Latest news with #IranNationalSecurityCouncil
Free Malaysia Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump says ‘it's time for peace' after Iran attacks US base in Qatar
Qatar said its air defences successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid air base. (Planet Labs PBC/AP pic) TEHRAN : Iran announced it had launched missiles at a US base in Qatar yesterday in retaliation for American strikes on key nuclear facilities, with US President Donald Trump shrugging off the response as 'very weak' and saying it was now time to make peace. A US defence official said no one was hurt in the attack – which Trump said Iran had given advanced notice of – and oil prices sank afterwards as traders breathed a sigh of relief at what one analyst called the 'somewhat measured' response. Qatar, which lies 190km south of Iran and is home to the largest US military facility in the Middle East, said its 'air defences successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid air base'. Iran's national security council confirmed having targeted the base 'in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran's nuclear sites and facilities'. In its statement, the council said the number of missiles used 'was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used', in a signal that it had calibrated its response to be directly proportional. After more than a week of Israeli strikes on nuclear and military targets across Iran, the US joined its ally's campaign on Sunday, carrying out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including on an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo using massive bunker-busting bombs. 'Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the attack, thanking Tehran 'for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured'. Adding that Iran had 'gotten it all out of their 'system',' he said: 'Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.' The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that the response had been designed to allow 'all sides an exit ramp', drawing a parallel to a similar Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq following Washington's assassination of top Iranian general in 2020. With international concern mounting that Israel's campaign in Iran could lead to a regional spillover – concern that only intensified after the US strikes – French President Emmanuel Macron said after the Iranian retaliation that 'the spiral of chaos must end'. 'Right to respond' US President Donald Trump shrugged off Iran's response to American strikes as 'very weak'. (AP pic) Iran's security council maintained that its 'action does not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar'. But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said his country 'reserves the right to respond directly in a manner proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression'. Its much larger neighbour Saudi Arabia, historically a rival of Iran, condemned Tehran's attack and offered 'all its capabilities to support the sisterly state of Qatar in any measures it takes'. AFP reporters heard blasts in central Doha and in Lusail, north of the capital, yesterday evening, and saw projectiles moving across the night sky. The US defence official said Al Udeid was 'attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles', and Ansari said it had been evacuated as a precaution ahead of time. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said six missiles had hit the base, according to state media. Iranians gathered in central Tehran last night to celebrate the attack, images on state TV showed, with some waving the flag of the Islamic republic and chanting 'Death to America'. Earlier in the day, Qatar had announced the temporary closure of its airspace in light of 'developments in the region', while foreign embassies there including that of the US had warned their citizens to shelter in place. After the attack, Qatar said 'the security situation in the country is stable, and there is no cause for concern'. Tehran strikes Just as Iran was announcing the new attacks, blasts were heard in the north of Tehran, according to an AFP journalist, who reported yellow flashes typical of Iranian air defences in the sky over the capital shortly before 9pm. Earlier in the day Israel reported carrying out what it said were its most powerful strikes yet on Tehran. Iran, in turn, fired missile barrages at Israel. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the military hit sites in Tehran including Evin prison, which Katz said 'holds political prisoners and regime opponents', as well as command centres for the domestic Basij paramilitary and the Revolutionary Guards. Iranian media and the Israeli military said Israel also struck Fordo yesterday 'in order to obstruct access routes' to the site. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran's health ministry has said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout. Oil prices fall Oil prices sank more than 6% yesterday after the attack. Around 6.15pm, futures for West Texas Intermediate fell 6.5% to US$69.96 a barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 6.4% to US$72.07 a barrel, its lowest level in 10 days. John Kilduff of Again Capital described the Iranian action as 'somewhat measured'. 'This is a face-saving measure by the Iranians and hopefully the diplomatic off-ramp will be taken,' Kilduff said. On Sunday, after the Pentagon stressed the goal of US intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump had openly toyed with the idea. 'If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Iran attacks US base in Qatar, Trump says time to make peace
By Daniel Steublen , Callum Paton and AFP team in Tehran People film projectiles over Doha in Qatar on 23 June, 2025. Photo: AFP Iran announced it had launched missiles at a US base in Qatar in retaliation for American strikes on key nuclear facilities, with US President Donald Trump shrugging off the response as "very weak" and saying it was now time to make peace . A US defence official said no one was hurt in the attack - which Trump said Iran had given advanced notice of - and oil prices sank afterwards as traders breathed a sigh of relief at what one analyst called the "somewhat measured" response. Qatar, which lies 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran and is home to the largest US military facility in the Middle East, said its "air defences successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base ". Iran's National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base "in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran's nuclear sites and facilities". In its statement, the council said the number of missiles used "was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used", in a signal that it had calibrated its response to be directly proportional. After more than a week of Israeli strikes on nuclear and military targets across Iran, the United States joined its ally's campaign on Sunday, carrying out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including on an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo using massive bunker-busting bombs. US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski "Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the attack, thanking Tehran "for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured". Adding that Iran had "gotten it all out of their 'system'," he said: "Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same." The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that the response had been designed to allow "all sides an exit ramp", drawing a parallel to a similar Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq following Washington's assassination of top Iranian general in 2020. With international concern mounting that Israel's campaign in Iran could lead to a regional spillover - concern that only intensified after the US strikes - French President Emmanuel Macron said after the Iranian retaliation that "the spiral of chaos must end". Iran's security council maintained that its "action does not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar". But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said his country "reserves the right to respond directly in a manner proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression". Its much larger neighbour Saudi Arabia, historically a rival of Iran, condemned Tehran's attack and offered "all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in any measures it takes". This combination of handout satellite photos obtained from Planet Labs PBC on June 19, 2025, of a photo taken on June 5, 2025 (L) shows military planes at the US military base of Al-Udeid in Qatar, and a photo taken June 19, 2025 (R) showing no more planes at the US military base of Al-Udeid in Qatar, one of the main US bases in the region. Photo: Handout/AFP AFP reporters heard blasts in central Doha and in Lusail, north of the capital, on Monday evening, and saw projectiles moving across the night sky. The US defence official said Al Udeid was "attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles", and Ansari said it had been evacuated as a precaution ahead of time. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said six missiles had hit the base, according to state media. Iranians gathered in central Tehran on Monday night to celebrate the attack, images on state TV showed, with some waving the flag of the Islamic republic and chanting "Death to America". Earlier in the day, Qatar had announced the temporary closure of its airspace in light of "developments in the region", while foreign embassies there including that of the United States had warned their citizens to shelter in place. After the attack, Qatar said "the security situation in the country is stable, and there is no cause for concern". Just as Iran was announcing the new attacks, blasts were heard in the north of Tehran, according to an AFP journalist, who reported yellow flashes typical of Iranian air defences in the sky over the capital shortly before 9:00pm (17:30 GMT). Earlier in the day Israel reported carrying out what it said were its most powerful strikes yet on Tehran. Iran, in turn, fired missile barrages at Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military hit sites in Tehran including Evin prison, which Katz said "holds political prisoners and regime opponents", as well as command centres for the domestic Basij paramilitary and the Revolutionary Guards. Iranian media and the Israeli military said Israel also struck Fordo on Monday "in order to obstruct access routes" to the site. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran's health ministry has said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout. Oil prices sank more than six percent on Monday after the attack. Around 18:15 GMT, futures for West Texas Intermediate fell 6.5 percent to $69.96 a barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 6.4 percent to $72.07 a barrel, its lowest level in 10 days. John Kilduff of Again Capital described the Iranian action as "somewhat measured". "This is a face-saving measure by the Iranians and hopefully the diplomatic off-ramp will be taken," Kilduff said. On Sunday, after the Pentagon stressed the goal of US intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump had openly toyed with the idea. "If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. - AFP
CNN
9 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: A weakened Tehran lashes out against US airbases to save face
An empty base as a target, with many hours warning, and a limited number of missiles fired at some of the best air defense systems in the world. Iran's retaliation for the US's weekend strikes on three of its nuclear facilities can only have been designed to deescalate. The US-run Al Udeid airbase in Qatar had been evacuated days earlier, with satellite images showing the departure of planes and personnel widely publicised in the media. It is the most important US military airbase in the region, the home of Central Command. It even launched the drone that killed Iran's top military personality, General Qasem Soleimani, in 2020, Iranian state media said in the hours after 'Operation Glad Tidings of Victory.' The Monday strike against Al-Udeid had close to zero chance of American casualties – and provided the perfect moment of quasi-absurd face-saving for Iran. The first hint of a possible strike came when the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar, issued an emergency 'shelter in place' order for US citizens. As if to remove any doubt, Qatar closed its airspace about an hour prior to the launch of what appears to have been close to a dozen missiles by Iran. Adding to the favourable conditions of the launch for Iran's dwindling arsenal, Qatar is close enough to permit the use of shorter-range missiles, stocks of which have not been as depleted as the medium-range missiles used to hit Israel over the past week. To pour water on anything resembling a flame, Iran's National Security Council said moments after the attack the number of missiles fired had been 'as many as the number of bombs used in the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.' Packaging the barrage as the definition of a proportionate response, the Iranian statement went on to insist the attack posed 'no dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people.' Tehran's method of retaliation-without-fangs has been successfully tried and tested. After Soleimani was killed, Iran's retaliatory missile attack against the US's Al Asad airbase in Iraq was reportedly telegraphed to Baghdad beforehand, possibly helping reduce the level of US injury suffered to mostly concussions. Iran's response to Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024 in the heart of Tehran heavily telegraphed in advance. 'We knew they'd retaliate. They had a similar response after Soleimani,' a senior White House official said Monday night. A playbook appears to be forming. But it is one that compounds Iran's military weakness each time it is employed. In 2020, the Islamic Republic lost its pre-eminent military personality – an Iranian hardline hero. In 2024, it showed that valuable allies were not safe in central Tehran. This year, the regime has lost control of its own airspace to the point of previously unthinkable strikes on their prized nuclear facilities by both Israel and the US. This is stark testament to the differing powers on display. Iran has to feign its strength in a managed presentation of restrained and muted anger. The US and Israel get to break taboos daily, shattering Iran's long-held position as a regional power in under ten days, and perhaps ending its ambitions to be a nuclear power. There is now only one real red line left for the United States or Israel to cross, and that is to directly target Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But that may seem ill-advised, given the likelihood this octogenarian theocrat would be replaced by a younger hardliner who is keener to flex Iran's muscles of deterrence. Better to accept toothless retaliations amid Tehran's slow decline. Each expression of Iran's anger has confirmed its slow erosion of power. An angry fledging nuclear power would have accelerated its race to an atomic bomb. That may still happen. But it looks more likely that Iran is desperately hoping its performative lashing out can sate what remains of its hardliners, decimated by Israeli strikes. It may even hope to shuffle back to diplomacy, with talks to contain a nuclear program and ballistic missile stockpile likely severely depleted to shadows of what they were merely ten days ago.
CNN
9 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: A weakened Tehran lashes out against US airbases to save face
An empty base as a target, with many hours warning, and a limited number of missiles fired at some of the best air defense systems in the world. Iran's retaliation for the US's weekend strikes on three of its nuclear facilities can only have been designed to deescalate. The US-run Al Udeid airbase in Qatar had been evacuated days earlier, with satellite images showing the departure of planes and personnel widely publicised in the media. It is the most important US military airbase in the region, the home of Central Command. It even launched the drone that killed Iran's top military personality, General Qasem Soleimani, in 2020, Iranian state media said in the hours after 'Operation Glad Tidings of Victory.' The Monday strike against Al-Udeid had close to zero chance of American casualties – and provided the perfect moment of quasi-absurd face-saving for Iran. The first hint of a possible strike came when the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar, issued an emergency 'shelter in place' order for US citizens. As if to remove any doubt, Qatar closed its airspace about an hour prior to the launch of what appears to have been close to a dozen missiles by Iran. Adding to the favourable conditions of the launch for Iran's dwindling arsenal, Qatar is close enough to permit the use of shorter-range missiles, stocks of which have not been as depleted as the medium-range missiles used to hit Israel over the past week. To pour water on anything resembling a flame, Iran's National Security Council said moments after the attack the number of missiles fired had been 'as many as the number of bombs used in the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.' Packaging the barrage as the definition of a proportionate response, the Iranian statement went on to insist the attack posed 'no dangerous aspect to our friendly and brotherly country of Qatar and its noble people.' Tehran's method of retaliation-without-fangs has been successfully tried and tested. After Soleimani was killed, Iran's retaliatory missile attack against the US's Al Asad airbase in Iraq was reportedly telegraphed to Baghdad beforehand, possibly helping reduce the level of US injury suffered to mostly concussions. Iran's response to Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024 in the heart of Tehran heavily telegraphed in advance. 'We knew they'd retaliate. They had a similar response after Soleimani,' a senior White House official said Monday night. A playbook appears to be forming. But it is one that compounds Iran's military weakness each time it is employed. In 2020, the Islamic Republic lost its pre-eminent military personality – an Iranian hardline hero. In 2024, it showed that valuable allies were not safe in central Tehran. This year, the regime has lost control of its own airspace to the point of previously unthinkable strikes on their prized nuclear facilities by both Israel and the US. This is stark testament to the differing powers on display. Iran has to feign its strength in a managed presentation of restrained and muted anger. The US and Israel get to break taboos daily, shattering Iran's long-held position as a regional power in under ten days, and perhaps ending its ambitions to be a nuclear power. There is now only one real red line left for the United States or Israel to cross, and that is to directly target Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But that may seem ill-advised, given the likelihood this octogenarian theocrat would be replaced by a younger hardliner who is keener to flex Iran's muscles of deterrence. Better to accept toothless retaliations amid Tehran's slow decline. Each expression of Iran's anger has confirmed its slow erosion of power. An angry fledging nuclear power would have accelerated its race to an atomic bomb. That may still happen. But it looks more likely that Iran is desperately hoping its performative lashing out can sate what remains of its hardliners, decimated by Israeli strikes. It may even hope to shuffle back to diplomacy, with talks to contain a nuclear program and ballistic missile stockpile likely severely depleted to shadows of what they were merely ten days ago.
