‘Criminal regime': Netanyahu calls Iran's leaders the ‘arch-terrorists' of the world
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran are the 'arch-terrorists' of the world during a visit to a hospital in southern Israel which was targeted by Iranian missile strikes.
'They are targeting civilians because they are a criminal regime,' Mr Netanyahu said.
'They're the arch-terrorists of the world; they want to have nuclear terrorism, which will put the entire world under nuclear blackmail, and they would use these weapons.
'We are in the process of achieving a tremendous victory.'
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AU Financial Review
28 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Whatever happens, the Middle East has been remade
During the past week, Sharren Haskel has established a new bedtime routine with her three young daughters at her home, waiting for the inevitable air raid siren as Iranian missiles and drones rain over Israel. 'In the beginning, we would run into the [bomb] shelter, but now I set all my three little babies to sleep in our little shelter,' Haskel, who is Israel's deputy foreign minister, tells AFR Weekend.
ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Israel is targeting Iran's nuclear uranium enrichment plants. Here are the contamination risks
Israel has been targeting Iran from the air since last Friday in what it has described as an effort to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), five nuclear facilities have been struck, sparking fears the air strikes could raise health risks across the region. Here's what damage has been caused so far and the safety risks of attacking nuclear sites. Several military and nuclear sites in Iran. Israel says the attacks are to block Iran from developing atomic weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operations were to "strike the head of Iran's nuclear weaponization program". Iran denies ever having pursued a plan to build nuclear weapons and is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It says the nuclear sites it does have are for peaceful purposes. If Israel continues attacking Iran until it removes the country's nuclear capability, destroying the Fordow enrichment plant is central to its plan. While another important facility, Natanz, has been hit, the Fordow site would be much harder to target. This is because it's located inside a mountain, 90-metres underground and can only be reached by American "bunker-buster" bombs, which Israel does not possess. Because Israel believes Iran is enriching uranium to levels that could allow it to build a nuclear weapon, despite the Islamic Republic's claims its nuclear work is for "peaceful purposes". Enriched uranium, specifically uranium-235, is an essential component in many nuclear weapons. "When you dig uranium out of the ground, 99.3 per cent of it is uranium-238, and 0.7 per cent of it is uranium-235," Kaitlin Cook says, a nuclear physicist at the Australian National University. "The numbers 238 and 235 relate to its weight — uranium-235 is slightly lighter than uranium-238." To enrich uranium, basically means increasing the proportion of uranium-235, while removing the uranium-238. This is typically done with a centrifuge, a kind of "scientific salad spinner" which rotates uranium thousands of times a minute, separating the lighter uranium-235 from the base uranium. For civilian nuclear power, Dr Cook says uranium-235 is usually enriched to about 3 to 5 per cent. But once uranium is enriched to 90 per cent, it is deemed weapons-grade. According to the IAEA, Iran's uranium has reached about 60 per cent enrichment, well on its way to being concentrated enough for a nuclear weapon. Dr Cook says the process for enriching uranium from 60 per cent to weapons-grade is much easier than it is to get to the initial 60 per cent. That's because there's less uranium-238 to get rid of. According to the US Institute for Science and International Security, "Iran can convert its current stock of 60 per cent enriched uranium into 233kg of weapon-grade uranium in three weeks at the Fordow plant", which it said would be enough for nine nuclear weapons. In the hours after Israel attacked Iran last Friday, Netanyahu said Iran was just days away from being able to build nuclear weapons. In a White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran has all it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. "It would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would, of course, pose an existential threat not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world." But there has been some back and forth between US authorities on whether Iran was really that close to producing nuclear weapons. In March, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told members of Congress that Iran was not moving towards building nuclear weapons. "The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003," she said. On Air Force One on Monday night, after hastily leaving the G7 summit, President Donald Trump offered a direct contradiction to Ms Gabbard's claims. "I don't care what she said," Mr Trump said. "I think they were very close to having it." The IAEA said Israel had directly hit the underground enrichment halls at the Natanz facility, leaving them "severely damaged, if not destroyed all together". According to the IAEA, the Natanz site was one of the facilities at which Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 per cent U-235. After the attack, the IAEA found radioactive contamination at the site, but it said the levels of radioactivity outside remained unchanged and at normal levels. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin said: "We've struck deep, hitting Iran's nuclear, ballistic and command capabilities." A nuclear complex at Isfahan and centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran were also damaged. Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor. The IAEA said it had information that the heavy-water reactor had been hit, but that it was not operating and reported no radiological effects. Experts say attacks on enrichment facilities are mainly a "chemical problem", not radiological. Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, says the main concern from destroying an enrichment plant is releasing the harmful uranium hexafluoride gas — highly corrosive and toxic — that's contained in centrifuges. "When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals," Ms Dolzikova said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including weather conditions, she added. "In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely." Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool who specialises in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, says nuclear facilities are designed to prevent the release of radioactive materials into the environment. "Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments," Professor Bryant said. While there so far has been no major radiological incidents as a result of the attacks, IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi stressed the possible nuclear safety and security risks. "There is a lot of nuclear material in Iran in different places, which means that the potential for a radiological accident with the dispersion in the atmosphere of radioactive materials and particles does exist," he said. In a post on X, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also voiced his concern about the potential "immediate and long-term impacts on the environment and health of people in Iran and across the region". Well that's a different story. A strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr could cause an "absolute radiological catastrophe", says James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. While most reactor vessels are protected by steel and concrete containment structures, Dr Cook says the surrounding infrastructure, like spent fuel pools and cooling equipment, would "definitely be a concern" if targeted. For Gulf states, the impact of any strike on Bushehr would be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardising a critical source of desalinated potable water. In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80 per cent of drinking water. While Bahrain and Qatar are fully reliant on desalinated water. "If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly," said Nidal Hilal, professor of engineering and director of New York University Abu Dhabi's Water Research Center. "Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination," he said. On Thursday, an Israeli military spokesperson said the military has struck the Bushehr nuclear site in Iran. However, an Israeli military official later said that comment "was a mistake". The official would only confirm that Israel had hit the Natanz, Isfahan, and Arak nuclear sites in Iran. Pressed further on Bushehr, the official said he could neither confirm or deny that Israel had struck the location. Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, which sits on the Gulf coast, and uses Russian fuel that Russia then takes back when it is spent to reduce proliferation risk. Heavy water is H20 made up of hydrogen-2 instead of hydrogen-1. Dr Cook says it's a little heavier than normal water. "When you use heavy water, you can run your reactor on non-enriched uranium, avoiding the expense of enriching it in the first place, though the water does cost more. "But the problem is that heavy-water reactors can also be used to produce plutonium, which can be used in nuclear weapons." Israel's military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium. "The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development." India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states, have heavy-water reactors. So does Israel, but it has never acknowledged having atomic weapons but is widely believed to have them. ABC with wires
The Age
41 minutes ago
- The Age
How the first week of the Israel-Iran war unfolded, day by day
Since Israel attacked Iran last week, hundreds of people have been killed in both countries, as they traded waves of missiles and drones. US President Donald Trump has stayed true to the image of a volatile and unpredictable leader as the White House considers whether to engage directly in the conflict. Meanwhile, the Israeli military continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza and is accused of targeting those seeking aid. Here's how the first week of the Middle East war has unfolded, day by day. June 13: Israel attacks Iran Israel attacks Iran in what it says is a targeted campaign to wipe out the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Israeli airstrikes kill top Iranian generals and nuclear scientists, as well as civilians in residential parts of Tehran. About 80 people are killed and hundreds more injured. The attack also blows up negotiations between the United States and Iran over a potential nuclear deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims Iran is rapidly approaching the ability to build nuclear weapons – something he's said for years. But some media reports suggest Iran is years away from building a bomb, according to US intelligence. Iran launches a salvo of retaliatory drones and missiles against Israel. June 14: Iran responds; Israeli MP warns 'Tehran will burn' Iranian missiles destroy buildings in Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel, killing three civilians and injuring dozens more. An Israeli official says Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles in four waves. Airstrikes pummel surface facilities at Iran's biggest nuclear enrichment plant, Natanz, the global nuclear watchdog says. These are the types of facilities where Iran is accused of trying to make weapons-grade uranium, a key ingredient in nuclear bombs. Israel's defence minister warns 'Tehran will burn' if retaliatory strikes against Israel continue, as Netanyahu calls on Iranians to overthrow their government. June 15: Civilians killed, oil depot set alight Ten Israelis are killed in Iranian missile strikes, including six in a residential building in Bat Yam, and four in the northern town of Tamra. Israel attacks Iranian energy infrastructure, including one of the country's largest oil refineries, Shahr Rey, the Shahran fuel depot in Tehran and the immense South Pars natural gas facility. The attack heightens the risk to energy infrastructure and sends the price of oil, already inflated since the war began, surging higher. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis say they have targeted central Jaffa in central Israel's with several ballistic missiles over 24 hours in co-ordination with Iran. The group has been launching attacks against Israel, most of which have been intercepted, in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war there. Some Iranians protest against Israel's attacks on the streets of Tehran, but others celebrate Israel's attacks in hope they would topple the almost 40-year regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. June 16: Trump vetoes assassination plot; DFAT plans repatriation Trump vetoes a plan Israel presented to the US to kill Khamenei, according to AP and Reuters. Israel kills the intelligence chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy, in attacks on Tehran, and the IDF blows up surface-to-surface missile sites in central Iran. At least three people are killed and dozens more injured in Iranian attacks on the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, according to Israel's national emergency service, Magen David Adom. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirms the government is planning repatriation flights for Australians trapped in the Middle East, but says the exact timing would depend on airspaces reopening. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discusses the conflict with other world leaders before the G7 summit in Canada. June 17: Trump departs G7 early; people flee Tehran Israeli missiles hit Iran's state-run TV station live on air, killing three people and sending the presenter running for cover. Watch it unfold below. Trump leaves the G7 summit early to address the unfolding crisis and cancels his planned meeting with Albanese. The US president joins leaders in signing a statement calling for de-escalation in hostilities which condemns Iran as the 'principal source of regional instability and terror', and declares that the world would not allow the country to have nuclear weapons. Trump also warns Iranians to 'immediately evacuate Tehran', but fleeing civilians are stuck on gridlocked highways exiting the city of 10 million while airports in Iran remain closed. More Australians in Iran and Israel register with DFAT as they seek safe passage home. Two Iranian humanitarian aid workers are killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the Red Crescent. State media reports 224 Iranians have been killed in hostilities. One of Israel's largest oil companies shuts down all refinery facilities after a power station is damaged by an Iranian missile strike. June 18: Trump brands Khamenei 'easy target'; Israel strikes nuclear base Trump claims to know the whereabouts of Iran's leader Khamenei and suggests the US could kill him easily if it wished to do so. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Trump writes on his Truth Social platform. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now … our patience is wearing thin.' The US president holds a meeting with his National Security Council in the White House and hints that the US could become more involved in Israel's war. CBS News reports the White House is actively considering joining its ally's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel airstrikes damage the highly protected underground enrichment halls at Natanz, Iran's biggest nuclear base. Along with destroying Iran's only uranium-conversion facility in Isfahan, breaching Natanz's fortification counts as a major accomplishment for Israel. Iran's secretive Fordow nuclear base remains undamaged. Iranian state media claims military forces have shot down an advanced Hermes-900 drone before it could destroy any weapons. Iran's state television urges citizens to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging that the messaging app has gathered user information to send to Israel. WhatsApp brands the advice a 'false report'. Iranian internet access, which had been faltering in the days since the attacks began, plummeted by 91 per cent on Thursday night and is severely restricting communications within the country. June 19: US mulls joining war; Israeli hospital struck Trump tells senior aides that he has approved plans to attack Iran but has withheld a final order to see if Tehran will abandon its nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reports. Iran's missiles hit civilian areas in Israel, including Soroka hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, injuring people. Nobody is killed in the attack. Other parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, are also targeted. Netanyahu denounces the attacks from Iran's 'terrorist tyrants', which he says have hit the 'civilian population in the centre of the country'. The Israeli military says it has sent 60 warplanes to strike 20 military sites in Tehran. The IDF claims it has killed two Hezbollah commanders in overnight strikes in southern Lebanon. Israel also claims an attack on a non-operational Iranian nuclear reactor in Arak and dozens of other military and government targets throughout the country. At least 639 people have been killed and 1329 wounded in Israeli strikes on Iran, say Human Rights Watch activists based in Washington. The group says it has identified 263 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 154 as security personnel. June 20: 'Two weeks' for US to join war; Australian embassy evacuated Trump will decide whether the US will intervene in the war within 'two weeks', White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters. Here's the statement she made on Trump's behalf: Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh warns that US intervention could lead to 'hell for the whole region'. Netanyahu instructs his army to increase the intensity of attacks on Iran after Iran bombs a hospital the day before. The Australian embassy in Tehran is evacuated, and its staff leave the country by road. The evacuation comes as DFAT faces mounting complaints about its communications process from Australians with family in Iran. Foreign Minister Penny Wong announces Australia is sending 'defence assets' to the Middle East to support the evacuation of Australians. She emphasises the deployment is 'to help Australians' and 'not there for combat'. News out of Iran is severely limited due to ongoing internet outages. Israel still killing Palestinians While Israel bombs Iran, it continues to kill Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid. Almost 400 Palestinians have been killed at aid centres since aid deliveries resumed in late May, health officials in Gaza say. Loading According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, at least 531 people were killed and 2486 injured across the territory between June 11 and 18.
