichment levels and increase oversight of its nuclear program in exchange for US sanctions relief.

Ali Larijani, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has previously said that the one thing that would make Tehran reconsider its prohibition on the development of nuclear weapons would be a US or Israeli attack.

“We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself,” Larijani said on April 1.

“Iran does not want to do this, but … (it) will have no choice,” he added. “If at some point you (the US) move towards bombing by yourself or through Israel, you will force Iran to make a different decision.”

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

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

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