Israel-Iran live: Iran launches new wave of missiles at Israel; UK says it will get Britons out on charter flights
Iran has launched a new wave of missiles at Israel. Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government would get Britons out of Israel as soon as it can. Listen to Trump 100 as you scroll.
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Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Latvian president believes NATO will overcome obstacles, meet 5% goal
RIGA, June 20 (Reuters) - Latvia's president expressed confidence NATO would agree to a new higher defence spending target demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, despite Spanish objections, saying the alliance had little choice given the growing threat from Russia. Spain on Thursday asked to opt out of the plan to increase members' defence spending to 5% of their gross domestic product, as requested by Trump, a move which could derail next week's NATO summit at the Hague. Any agreement to raise defence spending needs unanimous approval by the 32 member states. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told Reuters on Friday he understood why countries further from Russia might have difficulties convincing their voters to spend more on defence. But he said the need was pressing. 'I do hope there is the understanding in Madrid that this is a critical time for the Alliance, both when it comes to (increasing) its defence capabilities, but also to the Trans-Atlantic relationship,' he said in an interview in Riga. 'I think that they don't have much of a choice,' he added. At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defence in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates. Latvia and fellow Baltic states Lithuania and Estonia are urgently ramping up their militaries, fearing that their neighbour and former overlord Russia could push on from its 2022 invasion of Ukraine to take more territory. They spent more than 3% of GDP on defence this year, and have committed to top 5% for the next few years. "We are saying that we need to spend as soon as possible now in order to avoid a worst-case scenario, spending much more later," Rinkevics said. "While Russia is stuck in Ukraine, that possibility of a direct military attack is not very high," he said. "But it may change very, very quickly ... if a development in Ukraine leads Russian leadership to believe that NATO is weak, that Ukraine is defeated, that NATO is divided".
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE SCOTT JENNINGS: I know why Trump has decided to destroy Iran's genocidal threat... but the MAGA idiots defending Tehran never will get it
I am safely back on US soil after a harrowing trip to the Middle East last week, when I witnessed the first days of Israel 's justified war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the wellspring of worldwide terrorism. The experience solidified my belief, more than ever before, that President Donald J Trump's commitment to preventing the mullahs of Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is not only critical for peace in the region but for the preservation of Western Civilization. We win… or else. From Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, I watched dozens of Iranian missiles in Israeli skies, triggering the Iron Dome missile defense system, which picked off and destroyed many of the missiles before they could strike their targets. But a few bombs did get through, killing at least 24 people and wounding many more. This week, an Iranian missile struck a hospital in southern Israel that had, thankfully, largely been evacuated. Iran's response to Israel's strikes on its nuclear facilities, military and leadership is sinister in one telling way: Israel targets Tehran's military. Tehran targets Israel's civilians. And with every Iranian missile I saw, I thought: 'Boy, I'm glad that thing doesn't have a nuclear warhead on it.' In those observations lie the great question for President Trump: Should the United States allow a radical dictatorship that seeks to kill innocents, fund terrorism and lead its followers in chants of 'Death to America' possess a nuclear weapon? The answer is quite obviously 'Hell no!' Does any sane person doubt that the Iranian regime, which refers to Israel as the 'Little Satan' and the US as the 'Great Satan,' would kill Americans? Indeed, they have for decades, targeting US soldiers and citizens through their various terrorist proxies. Over one thousand American deaths, in fact, are attributable to the brutal regime. And we must never forget that while the Iranian nuclear weapons program is clandestine, their intercontinental ballistic missile program is not. The regime parades these long-range weapons through their streets, and these missiles are designed to reach the American homeland. 'For 40 years they've been saying death to America, death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like,' President Trump said on Wednesday, 'They were schoolyard bullies… This is just not a threat you can have, and we've been threatened by Iran for many years.' Amen. President Trump has long held this position, consistently and unequivocally – and it's one of the many reasons that I voted for him three times. Now, I am of course aware of the voices on the right arguing against any intervention. The sentiments range from pure isolationism to some bizarre sympathy for Iran and hate for Israel. Many have exposed their ignorance by asking: 'What has Iran ever done to us?' proving that there is such a thing as a stupid question. But Trump, and Trump alone, decides what it means to be 'America First.' And the vast majority of the MAGA movement will support the president if he decides to move against Iran, which does not have to include putting 'boots on the ground' in Iran. Trump is not an isolationist, despite some of his supporters trying to impute this idea to him in desperate social media posts. The president has always been for smart engagement, but that doesn't mean no engagement. What's more, public opinion firmly supports Trump intervening in this situation. Polling explored by CNN this week tells the tale: 83 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats oppose Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans support U.S. airstrikes to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions. For decades, Western leaders have tried to bribe (looking at you, President Obama), coax, or flatter the Iranian mullahs into abandoning their nuclear ambitions. All that failed, because they are fundamentalist radicals who aren't motivated by conventional diplomacy. What did work? Israel's ruthless post-October 7 dismantling of Iran's terrorist infrastructure in the Middle East. Today, the Iranian terror network — from Hamas to Hezbollah to the Houthis — has been decimated. This provides the opportunity to confront Iran without having to simultaneously fight a multi-front war against its terrorist proxies. And President Trump's strategic posture has made this moment possible. Let's be honest – he was cheated out of the Nobel Peace Prize following the signing of the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. And in the five years since, America has courted Saudi Arabia to join the agreement. It was the most significant step towards defusing the Middle East powder keg in decades. Just imagine today's conflict without such alliances? Also in 2020, President Trump ordered the US military to kill the 'Butcher of Iran' Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, which is responsible for operating their terrorist minions. President Trump reinstated sanctions on Iran when others begged for lenience. And he has backed Israel unequivocally while social media's keyboard warriors argued for him to abandon our special partner (we'll have to explore the thinly veiled hatred for Israel and the Jewish people in another column but my goodness is it ugly). Trump's 'America First' foreign policy rests on a simple moral premise: peace through strength, deterrence through certainty. This is now a once-in-a-generation chance to finish this fight by striking Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, which is a fortress buried deep in the mountains, designed precisely to survive such a strike while enriching uranium to weapons-grade. Destroying Fordow would not be an unprovoked escalation — it is self-defense, a clear signal that there is a price for threatening the civilized world and plotting genocide while crying victim to journalists. It is a righteous act that would protect millions of innocent lives from future war and weaken every tentacle of Iran's terror empire. This is a chance not just to make the region safer, but to restore true American deterrence — the kind that makes bad actors think twice before threatening our citizens and our friends. But whatever and however Trump decides to meet this objective, as a Trump voter and supporter, I say – let him cook. We voted for his judgment. He has more access to information than any of us. And he has a clear-eyed view of what a nuclear-armed Iran means for the world. Trump is leading the fight to preserve and protect Western Civilization from Iran and an axis of autocracies that are actively trying to destroy it. The president is now on the cusp of another historic action. The only issue now is how to proceed best.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Moment terrified Brits watch from their Cyprus hotel balconies as Iranian missiles rain down on Israel 250 miles across the Mediterranean
This is the surreal moment British revellers were left stunned as they spotted ballistic missiles flying over the sky while they partied in Ayia Napa amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. Bizarre footage taken by British tourists from a balcony in the Cypriot party spot shows the long-range missiles soaring over the sky, leaving the holidaymakers stunned. One man is heard saying: 'That is not a firework', while a female asks 'are we going to die?' as music plays in the background. The clip has racked over two million views on TikTok. Another video shared by a Brit in Cyprus showed a barrage of projectiles illuminating the night sky as they headed for Israel. The caption read: 'You're having a nice drink in Cyprus and then you see Iranian missiles heading towards Israel.' When asked by a viewer if she was in danger, the tourist said: 'No need to worry, you just see it from afar'. In Cyprus, locals and tourists have been left stunned at the spectacle of missiles jetting over the island this week, with several reportedly flocking to rooftops and beachfront bars to watch. Speaking to Cypriot newsoutlet Ynet, a Finnish tourist said: 'It's crazy—we can see everything from here. 'People just stand on balconies and the boardwalk and watch the missiles and intercepts. What you're going through over there is terrible. We hope it ends soon.' The video comes as the Middle Eastern conflict reached a breaking point last week when Israel launched a series of blistering attacks on Iranian soil, targeting the country's nuclear infrastructure, as well as densely populated parts of cities. Iran responded by launching a wave of retaliatory missile strikes on Israel. Revellers at a Lebanese pool party this week also shared clips of Iranian missiles flying over to hit Israeli targets. A video showed partygoers in a large swimming pool dancing, clapping and cheering as long-range missiles flew off to Israel in the distance. The celebrations carried on, even as the missiles slammed into Israeli territory. This was just the latest example of revelry in Lebanon in the wake of the Israel-Iran conflict. But while much of the world watched in horror as the two Middle Eastern nations duked it out, scenes across Lebanon, which shares its southern border with Israel, were far different. Civilians react as Israeli emergency services arrive at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv Missiles can be spotted in other countries due to their high altitude and the combustion trail they leave behind. Their powerful engines leave bright trails that are especially visible at night. Iranian missiles hit a major hospital in southern Israel on Thursday and struck residential buildings in Tel Aviv, wounding 240 people ad causing extensive damage. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military 'has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.' Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran's sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was 'no radiation danger whatsoever' and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the 'situation in the Middle East remains perilous,' after meeting Thursday at the White House with his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio, and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff. 'We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,' Lammy wrote in a post on X. 'We discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,' he added.
