BAGHDAD/ERBIL: Iraqi forces launched an offensive against the Daesh group near the Syrian border Thursday, piling further pressure on the militants’ crumbling “caliphate.”
A joint operations commander told Reuters that Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Daesh militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days.
Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said the cooperation of residents was helping them advance against Daesh.
Baghdad and its allies also turned up the heat on Daesh in its last remaining Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, where the US-led coalition said it had doubled the number of its advisers.
“A military operation has begun in the western areas of Anbar (province) to liberate them from Daesh,” said Lt. Gen. Qassem Mohammedi, head of Jazeera Operations Command.
He said the operation was led by the army’s 7th division, police, and fighters from local tribes that have opposed the militants, with aerial backing from the coalition.
The main targets of the operation are Aanah, Rawa and Al-Qaim, the westernmost Iraqi towns along the Euphrates Valley.
The militant hub of Al-Qaim, which lies 330 km northwest of Baghdad, is still a long way down the road and the most immediate target is the town of Aanah.
“Our forces started advancing from Haditha toward Aanah from several directions,” Mohammedi told AFP.
Haditha was never seized by Daesh when the group swept across much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland in 2014 and is home to a tribe that has led the fight against the militants in the area.
“Zero hour has come to liberate the western areas,” Nadhom Al-Jughaifi, a commander with the Haditha tribal fighters, said.
In 2016, Iraqi forces retook large parts of the vast province of Anbar, including its capital Ramadi and the city of Fallujah.
Anbar is a desert area traversed by the Euphrates that borders Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Security in reconquered areas remains precarious and militants continue to move across the province.
Daesh has lost more than half of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and the loss of Mosul would deal a major blow to the “caliphate” it proclaimed there in June 2014.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces are currently involved in an offensive to retake the main northern city, which is also Daesh’s last major stronghold in the country.
The operation launched on Oct. 17 is Iraq’s largest in years and while significant territory was reconquered around Mosul, the going has been tough inside the city itself.
After a lull in operations, Iraqi forces launched a fresh push last week and appear to have found new momentum.
“Iraqi security forces have made significant progress since initiating phase two of their operation to liberate Mosul,” Col. John Dorrian, the coalition’s spokesman, said on Wednesday.
He said that was partly owed to increased coalition involvement in the battle, with a doubling of the deployment of advisers there to about 450.
“We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations,” he said.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi promised that his forces would rid Iraq of Daesh by the end of 2016 but commanders have admitted they were surprised at how stiff militant resistance was in the city.
According to a top commander in the Counter-Terrorism Service that has spearheaded the battle in Mosul, Iraqi forces have now retaken about two thirds of the city’s eastern half.
Dorrian said the presence inside the city of hundreds of thousands of civilians had slowed progress.
“There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul. And really, in order to do this properly, given the way that the enemy has conducted themselves, you end up having to clear each one,” he told reporters.
Iraqi gains in east Mosul
In its 12th week, the offensive has gained momentum since Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition renewed their push for the city a week ago, clearing several more eastern districts despite fierce resistance.
“Roughly 65-70 percent of the eastern side has been liberated,” Shaghati said in an interview late on Wednesday in the Kurdish capital of Erbil. “I think in the coming few days we will see the full liberation of the eastern side.”
The western half of the city remains under the full control of Daesh, which is fighting to hold on to its largest urban stronghold with snipers and suicide car bombs numbering “in the hundreds” according to Shaghati.
The Mosul assault, involving a 100,000-strong ground force of Iraqi government troops, members of the autonomous Kurdish security forces and mainly Shiite militiamen, is the most complex battle in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The commander of a US-led coalition backing the Iraqi offensive told Reuters on Wednesday that increased momentum was due largely to better coordination among the army and security forces. He said the Iraqis had improved their ability to defend against Daesh car bombs.
Although vastly outnumbered, the militants have used the urban terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors and making tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings. They have also embedded themselves among the local population.
Human shields
The presence of large numbers of civilians on the battlefield has restricted Iraqi forces’ use of artillery but the cooperation of residents has also helped them target the militants.
“They give us information about the location of the terrorists, their movements and weapons that has helped us pursue them and arrest some and kill others,” Shaghati said.
In the run-up to the Mosul offensive, Iraqi officials expressed hope that residents would rise up against Daesh, accelerating the group’s demise in the city. But mass executions seem to have discouraged widespread resistance.
An Iraqi victory in Mosul would probably spell the end for Daesh’s self-styled caliphate, which leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared 2-1/2 years ago from Mosul’s main mosque after the militants overran the city.
But in recent days, the militants have displayed the tactics to which they are likely to resort if they lose the city, killing dozens with bombs in Baghdad and attacking security forces elsewhere.
An attack claimed by Daesh killed six people on Thursday on the capital’s eastern outskirts.
CTS pushed into Mosul from the east in late October and made swift advances but regular army troops tasked with advancing from the north and south made slower progress and the operation stalled for several weeks.
The roughly 10,000 members of CTS, established a decade ago with support from the US forces, are considered the best-trained and equipped fighters in Iraq.
Shaghati described the role of the international coalition, providing air support and advising Iraqi forces on the ground as “outstanding” and said Daesh was crumbling under pressure.
“Daesh devised many plans to obstruct and block us but they failed. We were able to surpass them and these areas were liberated with high speed,” Shaghati said.
“We have intelligence that (Daesh) leaders and their families are fleeing outside Iraq.”
Iraq launches offensive on Daesh near Syria border
Iraq launches offensive on Daesh near Syria border
What to know about the Iranian nuclear sites Trump says were hit by US strikes
- Iran has several other sites in its nuclear program that were not announced as targets in the US strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: President Donald Trump has said US forces attacked three Iranian nuclear and military sites, further upping the stakes in the Israel-Iran war.
Trump said the strikes, which he described as “very successful,” had hit the Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan sites, with Fordo being the primary target.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed there were attacks early Sunday at Iran’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.
IRNA quoted Akbar Salehi, Isfahan’s deputy governor in charge of security affairs, saying there had been attacks around Isfahan and Natanz. He did not elaborate. Another official confirmed an attack targeting Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site.
Israel launched a surprise barrage of attacks on sites in Iran on June 13, which Israeli officials said was necessary to head off what they claimed was an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs.
Iran, which has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with a series of missile and drone strikes in Israel, while Israel has continued to strike sites in Iran.
The US and Iran had been in talks that could have resulted in the US lifting some of its crushing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran drastically limiting or ending its enrichment of uranium. Until Saturday, Washington had helped shoot down Iranian strikes on Israel but had not launched direct attacks on Iran.
Here’s a look at the sites Trump said the US struck and their importance to Iran’s nuclear program.
Natanz enrichment facility
Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz, located some 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, is the country’s main enrichment site and had already been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Uranium had been enriched to up to 60 percent purity at the site — a mildly radioactive level but a short step away from weapons grade — before Israel destroyed the aboveground part of the facility, according to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Another part of the facility on Iran’s Central Plateau is underground to defend against potential airstrikes. It operates multiple cascades, or groups of centrifuges working together to more quickly enrich uranium. The IAEA has said it believes that most if not all of these centrifuges were destroyed by an Israeli strike that cut off power to the site.
The IAEA said those strikes caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area.
Iran also is burrowing into the Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, or Pickax Mountain, which is just beyond Natanz’s southern fencing. Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Two separate attacks, attributed to Israel, also have struck the facility.
Fordo enrichment facility
Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordo is located some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran. It also hosts centrifuge cascades, but isn’t as big as Natanz. Its construction began at least in 2007, according to the IAEA, although Iran only informed the UN nuclear watchdog about the facility in 2009 after the US and allied Western intelligence agencies became aware of its existence.
Buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries, Fordo appears designed to withstand airstrikes. Military experts have said it could likely only be targeted by “bunker buster” bombs — a term for bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding — such as the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal. The roughly 30,000 pound (13,600 kilogram) precision-guided bomb is designed to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels.
The US has only configured and programed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver that bomb, according to the Air Force. The B-2 is only flown by the Air Force, and is produced by Northrop Grumman, meaning that Washington would have to be involved in such an operation.
Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center
The facility in Isfahan, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It also is home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with the country’s atomic program.
Israel has struck buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site, among them a uranium conversion facility. The IAEA said there has been no sign of increased radiation at the site.
Other nuclear sites
Iran has several other sites in its nuclear program that were not announced as targets in the US strikes.
Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Arabian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA.
The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.
The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns.
Israel seeks swift action on Iran, sources say, with a split US administration
- The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources
- Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the US out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program
WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM: Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump’s team about whether the US should get involved.
The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.
The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
HIGHLIGHTS
• US and Israel held tense phone call on Thursday
• Israel signals it could act on Fordow before end of Trump's deadline
The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.
The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources. The US is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain.
Reuters reported on Saturday that the United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, reinforcing the possibility that the US could participate directly in an attack. The B-2 can be equipped to carry America’s 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground, such as the one at Fordow.
A person in Washington familiar with the matter said Israel has communicated to the US administration that it believes Trump’s window of up to two weeks is too long and that more urgent action is needed. The person did not say whether the Israelis made that point during the high-level call.
During the call, Vice President JD Vance pushed back, saying the US should not be directly involved and suggesting that the Israelis were going to drag the country into war, said the sources. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also participated in the call, said a security source.
A White House official strongly disputed the characterization of Vance’s comments in the call but declined to elaborate. “The Vice President did not say this during the call,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that a phone call had taken place on Thursday.
The prospect of a US strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some prominent members of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.
Vance has frequently criticized past US involvement in conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, but has lately defended Trump against Republican critics who urge the administration to stay out of the Iran conflict.
Other Republicans, including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they hope Trump will help Israel finish destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the US out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program. But his rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly aggressive toward Iran.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond.
STRIKE ON FORDOW INCREASINGLY LIKELY
Publicly, Netanyahu has not ruled out Israel attacking Fordow alone, though officials have not provided any details on how that would be achieved.
Four sources said it is now increasingly likely that the country will launch a solo military operation. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources.
The Israelis feel they have the momentum and have limited time given the costs of the war, one source added.
“I don’t see them waiting much longer,” said the source.
It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, ground forces, or both. Two of the sources said that rather than attempting to destroy the entire site Israel could instead do significant damage to it.
That could mean focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate.
Some analysts have speculated that Israel could use special forces to enter Fordow and blow it up from inside.
Another scenario being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter, would be to drop a series of munitions in rapid succession in an attempt to breach the fortified site, similar to how the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last year.
Such a strike could be followed by an incursion by special forces, the source said.
It is not clear that Israel has munitions powerful enough to penetrate the fortified facility. It is widely believed that to have a high chance of success, US intervention would be needed.
But even with the massive firepower of a joint US-Israeli military action, military and nuclear experts believe that a military operation would probably only temporarily set back a program the West fears is already aimed at producing atom bombs one day, although Iran denies it.
Trump tells Iran ‘peace or tragedy’ in special address after main nuclear sites bombed
- Warns that other targets will be attacked with precision if Iran does not give up
- B-2 stealth bombers dropped six bunker buster bombs on the Fordo facility, says Fox News host Sean Hannity, quoting Trump
- Iran confirms attacks on Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but insists its work will not be stopped
TEL AVIV, Israel: The US military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel ‘s war aimed at destroying the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
President Donald Trump said Iran’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated,” and he warned Iran against carrying out retaliatory attacks, saying the US could hit more targets “with precision, speed and skill.”
“There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted that its work will not be stopped.
The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on social media. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”
Trump added in a later post: “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”
Netanyahu hail Trump for making “bold decision”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s decision to attack in a video message directed at the American president.
“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said. Netanyahu said the US “has done what no other country on earth could do.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon’s reaction to America’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities: “Thank you President Trump for your historic decision to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Today, President Trump proved that “Never Again” is not just a slogan — it’s a policy.”
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation. But Fox News host Sean Hannity said shortly after 9 p.m. Eastern that he had spoken with Trump and that six bunker buster bombs were used on the Fordo facility. Hannity said 30 Tomahawk missiles fired by US submarines 400 miles away struck the Iranian nuclear sites of Natanz and Isfahan.
The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the US joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.
UN chief bewails “dangerous escalation”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “gravely alarmed” by the “dangerous escalation” of American strikes.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said in a statement.
Trump told reporters Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it’s “the last thing you want to do.” He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.” And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”
Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country’s leaders to give up its nuclear program peacefully.
The Israeli military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned before the US attack that American military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”
The prospect of a wider war loomed. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joined Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the US.
The US ambassador to Israel announced that the US had begun “assisted departure flights,” the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump planned to make his decision on the strikes within two weeks. Instead, he struck just two days later.
Trump appears to have made the calculation — at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers — that Israel’s operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran’s nuclear program, perhaps permanently.
The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran’s air defenses, allowing them to already significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites.
But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel appealed to Trump for the bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The bomb is currently delivered only by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal.
If deployed in the attack, it would be the first combat use of the weapon.
The bomb carries a conventional warhead, and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility.
Previous Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said.
Trump’s decision for direct US military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push — including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians — aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear program.
For months, Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice — in April and again in late May — persuaded Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time.
The US in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and US bases from Iranian attacks.
All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a “second chance” for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran’s unconditional surrender.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump said in a social media posting. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”
The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, US and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran’s non-nuclear malign behavior.
Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further US involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars.
Israel says preparing for a lengthy war
Israel ‘s military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned that US military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”
The prospect of a wider war threatened, too. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the US.
The US ambassador to Israel announced the US has begun “assisted departure flights,” the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in pursuit of its goal to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Smoke rose near a mountain in Isfahan, where the province’s deputy governor for security affairs, Akbar Salehi, confirmed Israeli strikes damaged the facility.
Read full story here
READ MORE: What to know about the Iranian nuclear sites Trump says were hit by US strikes
The US in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and US bases from Iranian attacks.
All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a “second chance” for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran’s unconditional surrender.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump said in a social media posting. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”
The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, US and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran’s non-nuclear malign behavior.
Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further US involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars.
Trump wins immediate praise from Republicans
Congressional Republicans — and at least one Democrat — immediately praised President Donald Trump after he said Saturday evening that the US military bombed three sites in Iran.
“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous and correct decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt called the bombings “strong and surgical.”
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump “has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”
Wicker posted on X that “we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies.”
The quick endorsements of stepped up US involvement in Iran came after Trump had publicly mulled the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, was briefed ahead of the strikes on Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Johnson said in a statement that the military operations “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”
Israel says it’s preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war against Iran
- Iran FM says Tehran open to further dialogue but no interest in talks with US while Israel continues to attack
- Netanyahu has said Israeli operation will continue until it eliminates the threat of Iran’s nuclear program
TEL AVIV: Israel ‘s military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned that US military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”
The prospect of a wider war threatened, too. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the United States.
The US ambassador to Israel announced the US has begun “assisted departure flights,” the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in pursuit of its goal to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Smoke rose near a mountain in Isfahan, where the province’s deputy governor for security affairs, Akbar Salehi, confirmed Israeli strikes damaged the facility.
The target was a centrifuge production site, Israel’s military said. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the attack and said the facility — also targeted in the war’s first day — was “extensively damaged,” but that there was no risk of off-site contamination.
Iran again launched drones and missiles at Israel but there were no reports of significant damage. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines, estimated the military has taken out more than 50 percent of Iran’s launchers.
“We’re making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,” he said.
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, later said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told the army to prepare for a “prolonged campaign.”
US aerial refueling tankers on the move
US President Donald Trump is weighing active US military involvement in the war, and was set to meet with his national security team Saturday evening. He has said he would put off his decision for up to two weeks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said US military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.” He spoke on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Turkiye. Araghchi was open to further dialogue but emphasized that Iran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continues to attack.
Barring a commando raid or even a nuclear strike, Iran’s underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered out of reach to all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. The US has only configured and programmed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver the bomb, according to the Air Force.
On Saturday, multiple US aerial refueling tankers were spotted on commercial flight trackers flying patterns consistent with escorting aircraft from the central US to the Pacific. B-2 bombers are based in Missouri. It was not clear whether the aircraft were a show of force or prepared for an operation. The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
The war’s toll
The war erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 722 people, including 285 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,500 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
One Tehran resident, Nasrin, writhed in her hospital bed as she described how a blast threw her against her apartment wall. “I’ve had five surgeries. I think I have nothing right here that is intact,” she said Saturday. Another patient, Shahram Nourmohammadi, said he had been making deliveries when “something blew up right in front of me.”
Several Iranians have fled the country. “Everyone is leaving Tehran right now,” said one who did not give his name after crossing into Armenia.
For many Iranians, it is difficult to know what’s going on. Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org said Saturday that limited Internet access had again “collapsed.” A nationwide Internet shutdown has lasted for several days.
Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Israel’s multitiered air defenses have shot down most of them, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and over 1,000 wounded.
No date has been set for more talks after negotiations in Geneva failed to produce a breakthrough Friday.
Iran’s nuclear program
Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60 percent — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program but has never acknowledged it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s military operation will continue “for as long as it takes” to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile arsenal.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that his country will never renounce its right to nuclear power, which “cannot be taken away from it through war and threats.” Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron via phone that Iran is ready to provide guarantees and confidence-building measures to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities, according to IRNA, the state-run news agency.
Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the US out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60 percent and restricting access to its nuclear facilities.
Iran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium — at lower levels — in recent talks over its nuclear program. But Trump, like Israel, has demanded Iran end its enrichment program altogether.
Attacks on Iranian military commanders
Israel’s defense minister said the military killed a paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commander who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Iranian officials did not immediately confirm Saeed Izadi’s death, but the Qom governor’s office said a four-story apartment building was hit and local media reported two people had been killed.
Israel also said it killed the commander of the Quds Force’s weapons transfer unit, who it said was responsible for providing weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. Behnam Shahriyari was killed while traveling in western Iran, the military said.
Iran threatens head of UN nuclear watchdog
Iranian leaders say IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s statements about the status of Iran’s nuclear program prompted Israel’s attack. On Saturday, a senior adviser for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei, Ali Larijani, said on social media, without elaboration, that Iran would make Grossi “pay” once the war is over.
Grossi on Friday warned against attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. A direct hit “would result in a very high release of radioactivity,” Grossi said, adding: “This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be most serious.”
Israel has not targeted Iran’s nuclear reactors, instead focusing on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country’s Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital.
What the latest figures reveal about the state of the world’s refugees
- The vast majority of the world’s displaced remain in poorer countries, challenging the narrative of a crisis centered on wealthy nations
- Humanitarian agencies warn of deep funding gaps that place support for those displaced by conflict, disaster and economic collapse at risk
LONDON: There are not many people who would consider starting over at the age of 103. But for father, grandfather and great-grandfather Jassim, who has spent the past decade in exile in Lebanon with his family, the dramatic end of the Syrian civil war meant he could finally return home.
And in May, Jassim did just that.
In 2013, after their hometown in Syria’s Homs Governorate was caught in the crossfire of the country’s bitter civil war, Jassim and the surviving members of his family fled.
Not all of them would make the journey to relative safety and a makeshift tent camp near Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. During one period of intense fighting three of his children were killed when a shell fell near the family’s house.
For Jassim, holding the memory of their loss deep in his heart, the return last month to the town of Al-Qusayr after 12 years as refugees in another country was achingly poignant.
“You raise your children to see them grow and bring life to your home,” he said, speaking through a translator for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. “Now they are gone.”
As the family discovered when they arrived back in Al-Qusayr last month, the home in which they had been raised was also gone.
“It was a bittersweet moment,” Jassim said. “I was happy to return to the place where I was born and raised but devastated to see my home reduced to rubble.”
Although they are back in their own country, the future for Jassim’s family remains uncertain. With luck they are on the cusp of a fresh start, but for Jassim returning to the land of his birth has a more final meaning.
“I came back to die in Syria,” he said.
UNHCR says about 550,000 Syrian refugees returned home between December and the end of May, along with a further 1.3 million displaced within the country. This is one of the brighter spots in UNHCR’s 2025 Global Trends report, published in the lead-up to World Refugee Day on June 20.
Overall, the report, which contains the latest statistics on refugees, asylum-seekers, the internally displaced and stateless people worldwide, makes for predictably gloomy reading.
As of the end of 2024, it found that 123.2 million people — about one in 67 globally — were forcibly displaced “as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.” This figure includes 5.9 million Palestinian refugees.
Of the 123.2 million, 42.7 million are refugees seeking sanctuary in a foreign country, and of these about 6.6 million are from countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Unsurprisingly, the largest number of refugees in the region under the UNHCR’s mandate in 2024 were from Syria — accounting for 5.9 million. But other numbers, although smaller, serve as a reminder of conflicts currently overshadowed by events in Syria and Gaza.
More than 300,000 Iraqi refugees were registered in 2024, along with 51,348 from Yemen, 23,736 from Egypt, 17,235 from Libya and 10,609 from Morocco.
Amid the devastation in Gaza since October 2023, and rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank, nearly as many Palestinians have fled as refugees in 2024 — 43,712 — as have been killed in Gaza.
Globally, there is a glimmer of hope. In the second half of 2024 the rate of forced displacement slowed and, says UNHCR, “operational data and initial estimates for 2025 indicate that global forced displacement may begin to fall during 2025.”
Indeed, the agency estimates that by the end of April 2025 the total number of forcibly displaced people — a term that includes people displaced within their own country and those seeking refuge in another state — had fallen by 1 percent to 122.1 million.
But whether that trend continues depends very much on several factors, said Tarik Argaz, spokesperson for UNHCR’s regional bureau for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman, Jordan.
There are, Argaz told Arab News, undoubtedly “signs of hope in the report, particularly in the area of solutions. But during the remainder of 2025, much will depend on the dynamics in key situations.
“While we should keep hopes high, we have to be very careful in interpreting the trends in the international scene,” including “whether the situation in South Sudan does not deteriorate further, and whether conditions for return improve, in particular in Afghanistan and Syria.”
In 2024, about 9.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide were able to return home, including 1.6 million refugees — the highest number for more than two decades — and 8.2 million internally displaced people — the second highest total yet recorded.
However, Argaz said, “it must be acknowledged that many of these returns were under duress or in adverse conditions to countries like Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine, which remain fragile.”
For Syrians in particular, “there is uncertainty and significant risks, especially for minority groups. Syrians in the country and those returning from abroad need support with shelter, access to basic services such as water, sanitation, employment and legal assistance, among other things,” he said.
“The economic conditions remain dire, while the security situation remains fragile in many parts of the country.”
And while Jassim and his family are pleased to be back in Syria, UNHCR is concerned that not all Syrian refugees are returning entirely of their own free will.
“UNHCR is supporting those who are choosing to return,” Argaz said. “But returns should be safe, voluntary and dignified. We continue to call on states not to forcibly return Syrians to any part of Syria and to continue allowing civilians fleeing Syria access to territory and to seek asylum.”
The Global Trends report also highlights the burden placed on host countries by refugees.
IN NUMBERS
• 550,000 Syrian refugees returned home between December and the end of May.
• 6.6 million people forcibly displaced from MENA countries as of December 2024.
Source: UNHCR
Relative to the size of its population, Lebanon was hosting the largest number of refugees of any country in the world in 2024, accounting for one in eight of the population.
Lebanon’s already complex situation was further complicated in September 2024 when the war between Israel and Hezbollah displaced nearly a million people within the country.
By the end of April, there were still 90,000 people internally displaced in Lebanon. But between September and October last year the conflict led to an estimated 557,000 people fleeing Lebanon for Syria — of whom over 60 percent were Syrians who had originally sought sanctuary in Lebanon.
The issue of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa has become a delicate matter in Europe, with right-wing parties winning votes over the issue and centrist governments taking anti-migrant stances to assuage increasingly angry voters.
“But contrary to perceptions in the global North,” Argaz said, “60 percent of forcibly displaced people stay within their own country, as internally displaced people. Of those who leave as refugees, 67 percent go to neighboring countries — low and middle-income countries host 73 percent of the world’s refugees.”
For example, at the end of 2024, almost 80 percent of the 6.1 million Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers were hosted by neighboring countries — 2.9 million in Turkiye, 755,000 in Lebanon, 611,000 in Jordan, 304,000 in Iraq and 134,000 in Egypt.
The situation in Sudan and South Sudan is particularly perilous. Sudan’s two million refugees, although scattered across dozens of countries, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, are concentrated mainly in Chad, South Sudan and Libya, with tens of thousands each in countries including Egypt, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Uganda, with sizable numbers in the UK and France.
Despite offering refuge to almost half a million refugees from Sudan, 2.29 million South Sudanese are seeking sanctuary elsewhere — in Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and, in a reflection of the internecine nature of the violence in the region, Sudan.
For all the world’s refugees and internally displaced, UNHCR is the lifeline on which they depend, both for support while displaced and upon returning to shattered lives and homes. But with donor nations slashing funds, this work is under threat.
“Severe cuts in global funding announced this year have caused upheaval across the humanitarian sector, putting millions of lives at risk,” Argaz said.
“We call for continuing funding of UNHCR programs that save lives, assist refugees and IDPs returning home and reinforce basic infrastructure and social services in host communities as an essential investment in regional and global security.
“In addition, more responsibility sharing from the rest of the world with the countries that host the bulk of refugees is crucial and needed.”
In December, UNHCR announced it had secured a record $1.5 billion in early funding from several countries for 2025. But, as Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said at the time, “generous as it is, humanitarian funding is not keeping pace with the growing needs.”
The funding commitment of $1.5 billion represents only 15 percent of the estimated $10.248 billion UNHCR says it will need for the whole of 2025. Of that total, the single largest proportions, $2.167 and $2.122 billion respectively, will be spent on projects in East Africa and in the Middle East and North Africa.
