Latest news with #AyatollahKhameini
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Russia warns Trump he has opened 'Pandora's box' with strike on Iran as regime holds talks in Moscow and fears grow that the UK will now face terror backlash
Russia last night warned Donald Trump had opened 'Pandora's box' after the US President launched a 'bunker buster' raid on Iran. Trump said the audacious attack by a squadron of stealth bombers in the early hours of yesterday had 'taken the bomb right out of [Tehran's] hands'. But Moscow 's United Nations ambassador Vassily Nebenzia issued an ominous warning at an emergency meeting of the Security Council as he said: 'No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring.' And he claimed Russia had offered mediation talks to find a peaceful and mutually agreeable solution to Iran's nuclear program, but the US, especially its leaders, are 'clearly not interested in diplomacy today'. 'Unless we stop the escalation,' Nebenzia warned, 'the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.' Trump has sensationally called for a regime change in Iran as he held crisis talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday. The US president took to his Truth Social page to share updates about the country's military attacks on Iran, when he suggested that the current regime 'is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.' 'Why wouldn't there be a regime change,' Trump asked, rhetorically - even as he and Starmer urged Ayatollah Khameini to 'return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.' Russian ex-president Dmitriy Medvedev claimed in a post on X/Twitter early on Sunday that the US strikes on three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow had backfired and led to the opposite result from what Trump had set out to achieve. In a taunting post, Medvedev claimed: 'Enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue.' Medvedev, who has served as President of Russia from 2008 to 2012, further stated that 'Iran's political regime has survived — and in all likelihood, has come out even stronger'. He continued to claim that Iranians are 'rallying around the country's spiritual leadership, including those who were previously indifferent or opposed to it'. His anti-US and pro-Iran social media rant was posted in English and broken down into ten points - gathering more than three million views. Medvedev, who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020, has been regarded by some as a potential potential successor to Putin. There are fears Britain and other allies could face a terror backlash from the regime's supporters. Seven B-2 stealth bombers swept into Iranian airspace undetected yesterday, dropping 14 'bunker-buster' bombs on nuclear facilities as the US joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. The UK was informed of the mission, codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, but played no part. Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds last night warned that Iranian activity in the UK was already substantial, and it was 'naive' to think it won't escalate. Britain's military bases in the region, such as RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus, were on the highest state of alert last night for revenge attacks, including by Iranian swarm drones. Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'The safety of UK personnel and bases is my top priority. Force protection is at its highest level and we deployed additional jets [to Cyprus] this week.' Other experts warned of a 'new era of terrorism' and US Vice President J D Vance said the FBI and law enforcement were on alert for threats on American soil. Sir Keir Starmer and President Trump discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table in a phone call last night, No 10 said. A spokesman said: 'The leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and reiterated the grave risk posed by Iran's nuclear programme to international security. 'They discussed the actions taken by the United States last night to reduce the threat and agreed that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. 'They discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. They agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days.' The Prime Minister urged all sides to return to negotiations but said he had taken 'all necessary measures' to protect British interests in the region if the conflict escalates. Before and after pictures of Fordow underground complex, taken on June 20 (left) and June 22 (right) In an address to the nation as the B-2s were flying home, Mr Trump said: 'Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. 'Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. 'If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.' President Trump boasted the US had 'taken the bomb right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)', while his Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the US had offered Iran a civil nuclear programme but 'they rejected it'. He added: 'They played us. They wouldn't respond to our offers. They disappeared for ten days. The President had to take action as a response. 'We are not declaring war on Iran. We're not looking for war in Iran. But if they attack us, I think we have the capabilities they haven't even seen yet.' Last night, despite widespread calls to de- escalate, Iran president Masoud Pezeshkian said the US 'must receive a response for their aggression'. And a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned: 'There will no longer be any place for the presence of the United States and its bases' in the region. Abbas Araghaci, Iran's foreign minister who described the US government as 'lawless and warmongering', is expected to meet Putin in Moscow today to discuss how to respond. Speaking hours after the US strikes, Business Secretary Mr Reynolds told Sky News the risk from Iran in the UK was 'not hypothetical'. He said: 'There is not a week goes by without some sort of Iranian cyber-attack on a key part of the UK's critical national infrastructure. 'There is Iranian activity on the streets of the UK, which is wholly unacceptable. 'It's already at a significant level. I think it would be naive to say that that wouldn't potentially increase.' A statement of the E3 group, with the UK alongside France and Germany, said: 'We call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to an agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear programme. 'We stand ready to contribute to that goal in coordination with all parties. 'We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.' But Iran threatened to hold the world hostage by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway in the region and a chokepoint for world trade and oil transit. Last night, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran's Natanz enrichment site was 'completely destroyed'. The extent of the damage at the Fordow site, built into a mountainside and reinforced with layers of concrete, is unclear. Discussing Fordow, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: 'There are clear indications of impacts. But, as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground... no one could tell you how much it has been damaged. One cannot exclude that there is significant damage there.'
News18
4 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Opinion: As Trump Basks In Fordow Afterglow, Kremlin Has A Counterpoint
Last Updated: Russians believe Trump will scramble for peace in a hurry to hog credit for stopping Israel-Iran war. But Iran will invest all its energies to get past nuclear line in minimum time When bombs drop on the nuclear kitchens of the Ayatollah Khameini regime in Iran, billions rejoice. Some openly, some (especially the fast-transforming Sunni Arab powers) privately. Iran is a ruthlessly violent regime which has killed and targeted thousands of its own women for merely refusing to wear the hijab; runs terror proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis; and is widely seen as the biggest destabilising force in the Middle East. It has richly earned its comeuppance. But then the man who ordered the early morning bombings on Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear facilities is one who believes that jumping into every global conflict and claiming credit for solving those has earned him about five undelivered Nobel Peace Prizes so far. It is true that American B-2 stealth bombers have dropped six GBU-57, the deepest bunker-busting bomb in the world. Developed in the early 2000s, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) weighs 13,600 kg, is 6 meters long, has a diameter of about 80 cm, and contains nearly 2,500 kg of explosives. It can target structures up to 60 metres under the ground. The B-2 bombers flew non-stop for around 37 hours from its base in Missouri, US, refuelling several times mid-air. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) acknowledged the strikes. But it has downplayed these as superficial. No nuclear contamination detected after US strikes, it said. No changes in background radiation were detected in Saudi Arabia or other Gulf Arab states, the Saudi Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission (NRRC) confirmed. Russia, Iran's steadfast ally, remains unimpressed by the airstrikes. Russian news agencies mocked Trump through its X handle. 'Force far greater than what was witnessed tonight," boasted Trump — the man who thinks he deserves FIVE Nobel Peace Prizes," Sputnik posted. But sources close to the Kremlin break down the US airstrikes more technically. Since Russia is Iran's biggest backer and has helped set up its nuclear infrastructure, there could be bias in its analysis. But it is nevertheless worth considering because beyond Trump's narcissistic boasts and the democratic world's confirmation bias to believe Iran's Ayatollah regime's nuke toys are finished, there could be a reality check. Six GBU-57 bombs (some now say 12) pounded Iran's Fordow nuclear plant. They rely on mass, not firepower. Imagine 30,000 pounds of tungsten, delayed fuses, inertial guidance, and geological stress sequencing. But Fordow was built for this, the Russians say. It is designed to counter the MOP. Hence the curved tunnels, offset caverns, anti-penetration strata, and layered redundancy across ventilation. Fordow apparently has C2 and IR-6 centrifuge chambers. A single hit does not affect much, but two strikes can open up a tunnel mouth. To truly destroy the core, you would need tight sequencing, vector convergence, telemetry confirmation, and real-time damage layering, says the source close to the Kremlin. That apparently didn't happen. At most, the American bombs sealed an entrance, he argues. Iran has so far reported no core disruption, no enrichment halt, and no internal collapse. Russians estimate that to drop six GBU-57 bombs, three B-2 stealth bombers together or two conducting multiple flyovers deep in contested airspace flew in without strike escort in one of the most monitored radar corridors on earth. If Fordow was gone, you would see craters, electromagnetic rupture, emergency airlifts, seismographs lighting up, and infrared flares beneath the mountain, they say. Tomahawk missiles on Natanz and Esfahan add nothing, they claim. Cruise missiles are subsonic, non-penetrative, and designed for surface-level disruption. 'You don't decapitate nuclear infrastructure with Tomahawk Block IV missiles. You flick switches. You scorch perimeters," the source says. 'A thousand-pound warhead does not cut into fuel halls or disrupt cascade chambers beneath 20 meters of hardened casing." This was bravado by Trump aimed at placating pro-Israel pressure groups, Russians believe. Apparently Jewish groups in the US have been long pressing Washington to join the war. 'As of now, there is no synthetic aperture radar (SAR) confirmation. No crater clustering. No multispectral flash analysis. No underground fire signature. No battle damage assessment (BDA) loop," says the Russian source. The Russians believe Trump will now scramble for peace in a hurry to hog credit for stopping the Israel-Iran war. But Iran will invest all its energies to get past the nuclear line in the minimum time now. And Russia is likely to help it. The last quip is particularly acerbic: 'If the centrifuge of Fordow still spins tomorrow, Washington just pulled off the most expensive influence op in bunker-busting history, only to watch Tehran climb the escalation ladder unscathed." top videos View all Although Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump and America, he would not be pleased if the airstrikes serve only as Trump's headline and photo-op and makes Iran even more determined to procure the Bomb. Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. First Published:
Asia Times
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Will there be a deal with Iran?
All the signals point to a desperate Iran wanting a ceasefire and restart of negotiations with the United States. The Wall Street Journal and others report that the Iranians have signaled Israel asking for a deescalation of the attacks. President Trump may like this because he sees himself as a great negotiator. But he had better be careful here, because his original proposed deal is too vague and doesn't cut it as a solution to Iran's nuclear program and overall regional threat to Israel and its Arab neighbors. While the diplomatic feelers are filling the air, there are other reports that regime muckety mucks are leaving Iran on a secret airlift, maybe heading to Moscow but no one really knows. There is, as yet, no sign that Israel intends to slow its attacks which are, in part, now focusing on government institutions and regime leaders (other than Ayatollah Khameini who is, allegedly, off limits). Washington is building up its forces in the Middle East and is now sending the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier task force from the South China Sea heading 'in the direction' of the Middle East, where it would join the USS Carl Vinson carrier task force already on station. Other reports say that the US has sent a large number of aerial refueling tankers across the Atlantic, but without an as yet known destination. US warships have helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles and drones. The UK also announced it is deploying Royal Air Force jet fighters to the Middle East. It is not clear whether negotiations with Iran will restart. Should that happen, the original US parameters for a deal would not solve the bigger problem that must be resolved if the war is going to end. Obviously the first priority is to end Iran's nuclear program. But what does that mean? Israel is unlikely to agree to inspection of Iranian nuclear sites as an adequate or reliable way to assure Iran does not resume its nuclear weapons programs. The Trump administration set down a red line saying 'no more uranium enrichment,' but has not clarified how that can be achieved. Relying on IAEA inspections is a formula that has proven a leaky vessel not only in Iran, but elsewhere. IAEA never saw the North Korean-Iranian-Syrian attempt to build a secret nuclear fuel reactor modeled on the North Korean Yongbyon reactor. Israel wiped it off the map. Nor did the IAEA ever grasp Iraq's nuclear bomb effort under Saddam Hussein. The IAEA so-called inspections in Iran don't include the massive Fordow complex, where Iran was readying enrichment to bomb-grade uranium, or other 'secret' facilities, such as the recently discovered tritium 'rainbow' facility, part of the effort to build either boosted nuclear bombs or hydrogen weapons. The only reliable way to end Iran's nuclear program is to destroy all the nuclear facilities in the country, while putting Iran's nuclear reactors under strict international control, not inspection. In addition to the nuclear issue, the US needs to demand limits on Iran's ballistic missile program. Just before the outbreak of hostilities, Iran tested an as yet unnamed intermediate-range ballistic missile that can carry a two ton warhead. This missile obviously is designed to deliver a nuclear warhead. It could be that when Israel saw this test it realized it had no choice but to act against Iran. Part of any deal must include scrapping heavy missiles and an agreement never to manufacture them again. Israel also will demand, and rightly so, the immediate release of all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and a guarantee that no weapons of any kind can be transferred to Hamas, Islamic Jihad or others who intend to attack Israel. Israel knows that if it smashes Iran, Hamas is finished because it utterly relies on weapons supplied by Iran. Finally, Iran has to agree to no transfers of weapons of any kind to the Houthis in Yemen. Israel will not tolerate missile attacks from the Houthis any more than it will tolerate Iranian attacks against Israel. If the Trump administration wants to negotiate a deal, either the deal has to address the nuclear issue and the hostages, and Yemen, or it isn't worth anything. Stephen Bryen is a special correspondent to Asia Times and former US deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
