War between Israel and Iran expected to continue for at least a fortnight
Israel's
surprise attack on
Iran
in the early hours of Friday morning killed at least nine leading nuclear scientists, damaged key nuclear facilities, eliminated the Iranians' top military brass, sowed confusion in the command-and-control centres and damaged air defence systems and ballistic missile production sites.
By Saturday afternoon the
Israel Defense Forces
announced that Israeli jets were now flying with impunity over Tehran and western Iran. Iran is a vast country and the bank of potential targets is enormous: the war is expected to continue for at least a fortnight.
Israel has the ability to inflict significant damage on Iran's nuclear project and may already have set back the time it will take Tehran to assemble a nuclear bomb by a few years. The facility in Natanz has been severely damaged, and may have been put out of commission for the foreseeable future. Part of the facility in Isfahan has also suffered heavy damage. However, the primary aim of the war for Israel – preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb – will require the
US
to join the fray.
Israel struck areas near Qom, but the Fordow site, where it is believed most of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is stored deep underground, can only be destroyed by US long-range B-2 bombers, based in the Indian Ocean, dropping advanced bunker busters – almost the only ordinance Washington has refused to transfer to Israel.
READ MORE
Israel clearly has an interest in the US joining the war and is hoping that the regime in Iran will somehow provoke such a scenario. Threats over the weekend by Iranian military commanders of an escalating regional conflict that will also target American military installations throughout the
Middle East
, could be an indication of such a direction.
US officials have been careful to stress that they were not part of the Israeli attack, even though they did have prior knowledge.
US president
Donald Trump's
moves in the coming days will be critical in shaping the direction of the war.
Meanwhile, the initial euphoria in Israel is waning as the home front begins to pay a heavy price. Iranian ballistic missiles slammed into residential areas of Rishon Letsion, Bat Yam and Rehovot over the weekend, along with the Arab town of Tamra, in the north. The destruction was on a scale never witnessed before and it is clear that this is only the beginning.
[
Israeli attacks may give Iran's nuclear programme greater impetus
Opens in new window
]
The interception rate by Israel's layers of missile defence remains impressively high but it only takes a few projectiles to get through. For the foreseeable future Israelis will go to bed knowing that they will be woken up by sirens and praying that the missiles will not land on their neighbourhood.
'A war that's been planned for a decade' - why Israel has attacked Iran and what happens next
Listen |
21:11
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
President Higgins has ‘no intention' of remaining silent while democracy ‘under threat'
President Michael D Higgins says he has 'no intention' of remaining silent while the bombardment of Gaza continues. Mr Higgins signalled that he does not plan to go quietly into retirement ahead of his second and final term in Áras an Uachtaráin ending in November. He said he believed there was 'no point in what is left of my own life, and all of the rest of it, pretending it is just an ordinary period of time'. 'It is a dangerous period of time when democracy itself is under threat,' he said. READ MORE Mr Higgins was applauded for his remarks which he made to a crowd of some 500 people who gathered in the grounds of the Áras on Sunday to mark Bloomsday , a celebration of James Joyce . He said the Ulysses author lived through two World Wars and was anti-war. The President urged the world not to forget the fate of the people of Gaza even while attention turned to the conflict between Israel and Iran. 'Why has it taken so long to bring food and medicine and water to do those who need it?' he asked regarding the situation in Gaza. 'It was a great human failure. I will have opportunities to address those subjects again.' Mr Higgins's commentary on Gaza has previously drawn the ire of the Israeli government, but he has repeatedly said criticising Israel's actions is not anti-Semitism and to suggest otherwise is a 'disgrace and a slander'. The President also criticised the 'dangerous authoritarianism' that has impacted American academia since at Trump administration took charge. 'What that authoritarianism promises us is a life without the arts, without the contribution of artists, limited public opportunities for sharing cultural experiences and of never being lifted to transcendence by performance in its many forms,' he said. 'Such a life will constitute a much diminished existence, an unfulfilling encounter with life, one devoid of beauty, creativity and human expression. It must be called out for that which it others.' Mr Higgins said his most pleasant days in the Áras involved being surrounded by musicians and other performers. Straw boaters, strawberries and even a smattering of sunshine marked his final celebration of Bloomsday, marking June 16th, 1904, the day that Joyce met Nora Barnacle and immortalised in Ulysses. Regarding Joyce, Mr Higgins said he hoped his term in office would 'repair, or at least gently redress, the often strained relationship between Ireland and one of its most brilliant – and most exiled – sons'. In the course of 14 years as President, he had seen Joyce's grandson Stephen's final wish fulfilled. The Joyce poem A Flower Given to My Daughter was inscribed on the family grave in Fluntern cemetery in Zurich, Switzerland, in honour of the author's daughter Lucia Joyce. Mr Higgins visited Joyce's grave in Zurich in 2018 and in January of last year he unveiled a plaque in Galway's Rahoon cemetery marking the grave of Michael 'Sonny' Bodkin and its connection to Barnacle, Joyce and his masterpiece The Dead. President Michael D Higgins delivering a speech in the grounds of Aras an Uachtárain on Sunday He also awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award to Dr Fritz Senn and Prof Enrico Terrinoni for their contributions to Joycean scholarship. Prof Terrinoni brought Ulysses to new life for Italian readers with his translation of the work in 2021. The garden party featured a play, Ulysses aWake, from a Blackrock-based street theatre group written by Nastaise Leddy and Iris Park. Singer Noel O'Grady sang three songs, one of which he dedicated to the singer Johnny Duhan, who tragically drowned last November.
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
War between Israel and Iran expected to continue for at least a fortnight
Israel's surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning killed at least nine leading nuclear scientists, damaged key nuclear facilities, eliminated the Iranians' top military brass, sowed confusion in the command-and-control centres and damaged air defence systems and ballistic missile production sites. By Saturday afternoon the Israel Defense Forces announced that Israeli jets were now flying with impunity over Tehran and western Iran. Iran is a vast country and the bank of potential targets is enormous: the war is expected to continue for at least a fortnight. Israel has the ability to inflict significant damage on Iran's nuclear project and may already have set back the time it will take Tehran to assemble a nuclear bomb by a few years. The facility in Natanz has been severely damaged, and may have been put out of commission for the foreseeable future. Part of the facility in Isfahan has also suffered heavy damage. However, the primary aim of the war for Israel – preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb – will require the US to join the fray. Israel struck areas near Qom, but the Fordow site, where it is believed most of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is stored deep underground, can only be destroyed by US long-range B-2 bombers, based in the Indian Ocean, dropping advanced bunker busters – almost the only ordinance Washington has refused to transfer to Israel. READ MORE Israel clearly has an interest in the US joining the war and is hoping that the regime in Iran will somehow provoke such a scenario. Threats over the weekend by Iranian military commanders of an escalating regional conflict that will also target American military installations throughout the Middle East , could be an indication of such a direction. US officials have been careful to stress that they were not part of the Israeli attack, even though they did have prior knowledge. US president Donald Trump's moves in the coming days will be critical in shaping the direction of the war. Meanwhile, the initial euphoria in Israel is waning as the home front begins to pay a heavy price. Iranian ballistic missiles slammed into residential areas of Rishon Letsion, Bat Yam and Rehovot over the weekend, along with the Arab town of Tamra, in the north. The destruction was on a scale never witnessed before and it is clear that this is only the beginning. [ Israeli attacks may give Iran's nuclear programme greater impetus Opens in new window ] The interception rate by Israel's layers of missile defence remains impressively high but it only takes a few projectiles to get through. For the foreseeable future Israelis will go to bed knowing that they will be woken up by sirens and praying that the missiles will not land on their neighbourhood. 'A war that's been planned for a decade' - why Israel has attacked Iran and what happens next Listen | 21:11
The Journal
15 hours ago
- The Journal
Iran launches fresh missiles overnight as Israeli strikes target Tehran's energy sites
ISRAEL LAUNCHED AN expanded assault on Iran overnight, targeting its energy industry and Defence Ministry headquarters, while Tehran unleashed a fresh barrage of deadly strikes. The simultaneous attacks represented the latest burst of violence since a surprise offensive by Israel two days earlier aimed at Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. New explosions boomed across Tehran as Iranian missiles entered Israel's skies in attacks which Israeli emergency officials said caused deaths around the country, including four in an apartment building in the Galilee region. A strike in central Israel killed an 80-year-old woman, a 69-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy, officials said. Casualty figures were not immediately available in Iran, where Israel targeted its Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran, as well as sites that it alleged were associated with the country's nuclear programme. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed Iranian missiles targeted fuel production facilities for Israeli fighter jets, something not acknowledged by Israel. Amid the continued conflict, planned negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program were cancelled, throwing into question when and how an end to the fighting could come. 'Tehran is burning,' Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on social media. Both Israel's military and Iran's state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard near midnight, while the Israeli security cabinet met. Israel's ongoing strikes across Iran have left the country's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route. Israeli security forces inspect destroyed buildings that were hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a 'dangerous precedent,' China's foreign minister said. Advertisement The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting. Israel — widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days have killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's UN ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. The sixth round of US-Iran indirect talks today over Iran's nuclear programme will not take place, mediator Oman said. 'We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,' said a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy. Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early on Saturday. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where. US ground-based air defence systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Israel's main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice. First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile that fell on a neighbourhood outside of Tel Aviv early on Sunday morning. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors in some of the areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases. Meanwhile, Donald Trump said the US had 'nothing to do with the attack on Iran' and warned Tehran against targeting US interests in retaliation. 'If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!' Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Saturday.
