IDF on Israel-Iran conflict: October 7 mastermind, IRGC commander liquidated from deep inside Iran
Overnight, an Israeli airstrike in Iran killed Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine Corps in the IRGC Quds Force, who funded and armed Hamas ahead of the terror group's October 7 onslaught as part of a multi-front plan to destroy Israel. Fabian describes who he was and how central he was in drafting Iran's ultimate strategy to eliminate Israel.
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Mint
21 minutes ago
- Mint
Why countries are suddenly broadcasting their spies' exploits
Israel's airstrikes on Iran exploded across the world's screens as a public display of military firepower. Underpinning that was a less visible but equally vital Israeli covert operation that pinpointed targets, guided the attacks and struck Iran from within. Agents from Israel's spy agency, Mossad, operated inside Iran before and during the initial attacks earlier this month, Israeli officials said. The disclosure was itself an act of psychological warfare—a boast of Israel's ability to act with impunity inside Iran's borders and Tehran's failure to stop it. Israel flaunted its tactical success by releasing grainy video emblazoned with Mossad's seal that it said showed operatives and drone strikes inside Iran. Not long ago, such covert operations stayed secret. Today, belligerents from Ukraine to the U.S. increasingly broadcast their triumphs, with messages amplified in real time by social-media networks. When T.E. Lawrence wanted to publicize his World War I secret forays deep into Ottoman territory, he wrote a book and articles. Nobody saw those commando raids for half a century until the blockbuster film 'Lawrence of Arabia" recreated his exploits. T.E. Lawrence played a clandestine role in the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule during World War I. These days, barely hours pass before the world sees action footage of Ukraine's latest drone attacks on Russian military targets. Israel's detonation of explosives hidden inside Hezbollah militants' pagers played out in almost real time across the internet. The U.S. repeatedly fed social media the details—and sometimes imagery—of its special-operations strikes on Islamic State leaders in recent years. The result is a major shift in warfare: Call it the battle of timelines. Spying and clandestine operations, in the traditional sense, have never been so difficult. Biometric data makes document forgery obsolete. Billions of cameras, attached to phones, rearview mirrors and doorbells, stand ready to capture the movements of any operative hoping to lurk invisibly. In seconds, artificial intelligence can rifle through millions of photos to identify the faces of foreign spies operating in the wild. Instead, fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East is bringing a new doctrine to spycraft stemming from changes in both what their organizers seek to achieve and how information spreads. Operations that would have once been designed to remain under wraps are now meant to be seen, to produce spectacular optics. They play out not just on the battlefield, but also on social media, boosting morale at home while demoralizing the enemy watching from the other side of the screen. 'A major goal of covert operations is often to show an adversary's leadership that we have identified and can damage elements involved in lethal activity," said Norman Roule, a former senior U.S. intelligence officer. 'Demonstrating this capability is hoped to act as a deterrent and even to encourage an adversary to seek diplomatic solutions." Such operations aren't done lightly, because they are dangerous and risk exposure of sensitive sources and methods that once compromised can't be used in the future, he added. 'You don't waste such critical capabilities for a cheap political win," Roule said. 'That said, in addition to the operational impact, you can exploit such operations for propaganda, psychological impact or diplomatic gain." Covert operations once remained secret long after they wrapped up, or they were revealed by chance. Allied World War II code-breaking efforts stayed largely unknown for three decades. Countless Cold War-era espionage operations gained public attention only after the Soviet Union collapsed. Central Intelligence Agency efforts to raise a sunken Soviet submarine went public accidentally, following an office burglary in Los Angeles. Exploits dubbed black ops—because the operations stay in the dark—traditionally fed into a quiet game of signaling and deception. One reason the release of the Pentagon Papers alarmed the White House in 1971 was that some information in them could have only come from a U.S. bug planted in Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's car, former President Richard Nixon said in 1984. Fast forward to 2021, when President Joe Biden took the exceptional step of going public with highly sensitive intelligence about Moscow's plans to attack Ukraine. The pre-emptive disclosure of hard-won secrets didn't stop the invasion, but it did restore allies' perception of the U.S.—and American spycraft—which had been tarnished by the warnings of weapons of mass destruction that led to the Iraq War. These days, secrecy is often beside the point. Almost weekly, Ukrainian drone attacks deep in Russia's interior play out to the same script: An ordinary bystander whips out a phone to capture the flicker of a Ukrainian drone against the night sky, seconds before it reduces some strategic target—an oil refinery, an air base or a rail depot—into a fiery ball. Soon, the footage circulates on social media. In come amateur war analysts posting commercial satellite photos of the damage, followed by declarations of responsibility from the Ukrainian special services eager to demonstrate their capabilities to ordinary Russians scrolling at home. 'Ukraine does an excellent job in planning out these operations, and they know that in this day and age every attack is going to be filmed," said Samuel Bendett, a Russian-studies adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Va., a federally funded nonprofit research organization. 'They're trying to design their attacks so that more and more Russians are aware of the war and are impacted by the war." Kyiv feels obliged to wage a public propaganda war against Moscow because it isn't winning the shooting war. Israel goes public with results of its espionage and covert operations against Iran and its proxies to convince foreign governments and populations that Tehran is both dangerous and vulnerable. The communication war is raging in an information free-for-all. Governments and elites that until the middle of the 20th century controlled their information environment are today trying just to navigate it, said Ofer Fridman, a former Israeli officer and a scholar of war studies at King's College London. 'Now they're struggling to communicate with their target audience through overwhelming noise," he said. Compounding that is the digitization of almost all information—both new memos and dusty archives—meaning that no event is guaranteed to remain secret from hackers or publicity-minded politicians with access to files. The impact of data leakers including the National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and the National Guard airman Jack Teixeira weighs heavily on intelligence officials. Russia is still adjusting to this new form of warfare. The country has made filming or posting sensitive details about military attacks a crime in its front-line regions, punishable by fines. Not even the country's police and special services have been able to discourage civilians who, almost by instinct, take out their phones when Ukrainian saboteurs strike. Soldiers on the front lines, disobeying their own codes of conduct, regularly capture battlefield operations. For its part, Russia has made minimal effort to cover its own tracks in its barely disguised spree of covert operations in Europe. The GRU, the Russian military-intelligence organization, has repeatedly hired European civilians over social media, paying them to burn down a shopping mall in Warsaw, or an IKEA in Lithuania, according to Western officials. When a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine was shot dead in Spain last year, Russia's spy chiefs didn't deny involvement—they all but boasted of it. 'This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment he was planning his dirty and terrible crime," Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, told state media. Write to Daniel Michaels at and Drew Hinshaw at
Hans India
23 minutes ago
- Hans India
Egypt's Foreign Minister Postpones India Visit Again Amid Middle East Crisis
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has called off his planned visit to India for the second time this year, with sources indicating the cancellation is linked to rising tensions across the Middle East region. The diplomatic trip, originally scheduled for this week, has been indefinitely postponed according to informed officials who confirmed that previous arrangements should now be considered void. Abdelatty was expected to hold bilateral discussions with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his stay in New Delhi. This marks the second cancellation of the Egyptian minister's India visit, following a similar postponement in February 2025. While Egyptian authorities have not provided an official explanation for the latest cancellation, diplomatic sources suggest it stems from the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East, particularly following recent escalations between Israel and Iran. The timing coincides with heightened regional instability triggered by Israel's military operation against Iran on June 13, known as Operation Rising Lion, which has drawn increased U.S. involvement in supporting Israeli military actions. Despite the diplomatic setback, India-Egypt relations have strengthened significantly in recent years. The two nations elevated their partnership to Strategic Partnership status in 2023 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Cairo. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reciprocated by serving as the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations the same year. Egypt has now become a critical potential evacuation route for Indian citizens currently in Israel amid the ongoing conflict. The strategic importance of Egypt-India ties extends beyond diplomacy, with both countries having signed a defense cooperation agreement in 2022 following Defense Minister Rajnath Singh's Cairo visit. The bilateral defense relationship has gained momentum through regular Joint Defense Committee meetings, with ten sessions conducted to date. The most recent defense committee meeting took place in New Delhi in 2024, demonstrating the sustained military cooperation between the two nations despite current diplomatic scheduling can make mistakes. Please double-check responses. Sonnet 4
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
Why a 14,000-kg bomb was the only option US had to strike Iran's nuclear Fordow fortress
The US has officially entered Israel's war on Iran — a move Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sought from the start. American warplanes dropped bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced, bringing the U.S. military directly into the war after days of uncertainty about whether he would intervene. The three sites that Trump said were hit Saturday night included Iran's two major uranium enrichment centers: the mountain facility at Fordow and a larger enrichment plant at Natanz, which Israel struck several days ago with smaller weapons. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Unbeatable Prices on Temu TEMU Shop Now Undo Fox News host Sean Hannity, citing a personal conversation with President Trump, revealed that six Massive Ordnance Penetrators, commonly known as 'bunker buster' bombs, were dropped on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility by multiple B-2 bombers. ALSO READ: US forces bomb Iranian nuclear sites; 'Fordow is gone' says Trump Live Events For days, Trump weighed whether to supply Israel with the powerful munitions needed to strike Iran's heavily fortified Fordow facility — a target extremely difficult to hit. The Fordow site in northwest Iran is the country's nuclear nerve and required the US' B-2 bombers— the world's most expensive military aircraft — to penetrate its defences. What is a Bunker Buster bomb? 'Bunker buster' is a broad term used to describe bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding. In this case, it refers to the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal. The roughly 30,000 pound (13,600 kilogramme precision-guided bomb is designed to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels, according to the US Air Force. It's believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. It was not immediately known how many were used in the Sunday morning strike. ALSO READ: New York and other major US cities on high alert after America bombs Iranian nuclear sites The bomb carries a conventional warhead, but the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordow, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. However, Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said. US warplanes also hit Natanz. Iran's Fordow fortress The Fordow plant in the Iran's northwest is its second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz, which has already been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. ALSO READ: To hit Fordow is to hit Iran's nuclear nerve; Here's why Fordow is smaller than Natanz, and is built into the side of a mountain near the city of Qom, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Tehran. Construction is believed to have started around 2006 and it became first operational in 2009 — the same year Tehran publicly acknowledged its existence. In addition to being an estimated 80 meters (260 feet) under rock and soil, the site is reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems. Only the bunker busters were believed up to the job, and only American aircraft could deliver them. The plant was impenetrable by any bomb except the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). The U.S. is the only country in the world that has this 'bunker buster' weapon, as well as the only country with the aircraft capable of transporting and deploying it: the B2 Spirit stealth bomber. ALSO READ: Why the US used B-2 stealth bombers, costing $2.1 billion each to strike Iran's nuclear sites This is in part why Israel had been so eager for U.S. involvement in its offensive operations against Iran in addition to its defensive ones. Moreover, the United States has blocked Israel from getting the bunker buster, and while Israel has fighter jets, it has not developed heavy bombers capable of carrying the weapon. World's most expensive military aircraft In theory, the GBU-57 A/B could be dropped by any bomber capable of carrying the weight, but at the moment the US has only configured and programmed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver the bomb, according to the Air Force. The B-2 costs about $2.1 billion each, making it the most expensive military aircraft ever built. Made by Northrop Grumman, the bomber, with its cutting-edge stealth technology, began its production run in the late 1980s but was curbed by the fall of the Soviet Union. Only 21 were made after the Pentagon's planned acquisition program was truncated. It is only flown by the Air Force. According to the manufacturer, the B-2 can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) but the U.S. Air Force has said it has successfully tested the B-2 loaded with two GBU-57 A/B bunker busters — a total weight of some 60,000 pounds (27,200 kilograms). The strategic long-range heavy bomber has a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) without refuelling and 11,500 miles (18,500 kilometers) with one refuelling, and can reach any point in the world within hours, according to Northrop Grumman.
