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Jet2

Israel launches strikes on Iran: Live updates, timeline


RT
Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:48 UTC
Tehran building bombed
© Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Getty ImagesDamaged building in the Iranian capital, Tehran, following an Israeli attack • June 13, 2025
The attack comes days before the sixth round of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

Israel conducted a series of strikes on Iran on Friday, and declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliation.

The IDF said it targeted both military and nuclear sites. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz was among the targets.

Iran has confirmed that the attacks killed Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. Media reports also claimed that the attacks targeted and killed several other senior Iranian military commanders six nuclear and scientists.

Comment: We all had prior knowledge of potential strikes. Israel's intent was no secret. It was a matter of 'when'.

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Jet2

Several top Iranian commanders killed in Israeli strikes


RT
Fri, 13 Jun 2025 02:10 UTC
Salami
© Anadolu/Getty ImagesCommander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami at an event in Kerman, Iran • January 5, 2024
The IDF launched what it claims was a "preemptive" attack on military personnel and nuclear sites on Friday.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed several of the country's top commanders, including Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other senior army officials, according to local news agencies and officials.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the attacks early Friday involving more than 200 fighter jets killed Salami, along with Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, and the commander of Iran's Emergency Command.

According to Israel, the raid was aimed at Iranian nuclear and military targets, including an enrichment facility in Natanz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the operation was intended to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials have confirmed the deaths of Salami and Bagheri, with the IRGC stressing that it "stands ready to deliver a decisive and harsh response to the Zionist enemy's aggression."

According to reports cited by Press TV, the victims also include Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Gholam Ali Rashid. Israeli strikes on Tehran have also killed at least six Iranian nuclear scientists, Tasnim news agency reported.
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Star of David

Netanyahu's government survives attempt to dissolve Israel's parliament

Melanie Lidman
PBS News
Thu, 12 Jun 2025 01:43 UTC
Neti and hands
© Ronen Zvulun /ReutersIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset • June 11, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government survived an attempt to dissolve Israel's parliament early Thursday morning, with most of his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners joining him in voting against a bill that would have forced them to register for military service while the country is at war.

The vote was the most serious challenge to Netanyahu's government since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which was the biggest security failure in Israel's history and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The bill's failure means that no other piece of legislation to dissolve parliament, called the Knesset, can be submitted for at least six months, shoring up Netanyahu's embattled coalition.

The ultra-Orthodox parties are furious that the government has failed to pass a law exempting their community from mandatory military service. The issue has long divided the Jewish Israeli public, especially during the 20-month war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's opposition had hoped that the public anger over the exemptions would help topple the government. But just two of the 18 ultra-Orthodox members of the Knesset supported the bill.

Comment: Point in time: Would the executed attack on Iran not have occurred if PM Netanyahu's government been dissolved? Did the possibility influence the timeline?

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Star of David

Israel launches "Operation Rising Lion" to strike Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu vows to eliminate threat


news 24online.com
Fri, 13 Jun 2025 07:16 UTC
Neti
© ScreengrabIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Dozens of Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets executed the first stage of the operation, striking multiple military and nuclear sites across various regions of Iran, stated IDF on Friday. Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared an emergency situation across the country due to Israel's action in Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched a preemptive and precise combined offensive targeting Iran's nuclear program. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, confirmed the launch of 'Operation Rising Lion', a targeted military offensive to roll back the Iranian threat. PM Netanyahu stated that operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

Comment: More from MSN:
U.S. not involved in Israel's strikes, Rubio says

The United States was not part of the operation and was not involved in intelligence sharing, multiple U.S. sources told CBS News, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed this in a statement.

"Israel took unilateral action against Iran," he said. "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense."

Rubio added, "Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."

President Trump is convening a National Security Council meeting in the Situation Room on Friday, the White House said.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel told government employees and their families to "shelter in place until further notice," amid the threat of a retaliatory strike by Iran.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the military "launched a preemptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence to strike Iran's nuclear program, and in response to the Iranian regime's ongoing aggression against Israel."
Map Iran
The spokesperson said "dozens" of Israeli air force jets struck "dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran." The statement referred to it as "the first stage."

Iranian state media reported loud explosions and some casualties in the capital city of Tehran. State television later reported another round of strikes in Natanz, a city south of Tehran that is home to one of the country's uranium enrichment facilities.


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Russian Flag

Russia will not end Ukraine SMO until NATO pulls forces out of eastern flank

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:53 UTC
nato eastern flank russia ukraine map
© NATONATO's 'eastern flank' closer to the start of the Ukraine war - forces have since grown...
A top Kremlin official was quoted in Newsweek this week warning that Russia won't end the Ukraine war until NATO pulls its troops out of the Baltic and 'eastern flank' states.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov demanded that NATO must withdraw its troops from the Baltic region. Russia has long seen the Baltics as very near, and its sphere of influence, also given its territory of of Kaliningrad.
"The American side requires practical steps aimed at eliminating the root causes of the fundamental contradictions between us in the area of security," he had said, originally in state TASS.
"Among these causes, NATO expansion is in the foreground," he emphasized. "Without resolving this fundamental and most acute problem for us, it is simply impossible to resolve the current conflict in the Euro-Atlantic region."

Comment: In other words,"as long as it takes." The Kremlin frequently reminds the west that it fought a 21-year war with Sweden (1700-1721), to secure its northern border. Russia is willing and able to do the same for its western border.



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Star of David

UK police spent thousands of pounds protecting Israeli arms firm owned by sanctioned Israeli finance minister

John McEvoy
Declassified UK
Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:47 UTC
smotrich arms factory britain israel
© Ilia Yefimovich / DPA/ AlamyBritain has sanctioned Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich (centre), but his department still owns an arms firm in England.
A police force in England has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds protecting an arms factory owned by Israel's ministry of finance, Declassified can reveal.

Based in Newcastle, Pearson Engineering manufactures "mobility equipment to armed forces around the world", including the British military.

The arms firm was acquired by Israel's state-owned arms giant Rafael in 2022. Its financial records show how the country's ministry of finance now has "significant control" over the company.

Documents seen by Declassified reveal Northumbria police have spent £209,755 policing pro-Palestine protests at Pearson Engineering's site, as well as at the University of Newcastle since October 2023.

Comment: Even his own people don't like Smotrich:



This is the guy dictating Israel's Gaza operations:


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Explosion

Trump threatens to bomb Iran to smithereens for "playing by the rules"

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Mon, 09 Jun 2025 00:00 UTC
Trump Map
© ScreeenshotUS President Donald Trump: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.” NBC News Interview • March 30, 2025
President Donald Trump is threatening to launch air strikes on Iran for activities that are approved under the terms of Iran's treaty obligations. This is not a matter on which there should be any debate. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) explicitly grants all parties, including Iran, the "inalienable right" to develop, research, produce, and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This "inalienable right" includes the enriching of uranium.

Trump either doesn't understand what a "treaty" is or thinks its terms should not apply to Iran. For the sake of clarity, a treaty is a formal, legally binding agreement between sovereign states that is governed by international law. It establishes mutual obligations, rights, or rules on matters such as trade, security, nuclear non-proliferation, or environmental protection. A treaty is not optional and cannot be repealed by executive fiat. States that ratify treaties are legally obligated to comply with their terms in good faith. Political leaders, as representatives of the state, are expected to uphold these obligations.

Comment: Pattern recognition: Trump bullies and barrages to make deals - be it psychological, character flaw or means to an end.

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USA

Trump says rare earths deal 'done' with China

Peter Hoskins, Natalie Sherman
BBC
Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00 UTC
Trump
© Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump
Talks aimed at cooling tensions between the US and China have ended in a "deal", according to US President Donald Trump.

He said China had agreed to supply US companies with magnets and rare earth metals, while the US would walk back its threats to revoke visas of Chinese students.

"Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval from President Xi and me," Trump wrote on his media platform Truth Social.

It followed two days of intense talks in London to resolve conflicts that had emerged since the two sides agreed a truce in May, after a rapid escalation of tariffs had nearly paralysed trade be tween the world's two largest economies.

But the limited nature of the announcement underscored questions the White House is facing about whether its tariff strategy can quickly yield solid trade deals.
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Arrow Down

By threatening the ICC, David Cameron disgraced Britain

Peter Oborne
Middle East Eye
Tue, 10 Jun 2025 15:32 UTC
Cameron
© Simon Wohlfahrt/AFPDavid Cameron, then UK foreign secretary • NATO • Brussels • November 28, 2023
The former foreign secretary should be held accountable for his blatant attempt to bully the court in defence of Israel.

By threatening the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, former British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has joined Russian President Vladimir Putin among a small group of unsavoury world leaders who have menaced or bullied the ICC.

In plain English, the former foreign secretary (and former prime minister) has been caught red-handed in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

The motive for Cameron's appalling conduct: A determination to protect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, from war crimes charges.

In the words of the ICC, these war crimes included "starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts".
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Arrow Up

China, US reach principled consensus after candid, in-depth trade talks in London

Ma Jingjing, Yin Yeping
Global Times
Wed, 11 Jun 2025 07:19 UTC
Delegation
© XinhuaDelegations of China and the US • China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism • London, Britain • June 9, 2025
Meeting lays foundation for predictability of bilateral trade relations: expert

The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism that was held in London has led to new progress in addressing each other's economic and trade concerns, according to a release by the Chinese side.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged the US to work with China to honor their words with actions, and demonstrate sincerity in keeping commitments and concrete efforts to implement consensus, so as to jointly safeguard the hard-won outcomes of dialogue, according to the release.

He made the remarks during the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism held in London from Monday to Tuesday with US lead person Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

A Chinese analyst said that China-US economic and trade consultations have achieved new progress, laying a foundation for both sides to promote a stable and predictable development of bilateral economic and trade relations. However, the analyst noted that for the consensus to yield concrete outcomes, the US must honor its commitments and meet China halfway to safeguard the progress achieved so far, which is vital for upholding market trust and its credibility.
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