Official Israel Vs. Iran 2025 thread: Updates on first post! UN meeting ended. AIPAC funded politicians activate. US Weekend bombing rumor.

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4l0ns700883b6m41j3n6tr

5 hr 7 min ago

Israel’s offensive will push Iran closer to the bomb, former Iranian nuclear negotiator says​

From CNN’s Chris Lau
Iran was not planning to produce a nuclear bomb, but Israel’s military offensive is likely to push its leaders to develop one, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator told CNN.

Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian negotiator during nuclear talks with world powers, said Iran had been transparent about its nuclear program and was open to scrutiny from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, but the US’ withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran gave rise to the thinking that “the US and Israel would attack to bring regime change,”

“This narrative is telling Iranians, you know what? Even if there is transparency, even (if) all nuclear ambiguities are resolved, the US and Israel would attack to bring regime change,” he said.

“That’s why you Iranians, you need nuclear deterrence, which is nuclear bomb. I think this is what Americans and Israelis are practically telling Iranians: get the bomb as the best deterrence. And I believe if this policy continues, Iran would go for nuclear bomb.”

Mousavian added that a “war on Iran” would not be effective in stopping the country’s nuclear program as it cannot “kill and destroy knowhow.”

“I think the best is to go back to diplomacy again rather than war,” he added

 

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4f9vqi004q3b6mflzecg00

7 hr 23 min ago

Israel also has a nuclear weapons program. Here's what we know about it​

From CNN's Kara Fox

The Dimona nuclear power plant in southern Israel, in September 2002.
Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images/File

While Israel has never acknowledged its nuclear weapons program, experts say it’s the Middle East’s worst kept secret. “Israel is unique among nuclear-armed states as it neither confirms nor denies its nuclear capability,” according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Israel is one of nine countries known to have nuclear weapons, including the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Israel has not signed the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and opposes diplomatic efforts to establish a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East. It has signed and ratified the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which obligates signatories not to explode a nuclear device in the atmosphere or oceans.

How long has Israel had nuclear weapons? Israel began exploring nuclear weapons development before its establishment in 1948, then at a secret development site in 1958, near the southern town of Dimona.

It is widely thought that Israel first assembled its first nuclear weapon around 1966 or 1967. In 1968, the CIA said Israel had successfully started production of nuclear weapons.

Israel is believed to have conducted a clandestine atmospheric nuclear test in 1979, which it denies.

How big is its arsenal? Israel now has around 90 nuclear warheads and is believed to have enough nuclear material to produce up to 300 nuclear weapons, according to the Washington, DC-based NGO, Nuclear Threat Initiative.

It is continuing to modernize its stockpile, according to SIPRI, who said that Israel conducted a test of a missile propulsion system in 2024 that could be related to its Jericho family of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

Israel also appears to be upgrading its plutonium production reactor site at Dimona, SIPRI said.

 

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4pujnr00003b6n49ar7pav

2 hr 34 min ago

Charity mourns "indescribable" tragedy after cancer-stricken Ukrainian girl killed in Iranian airstrike​

From CNN's Tamar Michaelis and Sophie Tanno

The destruction at the site of an overnight Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, Israel, on Sunday.
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

A cancer charity that helped a 7-year-old girl with leukemia flee war-torn Ukraine to receive treatment in Israel has spoken of an “indescribable” tragedy after she was killed in an Iranian airstrike on the city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, on Sunday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Nastya Borik was killed alongside four members of her family: her mother Mariia, 30, her grandmother Lena, 60, and her two cousins — Ilya, 13, and Konstantin, 9. Ukrainian authorities said Sunday that five Ukrainian citizens were killed in the attack, but they did not release any details.

Evgenia Virovlianski, a volunteer with the organization “Chance 4 life” who had been helping Nastya’s family, told CNN that her death should never have happened.

“It shouldn’t have ended that way, it shouldn’t have happened at all. It’s indescribable that a family that escaped the war in Ukraine, that was brought here to be looked after, in this safe space… and it all ends like that? How can you even begin to grasp and process this?” Virovlianski said.

Last celebration: She said that volunteers from the charity had seen Nastya just last week, at the birthday of another child treated by the organization. “The volunteers were overjoyed that Nasty made it there, it was such a pleasant night with so much joy,” she said.

Virovlianski continued, “On the night it happened, we all stayed in our shelter and realized something had happened due to the blasts.”

“Then we saw the address of the impact scene looked familiar, but still hoped everything was fine, and that all we needed to do was to pick the family up and help them find an alternative place to stay. They didn’t pick up their phones, but we didn’t really know what had happened until they were found.”

Some background: Herzog said the family came to Israel in December 2022 because Nastya needed treatment. “Although she initially responded, the disease returned and a bone marrow transplant failed to stop the aggressive leukemia,” Herzog said.

“She came seeking life. Instead, she was murdered,” he added.

Nastya’s father, Artem Borik, is currently serving in the Ukrainian army, fighting Russia on the front line in Ukraine, Herzog said.

 

[FAH1223]

This is the Think Tank that has pushed for War with Iran the most



@Afro
@AnonymityX1000

 

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4sxvr5000k3b6nk62tbp4i

1 hr 43 min ago

Iran launches fresh missile barrage toward Israel, military says​

From CNN’s Tamar Michaelis
Iran fired a fresh barrage of missiles towards northern, central and southern Israel on Friday, according to the Israeli military.

Sirens sounded across the country, the Israeli military said, adding that its air forces were “operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat.”

The military instructed residents to “enter a protected space and remain there until further notice.”

Emergency services are reporting to scenes where impacts are reported.

 

[BaggerofTea]

Israel is afraid of a robust Iran, they are a very well educated population

they churn out 3rd most engineering graduates per the most recent survey in 2015.

An unshackled Iran would render Israel state practically irrelevant and they would not be able to bully the rightful heirs of the ancient Israelites and the surrounding Arab neighbors so easily.

 

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4tecad000r3b6nlmk588i8

1 hr 25 min ago

Iranian missile attack impacted several locations in Israel, emergency services say​

From CNN’s Tamar Michaelis
Iranian missiles impacted several sites across Israel on Friday, according to fire and rescue teams, prompting bomb disposal teams to be despatched.

The northern port city of Haifa was among those hit, as well as the northernmost Dan district, the emergency services added.

Social media footage on Friday showed a large plume of smoke rising over buildings in Haifa. The booming sound of explosions can be heard.

 

[Afro]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-20-25-intl-hnk#cmc4ufmam00153b6n0alti5m4

46 min ago

More than a dozen people injured in Israel in fresh Iranian attack, officials say​

From CNN’s Tamar Michaelis
At least 17 people were wounded in Israel on Friday after Iran launched a fresh missile salvo, according to health and emergency officials.

At least three of those were seriously injured, including a 16-year-old boy, who was hit by shrapnel, local authorities said.

Footage released by Israel’s Rambam hospital showed paramedics carrying an injured person on a stretcher, into the courtyard of the health facility in the port city of Haifa.

Emergency services told residents they could leave “protected spaces” in the city, indicating the threat of Iranian missiles had so far passed.

 

[Afro]

Iran missiles strike Israel as foreign minister meets European officials

Anti-Israel protesters take to streets of Iranian cities as foreign minister due to meet European officials.

aje.io

1h ago
(13:25 GMT)

Iran defending itself against ‘barbaric’ aggression: Foreign minister​

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has just spoken at the United Nations in Geneva. Here is a summary of what he said:

• Israel has launched an unprovoked aggression on Iran, in a stark violation of Article 2, paragraph four of the UN Charter.
• This is an unjust war imposed on my people since early hours of Friday, June 13, when Israel perpetrated a mix of unlawful and criminal operations against off-duty military personnel, university professors and ordinary people.
• My fellow Iranians have been killed and injured following Israel’s surprise armed attacks …operations on residential areas, public infrastructures, hospitals, health centres … the foreign ministry … nuclear facilities have also been targeted.
• Israel’s attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes, given also the danger of an environmental and health catastrophe as a result of radiological leakage.

 

[Afro]

Israel-Iran live updates: UK to withdraw embassy staff from Tehran as Iran launches new strikes on Israel

Meanwhile European foreign ministers are holding talks with Iran in Geneva after Donald Trump set a two-week timeline for US action.

www.bbc.com

What is Israel's position on nuclear talks?
​

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

A senior Israeli government official, who has asked not to be quoted by name, says Israel is not opposed to Iran having a civil nuclear programme, but that it cannot be allowed to enrich uranium inside its borders.
There was no reason, he says, why this could not be done by another country.
He says Israel took this view because once enrichment was underway in Iran, it was a simple matter for it to go well beyond the 3.67% enrichment level needed for peaceful electricity generation.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran had amassed 400kg of uranium enriched up to 60%.
The suggestion that Iran's uranium could be safely enriched outside the country was reportedly exactly what was being suggested by President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, during negotiations with the Iranians before this conflict began.
Asked what evidence Israel had that Iran had been "racing to build a bomb" - a claim repeated many times since 1995 - the official says three months ago Iran had enough highly-enriched uranium to build six bombs.
Last week, before Israel began its air campaign, he says that capability had jumped to nine bombs.

 

[Afro]

Israel-Iran live updates: UK to withdraw embassy staff from Tehran as Iran launches new strikes on Israel

Meanwhile European foreign ministers are holding talks with Iran in Geneva after Donald Trump set a two-week timeline for US action.

www.bbc.com

​

'Trust gap' in talks over Iran's nuclear programme, UN secretary-general says​

​

Image source, Getty Images

Delivering his opening remarks at a meeting of the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that with the continuation of the conflict between Israel and Iran the world is "racing towards" a crisis.

"The expansion of this conflict could light a fire that no one can control," he says.

Guterres adds that he believes at the centre of the conflict is "the nuclear question".

"Iran has repeatedly stated that it is not seeking nuclear weapons. But lets recognise there is a trust gap," he says.

"I appeal to an end to the fighting and the return to serious negotiations."

 

[Afro]

Iran missiles strike Israel as foreign minister meets European officials

Anti-Israel protesters take to streets of Iranian cities as foreign minister due to meet European officials.

aje.io

1h ago
(13:39 GMT)

More from Araghchi​

Here are some more lines from the speech of the Iranian foreign minister in Geneva:

• We were attacked in the middle of an ongoing diplomatic process.
• We were supposed to meet Americans on June 15 to craft a very promising agreement for a peaceful resolution of the issues fabricated over our peaceful nuclear program.
• It was a betrayal of diplomacy and an unprecedented blow to the foundation of international law and the UN system.
• We need action now. Otherwise, the whole UN-based international law system would corrode badly.
• This is a call from someone who has allocated his whole life to dialogue and diplomacy, but who is also a veteran of an imposed war by the [former President of Iraq] Saddam [Hussein’s] regime and knows how to defend his beloved motherland.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland [Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

 

[Afro]

Iran missiles strike Israel as foreign minister meets European officials

Anti-Israel protesters take to streets of Iranian cities as foreign minister due to meet European officials.

aje.io

1h ago
(13:50 GMT)

Iranian foreign minister holding talks with European officials​

Abbas Araghchi has now arrived at a Geneva hotel for the meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany and the UK, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief.

It is the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since Israel’s attack on Iran a week ago.

Ahead of the meeting, Araghchi said his country has “nothing to discuss” with the US as long as Israel continues its strikes on Iran, but is open to “dialogue” with others, though not negotiations.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who travelled to the Swiss city after holding talks with senior US officials in Washington, DC, said “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”.

 

[Afro]

Iran missiles strike Israel as foreign minister meets European officials

Anti-Israel protesters take to streets of Iranian cities as foreign minister due to meet European officials.

aje.io

54m ago
(14:00 GMT)

Video shows missile impact in Haifa​

Video posted on social media shows the aftermath of an Iranian missile attack on the city in northern Israel moments ago:

 

[Afro]

Iran missiles strike Israel as foreign minister meets European officials

Anti-Israel protesters take to streets of Iranian cities as foreign minister due to meet European officials.

aje.io

50m ago
(14:05 GMT)

Geneva talks should demand complete rollback of Iran nuclear programme: Israeli envoy​

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva says he expects European foreign ministers to demand a complete rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme during their meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Daniel Meron, was commenting on the talks between Araghchi and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, taking place today in Geneva.

Araghchi has said he is not prepared to hold negotiations with any party while Israel strikes his country, and that Iran’s missile programme is non-negotiable.