North Korea's Kim Jong Un attends launch of restored destroyer, KCNA says
SEOUL, June 13 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended on Thursday the launching ceremony of a destroyer that had been damaged upon its first attempt to launch, state media KCNA said on Friday.
Kim said the restoration of the destroyer "had not delayed" North Korea's attempts to enhance naval power, and said plans were in place "to build two more 5,000-ton destroyers next year", KCNA said.
Kim called for the country to strengthen its maritime military presence in the Pacific Ocean in the face of what he said were U.S. provocations, KCNA said.
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Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
US issues security alerts for Iran, Iraq, Israel and Jordan, warns of missile attacks
WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department issued security alerts on Friday for several Middle Eastern countries, in some cases advising against travel and warning of possible missile attacks after Israel launched military strikes against Iran. It warned American citizens not to travel to Iran and said those there should leave. "U.S. citizens who are unable to depart Iran should shelter in place," the advisory read. The alerts warned of missiles, drones or rockets flying over Iraqi and Jordanian airspace. "In the event of such an incident seek overhead cover and shelter in place. Do not expose yourself to falling debris," the department said. Israel said on Friday it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran promised a harsh response to the onslaught. Israel said about 100 drones had been launched towards Israeli territory in retaliation, although an Iranian source denied this. Airlines steered clear of much of the Middle East on Friday after the Israeli attacks forced carriers to cancel or divert thousands of flights in the latest upheaval to travel in the region. Late on Thursday, the State Department said it had directed all U.S. government employees and their family members in Israel to shelter in place until further notice.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Israel used long-planned subterfuge in attack on Iranian nuclear targets, Israeli sources say
JERUSALEM, June 13 (Reuters) - Israel sent Mossad commandos deep into Iran to destroy Iranian weapons systems during Israel's attack on nuclear and military targets, an Israeli security source said, while another official said Israel used a ploy to suggest the strike was not imminent. The Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the clandestine nature of the operations, described secret and lengthy preparations that went into an attack that sent oil prices sharply higher on fears of regional escalation. Reuters could not independently verify the accounts. Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters shortly before the attack had been dismissive about any imminent action and repeatedly said talk of strikes was just "psychological pressure" to influence U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations that were due on Sunday. Iran has not given a detailed account of what its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called "unlawful and cowardly attacks", but it has promised a harsh response. Iran's mission at the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Israel's covert operation and other subterfuge related to the attacks. Ahead of the strike, Israel gave the impression its focus was still on U.S. diplomacy towards a nuclear deal with Iran, briefing journalists that its spy chief would go to Washington before the next negotiations. Instead, Israel said it sent 200 warplanes to conduct a wave of air strikes across Iran before dawn on Friday, hitting nuclear facilities and missile factories, and killing military commanders and nuclear scientists, in a culmination of its efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear programme is purely civilian. The Israeli security source said Israel's military and Mossad had worked for years on the intelligence needed for the strikes, which killed the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps among others. The security source said Mossad commandos had covertly deployed weapons across Iran, including explosive drones that were launched at a surface-to-surface missile base near Tehran. The Mossad commandos also fired precision-guided weapons systems at Iranian surface-to-air missile systems as the Israeli attack got underway, reducing the threat to Israeli warplanes. A grainy black and white video distributed by Mossad showed what it said were the organization's operational force - two camouflaged figures crouched in what looks like desert terrain, deploying the precision weapons system meant to destroy Iran's air defence systems. Some of the operation's components would have taken years to be put together, said Sima Shine, a former chief Mossad analyst and now a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). The decision to strike Iran was made on Monday, the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone, when Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir decided the operation would begin on Friday, said a second source, an Israeli defence official. Their discussion was held after the conversation between Trump and Netanyahu, a third official, close to Netanyahu, said. The final green light was given by Netanyahu's security cabinet, which convened on Thursday night. In the days leading up to the strikes, Israel played out a ploy to create the impression an attack was not imminent, according to a fourth source, also an Israeli official. False reports suggesting that a rift between Israel and the United States had emerged during Netanyahu and Trump's phone call on Monday were not denied, the fourth source said. A press release about a visit by Katz, Zamir and the head of Israel's Air Force Tomer Bar to an air force base mentioned Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon - but not Iran. The fourth source said that the ruse included misleading information given in press briefings. As the attack unfolded in the early hours of Friday, some Israeli journalists pointed to one such briefing, according to which Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Head David Barnea were to be sent to Washington ahead of the next round of nuclear talks on Sunday. Dermer later appeared seated with Netanyahu at Israel's defence headquarters bunker in Tel Aviv, in a video distributed by the prime minister's office. A fifth, military source said that Israel had been able to surprise Iran but since the operation was not over, there could be "difficult days" ahead. Iran, which fired ballistic missiles at Israel when they traded blows last year, has promised "harsh punishment" in response to the attack. Israel said it had intercepted many of the 100 drones launched towards Israeli territory in retaliation.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Trump struggles with Iran message as Republicans diverge over attack
As the massive size and scope of Israel's overnight attacks on Iran have come into view on Friday, Donald Trump is presented with a major new foreign policy crisis - as well as a diplomatic does the American president who promised to be a peacemaker handle a dramatic military escalation in the Middle East?In the hours after the strike, Trump appears to be struggling to find a consistent message in the face of a grave blow to his diplomatic night, US diplomats reacted coolly to the first reports of the Israeli strikes. While it was clear that American forces had advance notice of what was coming, a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised the US was not involved in the logistics or planning of the Friday morning, the president himself was commenting on his Truth Social account, with a sombre message directed at the Iranian leadership - more "I told you so" than a clear plan to stop the warfare."Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen," Trump wrote. "They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!"He followed that up with a shorter post, noting that the 60-day deadline he had given the Iranians for a deal had expired - but still holding out hope. "Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!" he wrote. Live: Latest update as Israel targets Iran's nuclear sitesIran is reeling - and it may only be the startIsrael has inflicted unprecedented damage on Iran's elite - why now?What we know about Israel's attacks on Iran In comments to American media outlets, though, Trump's message was more told CNN that the US "of course" supports Israel "and supported it like nobody has ever supported it"."I think it's been excellent," he said of Israel's strikes in an ABC interview. He added that the US gave Iran a chance, but they didn't take it. "They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come - a lot more."In another twist, to the Wall Street Journal he said the US received more than just a heads-up from Israel: "We know what's going on." He also called Israel's move "a very successful attack, to put it mildly." According to Daniel Byman, from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Israel's move represents a new willingness to go against American preferences in the region. For a more traditional American administration, such open defiance would be a significant for Trump, his grab-bag of comments after Israel's attack illustrates how different rules apply - and that while Israel is clearly operating according to its own schedule and agenda, that may not lead to a clear break between the two longtime allies."He doesn't feel bound by any of his past statements," Byman Iran assesses the damage – including more than 90 dead, explosions in its capital city Tehran, and what the Israel Defense Force described as significant damage to the Natanz nuclear facility - Israel is activating tens of thousands of its soldiers and continuing what its officials say will be a two-week military campaign. The prospects for peace seem dimmer by the strategy, at the moment, appears to be hoping that the military action jolts Iran into making new concessions – a delicate dance of distancing the US from Israel's actions while still trying to use them to gain advantage at the negotiating Revolutionary Guards chief killed by IsraelHow attack on Iran could hit oil pricesBy his own acknowledgement, however, key Iranian leaders have been killed in the strikes - and Iran is currently focusing its diplomatic efforts on appeals to the United Nations Security Council, where it has labelled Israel's action an "act of war"."I think that Netanyahu just torpedoed the nuclear talks for the time being," said Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East Politics in George Washington University's School of International Affairs. "You cannot beat up a guy and then say come and negotiate with me."The US still plans to hold scheduled talks with Iranian officials in Oman on Sunday. Will Todman, a senior fellow in the Middle East programme at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said a US-Iranian deal, if it were to happen, would have a "dramatic impact" on Israel's strategy going forward."Israel would be much more constrained in the approach that it can take to its efforts to downgrade Iran's nuclear programme, but also its military capabilities," he said, adding that any kind of deal was unlikely to happen at this point. That may be just fine with some key members of the Republican Party - exposing what could be a growing divide between conservative pro-Israel foreign policy hawks in Congress and the America First, isolationist sympathies of many in the Trump administration."How does the America First foreign policy doctrine and foreign policy agenda... stay consistent with this right now?" Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and vocal Trump supporter, asked during an internet livestream that was broadcasting as the Israeli strikes began Thursday evening, Politico about the same time, more bellicose Republicans were celebrating the attacks on social Lindsey Graham of South Carolina took to X to post: "Game on. Pray for Israel"."Israel IS right - and has a right - to defend itself!" Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson the White House, many of the more vocal advocates for military action against Iran have been sidelined in recent months, including former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who reportedly had consulted with Israel on Iran attack plans before Trump requested his resignation in early president's most senior advisers, including Vice-President JD Vance, have been wary of allowing America to be pulled into new conflicts – or becoming overly involved in foreign policy concerns that they view as removed from core US interests."Previously, it seems that those advocating for restraint were ascendant in the in the administration, but I think ultimately, this comes down to President Trump alone," said Todman. "The statements that we saw from him this morning seem to indicate that he's open to providing more support to Israel, depending on how the next few days play out."With American forces based across the Middle East, involvement may be unavoidable. Just five months into his second term in office, the peacemaker president could have a new war on his reporting by Brandon Drenon
