US moves stealth bombers to Pacific, amid Iran tensions – DW – 06/21/2025

DW

18 hours ago

Several US B-2 bombers took off from a US base and were headed across the Pacific, according to media reports. The bombers can carry the only weapon capable of destroying Iran's deeply buried nuclear facilities.Analysts have suggested that Iran may be rapidly running out of missiles, and Israel could be burning through its stocks of interceptor missiles to shoot them down.
How much longer can both parties carry on fighting?
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Yemen's rebel Houthis said they will target US ships in the Red Sea if the White House chooses to join Israel in attacking Iran, the group's military spokesperson said on Saturday.
The group released a pre-recorded video statement by Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree.
"In the event of the American involvement in the attack and aggression against Iran with the Israeli enemy, the armed forces will target its ships and warships in the Red Sea," Saree said.
The US and the Houthis had just recently agreed to a ceasefire in May, where both sides had pledged to not target the other.
Some 1,300 people rallied in Berlin to call for the ouster of Iran's government, according to police estimates. Organizers, however, said several thousand people took part in the demonstrations.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an organization of exiled Iranians, called for the march. The group is calling for the fall of the current regime, but backs a transition of power brought about by the Iranian people.
The group has called out increased repression against members of the Iranian opposition and a wave of executions.
The NCRI was founded in 1981 following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the previous regime under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The dissident group is controversial, with opposition members both inside and outside Iran largely rejecting it.
Spokesperson Javad Dabiran said people from all over Germany joined the Berlin march. He called on European nations to break off relations with Tehran.
Several US B-2 bombers appeared to have taken off from a US base and were headed across the Pacific, reported on Saturday.
The US newspaper said the move comes as President Donald Trump was set to return to the White House on Saturday for a meeting with his national security team on whether to join Israeli attacks on Iran.
Citing two anonymous government officials, Reuters news agency reported that bombers were being sent to a US base on Guam.
The B-2 bomber is capable of carrying a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb that experts say would be needed for an attack on Iran's Fordo enrichment facility, which is buried deep in a mountainside.
It was unclear whether the bomber deployment is tied to Middle East tensions, Reuters said.
Germany has temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran due to the current threat situation, a Foreign Ministry official told Reuters news agency and the German ARD public broadcaster on Saturday.
On its website, the embassy has posted that it is "closed to visitors until further notice," urging people to refrain from going to the embassy or the consulate building and that appointments had been canceled.
The Foreign Ministry said that despite the closure in Tehran, he embassy remains operational and can be contacted via phone by Germans who are still in Iran, adding it would continue to advise on how people could leave the country by land.
Iran acknowledged on Saturday that a German cyclist had been detained on allegations of spying.
The man has been accused of recording and transmitting coordinates and locations of sensitive military and nuclear facilities, Iranian news agency Mehr reported.
The agency posted a video on Telegram purportedly showing the arrest of the young cyclist in the northwestern province of Markazi near the Arak nuclear facility.
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The United Nations on Saturday warned of a looming humanitarian threat posed by the current military conflict between Israel and Iran, which has now passed the one-week mark.
"This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss and displacement. We cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root," said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.
Grandi said, "The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations."
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said intense bombardments had already begun to spark mass movements of individuals fleeing to shelter in both Israel and Iran, with some seeking access to neighboring countries.
Western nations, meanwhile, have been feverishly extracting citizens from both countries and issuing travel warnings to keep people out of harm's way.
The UNHCR says that if the conflict continues — and there are currently no signs of it calming anytime soon — Iran's citizens and its roughly 3.5 million person refugee population (mainly Afghans) will face renewed uncertainty and hardship.
Hundreds of US citizens have departed Iran by land over the past week since the start of a war between Israel and Iran, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters news agency.
While many left without problem, "numerous" citizens had faced "delays and harassment" while trying to exit, the cable said. It said, without giving further details, that one unidentified family had reported that two US citizens attempting to leave Iran had been detained.
The State Department also kept in place its recent warning to US citizens not to travel to Iraq. On June 11, the State Department ordered all US personnel out of the country due to regional tensions.
The department's website advises "do not travel to Iraq for any reason," citing terrorism, unrest, kidnapping and other reasons for the decision.
The site goes on to warn that terrorists and insurgent groups regularly attack Iraqi security forces, US civilians and international companies.
Moreover, the warning instructs US government personnel who remain in Iraq to exhibit extreme caution, advising individuals not to travel "near armed groups or Iraq's northern borders."
Paris and its European partners, London and Berlin, will "accelerate negotiations" with Tehran, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, a day after talks between the four countries ended with no progress.
"I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers," Macron said in a statement on X after a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
During the call, which Macron said was initiated by his Iranian counterpart, the French president reiterated his demand for the release of French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris. The French couple were arrested during a tourist trip to Iran in 2022 and have since been held on espionage charges that they vehemently deny.
Macron also said he expressed "deep concern" regarding Iran's nuclear program and stressed again that the country "must never acquire nuclear weapons."
"And it is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful," he said.
Pakistan said on Saturday it would recommend US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for helping resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
The announcement comes as Trump says he will decide within 14 days whether to join Israel in its military strikes on Iran, with some Pakistani analysts saying such a nomination might persuade him against doing so.
"President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation," Pakistan said. "This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker."
Trump announced a ceasefire in May to end a four-day conflict between the two, but India has denied he played a role bringing it about, despite Pakistan's assertion to the contrary and the US president's claim to have saved millions of lives.
Pakistan's announcement also follows an unprecedented lunch at the White House for Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir.
Trump has often voiced the desire to become a Nobel Peace Laureate.
It would be "very regrettable" and "very dangerous for everybody" if the US were to join Israel in carrying out military strikes on Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, according to broadcaster Al Jazeera.
His remarks come after US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would decide within the next two weeks whether to intervene in the conflict.
Araghchi said Tehran had "unfortunately" concluded that the US had, in fact, been involved in Israel's military action from the outset, though Washington has denied such accusations.
He also reiterated in Istanbul that Tehran would only join negotiations to end the conflict if Israel halted its attacks.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday told Muslim foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul that the Middle East has an "Israel problem."
A group of some 40 Muslim diplomats are in the Turkish city to discuss the current military conflict between Israel and Iran.
Fidan implored colleagues from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to stand with Iran.
"Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster by attacking Iran, our neighbor," he told the summit.
Pointing to Israel's military engagement in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and now Iran, Fidan urged those in power to do everything possible to prevent the current stand-off from spiralling into a wider regional conflagration.
Police in Iran's Qom province said Saturday that 22 people "linked to Israeli spy services" had been arrested since June 13, when Israel launched its attacks on the Islamic Republic, Fars news agency reported.
According to the pro-government INSA news agency, they are also accused of "unsettling public opinion" and "supporting the criminal regime" of Israel.
The detainees are being held in the province, INSA said.
Iranian media have reported that dozens of people have been taken into custody across the country in recent days.
Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 223 people have been arrested nationwide on charges related to collaboration with Israel, cautioning that the actual figure was likely higher.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Turkey on Saturday to attend a meeting with Arab League diplomats that was called for by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Tehran.
"The foreign minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation foreign ministers' meeting," Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.
The meeting comes after Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday.
The Arab League ministers are expected to release a statement following their meeting, according to the Turkish state news agency Anadolu.
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Israel's military said Saturday its navy has hit a Hezbollah "infrastructure site" near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura.
The site was said to have been a position of the Iran-backed militia's elite unit, known as the "Radwan Force."
The military said the site was used by Hezbollah "to advance terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
In a separate statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said the air force had "struck and eliminated" a Hezbollah militant near Baraashit in south Lebanon the previous day.
Lebanon's official National News Agency cited the Health Ministry as saying one person was killed in a "strike carried out by an Israeli enemy drone on a motorcycle" in the village.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire at the end of November, the terms of which included Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon as well as an end to Hezbollah's armed presence in southern Lebanon by a 60-day deadline, which was later extended to mid February. Both sides accuse each other of violations.
As part of the truce, Lebanon's army has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.
However, earlier in June it warned that the Israeli military's ongoing violations and "refusal to cooperate" with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism "could prompt the [Lebanese] military to freeze cooperation" on site inspections.