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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

Refresher On The Rules For Discussing Israeli Wars

Caitlin Johnstone, Jun 13, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/refresher-on-the-rules-for-discussing?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=165865670&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Okay it’s been a few months since the last war Israel started, so now that Iran’s on the chopping block let’s go over the rules once again.

Rule 1: Israel is never the aggressor. If Israel attacks someone it’s either a response to an aggression that happened in the past, or a preemptive attack to thwart an imminent aggression in the future.

Rule 2: History automatically restarts at the date of the last act of aggression against Israel. If someone attacks Israel it was completely unprovoked, because nothing happened before the attack on Israel.

Rule 3: Anything bad that Israel does is justified by Rule 2. This is true even if it does things that would be considered completely unjustifiable if it were done by a nation like Russia or China.

Rule 4: Israel has a right to defend itself, but nobody else does.

Rule 5: Israel never bombs civilians, it bombs Bad Guys. If shocking numbers of civilians die it’s because they were actually Bad Guys, or because Bad Guys killed them, or because a Bad Guy stood too close to them. If none of those reasons apply then it’s for some other mysterious reason we are still waiting for the IDF to investigate.

Rule 6: Criticizing anything Israel does means you hate Jewish people. There is no other possible reason for anyone to oppose acts of mass military slaughter besides a seething, obsessive hatred for a small Abrahamic faith.

Rule 7: Nothing Israel does is ever as bad as the hateful criticisms described in Rule 6. Criticisms of Israel’s actions are always worse than Israel’s actions themselves, because those critics hate Jews and wish to commit another Holocaust. Preventing this must consume 100 percent of our political energy and attention.

Rule 8: Israelis are only ever the victims and never the victimizers. If Israelis kill Iranians, it’s because the Iranians hate Jews. If Iranians kill Israelis, it’s because the Iranians hate Jews. Israel is an innocent little lamb that just wants to mind its own business in peace.

Rule 9: The fact that Israel is literally always in a state of war with its neighbors and with displaced indigenous populations must be interpreted as proof that Rule 8 is true instead of proof that Rule 8 is ridiculous nonsense.

Rule 10: The lives of people in Muslim nations are much, much less important to us than western lives or Israeli lives. Nobody is allowed to think too hard about why this might be.

Rule 11: The media always tell the truth about Israel and its various conflicts. If you doubt this then you are likely in violation of Rule 6.

Rule 12: Unsubstantiated claims which portray Israel’s enemies in a negative light may be reported as factual news stories without any fact checking or qualifications, while extensively evidenced records of Israeli criminality must be reported on with extreme skepticism and doubtful qualifiers like “Iran claims”, “Hezbollah says” or “according to the Hamas-run health ministry”. This is important to do because otherwise you might get accused of being a propagandist.

Rule 13: Israel must continue to exist in its current iteration no matter what it costs or how many people need to die. There is no need to present any logically or morally grounded reasons why this is the case. If you dispute this then you are likely in violation of Rule 6.


Rule 14: The US government has never lied about anything ever, and is always on the right side of every conflict.

Rule 15: Israel is the last bastion of freedom and democracy in the middle east and therefore must be defended, no matter how many journalists it has to assassinate, no matter how many press institutions it needs to shut down, no matter how many protests its supporters need to dismantle, no matter how much free speech it needs to eliminate, no matter how many civil rights its western backers need to erase, and no matter how many elections its lobbyists need to buy.

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Israel, politics | Leave a comment

Fox News Just Helped Netanyahu Spread The Lie That Iran Tried To Assassinate Trump

Caitlin Johnstone, Jun 16, 2025

Benjamin Netanyahu was given a platform to spout lies and war propaganda on Fox News in an interview with a groveling Bret Baier, who not only allowed the Israeli prime minister’s lies to cruise by unchecked but actually invited him to expand upon them.

Netanyahu promoted countless incendiary falsehoods and unsubstantiated claims throughout the interview, including the assertion that Iran was working on producing nuclear weapons and intended to give them to Yemen’s Houthis to facilitate global terrorism, and that Iran was working on intercontinental ballistic missiles to nuke the east coast of the United States as well.

Perhaps the most ridiculous and brazenly propagandistic claim advanced by Netanyahu was that Iran had twice attempted to assassinate the president of the United States.

“These are people who chant ‘Death to America.’ They’ve tried to assassinate President Trump twice,” said the prime minister.

Rather than push back on this claim or point out that there’s been no reported evidence that any such thing has occurred, Baier instead offered Netanyahu the opportunity to drive the narrative home further with claims of secret intelligence about these alleged assassination plots.

“You just said Iran tried to assassinate President Trump twice,” Baier said. “Do you have intel that the assassination attempts on President Trump were directly from Iran?”

“Through proxies, yes, through their intel, yes, they want to kill him,” Netanyahu asserted.

Netanyahu had previously made this claim on his own platform in a statement on Friday wishing President Trump a happy birthday, and now he’s carrying it into the mainstream news media of the United States.

Netanyahu’s claim has already been repeated in outlets like The New York Post, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, and The Independent. So it’s in the blood stream now. The information ecosystem of US politics has already been infected with the virus.

It says so much about how comfortable Israel is with lying and how eager the western media are to help promote those lies that Netanyahu could go on Fox News and just casually assert that Iran “tried to assassinate President Trump twice,” only to have the Murdoch muppet host invite him to expound upon this assertion rather than challenging the Israeli prime minister’s evidence-free claim.

Netanyahu was fully aware that he was lying, and Baier was fully aware that Netanyahu was lying. They collaborated to push this lie before Fox News’ aging audience without the faintest whisper of journalistic ethics anywhere to be heard, knowing that this one baseless assertion would help turn their Trump-sympathizing viewers toward supporting a US attack on Iran.

If you weren’t around for the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, this is what it was like. Brazen lies with a fully complicit media, with the most frenetic war propaganda circulated by the Murdoch press.

Rupert Murdoch is intimately intertwined with Israel’s political elite and has a financial stake in Israeli energy which depends on Israel’s ongoing military occupation of the Golan Heights. Murdoch largely has the assistance of the US government to thank for his mass media empire. He personally funded the political career of Benjamin Netanyahu, who in 2002 told the US Congress that “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam [Hussein] is seeking, is working, is advancing towards to the development of nuclear weapons,” and that “If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region.”

The US does not have a free press, and neither do any of its allies in the western world. Under the western power alliance the mass media operate as the propaganda services of the US-centralized empire, and the public is fed whatever narratives serve the information interests of that empire.

The lies about Iran are just getting started. There will be more. Don’t buy into any part of this scam. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/fox-news-just-helped-netanyahu-spread?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=166039398&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

June 16, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, media | 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

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

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

SPECIAL BULLETIN: Israel Launches Major Strikes on Iran

Simplicius, Jun 13, 2025

The Israeli rogue state added another of its neighbors to the long list of regional nations it is currently bombing. From Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, international waters, and now Iran—Israel now bombs them all with impunity while crying out about its own ‘security’.

The attacks are reportedly just the first stage of a long wave of aggression that will span days or weeks according to announcements from top officials:

NETANYAHU: WE ARE AT A DECISIVE MOMENT IN ISRAEL’S HISTORY NETANYAHU: ATTACKING IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, BALLISTIC MISSILES *NETANYAHU: STRIKES WILL LAST UNTIL THREAT REMOVED

A statement from IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin on the preemptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear targets

Hebrew sources: Air force attacks on Iran are divided into three main missions:

The nuclear project
Destruction of missile launch platforms
Elimination of senior regime officials

Israeli news:

Israeli Channel 14 citing an Israeli official: “We have a long and broad offensive plan for the days ahead – complex days lie ahead. The Iranians will respond, if the public is disciplined, there will be few casualties. We are at war.“

Reportedly, the White House stated earlier that the US would not be involved in any unilateral Israeli actions, and as soon as the strikes began Rubio made sure to distance the US in an official statement:

Netanyahu again invoked the Iranian nuclear weapons red herring used so many times before, it has now turned into a parodic litany, recorded below [on original]

………………………….. It .. does not surprise me that Israeli officials are now characterizing the beginning of this war as a critical juncture in the history of Israel. Netanyahu called it the ‘decisive moment in Israeli history’ while Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly announced:

Defense Minister Israel Katz to the IDF General Staff before the attack on Iran: This is a defining moment in the history of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Israel duly is at a crossroads, which I have described before: the country is in a downward spiral and has only one remaining chance to seize history to secure its survival. Why? The reasons are almost too long to list in this one brief article alone, but they include demographics, as well as the decline of Zionism and rise of “noticing” in the West which means in a generation or two, support for Israel may dwindle to the point where it will be engulfed by regional enemies.

The other major reason: nascent technologies have created parity between Israel and its foes, where groups like Hamas and Hezbollah can use cheap but highly technologically effective weapons to deal accurate, disabling damage to Israel’s most critical and sensitive infrastructure. The same goes for Iran: the country has come of age and mastered rocketry and newfangled drone warfare to the point where the numbers simply do not work in Israel’s favor in any future war.

Israel once had the backing of the world’s most dominant ‘superpower’ alliance of Western nations, now the tides of history have simply shifted against Israel’s favor.

Now there are reports Iran may “declare war” on Israel. I remain skeptical for the following reason: Iran has no true overriding capability to fully ‘submit’ Israel into a state of debellatio. Israel has the nukes, and presumably, Iran as of yet does not. No amount of conventional missiles could make Israel simply surrender, and as such a declaration of war has no real meaning. Neither do the two countries share a border so it’s not like Iranian troops can somehow flood Israel to capture its capital.

Any overwhelming attack that could critically wound Israel may provoke an Israeli nuclear response—further proving Iran does not have the escalatory advantage or trump card. That is like Ukraine “declaring war” on Russia—what possible meaning would that have? Ukraine does not have the escalatory dominance to ever ‘submit’ Russia in any way, and the only objective of true ‘war’ is just that—total victory and the subjugation of the adversary. Thus, I see no logical way war can be declared, unless Iran did finally secretly hatch that bomb and is ready to use it. The only other possibility is for PR reasons to satisfy the demands of the angry populace, before declaring victory after some arbitrary objectives have been carried out via a series of strikes, and calling it a day.

For the record, here was Supreme Leader Khamenei’s reported address:

“At dawn today, the Zionist regime extended its vile and blood-stained hand to commit a crime in our beloved country, further exposing its wicked nature by targeting residential areas. The regime must now await severe punishment. The powerful hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will not let them go unpunished, God willing. In the enemy’s attacks, a number of commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately carry on their duties, God willing. With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself—and it will certainly receive it.”

Because many will and have already asked, one last note: the first wave of Israeli attacks obviously had some observable and verifiable success, particularly with the decapitations of top leadership already confirmed by official Iranian agencies. Strikes on nuclear processing infrastructure will take longer to validate. This raises questions of Iran’s preparedness—how could top leaders be so unprepared whilst knowing that Israel was ready to stage major attacks any day now?

That is certainly a valid criticism. But when it comes to Iran’s vaunted air defenses, which will doubtlessly face criticism, all I can say is that recent wars of the modern-technological age have shown no country on earth is capable of fully defending against modern weapons like ballistic missiles. How many of Iran’s or the Houthi’s missiles had Israel shot down in previous strikes? Nearly none, if I recall correctly. How often have the US Patriots famously failed to down anything, including over US bases where Iranian strikes gave hundreds of US troops “brain damage”, and how often do Ukrainian drones and missiles bypass Russian defenses? No one has an impervious defense, though judging by recent strikes on Moscow, the closest any country in the world has come to that distinction is Russia.

And for the record, tonight we see reports of Israeli ALBM booster stages “spread out through various Iraqi provinces” which again appears to prove Israel launched its ordnance well clear of Iranian airspace, likely the Air LORA missiles as in the previous strikes:

Though there were various ‘rumors’ of jets flying over Tehran but it appears in every case to have been Iranian jets scrambled at the time of strikes not only to avoid being hit on airfields but possibly for air defense missions as well.

Lastly, many expected Iran to have already prepared an instantaneous response: the immediate launch of hundreds of missiles upon Israel’s very first salvo. The reality is that Iran has never functioned this way: it waits and assesses the situation before carefully curating a large-scale operation like the long-awaited True Promise 3.0. Why is that the case? One oft-cited and rationally sound explanation is the following: [on original]

Logic would dictate if they had chosen the latter option, they would have already prepared an instantaneous volley to hit Israel at its point of lowest readiness. Waiting days to respond telegraphs your actions and gives the enemy time to prepare, which logically implies a ‘show’ strike. But nothing is for certain in this game of war, so we’ll have to wait and see. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/special-bulletin-israel-launches?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1351274&post_id=165832167&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=c9zhh&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

June 15, 2025 Posted by | global warming, Iran, Israel | 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

Russia said on Wednesday it stood ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran.

 Russia said on Wednesday it stood ready to remove highly enriched uranium
from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to
help narrow U.S.-Iranian differences over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear
programme. Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its
swiftly-advancing uranium enrichment programme has raised fears in the
wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon.

 Reuters 11th June 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-is-ready-remove-excess-nuclear-materials-iran-2025-06-11/

June 14, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Russia, Uranium | Leave a comment

Iran says it will release Israeli nuclear secrets as pressure grows to reimpose sanctions

Tehran threat comes as European powers press for vote that could lead to reimposition of UN sanctions

Guardian Patrick Wintour, 9 June 25

Iran has said it will soon start releasing information from a hoard of Israeli nuclear secrets it claims to have obtained, as European countries push for a vote this week on reimposing UN sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

The unverified claims by Iranian intelligence of a massive leak of Israeli secrets may be designed to turn the focus away from what Iran argues is its own excessively monitored civil nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, claimed Tehran had obtained “a vast collection of strategic and sensitive [Israeli] documents, including plans and data on the nuclear facilities”. He added evidence would be released shortly, and implied some of the documentation was linked to Israel’s arrest of two Israeli nationals, Roi Mizrahi and Almog Attias, over alleged spying for Iran………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/iran-says-it-will-release-israeli-nuclear-secrets-as-pressure-grows-to-reimpose-sanctions

June 11, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Nuclear Watchdog Meeting Sparks Tensions With Iran

By RFE/RL staff – Jun 07, 2025,
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Nuclear-Watchdog-Meeting-Sparks-Tensions-With-Iran.html

  • Iran has vowed to react strongly to potential IAEA findings of noncompliance pushed by Western nations, citing past actions as precedent.
  • The IAEA’s latest report indicates a sharp increase in Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium, exceeding limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal.
  • US-Iran nuclear talks have stalled, leading to heightened risk of escalation, and Israel has reportedly assured the US it will not strike Iran’s nuclear sites without explicit authorization.

Iran has vowed to take strong action against Western nations pushing a resolution at a quarterly meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog that would find the Islamic republic in noncompliance with its safeguards obligations for the first time in 20 years.

In a June 6 post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi slammed Britain, France, and Germany — collectively known as the E3 — for “falsely accusing Iran” of violating its obligations and claimed the move was “designed to produce a crisis.”

“Mark my words as Europe ponders another major strategic mistake: Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights. Blame lies solely and fully with irresponsible actors who stop at nothing to gain relevance,” Araqchi warned.

A draft resolution prepared by the E3 and backed by the United States was shared on June 5 with the 35 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors, which will hold its quarterly meeting on June 9-13.

Araqchi pointed to a similar episode in 2005 when Iran resumed uranium conversion activities after suspending them during earlier negotiations with the E3.

In response, the European trio pushed for Iran to be declared in noncompliance and referred to the UN Security Council. Iran retaliated by ending voluntary transparency measures and significantly expanding its uranium enrichment program — a turning point Araqchi described as “in many ways the true birth of uranium enrichment in Iran.”

In its latest quarterly report, the IAEA said Iran has sharply increased its production of highly enriched uranium, stockpiling 408.6 kilograms enriched to 60 percent — up from just under 275 kilograms in February.

The agency also criticized Iran for poor cooperation, particularly its failure to explain nuclear traces detected at undeclared sites.

While 60 percent enrichment is below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material, it far exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal, which US President Donald Trump exited in 2018 during his first term in office. Trump returned to the presidency in January.

The Trump administration has held five rounds of talks with Iran since April to reach a new agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program. But this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected a US proposal after Trump stated that Iran would not be allowed to continue enriching uranium under any future deal.

Axios says the White House’s “interpretation” of Trump’s two-month deadline for a deal is that it expires next week. Israel, which has long been planning to strike Iranian nuclear sites, is said to have assured Washington it will not launch a military strike on Iran unless diplomatic negotiations fail and it receives explicit clearance from Trump.

June 10, 2025 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

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