Latest news with #USBombing
Al Jazeera
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The worldwide reach of the Middle East
Pinch Point Getting entangled in conflicts thousands of kilometres away from home. After the US bombing of Iran Pinch Point looks at the often unforeseen domestic consequences of getting entangled in conflicts thousands of kilometres away from home. Video Duration 00 minutes 43 seconds 00:43 Video Duration 05 minutes 59 seconds 05:59 Video Duration 05 minutes 30 seconds 05:30 Video Duration 05 minutes 58 seconds 05:58 Video Duration 05 minutes 27 seconds 05:27 Video Duration 04 minutes 52 seconds 04:52 Video Duration 09 minutes 24 seconds 09:24
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Fox News helped champion Trump's attacks on Iran: ‘I agree with the president'
The US bombing of Iran last weekend prompted sober reporting from the mainstream US media, along with considered discussion of whether the US had violated international law in attacking a foreign country. Fox News, however, took a different tack, championing a war that, according to reports, it had helped convince Donald Trump to start. 'This will go down in history as one of the greatest military victories,' roared Sean Hannity, arguably Fox News's best known host, on Saturday night. After the right-wing network aired Trump's White House address which hailed the strikes as a success, Hannity continued in the same vein. 'I agree with the president,' he said. 'This is one of the most skilled, important, imperative peacekeeping, peace-through-strength-keeping operations in the last 40 years, and certainly the reign of terror in Iran, whether they know it or not, is coming to a quick end.' Hannity, who said he had spoken to Trump before going on air, then brought on Mark Levin, a conservative talkshow host who reportedly urged Trump to allow Israel to attack Iran during a private lunch in early June. Levin was not impartial. 'You're looking at a historic figure,' Levin said of Trump. 'We just kicked their ass.' His voice rising, Levin added: 'These Islamo-Nazis were building nuclear weapons to attack us too, with intercontinental ballistic missiles. Guess what? You can go to bed peacefully tonight and know that's not gonna happen. 'This mission was never going to fail under this commander in chief,' Levin said, before concluding: 'This is historic, he is historic, the United States military is historic.' It made sense that Fox News would cheer the strikes. It had spent days appearing to support the idea. On 17 June, host Brian Kilmeade pulled up a map of all the places Iran might attack – a map which included Germany, Italy and parts of the Middle East. He then showed off some photos of all the rockets Iran has, as Mark Dubowitz, from the pro-Israel thinktank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, speculated that Iran could deliver a 'nuclear payload'. 'Do you think we should help [Israel] finish the job at Fordo?' Kilmeade asked Dubowitz. 'We gotta help them finish the job,' Dubowitz said. 'Only we can slice through the concrete, slice through the mountain under which the nuclear site is buried.' Kilmeade concluded: 'President Trump's got some big decisions.' And it wasn't just Kilmeade. 'Iran wants to hold the world hostage,' a chyron blared during Jesse Watters show on 19 June. Later the chyron switched: 'An unarmed Iran would give US leverage', after Watters said 'there's risks to action and there's risks in inaction' before comparing the situation to a person undergoing 'life-saving surgery'. Trump, a known cable news watcher, was paying attention, according to the New York Times. 'The president was closely monitoring Fox News, which was airing wall-to-wall praise of Israel's military operation and featuring guests urging Mr Trump to get more involved,' the Times reported. It added that some of Trump's aides 'lamented' that Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as an anti-interventionist voice, was no longer on the network. That split between right-wing media has been stark. Many non-conservatives found themselves in the novel position of agreeing with Carlson, as he repeatedly stated in the days ahead of the attacks that the US should not get involved. On 18 June, Carlson confronted Republican senator Ted Cruz, shouting: 'You don't know anything about Iran!' in a memorable exchange. But Fox News had the president's ear, and it was awash with fawning praise after the attacks, as a series of guests, many of whom had vested interests in Iran being attacked, lined up to champion Trump. Among those was Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general who has proposed forcibly relocating Palestinians to Egypt. 'This was an excellent opportunity to end the war which was led by president Trump and the Israeli people thank him for his leadership.' Avivi said, adding that Trump had created a 'global deterrence'. Still, in the Maga world, even the most sycophantic media organizations can never be absolutely certain of their footing. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, went on a performative rant at the Pentagon on Thursday, lashing out on specific journalists he accused of not having been Pravda enough in their reporting of the strikes. 'Jennifer, you've been about the worst,' Hegseth said to Jennifer Griffin, a Fox News reporter, when she asked if the government was certain that highly enriched uranium had now been removed from Fordow. Continuing to experiment with grammar, Hegseth told Griffin she had also been: 'The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.' Could this be a rift between the administration and its most ardent supporter? No. Griffin offered a light pushback to Hegseth before agreeing with him that the Iran mission was 'absolutely' the most successful she had witnessed during her time reporting at the Pentagon. That seemed to do the trick. 'I appreciate that,' Hegseth said.
The Guardian
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Fox News helped champion Trump's attacks on Iran: ‘I agree with the president'
The US bombing of Iran last weekend prompted sober reporting from the mainstream US media, along with considered discussion of whether the US had violated international law in attacking a foreign country. Fox News, however, took a different tack, championing a war that, according to reports, it had helped convince Donald Trump to start. 'This will go down in history as one of the greatest military victories,' roared Sean Hannity, arguably Fox News's best known host, on Saturday night. After the right-wing network aired Trump's White House address which hailed the strikes as a success, Hannity continued in the same vein. 'I agree with the president,' he said. 'This is one of the most skilled, important, imperative peacekeeping, peace-through-strength-keeping operations in the last 40 years, and certainly the reign of terror in Iran, whether they know it or not, is coming to a quick end.' Hannity, who said he had spoken to Trump before going on air, then brought on Mark Levin, a conservative talkshow host who reportedly urged Trump to allow Israel to attack Iran during a private lunch in early June. Levin was not impartial. 'You're looking at a historic figure,' Levin said of Trump. 'We just kicked their ass.' His voice rising, Levin added: 'These Islamo-Nazis were building nuclear weapons to attack us too, with intercontinental ballistic missiles. Guess what? You can go to bed peacefully tonight and know that's not gonna happen. 'This mission was never going to fail under this commander in chief,' Levin said, before concluding: 'This is historic, he is historic, the United States military is historic.' It made sense that Fox News would cheer the strikes. It had spent days appearing to support the idea. On 17 June, host Brian Kilmeade pulled up a map of all the places Iran might attack – a map which included Germany, Italy and parts of the Middle East. He then showed off some photos of all the rockets Iran has, as Mark Dubowitz, from the pro-Israel thinktank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, speculated that Iran could deliver a 'nuclear payload'. 'Do you think we should help [Israel] finish the job at Fordo?' Kilmeade asked Dubowitz. 'We gotta help them finish the job,' Dubowitz said. 'Only we can slice through the concrete, slice through the mountain under which the nuclear site is buried.' Kilmeade concluded: 'President Trump's got some big decisions.' And it wasn't just Kilmeade. 'Iran wants to hold the world hostage,' a chyron blared during Jesse Watters show on 19 June. Later the chyron switched: 'An unarmed Iran would give US leverage', after Watters said 'there's risks to action and there's risks in inaction' before comparing the situation to a person undergoing 'life-saving surgery'. Trump, a known cable news watcher, was paying attention, according to the New York Times. 'The president was closely monitoring Fox News, which was airing wall-to-wall praise of Israel's military operation and featuring guests urging Mr Trump to get more involved,' the Times reported. It added that some of Trump's aides 'lamented' that Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as an anti-interventionist voice, was no longer on the network. That split between right-wing media has been stark. Many non-conservatives found themselves in the novel position of agreeing with Carlson, as he repeatedly stated in the days ahead of the attacks that the US should not get involved. On 18 June, Carlson confronted Republican senator Ted Cruz, shouting: 'You don't know anything about Iran!' in a memorable exchange. But Fox News had the president's ear, and it was awash with fawning praise after the attacks, as a series of guests, many of whom had vested interests in Iran being attacked, lined up to champion Trump. Among those was Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general who has proposed forcibly relocating Palestinians to Egypt. 'This was an excellent opportunity to end the war which was led by president Trump and the Israeli people thank him for his leadership.' Avivi said, adding that Trump had created a 'global deterrence'. Still, in the Maga world, even the most sycophantic media organizations can never be absolutely certain of their footing. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, went on a performative rant at the Pentagon on Thursday, lashing out on specific journalists he accused of not having been Pravda enough in their reporting of the strikes. 'Jennifer, you've been about the worst,' Hegseth said to Jennifer Griffin, a Fox News reporter, when she asked if the government was certain that highly enriched uranium had now been removed from Fordow. Continuing to experiment with grammar, Hegseth told Griffin she had also been: 'The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.' Could this be a rift between the administration and its most ardent supporter? No. Griffin offered a light pushback to Hegseth before agreeing with him that the Iran mission was 'absolutely' the most successful she had witnessed during her time reporting at the Pentagon. That seemed to do the trick. 'I appreciate that,' Hegseth said.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
6 days after US struck Iran, nuke program damage is still unclear: Live updates
It has been almost one week since U.S. bombers conducting "Operation Midnight Hammer" gouged massive holes into the Earth at Iranian nuclear development sites. The smoke has cleared from the rubble but not from the controversy surrounding just how much damage was done, how soon Iran could rebuild the program or even whether it will. Also not clear is when or whether the full extent of the damage will emerge. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. attack obliterated the Iranian program and prompted the ceasefire. However, a U.S. official briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's initial assessment told USA TODAY the core components of Iran's nuclear program appeared to remain intact. An outraged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday countered by calling the bombings a "resounding success" and accusing some media outlets of "trying to make the president look bad." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also chimed in, saying the bombings "failed to achieve anything significant," forcing Israel and the U.S. to abandon their attacks. "They could not accomplish anything," he said. "They failed to achieve their goal. They exaggerate to conceal and suppress the truth." Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, took a middle road, saying the Iranian program suffered "enormous damage." He said three primary sites – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – were hit hard but that others locations were not affected at all. The nuclear program can be rebuilt, he said, but he declined to put a timeline on it. "What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that there is very considerable damage," Grosso told French radio. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that lies between Oman and Iran, has remained open amid threats by Iran to shut it down after U.S. bombings. After the June 21 U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran's parliament backed a measure to shut down the strait, which could potentially result in higher fuel costs worldwide. The calls to close the Strait seem to have de-escalated in the days since a ceasefire deal was struck earlier this week. The strait is 21 miles at its narrowest point, and the shipping lane is 2 miles wide in either direction. About 20% of the world's oil and gas flow through it. Iran on Wednesday executed three Kurdish men accused of helping Israel's Mossad spy agency conduct assassinations inside the country. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said the three had been caught trying to 'import equipment into the country under the guise of a shipment of alcoholic beverages.' The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said the three were executed at Urmia prison 'without a fair trial and based on confessions obtained under torture,' adding that Iran is conducting hangings as a form of suppression to cover up military failures in its war against Israel. Two of the men executed were kolbars, or border mules, 'who were arrested on charges of smuggling alcoholic beverages but were forced to confess to espionage for Israel," the group said. Tasnim reported the defendants had smuggled equipment that 'ultimately led to the assassination' of a government figure. The report did not specify whose assassination they had allegedly assisted. Israel killed numerous top Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in the opening salvo of its 12-day war with Iran. The three were convicted of 'enmity against God' and 'corruption on earth,' Tasnim reported. − Dan Morrison The Senate is expected to vote on a resolution introduced by Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia on Friday, which aims to curb Trump's use of military force in Iran. The measure "directs the President to terminate the use of U.S. Armed Forces for hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a congressional declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force against Iran," its summary reads. It's one of at least three resolutions pending in Congress. Kaine introduced it days before Trump announced the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, warning that U.S. engagement in a "war against Iran" would be a "catastrophic blunder for this country," Kaine said on June 17. The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to receive a classified briefing on the June 21 strike against Iran's nuclear facilities on Friday. Counterparts in the Senate were briefed on Thursday, and emerged predictably split along party lines on opinions over just how much damage the facilities sustained. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said Trump was 'deliberately misleading the public' about the extent of the damage, and said that a classified Pentagon report that indicates the bombing only set back the Iranian nuclear program by months appears to be accurate. "I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated,' Murphy said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, disagreed, saying after the briefing he believes the strikes set back Iran's nuclear efforts by years. 'They blew these places up in a major league way, major league setback, years, not months,' Graham said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who's a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Iran remains a threat because it may still have the enriched uranium and centrifuges that could enable the regime to reconstitute its nuclear program. -Zac Anderson and Tom Vanden Brook In its military action dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," Israel targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, military leaders, nuclear experts and "disrupted all stages of nuclear production," Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin said. The operation was launched June 13 "to remove an existential threat against the state of Israel," Defrin said, adding that Israel learned that Iran was "dangerously close" to obtaining a nuclear weapon and planned to destroy Israel. Israel had no other choice, he said. The operation targeted nuclear facilities, dozens of senior military commanders, 11 nuclear experts, knowledge hubs and research and development sites, Defrin said. Israel's military struck over 30 facilities that produce components for Iran's ballistic missile program, setting back the development of long-range missiles, he said. More than 30 senior commanders were "eliminated," Defrin said. The U.S. intelligence community has been consistent: It does not believe Iran has been building a nuclear weapon. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said as much when she testified to Congress about Iran's nuclear program in March. U.S. spy agencies, Gabbard said, 'continue to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003." Trump and Netanyahu dismissed that assessment. Trump has doubted U.S. intelligence agencies before − for example, over who was responsible for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi (it was Saudi Arabia). Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been talking about Iran's existential nuclear threat to Israel for as along as he's been in the public eye. Still, U.S. intelligence agencies, Trump, Netanyahu and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog − the International Atomic Energy Agency − agree on the issue of Iran's uranium. All believe Iran had developed a large stockpile, and at a sufficiently enriched level, to sustain a nuclear reaction that could be used in a bomb if it decided to. But how quickly Iran would have been able to "sprint to a nuclear weapon," as Gen. Michael E. Kurilla put it on June 10, is also a matter of dispute, and estimates ranged from one week to one year. −Kim Hjelmgaard Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities − Operation Midnight Hammer − effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it began bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. Israel said it helped the U.S. coordinate and plan the strikes. Trump said all three sites were "totally obliterated." A Pentagon assessment was less definitive, and Iran says its nuclear program will hardly skip a beat. The actual damage and the impact on Iran's program could become more clear in coming days. The saga between Iran and the United States goes back seven decades and 13 presidents, a relationship that broke down after the people of Iran rose up in 1978 against a regime the United States helped install in 1953. While Trump's decision to bomb the country's nuclear sites has Americans on edge, the United States has a long history of punishing Iran's government, most often through sanctions. At the center of it all is the state of Israel, the United States' key ally in the region − one that consistently finds itself at war with Iran or with the Islamic extremist groups that are proxies for Iran's interests. For some key moments in the relationship between the U.S. and Iran, read more here. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran-Israel live updates: Fate of Iran's nuclear program still unknown
News24
27-06-2025
- Politics
- News24
Trump says he backs idea of inspectors checking Iran nuclear sites
President Donald Trump said on Friday he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran's nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend. At a press conference in the White House briefing room, Trump said he believes the sites were 'obliterated.' He has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said. But Trump said he would support the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, going in to check the sites that were bombed. The agency's chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority, as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on 13 June. However, Iran's Parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites. Trump also said he does not believe Iran wants to still seek a nuclear weapon after US and Israeli bombing raids. He said Iran still wants to meet about the way forward. The White House had said on Thursday that no meeting between the US and an Iranian delegation had been scheduled thus far. Trump also said on Friday he would 'absolutely' bomb Iran again if intelligence indicated the country was still able to enrich uranium to nuclear weapons-grade. Asked at the White House press conference whether he would consider fresh air strikes if last week's sorties were not successful in ending Iran's nuclear ambitions, he said: Trump said Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'got beat to hell' in the hostilities involving the United States and Israel and that 'it was a great time to end it.'
