Latest news with #preemptiveStrike
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
CNN pundit Van Jones shames liberal colleagues for their Iran comments
CNN 's Van Jones blasted liberals for 'underestimating' the threat posed by Iran, hours before the US bombed the nation's nuclear facilities. The former Obama aide made the remarks on CNN's Saturday Morning Table for Five, in a discussion that included Republican commentator Scott Jennings, ex-Biden aide Dan Koh and conservative commentator S.E. Cupp. Both Koh and Cupp had expressed disapproval of President Donald Trump's decision-making leading up to the attack. This earned a stern rebuke from Jones, who demanded that progressives 'get on board' with Trump's position. 'I think progressives underestimate how dangerous Iran is,' he began, as Jennings, fresh off a trip to Israel, nodded his head in approval. 'Iran is not a normal country. Normal countries don't blind women because they showed some hair. 'They don't empower little gangs and proxies to surround a country and fire rockets and rape people,' he continued. 'Two things are clear: the what - they cannot have a bomb.' 'And the why: because they say, "Death to America. Death to Israel. And death to all the Jews." 'One of those should offend you - if you're progressives. At least one should offend you.' He then turned to the 'who' and 'how' of the conflict. 'Is Israel going to take out this nuclear capacity by dropping people there who blow it up?' Jones asked. 'Or is America going to take it out by dropping a bomb that blows it up?' Pleading for a preemptive strike that soon came to pass, Jones then turned back to 'the what and the why' of the situation, which he said was quite 'clear.' 'We cannot have a nuclear armed Iran,' he said. 'I was in the region. You were in the region,' Jones said, motioning to Jennings. 'This is a very dangerous power that cannot get a nuclear weapon. 'Progressives should get on board with that.' That evening, Jones words proved prophetic, with the US attacking several known nuclear facilities in Iran. The move - made a little over a week after Israel claimed Iran had been close to obtaining nuclear weapons - sparked pushback from both sides of the aisle. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie slammed it as 'not Constitutional,' since it was made without the approval of Congress. 'This is not about the merits of Iran's nuclear program. No president has the authority to bomb another country that does not pose an imminent threat to the US without the approval of Congress,' added Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, calling the bombings 'an unambiguous impeachable offense.' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez - one of the fiercest critics of Israel - unsurprisingly agreed. 'The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,' the New York Democrat said. 'He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,' she went on, also calling the order 'grounds for impeachment.' The president, meanwhile, deployed B-2 stealth bombersin the attack, after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran. On Friday, Trump said he was going to wait two weeks before deciding whether to enter the conflict. Iran has since promised to respond, after saying the strikes on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites constituted the US 'enter[ing] the war clearly and directly'. The country is currently weighing its military options. It launched a new wave of missiles and drones against Israel Monday.
Russia Today
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Israel's war on Iran is not about nuclear weapons
The claim that has been adopted by the United States, Israel and its European partners, that the attack on Iran was a 'pre-emptive' attempt to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, is demonstrably false. It holds about as much weight as the allegations against Iraq's Saddam Hussein in 2003 and this war of aggression is just as illegal. For the best part of four decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming that Iran is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon. Yet, every single attempt to strike a deal which would bring more monitoring and restrictions to Iran's nuclear program has been systematically dismantled by Israel and its powerful lobbying groups in Western capitals. In order to properly assess Israel's attack on Iran, we have to establish the facts in this case. The Israeli leadership claim to have launched a pre-emptive strike, but have presented no evidence to support their allegations that Iran was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon. Simply stating this does not serve as proof, it is a claim, similar to how the US told the world Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Back in March, the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard testified before a Senate Intelligence Committee that the intelligence community 'continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.' On top of this, Iran was actively participating in indirect negotiations with the US to reach a new version of the 2015 Nuclear Deal. Donald Trump announced Washington would unilaterally withdraw from the agreement in 2018, instead pursuing a 'maximum pressure' sanctions campaign at the behest of Israel. Despite the claims of Netanyahu and Trump that Iran was violating the Nuclear Deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report which stated Iran was in full compliance with the deal at the time. If you trace back every conversation with neo-conservatives, Israeli war hawks and Washington-based think tanks, their opposition to the Obama-era Nuclear Deal always ends up spiraling into the issues of Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for regional non-State actors. Israeli officials frequently make claims about Iran producing a nuclear weapon in 'years', 'months' or even 'weeks,' this has become almost second nature. Yet their main issue has always been with Iran's support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, who strive for the creation of a Palestinian State. Proof of this all is simple. Israel, by itself, cannot destroy Iran's vast nuclear program. It is not clear the US can destroy it either, even if it enters the war. An example of the US' ineffectiveness at penetrating Iranian-style bunkers, built into mountainous ranges, as many of Iran's nuclear facilities are, was demonstrated through the American failure to destroy missile storage bases in Yemen with its bunker-buster munitions, which were dropped from B-2 bombers. Almost immediately after launching his war on Iran, Netanyahu sent out a message in English to the Iranian people, urging them to overthrow their government in an attempt to trigger civil unrest. The Israeli prime minister has since all but announced that regime change is his true intention, claiming that the operation 'may lead' to regime change. Israel's own intelligence community and military elites have also expressed their view that their air force alone is not capable of destroying the Iranian nuclear program. So why then launch this war, if it is not possible to achieve the supposed reason it was 'pre-emptively' launched? There are two possible explanations: The first is that the Israeli prime minister has launched this assault on Iran as a final showdown in his 'seven front war,' with which he hopes to conclude the regional conflict through a deadly exchange that will ultimately inflict damage on both sides. In this scenario, the desired outcome would be to conclude the war with the claim that Netanyahu has succeeded at destroying or has significantly degraded Iran's nuclear program. He would also throw in claims, like we already see him making, that huge amounts of Iranian missiles and drones were eliminated. This would also make the opening Israeli strike, which killed senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and nuclear scientists, make sense. It would all be the perfect blend of propaganda to sell a victory narrative. On the other hand, the assumption would be that Tehran would also claim victory. Then both sides are able to show the results to their people and tensions cool down for a while. If you are to read what the Washington-based think-tanks are saying about this, most notably The Heritage Foundation, they speak about the ability to contain the war. The second explanation, which could be an added bonus that the Israelis and US are hoping could come as a result of their efforts, is that this is a full-scale regime change war that is designed to rope in the US. Israel's military prestige was greatly damaged in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and since that time there has been no victory achieved over any enemy. Hamas is still operating in Gaza and is said to have just as many fighters as when the war began, Hezbollah was dealt significant blows but is still very much alive, while Yemen's Ansarallah has only increased its strength. This is an all round stunning defeat of the Israeli military and an embarrassment to the US. As is well known, Iran is the regional power that backs all of what is called the Axis of Resistance. Without it, groups like Hezbollah and Hamas would be significantly degraded. Evidently, armed resistance to Israeli occupation will never end as long as occupied people exist and live under oppressive rule, but destroying Iran would be devastating for the regional alliance against Israel. The big question however, is whether regime change is even possible. There is a serious question mark here and it seems much more likely that this will end up on a slippery slope to nuclear war instead. What makes the Israeli-US claim that this war is somehow pre-emptive, for which there is no proof at all, all the more ridiculous of a notion, is that if anything, Iran may now actually rush to acquire a nuclear weapon for defensive purposes. If they can't even trust the Israelis not to bomb them with US backing, while negotiations were supposed to be happening, then how can a deal ever be negotiated? Even in the event that the US joins and deals a major blow to the Iranian nuclear program, it doesn't mean that Iran will simply abandon the program altogether. Instead, Tehran could simply end up rebuilding and acquiring the bomb years later. Another outcome of this war could end up being Israeli regime change, which also appears as if it could now be on the table.
CNN
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Israeli President: ‘Our objective is to remove the Iranian nuclear program'
Israeli President Isaac Herzog talks with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about Israel's preemptive strike against Iran as the military conflict continues for a fourth day.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon Pizza Tracker Betrayed Israeli Strike Plans Against Iran
The Pentagon's prior knowledge of Israel's 'preemptive strike' on Iran appears to have been betrayed by a social media account that tracks pizza orders. The Pentagon Pizza Report on X monitors foot traffic at pizza shops near the Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. After logging normal foot traffic on Thursday, the account recorded 'extremely high levels of traffic' leading up to Israel's early morning June 13 attack on Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rushed to assure that America had no involvement in the attack. However, the Pentagon Pizza Report suggested that the Pentagon at least knew the attack was in the works, judging by 'surging' orders. Hours before Israel launched 'Operation Rising Lion,' four pizza shops 'surged in traffic,' according to the account. Social media commentators suggested that the correlation could be a potential national security risk. 'They should really open a secret Dominos inside the building,' quipped one social media commentator as another commentator asked in Spanish, 'Do they eat pizza in Iran?' Another X commentator added, 'I feel like this really is telling us that there's a panic at these places.' According to Pentagon Pizza Report, the Domino's near the White House experienced 'another LARGE surge in activity' as Iran commenced its retaliation against Israel with its own barrage of missiles.
CNN
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Israeli Amb. to U.S.: ‘Iran will not have a nuclear path to a nuclear bomb'
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter talks with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about why his country launched a preemptive strike against Iran and weighs in on whether there is still a chance for diplomacy.
