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Key Points and Summary - At this week's NATO summit in The Hague, Ukraine was largely sidelined as the alliance focused on internal matters, primarily a new commitment to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP to placate US President Donald Trump. -While European allies pledged new military aid—including German artillery rockets, Dutch F-16s, and British-funded drones—the final summit declaration omitted previous language about Ukraine's "irreversible path" to membership. -This shift, combined with a strained and brief meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaves Kyiv in a precarious position, increasingly dependent on European support as US commitment appears...

A preliminary classified U.S. report says the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, according to officials familiar with the findings. The early findings conclude that the strikes over the weekend set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, the officials said.

Following the US bombing of its nuclear sites, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil chokepoint. Rather than direct retaliation on the Iranian mainland, the US should counter this threat by seizing Kharg Island, the terminal through which 90% of Iran’s oil is exported. Additionally, the US should issue an ultimatum to Iran’s two navies—the IRGC’s coastal patrol and the regular blue-water navy to either dock and surrender or be sunk, thus ensuring freedom of navigation without a broader, destructive war on Iranian soil.

Key Points Should Iran follow through on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, it could alienate its neighbors and trade partners. But the possibility of a closure of the strait is low, experts said, despite Tehran’s rhetoric around closing the strait. A closure would provoke Iran’s markets in Asia, particularly China, which accounts for a majority of Iranian oil exports. =============================================================== Iran may be threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz but experts told CNBC that it’s also the one with the most to lose. In major move after U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites, the country’s parliament on...

ran launched a missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites. The announcement was made on state television as martial music played. A caption on screen called it “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression.” The attack came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran.

Iran’s parliament voted to approve the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to last night’s attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities by U.S. forces.The Strait is used as a route for roughly 20% of the world’s oil shipping, which is expected to impact oil prices if the move is approved by Iran’s Supreme Council.India, which reportedly imports about 80% of its oil through the Stair of Hormuz, is expected to be hit hard.President Trump addressed the nation last night, hours after the attack, which he called a “spectacular military success.” He further threatened Iran that “there are many...

Following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday, the Iranian Parliament has voted in support of closing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil transit chokepoints, according to media reports. Any final decision on retaliation, however, will rest with the country's Supreme National Security Council and leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The parliament vote merely advises him of the option to pursue. Newsweek has reached out to the White House by email on Sunday morning for comment. Why It Matters The U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites—dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer"—in Isfahan, Fordow and Natanz marks...

A senior Iranian source claimed to Reuters that before the U.S. attack on the Fordow nuclear facility last night (Sunday), all of the stock of enriched uranium at the site was transferred to another location. At the same time, satellite images captured a large convoy moving near the underground nuclear facility two days before the attack. It is believed that this may be documentation of the transfer of the enriched material. Last night, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the U.S. military had completed strikes on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. .....

Iranian parliament has approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in a move which could see the world thrown into disaster. The decision to close the Strait, through which around 20 per cent of global oil and gas demand flows, is not yet final. Iran's Supreme National Security Council must still make the final call on the matter, Iran's Press TV said today. But lawmaker and Revolutionary Guards Commander Esmail Kosari told the Young Journalist Club that doing so is on the agenda and 'will be done whenever necessary'. Last weekend, Kowsari told local media that closing the Strait...

President Trump has launched the United States into the spiraling Israel-Iran war, ordering strikes on the latter Middle Eastern country in the middle of the night Saturday in an attempt to crush its nuclear program. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump announced on Truth Social just before 8 p.m. ET, 3:30 a.m. Iran time. The president’s move to get the US involved in Israel’s military operations — now in their second week after large-scale airstrikes on June 13 took out 20 of Iran’s senior military leaders...

Any use of nuclear weapons likely will result in immediate global escalation.Israel has lost the initiative. Clearly losing the war. Large numbers of Israelis have fled or are fleeing Israel. “The tribe” is migrating.United States is staking all of our might on defending what amounts to maybe a couple million core Israelis. A country dependent on massive American support while we bleed.More than two million Arabs live in tiny Israel amid a total of only about 9 million people.Iran’s allies are powerful, proximate, and easily resupply Iran. Such as China using the new rail system:The global center of mass —...

Foreign media are now required to obtain prior military censorship approval before filming missile impact and crash sites. Foreign photographers will no longer be allowed to film at the scenes of missile strikes in Israel without prior written approval from military censors, under new directives issued by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. ...

Neocons like Mark Levin always start screeching ‘appeasement’ to try to shame opponents of forever wars.Bad World War II analogies appear to have become a dime a dozen in today’s political discourse. In just the past few months, I’ve excoriated Russell Moore for his ridiculous reference to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in response to President Donald Trump’s push toward a peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine and pilloried Max Boot’s baffling comparison of Ukraine’s recent attack on Russia’s bomber fleet to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.Now, Mark Levin, in his zealous crusade to push the United States into directly...

The US joining Israeli strikes would cause "hell for the whole region", Iran's deputy foreign minister has told the BBC. Saeed Khatibzadeh said this is "not America's war" and if US President Donald Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as "a president who entered a war he doesn't belong in". He said US involvement would turn the conflict into a "quagmire", continue aggression and delay an end to the "brutal atrocities". His comments came after the Soroka hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted a...

An Israeli strike on Iran’s hardened Fordow nuclear facility would not necessarily trigger an immediate, apocalyptic war but could instead be flipped to Iran’s strategic advantage. Rather than a suicidal retaliation, Tehran would likely respond with “retaliation in layers”: deniable proxy attacks, cyber-attacks, and maritime harassment.

“Israel Iran Conflict Live Updates: Missiles continue to rule the skies in Israel and Iran as the two sides escalated the ongoing conflict to the seventh day. Israel asked its citizens in two cities to leave and take shelter due to imminent Iranian strikes. A hospital suffered severe damage in Israel after a missile 'directly hit' it. The attacks are increasing with each passing hour. Israel has struck an area near the heavy-water research reactor in Khondab, part of Iran’s nuclear programme, aiming to destroy Tehran's nuclear programme. Officials announced the facility was evacuated prior to the attack and there...

BARCELONA (AP) — Iran is boasting that it has hypersonic missiles and says it already has begun firing the cutting-edge weapons at Israel.There is no evidence that Iran has unleashed the missiles, and experts are skeptical of the claim.But the use of these fast-moving projectiles could test Israel’s vaunted missile-defense system and alter the course of the fighting between the two bitter enemies.Here’s a closer look at these advanced weapons:What is a hypersonic missile and what makes them so feared?Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed Wednesday that it had fired what it said were hypersonic “Fattah 1” missiles toward Israel. But...

"It isn't wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday his country "will never surrender" as President Trump urged him to end reciprocal air strikes with Israel. "It isn’t wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender," Khamenei posted on X. "What should the Iranian nation surrender to? We will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone. This is the logic of the Iranian nation. This is the spirit of the Iranian nation."Israel started the air strikes last week amid stalled negotiations between the U.S....

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defiantly declared Wednesday that Tehran isn’t frightened by President Trump’s “absurd rhetoric” — as he rejected the United States’ demand to surrender in its war with Israel. “The US President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats,” Khamenei said in a statement on X. He vowed Iran would never back down and that any US strike would have “serious irreparable consequences.” “The US entering in this...

An Iranian military leader on Tuesday vowed that Israel would soon see more attacks, warning of an imminent "punitive operation" and telling Tel Aviv and Jaffa residents to evacuate.