WATCH LIVE: Hegseth testifies as Iran's supreme leader rejects Trump's call to surrender
All times eastern FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Hegseth testifies as Iran's supreme leader rejects Trump's call to surrender
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New York Times
13 minutes ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump Says ‘Nobody Knows' His Plans on Iran
News ANalysis Smokes after Israeli airstrikes in Tehran on Tuesday. In Iran, Israel is carrying out the kind of broad and brazen attack that it long threatened but never dared to enact before. For nearly two decades, Israel avoided all-out war with its biggest enemies. It fought contained conflicts with Hamas, but ultimately allowed the group to retain power in Gaza. It maintained an uneasy calm with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, even as its fighters entrenched themselves in southern Lebanon. And despite planning a major assault on Iran, it limited its attacks to smaller, clandestine operations. Israel's massive, ongoing assault on Iran highlights an extraordinary shift in Israeli military doctrine since Hamas, Iran's Palestinian ally, attacked the country in October 2023. It is a change that has redrawn the power dynamics in the Middle East, unraveled Iran's regional alliance and enshrined Israel as the dominant military force in the region. Having given Hamas years to prepare for the Oct. 7 attack, Israel reversed course afterward to unleash one of the most destructive campaigns in recent warfare. It then assassinated most of Hezbollah's leadership and decimated large parts of southern Lebanon. Now, in Iran, it is carrying out the kind of broad and brazen attack that it long threatened but never dared to enact. 'We are changing the face of the Middle East,' said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during a press briefing on Monday. 'And this could lead to far-reaching changes within Iran itself,' he added. For now, that second claim remains unproven. The Israeli military campaign has weakened Iran, but it has not yet destroyed the country's nuclear program or collapsed its government, and it may still fall short of both. The war could also devolve into an intractable quagmire with no exit strategy or offramp. Image Iranians lined up at gas stations in Tehran on Monday. Credit... Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Mr. Netanyahu's broader point is harder to contradict. Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel. Hezbollah's influence over Lebanon — let alone the danger it poses to Israelis — is much diminished. The government in Syria, a pillar of Iran's regional alliance, was overthrown last December, in part because Hezbollah could no longer come to its aid. These tectonic shifts also speak to a vast change within the Israeli psyche and strategic outlook since Hamas's attack in October 2023. For Israel's critics, the attack was the inevitable consequence of the country's blockade of Gaza, occupation of the West Bank, and failure to resolve the Palestinian conflict through diplomatic concessions. Many Israelis have drawn the opposite conclusion: They believe that the October attack — the deadliest in Israeli history — stemmed from Israel's failure to pre-emptively and decisively defeat its enemies. 'In the 20 years before Oct. 7, we allowed threats to develop beyond our borders, trusting that our intelligence would give us prior warnings of any attack,' said Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence. 'The trauma of Oct. 7 completely changed that mind-set and made us willing to take risks that we didn't take in the past,' General Yadlin said. 'We will no longer wait to be attacked, and we will not wait to be surprised.' The approach echoes Israel's strategic outlook in the early decades of its existence, when it often acted more swiftly and decisively to remove threats on its borders, General Yadlin said. The clearest example was in June 1967, when Israel pre-emptively attacked Egypt after the Egyptian military moved troops toward the Israeli border. Image Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt in June 1967. Israel's current approach in the Middle East echoes its strategic outlook in the early decades of its existence, when it often acted swiftly and decisively to remove threats on its borders. Credit... Israel Defense Forces, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 'As Egypt massed troops on our southern border, we did not wait to be surprised,' General Yadlin said. 'Now, we are reviving that doctrine.' Israel's new approach is the culmination of months of re-evaluation, during which the military's confidence — crushed by the failures of Oct. 7 — was gradually restored. While Israel's approach to Hamas was immediately wrathful, the country was initially wary of taking on Hezbollah and Iran. Mr. Netanyahu called off a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah in the first week of the war in 2023, amid fears that Israel would struggle to maintain a multi-front war against the Iran-led alliance. For nearly a year, Israel fought only a low-level border conflict with Hezbollah. Despite increasing clashes with Tehran in 2024, Israel limited its strikes on Iran to avoid an all-out conflict. Israel's approach began to change last September, when a sequence of unexpected moves allowed Israel to decimate much of Hezbollah's senior leadership. That increased Israel's confidence and prompted its leaders to order a more decisive assault on the group. Troops invaded southern Lebanon and the air force killed Hezbollah's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel then severely weakened Iran's air defense systems and successfully repelled massive barrages of Iranian missiles, giving Israel greater confidence in its offensive and defensive abilities. More than a year after Oct. 7, Israeli leaders finally concluded that they had a rare window of opportunity to mount a decisive blow against Iran's nuclear program. Image An oil storage west of Tehran was hit by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. Credit... Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Though Israel's new approach has undercut Iran's regional influence, it has done little to resolve Israel's oldest and most intractable problem: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Gaza, Israel's retaliation has led to widespread destruction and bloodshed, reinstating a fearsome sense of Israeli might and reducing Hamas's threat for a generation. But the conflict has provided no clear long-term trajectory for either Gaza or the wider Palestinian question. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently ignored opportunities to end the war, balking at the idea of either leaving Hamas's remnants in charge or allowing other Palestinian groups to take over. 'Instead, we are left with only bad options,' said Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister. 'Either occupation or chaos, rather than a diplomatic process involving moderate regional and Palestinian stakeholders that could change the reality on the ground for both Palestinians and Israelis.' A similarly aimless dynamic could yet emerge in Iran, analysts said, if the Israeli leadership fails to clearly define its goals there and set an exit strategy. For now, Israeli officials hope the United States will join the attack and help Israel destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. If the United States stays away, and if Iran refuses to stop the enrichment by choice, it is unclear whether Israel's forceful new doctrine will achieve the kind of game-changing outcomes that many Israelis desire. 'One wonders whether effective military performance is matched by a sober political vision,' said Nimrod Novik, a former senior Israeli official and a fellow at Israel Policy Forum, a research group in New York. 'Or, like in Gaza, we are left without an endgame. Time will tell.' Johnatan Reiss and Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Anxiety grips Gulf Arab states over threat of nuclear contamination and reprisals from Iran
Concern is rising in Gulf Arab states about the possibility of environmental contamination or reprisal attacks if Israel or the United States strikes Iran's nuclear facilities just across the Persian Gulf. In Oman, users on messaging apps circulated advice on what to do in the event of a nuclear incident. Residents are instructed to 'enter a closed and secure indoor space (preferably windowless), seal all windows and doors tightly, turn off air conditioning and ventilation systems' if the worst were to happen. In Bahrain, 33 shelters are being prepared for emergencies, and sirens were tested nationwide, the state news agency said Tuesday. Concern about nuclear fallout has also risen over the past week, with news outlets across the Middle East publishing guides on how to deal with radiation leaks. Elham Fakhro, a Bahraini resident and fellow at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, said people are 'definitely concerned' about the prospect of Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran's only functional nuclear power plant, in Bushehr, is closer to several US-allied Arab capitals then it is to Tehran. 'Primarily there is fear of environmental contamination, especially in shared waters,' Fakhro said. She added that other concerns include 'the possibility of an Iranian reprisal on US military facilities in the Gulf states, which could impact civilians, and extended airspace closures.' Despite its improved relationship with Arab neighbors, Iran has implicitly warned that it would target nearby US interests if it were struck by the American military. Bahrain, for example, hosts the US Naval Forces Central Command, which could be a target. The Gulf Cooperation Council, an economic and political bloc that comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, on Monday activated its Kuwait-based Emergency Management Centre, to ensure that all 'necessary preventive measures are taken at environmental and radiological levels.' The UAE's foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, warned 'against the risks of reckless and miscalculated actions that could extend beyond the borders' of Iran and Israel. The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson also warned of 'uncalculated' strikes that could affect the waters of Gulf countries. Almost 60 million people in Gulf Arab countries rely on desalinated sea water from the Persian Gulf for drinking, washing and usable water. Regional leaders have warned that contamination from Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, if attacked, could have severe environmental consequences for this critical water source. In March, US journalist Tucker Carlson asked Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani what would happen if the Bushehr nuclear plant were 'blown up.' '(The water) would be entirely contaminated … No water, no fish, nothing, it has no life,' Al Thani said. The Qatari prime minister said at the time that his country previously ran a risk exercise to analyze how a damaged Iranian nuclear power plant could affect them. 'The water we use for our people is from desalination … We don't have rivers and we don't have water reserves. Basically, the country would run out of water in three days … That is not only applied for Qatar … this is applied for Kuwait, this is applied for UAE. It's all of us,' he said. Qatar has since built massive water reservoirs for protection. US President Donald Trump appears to be warming to the idea of using US military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities and souring on the possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the conflict, two officials told CNN on Tuesday. This represents a shift in Trump's approach, though the sources said he remains open to a diplomatic solution – if Iran makes concessions. 'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Trump said Wednesday. Gulf states, including the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are attractive destinations for businesses and foreign expatriates, offering no income tax, high salaries and a stable political environment. People CNN spoke to in Kuwait and the UAE said there isn't a feeling of panic amongst residents, and trust remains that regional authorities have safe contingency plans. 'I don't feel worried or concerned, I have an unwavering trust in my safety here,' said an American woman living in Abu Dhabi. 'I would, however, feel worried if the US decides to strike (Iran) because of the uncertainty in what happens next.' Another Egyptian resident of Dubai, who chose to remain anonymous, said she feels 'very safe' and 'in the right country' but her anxiety is now heightened over the news she's reading on escalation and war. 'Everyone is stressed out … and it's becoming very real,' she said. 'The situation is not something to be taken lightly and war feels nearby.'
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Haley says US ‘should not engage in regime change in Iran': ‘Stay focused'
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley urged President Trump to ensure the U.S. does not get involved with 'regime change' in Iran amid its conflict with Israel. 'The US should not engage in regime change in Iran,' she wrote Wednesday in a post on the social platform X. 'Our focus should only be on our national security. The Iranian regime has threatened the US with nuclear production for years.' 'We should support Israel in eliminating the Natanz and Fordo sites to prevent the threat of an atomic bomb used against us,' she continued. 'The Iranian people should decide who they want to be their leader. That's their decision, not ours. Stay focused.' Her comments come as the Trump administration weighs its response to the growing tension. Trump has not closed the door on the possibility of the U.S. interceding on behalf of Israel and striking nuclear capabilities in Tehran, reiterating the point in comments to reporters on Wednesday. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' he said, seemingly dodging the direct question. 'I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble,' the president continued. 'And they want to negotiate. And I say why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction.' Conflict between Iran and Israel broke out last week after the latter launched a strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities and missile sites. The attack killed several top leaders and scientists, leading to several days of tit-for-tat strikes between the Middle Eastern rivals. On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the U.S. was actively working to evacuate U.S. citizens from the country amid the conflict. 'Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel — US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,' Huckabee wrote. Haley has long been a supporter of Israel in its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas — which is backed by Iran — in Gaza. After its initial attack on Tehran, Haley commended the Israeli military for taking action against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime and its nuclear program. 'We have watched for too long the Iranian regime fund terrorist proxies, break all UN agreements, and build up their nuclear program,' Haley posted Friday on X. 'Their mantras have been 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.'' 'Israel took decisive action to put an end to Iran's nuclear capabilities and made America and the world safer. We owe them a debt of gratitude,' the former GOP presidential candidate added. 'We should continue to pray for a better life for the Iranian people away from this terrorist regime.'
