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United behind Iran war effort, Israelis express relief at US bombing

Israelis expressed relief and optimism Sunday after US President Donald Trump ordered air strikes on Iran, 10 days into a war that has widespread public support.Despite daily nerve-shredding trips to bomb shelters and growing damage around the country, Israelis appeared united behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to attack Iran on June 13. Trump’s decision to authorise overnight bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear facilities has provided further reassurance after more than a week of sorties by the Israeli air force. “The war with Iran was inevitable. You knew it would happen sooner or later,” Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, told AFP in central Jerusalem on Sunday. “I hope that it will shorten the war, because otherwise Israel by itself would not stop until they get that Fordo place bombed,” he explained, referring to the deeply buried Iranian nuclear site targeted by heavy US bombers overnight. Israelis have hunkered down for the last 10 days, with businesses closed, schools shuttered and people urged to stay home.Few have slept a full uninterrupted night since the conflict erupted due to the screeching missile warnings that flash up on mobile phones at all times of day.”We woke up to a Sunday morning of alarms and then we saw that the US attacked,” David, a 43-year-old Jerusalem resident, told AFP. “We’re all happy that the US is lending a hand, it has always been lending a hand.”Israeli President Isaac Herzog told the BBC on Sunday that “now is an opportunity to come to a dialogue of peace, also a dialogue of peace between all nations in the region, including Israelis and Palestinians”.- ‘God is with us’ -Israel’s sophisticated air defences have kept Israeli towns and cities relatively safe, shooting down hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones that would otherwise have caused widespread devastation.Dozens have slipped through, however, with three more impacts reported on Sunday morning in the northern port of Haifa and around the coastal hub of Tel Aviv. At least 50 strikes have been acknowledged nationwide and 25 people have died, according to official figures.When a missile blasted her modern apartment block on Thursday in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, resident Renana lamented to AFP that “it will take a long time until this building recovers.”But she showed no rancour towards Netanyahu who has deployed Israeli forces in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and now Iran since the attack on Israel by Palestinian group Hamas in October 2023. “The truth is that God is with us and the government should go on with whatever they’re doing, which is exactly what should have been done a long time ago,” Renana, who did not give her surname, told AFP.- ‘Sharp contrast’ -Israel’s usually divided political scene has also lined up behind the attack on Iran, a country generations of Israelis have grown up fearing as a threat to their existence. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one,” opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed last week.A survey carried out by the Israel Democracy Institute in the days immediately after Israel’s first strikes on June 13 found that 70 percent of Israelis supported the war, although the results revealed a major divide.Among Jewish Israelis, there was 82 percent support, while only 35 percent of respondents from Israel’s Arab minority, who mostly identify as Palestinian, were in favour.Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli pollster and political analyst, told AFP that Israelis were much more united behind the Iran campaign than the grinding conflict in Gaza which many saw as a “dirty war”.Netanyahu has been criticised for failing to secure the return of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and accused of prolonging the war for domestic political purposes.He is also subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza where nearly 56,000 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. “There’s a very sharp contrast between how Israelis view the war in Gaza and how they view this war with Iran,” Scheindlin said.She cautioned, however, that sentiment could change if it turns into a long conflict. 

Trump says US strikes ‘obliterated’ Iran nuclear sites

President Donald Trump said US air strikes on Sunday “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites, with Tehran later accusing Washington of “blowing up” talks aimed at a deal on its nuclear programme.Following the attack — the United States’ first large-scale strikes on Iran — Trump warned Washington would hit more targets if Tehran did not make peace. Hours later, Iran launched two waves of attacks against long-time foe Israel.”Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said, adding the key underground enrichment site at Fordo was hit, along with facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.”Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran the bully of the Middle East must now make peace,” he said, warning future attacks would be “far greater” unless a diplomatic solution was reached. “Remember, there are many targets left.”Trump’s intervention — despite his past pledges to avoid another “forever war” — threatens to dramatically widen the conflict, after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran last week, with Tehran vowing to retaliate if Washington joined in.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of sabotaging diplomacy after talks with European powers.”This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy,” he wrote on X.Aragchi later told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had “crossed a very big red line”, asserting Iran would continue to defend itself “by all means necessary”.- ‘Change history’ -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump’s decision to “target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history”.In response to the US attack, Iran’s armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded. Police said at least three impacts were reported.One of them was the Ramat Aviv area of Tel Aviv, tearing holes in the facades of apartment blocks.”Houses here were hit very, very badly,” said Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai. “Fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside.”In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.”Israel by itself would not stop… and it would take longer,” he said.Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city’s north.The Israeli military said it had “struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralised the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory a short while ago”.In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city could be heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel’s initial attacks.The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at key nuclear sites in Iran following the strikes and Tehran said Sunday there were “no signs of contamination”.- ‘Step back’ -Saudi Arabia said no radioactive effects were detected in the Gulf and voiced “great concern” over the US strikes.The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticised the US move and urged de-escalation.The European Union called on all sides “to step back”, while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” over its nuclear ambitions.The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for “serious consultations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.US media reported the strikes were carried out by B-2 stealth bombers dropping bunker-buster bombs, as well as submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.Following his address, Trump warned Iran against “any retaliation”. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were “ready to target US ships and warships”.The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck Iran on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since then.Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme “cannot be taken away… by threats or war”.burs-csp/dv

Israelis emerge from shelters to devastation after Iran attacks

First responders fanned out across Israel Sunday following fresh waves of Iranian missile strikes that left pockets of devastation in their wake — as the Islamic republic hit back after a US attack on its nuclear sites.In both Haifa and areas around Tel Aviv, the scenes were all too similar.Rubble filled streets at impact sites as the facades of apartment buildings were eviscerated by the falling projectiles, as rescue teams picked through the debris looking for people.In the Ramat Aviv neighbourhood near Tel Aviv, the mere skeletons of homes were left standing following the barrage, with the wooden frames visible amid a sea of debris.As the country was jolted awake by air raid sirens warning residents of air attacks, many in Ramat Aviv left their shelters later to discover the destruction.A man and woman embraced each other and cried.”Our entire house was destroyed — there’s nothing left,” said Aviad Chernichovsky, who had rushed out of his home to get to a shelter.Several elderly residents were placed on chairs and beds to allow for medical evacuation. One woman, injured in the face, appeared anxious as paramedics led her away from the rubble.Officials were still taking stock of the damage.”Houses here were hit very, very badly,” Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai said at the scene.”Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay.”- Devastating power -The Israeli police said in a statement that they had been deployed to at least two other impact sites, one in Haifa in the north and another in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.A public square in a residential area of Haifa was left strewn with rubble and surrounding shops and homes were heavily damaged.Palm trees withstood the impact in a small public garden, while storefronts were bent, shop windows shattered, and air conditioners left dangling from building facades.Sirens however did not sound in this area. Authorities said they were actively working to clarify what happened.”The possibility of a malfunction with the interceptor (of the air defence system) is under investigation,” said an army spokesperson.Two salvos of missiles were launched at Israel from around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the Israeli military said.Iran has been firing daily missile barrages at Israel for over a week, since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on the Islamic republic’s nuclear installations and military bases triggered war.Israel’s sophisticated air defences have intercepted more than 450 missiles along with around 1,000 drones, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military.Even still, at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nation-wide with the country’s air defence batteries unable to prevent all of the strikes.Iran’s armed forces said Sunday’s barrage targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, and relied on some of their most sophisticated long-range missiles with “devastating warhead power”.

At least three impacts in Israel during Iran missile attacks, 23 hurt

Three areas of Israel including coastal hub Tel Aviv were hit Sunday morning during waves of Iranian missile attacks, with at least 23 people injured, according to rescue services and police. Several buildings were heavily damaged in the Ramat Aviv area in Tel Aviv, with holes torn in the facades of apartment blocks.”Houses here were hit very, very badly,” Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters at the scene. “Fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside. “Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay.”The Israeli police said in a statement that they had been deployed to at least two other impact sites, one in Haifa in the north and another in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.A public square in a residential area of Haifa was left strewn with rubble and surrounding shops and homes have been heavily damaged, AFP photos showed. Eli Bin, the head of Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom, told reporters that a total of 23 people had been wounded nationwide in the attacks, with “two in moderate condition and the rest lightly injured.”Two waves of missiles were launched at Israel from around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the Israeli military said. Sirens rang across the country, with air defences activated shortly afterwards, causing loud explosions heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.Israeli police reported “the fall of weapon fragments” in a northern area encompassing the port of Haifa, where local authorities said emergency services were heading to an “accident site”.Reporting on missile strikes is subject to strict military censorship rules in Israel, but at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nation-wide and 25 people have been killed since the war began with Iran on June 13, according to official figures.Tel Aviv, the southern city of Beersheba and the northern port of Haifa have been the three areas most frequently targeted by Iran.Israel’s sophisticated air defences have intercepted more than 450 missiles along with around 1,000 drones, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military. 

Trump says US attack ‘obliterated’ Iran nuclear sites

President Donald Trump said US air strikes on Sunday “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites, as Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran in a flashpoint moment for the Middle East.In a televised address to the nation from the White House, Trump warned that the United States would go after more targets if Iran did not make peace quickly.The intervention by a US president who had vowed to avoid another “forever war” in the region threatens to dramatically widen the conflict, with Iran having said it would retaliate if Washington got involved.”Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” said Trump, adding that they targeted the crucial underground nuclear enrichment plant of Fordo along with facilities at Natanz and Isfahan.”Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran the bully of the Middle East must now make peace,” said Trump.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the strikes, saying that “with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”Condemning the US attacks as “lawless and criminal,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country has a right to defend its sovereignty.”The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” he posted on X. “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”Not long after, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and explosions were heard from Jerusalem as Iranian state TV announced a fresh salvo of missiles launched.Tehran said Sunday there were “no signs of contamination” after the US attacks and Saudi regulators said “no radioactive effects were detected” in the Gulf region.Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordo plant as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were attacked.- Surprise attack -Trump had said Thursday that he would decide “within two weeks” whether to join Israel’s campaign, in a move that many saw as a window of diplomatic opportunity.But the Republican’s decision to strike Iran came far sooner.Flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said that future attacks would be “far greater” unless Iran reached a diplomatic solution.”Remember, there are many targets left,” he said.Trump however made no mention of regime change, despite having warned last week that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an “easy target.”The raid on the Iran nuclear sites was carried out by B-2 stealth bombers that dropped so-called “bunker buster bombs,” along with submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, US media reported.Trump said earlier on his Truth Social site that a “full payload of BOMBS” was dropped on Fordo and said that “all planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.” Pictures posted by the White House showed Trump in a red “Make America Great Again” cap meeting with top national security officials in the Situation Room, shortly before the strikes were announced.After the address, Trump warned Iran against “any retaliation.” Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in the region, including in Iraq.Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen had on Saturday threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war.The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck Iran on June 13, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon.Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since then.- MAGA split -Trump spoke to Netanyahu after the attacks, while the United States also gave key ally Israel a “heads up” before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned earlier Saturday of a “more devastating” retaliation should Israel’s nine-day bombing campaign continue.Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”Iran’s Revolutionary Guard meanwhile announced early Sunday that “suicide drones” had been launched against “strategic targets” across Israel.The US military strikes on Iran also threaten to cause political tensions at home for Trump.The issue has opened a split in Trump’s “MAGA” movement, with many key Republican supporters calling on Trump to avoid embroiling the United States in another foreign war.Trump’s first 2016 election victory in particular came on the back of his promises to get America out of its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Democrats have also assailed him.Leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said Trump risked US “entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” while others have accused him of bypassing Congress to launch a new war.

Iran’s nuclear programme: the key sites

The US military attacked three sites in Iran on Sunday — Natanz, Isfahan and the mountain-buried Fordo, all key parts of Tehran’s nuclear programme, which it maintains is purely for civilian purposes.American planes launched a “very successful attack”, US President Donald Trump said, claiming Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated”.Trump has said Tehran must never get a nuclear weapon, and ally Israel has claimed its attacks on Iran have set back the country’s nuclear weapons progress by several years.Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons and maintained its right to a civilian nuclear programme.Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear programme in recent years, after a landmark deal with world powers curbing its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief began to unravel in 2018 when the United States under Trump unilaterally withdrew.As of mid-May, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,247.6 kilograms — or more than 45 times the limit set out in the 2015 deal — according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Among its stockpiles, Iran has an estimated 408.6 kilograms (901 pounds) enriched to up to 60 percent — just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.The country now theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA.Below is a list of Iran’s key nuclear sites, which are subject to regular inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog:- Uranium enrichment plants -NATANZ: About 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Tehran, Natanz is Iran’s heavily bunkered main uranium enrichment site, whose existence was first revealed in 2002.Natanz operates nearly 70 cascades of centrifuges at its two enrichment plants, one of which is underground. A cascade is a series of centrifuges — machines used in the process of enriching uranium.In April 2021, the site was damaged in an attack that Iran said was an act of sabotage by Israel.Israel said its recent strikes had hit the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, targeting the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists.IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed the Natanz site was “among targets”.FORDO: Secretly built in violation of United Nations resolutions under a mountain near the holy central city of Qom, Fordo was first publicly revealed in 2009.Initially described as an “emergency” facility built underground to protect it from potential air attacks, Iran later indicated it was an enrichment plant capable of housing about 3,000 centrifuges.In 2023, uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent were discovered at the Fordo plant, which Iran claimed were the product of “unintended fluctuations” during the enrichment process.Trump has called it “the primary site”.- Uranium conversion and research reactors -ISFAHAN: At the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan in central Iran, raw mined uranium is processed into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) and then into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a feed gas for centrifuges.The plant was industrially tested in 2004 upon its completion.The Isfahan centre also harbours a nuclear fuel fabrication facility, which was inaugurated in 2009 and produces low-enriched fuel for use in power plants. In July 2022, Iran announced plans to construct a new research reactor there.Four of its buildings have been hit by Israel since June 13, including a uranium conversion plant.ARAK: Work on the Arak heavy-water research reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of the 2015 deal.Iran has meanwhile informed the IAEA about its plans to commission the reactor by 2026. The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research and the site includes a production plant for heavy water.TEHRAN: The Tehran nuclear research centre houses a reactor that was supplied by the United States in 1967 for the production of medical radioisotopes.  – Nuclear power plant -BUSHEHR: Iran’s only nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr was built by Russia and began operating at a lower capacity in 2011 before being plugged into the national power grid in 2012.Russia continues to deliver nuclear fuel for the plant, which remains under IAEA control.A German company began construction on the plant with a 1,000-megawatt nominal capacity until the project was halted in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Moscow later completed it.DARKHOVIN AND SIRIK: Iran began construction in late 2022 on a 300-megawatt power plant in Darkhovin, in the country’s southwest.In early 2024, it also began work in Sirik, in the Strait of Hormuz, on a new complex of four individual plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts.

Bombing Iran, Trump gambles on force over diplomacy

For nearly a half-century the United States has squabbled with Iran’s Islamic Republic but the conflict has largely been left in the shadows, with US policymakers believing, often reluctantly, that diplomacy was preferable.With President Donald Trump’s order of strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, the United States — like Israel, which encouraged him — has brought the conflict into the open, and the consequences may not be clear for some time to come.”We will only know if it succeeded if we can get through the next three to five years without the Iranian regime acquiring nuclear weapons, which they now have compelling reasons to want,” said Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA analyst and supporter of the 2003 Iraq war who is now vice president for policy at the Middle East Institute. US intelligence had not concluded that Iran was building a nuclear bomb, with Tehran’s sensitive atomic work largely seen as a means of leverage, and Iran can be presumed to have taken precautions in anticipation of strikes.Trita Parsi, an outspoken critic of military action, said Trump “has now made it more likely that Iran will be a nuclear weapons state in the next five to 10 years.””We should be careful not to confuse tactical success with strategic success,” said Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.”The Iraq war was also successful in the first few weeks but President Bush’s declaration of ‘Mission Accomplished’ did not age well,” he said.- Weak point for Iran -Yet Trump’s attack — a week after Israel began a major military campaign — came as the cleric-run state is at one of its weakest points since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western shah.Since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, which enjoys Iran’s support, Israel — besides obliterating much of Gaza — has decimated Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a militant group that would once reliably strike Israel as Tehran’s proxy. Iran’s main ally among Arab leaders, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, was also toppled in December.Supporters of Trump’s strike argued that diplomacy was not working, with Iran standing firm on its right to enrich uranium.”Contrary to what some will say in the days to come, the US administration did not rush to war. In fact, it gave diplomacy a real chance,” said Ted Deutch, a former Democratic congressman who now heads the American Jewish Committee.”The murderous Iranian regime refused to make a deal,” he said.Top Senate Republican John Thune pointed to Tehran’s threats to Israel and language against the United States and said that the state had “rejected all diplomatic pathways to peace.”- Abrupt halt to diplomacy -Trump’s attack comes almost exactly a decade after former president Barack Obama sealed a deal in which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear work — which Trump pulled out of in 2018 after coming into office for his first term. Most of Trump’s Republican Party and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long seen Iran as an existential threat, attacked Obama’s deal because it allowed Tehran to enrich uranium at levels well beneath weapons grade and the key clauses had an end date.But Trump, billing himself a peacemaker, just a month ago said on a visit to Gulf Arab monarchies that he was hopeful for a new deal with Iran, and his administration was preparing new talks when Netanyahu attacked Iran. This prompted an abrupt U-turn from Trump.”Trump’s decision to cut short his own efforts for diplomacy will also make it much harder to get a deal in the medium and long runs,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, which advocates restraint.”Iran now has no incentive to trust Trump’s word or to believe that striking a compromise will advance Iran’s interests.”Iran’s religious rulers also face opposition internally. Major protests erupted in 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was detained for defying the regime’s rules on covering hair.Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on social media that Trump’s strikes could either entrench the Islamic Republic or hasten its downfall.”The US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities is an unprecedented event that may prove to be transformational for Iran, the Middle East, US foreign policy, global non-proliferation and potentially even the global order,” he said.”Its impact will be measured for decades to come.”