Iranian missile slams into the main hospital in southern Israel, causing extensive damage
Separate Iranian strikes also hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. Authorities in Israel said at least 40 people were wounded. (AP video shot by: Alon Bernstein)
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump downplays signs of MAGA unrest over possible military strike on Iran
President Donald Trump appears to be downplaying talk that some of his long-loyal MAGA supporters are breaking with him over the possibility that the president will order a military strike on Iran. This amid the nearly week-long daily trading of fire between the Islamic State and Israel, America's top ally in the Middle East. "My supporters are more in love with me today, and I'm more in love with them, more than they even were at election time," the president said when asked about a GOP rift between some of his most vocal supporters of his America First agenda, and more traditional national security conservatives. The president, speaking to reporters on Wednesday on the South Lawn of the White House, added: "I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy, and I have people outside of the base that can't believe that this is happening. They're so happy." Click Here For Fox News Live Updates On The Israel-iran Attacks Asked if he would order an attack on Iran to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the president said, "I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble." Read On The Fox News App The prospect of Trump jumping into the incredibly volatile situation in the Middle East is causing plenty of consternation among some of his top political and ideological allies, and creating divisions within MAGA - a rare moment for a movement that's been firmly supportive of Trump since his 2016 White House campaign. Trump Says Iran's 'Got A Lot Of Trouble' Some top MAGA voices over the past week have argued against any kind of U.S. military involvement with Israel against Iran, arguing it would contradict Trump's America First policy to keep the nation out of foreign wars. And they say it would repeat the move more than two decades ago by then-President George W. Bush to attack Iraq, which Trump had long criticized on the campaign trail. Among those speaking out have been conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a top Trump House ally. Also voicing concerns while remaining firmly supportive of the president are Charlie Kirk — the conservative host and MAGA-world figurehead who leads the influential Turning Point USA — and Steve Bannon, a prominent MAGA ally and former top adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign. But there's been plenty of support for Trump, and for attacking Iran, by other top MAGA world voices. Vance Defends Trump's Iran Position Amid 'Crazy Stuff On Social Media' Also defending Trump this week was Vice President JD Vance, who is a top voice in the America First, isolationist wing of the party. Vance, speaking to both sides, highlighted Tuesday in a social media post that "people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy." But Vance stressed that Trump "has earned some trust on this issue." And the vice president added that "having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using American military to accomplish the American people's goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus." Trump, speaking with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, said: "I don't want to get involved either, but I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran can not have a nuclear weapon." Uss Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Sailing Toward Middle East Ahead Of Schedule, Us Official Says "My supporters are for me. My supporters are America First and Make America Great Again. My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon," the president added. The current debate within the Republican Party wouldn't have happened before Trump shook up and remade the GOP over the past decade. Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and the president of New England College, highlighted that "the divide in the GOP can be traced to Trump's promises to pull America back from its entanglements in the world." And Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump's first term, noted that "Donald Trump changed the direction of the Republican Party" when it comes to American military engagements around the world. "That gave him a new coalition and new political power. This new war in the Middle East is certainly threatening that coalition. While we are not yet involved in a war, chances of escalation are dramatically increased and that certainly has ramifications with the MAGA coalition," Bartlett article source: Trump downplays signs of MAGA unrest over possible military strike on Iran
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
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Starmer warns of ‘real risk' in Middle East as Trump mulls bombing Iran
Sir Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to step back from military action against Iran which could deepen the crisis in the Middle East. The Prime Minister said there was a 'real risk of escalation' in the conflict as he urged all sides to seek a diplomatic outcome. He said there had previously been 'several rounds of discussions with the US' and 'that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue'. His comments came as Foreign Secretary David Lammy was taking the UK's plea for de-escalation to Washington where he will meet Mr Trump's top diplomat Marco Rubio. Mr Lammy and US secretary of state Mr Rubio will discuss the situation in the Middle East on Thursday evening.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
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Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, hit by an Israeli airstrike, was part of Tehran's nuclear deal
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Much of the focus on Iran's nuclear program has been on Tehran's enrichment of uranium, but experts also keep a close watch on the Islamic Republic's Arak heavy water reactor. That's because the facility, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, could produce plutonium, which can be used to make an atomic bomb. Israel pointed to just that concern when it launched airstrikes Thursday on the reactor, following its attacks on other Iranian nuclear sites, including the Nantanz enrichment facility, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, and laboratories in Isfahan. Iran acknowledged the strikes, saying at least two projectiles slammed into the compound, without giving any specifics about damage. Never online, the reactor had no uranium fuel and saw no nuclear release from the strike. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, has warned repeatedly that such sites — whether in Iran or Ukraine — should not be military targets. Arak grew out of Iran's onetime military nuclear program After Iran's devastating 1980s war with Iraq, it began a secret military program to seek a nuclear weapon and approached four nations to purchase a heavy water-moderated reactor. After getting turned down, Iran decided to build its own. Heavy water is water in which hydrogen is replaced by deuterium and is used as a coolant for heavy water reactors. The reactors can be used for scientific purposes, but plutonium is a byproduct of the process. Before the centrifuge technology that enriches uranium to levels high enough for use in weapons became widespread, many states used heavy water reactors to pursue plutonium-fueled bombs. India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states, have heavy water reactors, as does Israel, which has never acknowledged having atomic weapons but is widely believed to have them. Though Iran ultimately embraced uranium-enriching centrifuges as the main driver of its program, it built the reactor, which never went online. Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also had been enriching uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran was the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level. Arak was part of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers Iran agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That included pouring concrete into part of it, though the overall work never was completed. The Arak reactor became a point of contention after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, claimed on Iranian state television in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace the portion of the reactor into which officials poured concrete. Due to restrictions Iran has imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost 'continuity of knowledge' about Iran's heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran's production and stockpile. Israeli strike likely heavily damaged the inert reactor On Thursday morning, Israel carried out an airstrike on the reactor. Black-and-white footage of the strike it released showed a bomb dropping on its dome and sending up a massive plume of fire and smoke. The U.N. nuclear watchdog noted that since it was not in operation and contained no nuclear material, there was no danger to the public after the strike from any 'radiological effects.' The IAEA said it had no information on whether the facility nearby where heavy water is produced had been hit. 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,' the Israelis said. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:
