Iranian government turns to internal crackdown with arrests, executions
Officials and activists say hundreds have been arrested, three executions reported
Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensify an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments, particularly in the restive Kurdish region, officials and activists say.
Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, sources have told CBC and Reuters.
One man in Tehran, who responded to a CBC News callout via WhatsApp but did not provide his name, said Wednesday that security officers are stopping people at pop-up checkpoints around the city and asking them to show their phones and open their messaging apps.
"It will take you only one tweet or one social network post to be arrested if the content is believed sensitive by the state," he said.
Another man told CBC he feels "a deep sense of fear" that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime may have secured their survival and will turn their anger inward as they did in the 1980s, with crackdowns on their own people and mass executions.
Some in Israel and exiled opposition groups had hoped the military campaign, which targeted Revolutionary Guards and internal security forces as well as nuclear sites, would spark a mass uprising and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
But Alam Saleh, speaking with CBC from Tehran Wednesday, said he knows many Iranians who were critical of the regime and have changed tone in recent days, now rallying around the flag in the face of what they see as an unprovoked and unjustified war.
"What was the point, what Israel and United States has achieved, in bombing Iran for 12 days?" Saleh said.
"The only thing that they probably achieved is to make Iran never, never again trust these two countries."
CBC's Rosemary Barton speaks with Canadian-Iranian Mina Morshed about Israel-Iran warThere has been no sign yet of any significant protests against the authorities.
However, one senior Iranian security official and two other senior officials briefed on internal security issues said the authorities were focused on the threat of possible internal unrest, particularly in Kurdish areas.
Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary units were put on alert and
internal security was now the primary focus, said the senior security
official.
Workers clear rubble of a damaged building in Tehran Wednesday after an
Israeli strike the previous day. (Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press)
The official said authorities were worried about Israeli agents, ethnic separatists and the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, an exiled opposition group that has previously staged attacks inside Iran.
Activists within the country are lying low.
"We are being extremely cautious right now because there's a real concern the regime might use this situation as a pretext," a rights activist in Tehran, who was jailed during mass protests in 2022, told Reuters.
The activist said he knew dozens of people who had been summoned by authorities and either arrested or warned against any expressions of dissent.
Kurdish groups say they're being targeted
Iranian rights group HRNA said on Monday it had recorded arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war.
Many of those arrested have been accused of spying for Israel, HRNA said.
Iranian state media reported three were executed on Tuesday in Urmia, near the Turkish border, and the Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said they were all Kurdish.
Iran's Foreign and Interior Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Israelis, Iranians skeptical of lasting ceasefireOne of the officials briefed on security said troops had been deployed to the borders of Pakistan, Iraq and Azerbaijan to stop infiltration by what the official called terrorists.
The other official briefed on security acknowledged that hundreds had been arrested.
Iran's mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long been a source of opposition to the Islamic Republic, chafing against rule from the Persian-speaking, Shia government in Tehran.
The three main Iranian Kurdish separatist factions based in Iraqi Kurdistan said some of their activists and fighters had been arrested and described widespread military and security movements by Iranian authorities.
Ribaz Khalili from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said Revolutionary Guards units had deployed in schools in Iran's Kurdish provinces within three days of Israel's strikes beginning and gone house-to-house for suspects and arms.
The Guards had taken protective measures too, evacuating an industrial zone near their barracks and closing major roads for their own use in bringing reinforcements to Kermanshah and Sanandaj, two major cities in the Kurdish region.
A cadre from the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), who gave her nom de guerre of Fatma Ahmed, said the party had counted more than 500 opposition members being detained in Kurdish provinces since the airstrikes began.
Ahmed and an official from the Kurdish Komala party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, both described checkpoints being set up across Kurdish areas with physical searches of people as well as checks of their phones and documents.
With files from CBC's Briar Stewart
2,869 Comments
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CTV News Trump ceasefire plan falters as Israel says Iran launched more missiles and pledges response
Iran denies firing but explosions are heard in northern Israel
A tentative truce proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump faltered as Israel said Iran had launched missiles into its airspace less than three hours after a ceasefire went into effect — and vowed to retaliate.
Iran's military denied firing on Israel, state media reported, but explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel midmorning. Earlier, both Israel and Iran had accepted the ceasefire plan to end their 12-day war.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called the missiles a violation of the ceasefire and instructed Israel's military to resume "the intense operations to attack Tehran and to destroy targets of the regime and terror infrastructure.
"The shaky agreement was announced early Tuesday morning after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar on Monday.
Missiles light up night sky in Qatari capitalBetween Trump's post and the start of the ceasefire, Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn and Iran replied with an onslaught of missiles that killed at least four people in Israel early Tuesday morning.
Israel said it had intercepted the midmorning barrage of missiles that came hours into the truce.
"Tehran will tremble" Israel's Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich wrote on X after the missiles were launched.
The sun raises behind city skyline just after an air raid alarm of missiles fired from Iran went off, in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/The Associated Press)
The midmorning barrage of missiles came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump.
Netanyahu said that he had reported to Israel's security cabinet Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals in the 12-day operation against Iran, including removing the threat of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Israel also damaged Iran's military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran's skies, Netanyahu said.
"Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire," Netanyahu said.
Heavy Israeli strikes continued in Iranian cities until shortly before 4 a.m., followed by Iranian barrages that sent Israelis hurrying into bomb shelters as the sun rose, killing at least four people and injuring eight others, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue services said.
People
take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of
incoming Iranian strikes in Haifa, Israel, on Tuesday. (Baz Ratner/The Associated Press)
Writing over an hour after a deadline passed for Iran to halt its attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!"
Iranian state television reported that the ceasefire went into effect at 7:30 a.m., but Iranian officials have not commented since Trump's announcement. Hours earlier Iran's top diplomat said the country was prepared to halt airstrikes.
"As of now, there is NO 'agreement' on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X. "However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards."
Araghchi added: "The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later."
Iranian missiles kill 4 in Israel
Israel's military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel before the ceasefire began. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba.
First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. Earlier, the Fire and Rescue service said five were bodies were found before revising the number downward.
At least 20 people were injured.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Hundreds of emergency workers gathered to search for anyone else trapped in the buildings.
Police said some people were injured even while inside their apartments' reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets and shrapnel but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
Trump says ceasefire is in effect
Trump's announcement that Israel and Iran had agreed to a "complete and total ceasefire" came soon after Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites. The U.S. was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Trump unilaterally declares Iran-Israel ceasefireTrump's announcement on Truth Social said the ceasefire wouldn't begin until about midnight Tuesday Eastern time. He said it would bring an "Official END" to the war.
Trump describes conflict as '12 Day War'
Trump gave the conflict between Israel and Iran a name: the "12 Day War." That recalls the 1967 Mideast war, known by some as the "Six Day War," in which Israel fought a group of Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Trump's reference carries emotional weight for the Arab world, particularly Palestinians. In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Though Israel later gave the Sinai back to Egypt, it still holds the other territories.
A
group of Iranians in Tehran celebrate following Iran's attack on a U.S.
military base in Qatar Monday. Later that day, U.S. President Donald
Trump announced on Truth Social that a ceasefire had been agreed to by
Israel and Iran although the two sides had not yet publicly confirmed
it. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing helped get the Israelis to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.
It's unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
Attacks from Iran forces temporary closure of Israel's skies
Israel's Airports Authority said Iran's barrage forced them to close the country's airspace to emergency flights for several hours.
Some flights were forced to circle over the Mediterranean Sea, according to Israeli media.
Israel's airports have been closed since the war with Iran began, but a handful of emergency flights started arriving and departing over the past few days.
By early Tuesday, Qatar Airways resumed its flights after Qatar shut down its airspace over the Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base. Flight-tracking data showed commercial aircraft again flying in Qatari airspace, signaling Doha believed the threat on the energy-rich nation had passed.
Conflict has killed hundreds
In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded 3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force personnel.
The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official said.
There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.
After Facing Trump's Anger, Netanyahu's New Message To Israelis On Iran War| Ceasefire| US| Nuclear
Hindustan Times Hours after Donald Trump reprimanded Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's violation of its ceasefire with Iran, the Israeli Prime Minister addressed the nation with a new message. In his nearly 10-minute long speech, Bibi detailed how Israel overcame existential threats to the state of Israel, thanking the US President for his 'unwavering support', including American strikes on Iran's key nuclear sites. Netanyahu claimed success against Iran, in neutralising its nuclear program, and also eliminating top leaders and scientists of its rival nation. Watch his full speech in English here.
FULL GAGGLE: President Trump Takes Multiple Questions From Reporters While Departing For NATO Summit
Forbes Breaking News 567 Comments
Trump ceasefire plan falters as Israel says Iran launched more missiles and pledges response
Iran denies firing but explosions are heard in northern Israel
A tentative truce proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump faltered as Israel said Iran had launched missiles into its airspace less than three hours after a ceasefire went into effect — and vowed to retaliate.
Iran's military denied firing on Israel, state media reported, but explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel midmorning. Earlier, both Israel and Iran had accepted the ceasefire plan to end their 12-day war.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called the missiles a violation of the ceasefire and instructed Israel's military to resume "the intense operations to attack Tehran and to destroy targets of the regime and terror infrastructure."
The shaky agreement was announced early Tuesday morning after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar on Monday.
Missiles light up night sky in Qatari capitalBetween Trump's post and the start of the ceasefire, Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn and Iran replied with an onslaught of missiles that killed at least four people in Israel early Tuesday morning.
Israel said it had intercepted the midmorning barrage of missiles that came hours into the truce.
"Tehran will tremble" Israel's Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich wrote on X after the missiles were launched.
The sun raises behind city skyline just after an air raid alarm of missiles fired from Iran went off, in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/The Associated Press)
The midmorning barrage of missiles came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump.
Netanyahu said that he had reported to Israel's security cabinet Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals in the 12-day operation against Iran, including removing the threat of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Israel also damaged Iran's military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran's skies, Netanyahu said.
"Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire," Netanyahu said.
Heavy Israeli strikes continued in Iranian cities until shortly before 4 a.m., followed by Iranian barrages that sent Israelis hurrying into bomb shelters as the sun rose, killing at least four people and injuring eight others, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue services said.
People
take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of
incoming Iranian strikes in Haifa, Israel, on Tuesday. (Baz Ratner/The Associated Press)
Writing over an hour after a deadline passed for Iran to halt its attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!"
Iranian state television reported that the ceasefire went into effect at 7:30 a.m., but Iranian officials have not commented since Trump's announcement. Hours earlier Iran's top diplomat said the country was prepared to halt airstrikes.
"As of now, there is NO 'agreement' on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X. "However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards."
Araghchi added: "The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later."
Iranian missiles kill 4 in Israel
Israel's military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel before the ceasefire began. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba.
First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. Earlier, the Fire and Rescue service said five were bodies were found before revising the number downward.
At least 20 people were injured.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Hundreds of emergency workers gathered to search for anyone else trapped in the buildings.
Police said some people were injured even while inside their apartments' reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets and shrapnel but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
Trump says ceasefire is in effect
Trump's announcement that Israel and Iran had agreed to a "complete and total ceasefire" came soon after Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites. The U.S. was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Trump unilaterally declares Iran-Israel ceasefireTrump's announcement on Truth Social said the ceasefire wouldn't begin until about midnight Tuesday Eastern time. He said it would bring an "Official END" to the war.
Trump describes conflict as '12 Day War'
Trump gave the conflict between Israel and Iran a name: the "12 Day War." That recalls the 1967 Mideast war, known by some as the "Six Day War," in which Israel fought a group of Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Trump's reference carries emotional weight for the Arab world, particularly Palestinians. In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Though Israel later gave the Sinai back to Egypt, it still holds the other territories.
A
group of Iranians in Tehran celebrate following Iran's attack on a U.S.
military base in Qatar Monday. Later that day, U.S. President Donald
Trump announced on Truth Social that a ceasefire had been agreed to by
Israel and Iran although the two sides had not yet publicly confirmed
it. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing helped get the Israelis to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.
It's unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
Attacks from Iran forces temporary closure of Israel's skies
Israel's Airports Authority said Iran's barrage forced them to close the country's airspace to emergency flights for several hours.
Some flights were forced to circle over the Mediterranean Sea, according to Israeli media.
Israel's airports have been closed since the war with Iran began, but a handful of emergency flights started arriving and departing over the past few days.
By early Tuesday, Qatar Airways resumed its flights after Qatar shut down its airspace over the Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base. Flight-tracking data showed commercial aircraft again flying in Qatari airspace, signaling Doha believed the threat on the energy-rich nation had passed.
Conflict has killed hundreds
In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded 3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force personnel.
The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official said.
There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.
MAGA SPLIT deepens as Iran STRIKES BACK I The Niall Stanage Show
33 Comments
Speech in English: Fuming Putin Caught on Cam With Araghchi, US Faces Wrath Over Iranian Strikes
Hindustan Times 145 Comments
Full Video: Putin’s Big Middle East Warning Amid Iran Israel Truce, Mocks NATO Over 5% Defence Vow
Hindustan Times ‘Trump is in bed with Russia’: Why the US will not protect Article 5 | General Sir Richard Shireff
Times Radio Macron Defies Trump: Blasts U.S. Strikes On Iran As 'Dangerous New Phase’ | Times Now World
President Emmanuel Macron breaks ranks with the U.S. following American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. In a dramatic statement, Macron warns of uncontrollable escalation and urges a return to diplomacy. As Donald Trump backs more military action, Macron’s stance signals deepening divisions among Western allies. Watch the full breakdown of the growing rift between Washington and Paris over Iran’s nuclear crisis.
Carney heads to Europe with military spending on the agenda
PM expected to sign EU defence agreement before NATO summit
Prime Minister Mark Carney departs Sunday to meet with European and NATO allies amid heightened tension in the Middle East and mere hours after the United States joined Israel's war with Iran.
The first stop will be in Brussels on Monday, where the prime minister is expected to sign a comprehensive security and defence partnership with the European Union.
U.S. President Donald Trump bailed early on last week's G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., saying he was needed at the White House to deal with the evolving war where Israel is attempting to not only destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, but to instigate regime change.
Early Sunday, the U.S. military bombed three sites in Iran. Addressing the nation from the White House, Trump claimed Iran's key nuclear sites were "completely and fully obliterated." He also warned Tehran against carrying out retaliatory attacks against the United States, saying Iran has a choice between "peace or tragedy."
Following his meeting with EU leaders, Carney heads to The Hague, in the Netherlands, for a slimmed-down NATO summit.
Janice Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, said Western allies are unlikely to formally discuss the war in the Middle East because it is outside of the Euro-Atlantic sphere.
But, in an interview before the U.S. strikes occurred, she said the war is a "very dynamic situation that could easily escalate."
It may not be on the agenda, but leaders "will spend a huge amount of time talking about it" informally, Stein said.
Why Europe would consider inviting Canada into a defence pactMost of the formal agenda at the NATO summit will focus on the U.S. demand that allies up defence spending to five per cent of their gross domestic product (3.5 per cent on direct military spending and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure).
Recent data published by NATO shows the U.S. was projected to have spent 3.38 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2024. Interestingly, the Pentagon recently published a chart that projected U.S. defence spending in 2024 — as a share of its economy — at 2.7 per cent.
While those calculations were released prior to the Trump administration's recent budget proposals to Congress, defence experts suggest the proposals won't make much of a difference.
"I will highlight that U.S. defence spending itself is low," said Seth Jones, who heads up the defence and security wing of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He says the next U.S. budget's defence spending will likely be lower, as a share of the country's economy, than the Carter administration in the 1970s.
"[That] gives one a sense of how the U.S. talks a big game on having everybody else increase their defense, but the U.S. is actually quite small, historically speaking," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from The Associated Press
Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin,
C/o Norman Sabourin General Counsel and
Andrew Grant and Renée Maria Tremblay
Canadian Judicial Council
150 Metcalfe Street,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W8
Shirley Heafey Chair of Commission
for Public Complaints against the RCMP
P.O. Box 3423 Station "D"
Ottawa, ON K1P 6L4
RE: Rampant Public Corruption
Hey,
Pursuant to my recent phone calls to Norman Sabourin and various
underlings of Shirley Heafey within the Commission for Public
Complaints against the RCMP over the years plus my many faxes and
emails please find enclosed exactly the same material received by
every Attorney General in Canada over the past year. The CD which is a
copy of a police surveillance wiretap tape # 139 is served upon you as
officers of the court in order that it may be properly investigated.
As you can see I have enclosed a copy of a letter sent to the latest
Attorney General Mr. Wally Opal in BC. Perhaps he should take a little
trip to Surrey and ask your office some hard questions. Perhaps the
ghost of my fellow Independent politician, Chuck Cadman may wish to
answer few questions now as well. Hard telling not knowing.
I will not bother you with the details of what I am sending to
you byway of the certified US Mail because I will be serving identical
material to many other Canadian Authorities in hand and tell them I
gave this stuff to you first and enclose a copy of this letter. All
that is important to me right now is that I secure proof that this
mail was sent before I make my way back home to the Maritimes. However
I will say I am also enclosing a great deal more material than what
Allan Rock had received in the UN. Some of it is in fact the same
material the two maritime lawyers, Rob Moore and Franky Boy McKenna in
particular received, while I was up home running for Parliament last
year. Things have changed greatly in the past year so I have also
included a few recent items to spice thing up for you. I am tired of
trying to convince people employed in law enforcement to uphold the
law. So all I will say for now is deal will your own conscience and be
careful how you respond to this letter. If you do not respond. Rest
assured I will do my best to sue you some day. Ignorance is no excuse
to the law or me.
Veritas Vincit
David R. Amos
153 Alvin Ave
Milton, MA. 02186
Label/Receipt Number: ED71 7170 484U S
Detailed Results:
Delivered Abroad, August 11, 2005, 6:49 am, CANADA
Out of Foreign Customs, August 08, 2005, 2:37 pm, CANADA
Into Foreign Customs, August 04, 2005, 1:52 pm, CANADA
Arrived Abroad, August 04, 2005, 1:52 pm, CANADA
International Dispatch, August 03, 2005, 8:32 am, KENNEDY AMC
Enroute, August 03, 2005, 8:30 am, JAMAICA, NY 11499
Acceptance, August 02, 2005, 10:40 am, QUINCY, MA 02169
"Heafey, Shirley" HeafeyS@cpc-cpp.gc.ca wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: "Heafey, Shirley"HeafeyS@cpc-cpp.gc.ca
Sent: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:10:00 -0400
To: "David Amos" motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Just so you know
Just so you know, there was no message attached to the e-mail sent to
me. SO, in fact, I don't know what you think I should now know. Try
again.
SH
LIVE | Israel Iran War | Putin Reacts To US Attack On Iran | Netanyahu | Khamenei | Trump | N18G
Iran's Foreign Minister Responds: FM Holds Press Briefing After U.S. Strikes Nuclear Facilities
Forbes Breaking News Trump claims U.S. strikes 'completely and fully obliterated' Iranian nuclear sites
Tehran has pledged to retaliate if United States joined Israel's ongoing assault
FULL SPEECH: U.S. strikes 'completely and fully obliterated' Iranian nuclear sites, Trump saysThe latest:
- Trump says stealth bombers hit sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
- Iran's nuclear agency confirms attacks, says work will not be stopped.
- Iran said 'no sign of contamination' as a result of the attacks.
- Israeli airspace has been closed to inbound and outbound travel, but it's not clear for how long.
- Israel's prime minister praises U.S. decision that 'will change history.'
- UN secretary general brands U.S. decision as 'dangerous escalation.'
- Tehran previously said U.S. involvement 'a recipe for an all-out war.'
The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, directly joining Israel 's war aimed at decapitating 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.
Addressing the nation from the White House, President Donald Trump claimed Iran's key nuclear sites were "completely and fully obliterated." He also warned Tehran against carrying out retaliatory attacks against the United States, saying Iran has a choice between "peace or tragedy."
Iran's nuclear agency confirmed that attacks hit its Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz atomic sites but insisted that its work will not be stopped.
Iran said there were "no signs of contamination" at its nuclear sites after U.S. airstrikes targeted the facilities. Iranian state media quoted the country's national nuclear safety system centre, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes.
"There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites," the statement added.
The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Fordow enrichment facility in Iran on April 1. (Planet Labs PBC/The Associated Press)
But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-pound 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."
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 U.S. "has done what no other country on Earth could do."
Israel Airports Authority announced Sunday it was closing the country's airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. It did not say for how long.
Israel’s war on Iran: What’s the endgame? | About ThatMeanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday branded the U.S. strikes on Iran as a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge," adding that there is "no military solution" to the current conflict.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation. But Fox News host Sean Hannity said shortly after 9 p.m. ET that he had spoken with Trump and that six bunker-buster bombs were used on the Fordow facility. Hannity said 30 Tomahawk missiles fired by U.S. submarines 400 miles (644 kilometres) away struck the Iranian nuclear sites of Natanz and Isfahan.
'All-out war in the region'
The strikes are a perilous decision for the U.S. as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally — having won the White House on the promise of keeping the U.S. out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffing at the value of American interventionism.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran. He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks, a timeline that seemed drawn out as the situation was evolving quickly.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the U.S. on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will "result in irreparable damage for them." And Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared that "any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region."
A
protester holds a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei during a rally to show solidarity with Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq's
capital, on Saturday. (Hadi Mizban/The Associated Press)
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.
Israel 's military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran's foreign affairs minister warned before the U.S. attack that American 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 U.S. 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 U.S.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel announced the U.S. had begun "assisted departure flights," the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel sought U.S. bunker-busting bomb
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Thursday's news briefing that Trump had said: "I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." Instead, the U.S. president struck just two days later.
The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran's air defences, allowing them to significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites.
But to destroy the Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel appealed to Trump for a U.S. bunker-busting bomb, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The penetrator is currently only delivered 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.
A U.S. B-2 stealth bomber performs a flyover in Talladega, Ala., in October 2015. (Mark Almond/The Associated Press)
The bomb carries a conventional warhead and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 metres) 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 (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordow, 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.
Failed negotiations
Trump's decision for direct U.S. 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 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time.
The U.S. in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and U.S. bases from Iranian attacks.
The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.
He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.
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 post. "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 U.S. in 2018 from an agreement brokered by the Obama administration, calling it the "worst deal ever."
Anti-war protesters rally in Los Angeles on Saturday. (David Swanson/Reuters)
The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, the U.S. 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 behaviour.
The U.S. president has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful who have suggested that further U.S. involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end U.S. involvement in expensive and endless wars.
With files from Reuters
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Here's Donald Trump's endgame in Iran
Zero enrichment. One nuclear site. Amid escalating threats, with incalculable risk
The United States now appears at the cusp of a development scarcely conceivable just days ago: direct involvement in bombing Iran.
President Donald Trump has begun by dropping something else: hint after unsubtle hint that the U.S. might assist Israel in attacking unspecified targets in its conflict with Iran.
He's told people to flee the Iranian capital; posted an all-caps demand on social media for, "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER"; and said he knows where the supreme leader is hiding but won't kill him — for now.
The implied threat is obvious — that the U.S. could send its bombers and bunker-busters to burrow Iran's most secretive nuclear site, the mountain facility at Fordow, into oblivion.
There's also a longer-term threat that this conflict could keep escalating until it risks the survival, both literal and figurative, of the Iranian regime.
So what is Trump doing?
One clue came in an unusually long tweet from his vice-president. JD Vance specifically mentioned uranium enrichment: Iran can end it the easy way, he said, or the hard way, and, if it ends up being the latter, the U.S. military might help.
The prevailing consensus among experts interviewed by CBC News is that the current preferred option in Washington is non-participation.
That remains Plan A, in the view of a 34-year CIA veteran who spent a decade as the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
- Are you a Canadian currently in Iran? We want to hear from you. Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.
"It's clear the Trump administration would prefer to see a situation where Israel's attacks compel Iran to return to negotiations with serious concessions — driven by a desire to save the Islamic Republic," said Norman Roule, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank in Washington.
"However, it's not yet clear if Iran's leaders believe their situation is so dire they must do so."
Trump calls for Iran's 'unconditional surrender,' says U.S. knows location of Iranian leaderPlan B: More escalation
And that's why the U.S. government is actively seeking to instil a sense of desperation in Tehran, ramping up the pressure on Tuesday, said another analyst.
Kamran Bokhari predicted that Israel will hit increasingly vital infrastructure like communications, oil and water supplies.
It is also targeting hardline factions of Iran's security establishment — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij — shifting the balance of power to the less-ideological, pre-revolutionary military.
"It moves up the escalatory ladder," said Bokhari, a Georgetown University professor and senior director for Eurasian security and prosperity at a Washington think-tank, the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy.
Washington's preferred plan, he said, is that Iran end uranium enrichment and fully open the Fordow site to international monitoring. If that doesn't happen, Bokhari said, the U.S. may destroy Fordow, as the Israelis continue targeting the Iranian leadership.
"A last resort — that's what it is," he said of using U.S. B-2 planes to drop massive ordnance penetrator bombs on the heavily fortified underground facility.
Regime change risks
The current message to Iran, he said, is: "We're not trying to bring your regime down. We don't want anarchy in your country." But if this continues, anything is possible.
That's the plan, at least.
The problem with plans foisted by foreigners in the Middle East is they have a track record of occasionally exploding into uncontrollable chaos.
Ali Vaez said the Iranian leadership might see its severely degraded nuclear program and race to build the bomb with whatever assets it has left.
Israel says it has killed Iran's new military chief of staff The project director for Iran at the International Crisis Group said he can't imagine the Iranians making major concessions while they're being bombed. It sets a brutal precedent, inviting additional bombing, for additional objectives, whether regime change or ending Iran's missile program.
"A regime in Tehran that sees the choice before it as surrender or fight may opt for the latter, expanding the conflict by targeting U.S. interests, assets and allies," Vaez said.
Even if the Islamic regime collapses, he said, there's no guarantee which path Iran will take: a swift transition like Syria in 2024, or a deadly, destabilizing power struggle in the heart of a volatile region, Ã la Libya post-2011 or Iraq post-2003.
"It would not be the first time that impressive gains by the U.S. and its allies have eventually ended in grief," Vaez said.
How the U.S. got here
He blames Trump for what he calls the original sin: withdrawing from the Obama-era Iran deal. That pact allowed some enrichment, but not enough to build a bomb.
It's unclear whether Iran was days, or months, or years away from a bomb. It depends who you ask. The Israelis insisted it was potentially imminent; U.S. intelligence less so.
One possible source of confusion is the improvement in centrifuges. Newer generations like the IR-7, IR-8 and IR-9, reportedly being tested by Iran, are dozens of times more efficient at enriching uranium than versions being used a few years ago.
Trump is shown aboard Air Force One on Monday, leaving the G7 summit in Alberta early amid the crisis involving Israel and Iran. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)
Meanwhile, in a little-noticed assessment, U.S. intelligence officials recently estimated that within a decade, Iran might have 60 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the continental United States.
Needless to say, U.S.-Iranian relations have been perilous for decades. Just last year, the U.S. Department of Justice charged someone with plotting to kill Trump on behalf of Iranian officials. The charges were laid during the Biden administration.
Three Iran analysts interviewed for this story agreed that Trump legitimately wanted to negotiate a new nuclear deal in recent months. They agreed that talks had languished. One said it was a stretch to even call them a negotiation — more like meetings to set ground rules for negotiations. Trump grew frustrated.
They also agreed that Trump had a shift in posture. For months, he actively pushed back against Israel's desire to strike Iran, then stopped.
Where analysts differ is whether Trump explicitly encouraged it.
After all, just last week he'd said he didn't want Israel attacking, as he still hoped diplomacy might work. Now he's cheering on the Israelis.
Analysts differ on Trump's approach
Vaez of the International Crisis Group said he suspects there was an element of miscommunication. The president had told his Israeli counterpart, in April and May, that he was ardently opposed. Then in June, he expressed frustration at the pace of talks. "Netanyahu took that as a green light," he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bokhari doesn't share that view. He believes the U.S. president was more explicit, and more hawkish, than that.
He said Trump concluded the Iranians were dragging things out, stringing him along, in the belief he was bluffing about real consequences in the absence of a deal.
Trump wanted to reassert leverage, Bokhari said, without being directly involved in any attack, as he'd promised his MAGA base to avoid foreign wars.
"But you have Israel ready to do it," he said. "[Trump] said, 'OK, and let's see what you can do.' And the idea was, 'Well, if you [Iran] weren't willing to talk, if you weren't willing to compromise, then now are you ready to talk after being hit?' ... That strategy is playing itself out."
Trump certainly set some conditions. For example, U.S. officials are telling reporters that the U.S. president nixed an Israel plan to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
People try to flee Tehran as airstrikes continue"[Trump would have said to Israel], 'Let's agree on what you're going to hit.' 'This is not open-ended.' 'How much time do you need?'" Bokhari said.
"You know, all the logistical stuff that needs to be figured out. Target sets and no-go areas and so on and so forth."
Now Trump is warning: This could still get worse.
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G7 leaders call for 'de-escalation' in Middle East as Trump leaves summit early
U.S. president leaves summit early to deal with Middle East conflict
G7 leaders released a joint statement late Monday calling for a "de-escalation" of hostilities in the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran heats up and U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the Kananaskis, Alta., summit early to deal with the war.
The statement, agreed upon by all leaders including Trump, affirms Israel's right to defend itself and recognizes Iran as "the principal source of regional instability and terror" but also calls for some sort of "resolution."
"We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza," the leaders said in their statement, which was released after a working dinner at the summit.
"We will remain vigilant to the implications for international energy markets and stand ready to coordinate, including with like-minded partners, to safeguard market stability."
There was talk earlier in the day about some sort of joint statement on the Israel-Iran crisis but U.S. media reports suggested Trump had balked at signing.
A senior Canadian government official, speaking to reporters on background, said Carney got Trump to sign on.
Trump said earlier Monday he's leaving because he's needed back in Washington to address what's going on in the Middle East. Israel is ramping up its attacks as part of a push to destroy Iran's nuclear program and wipe out the senior the officials who lead it.
U.S. President Donald Trump will leave the G7 summit tonight, the White House says. (Suzanne Plunkett/The Associated Press)
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced the news in a social media post, and Trump addressed it during the family photo of G7 leaders later in the evening.
"We'll have dinner with these wonderful leaders, and then I get on a plane. I have to be back early," he said.
"But we had just a really great relationship with everybody. It was really nice. I wish I could stay for tomorrow but they understand … this is big stuff."
Leavitt said Trump "had a great day at the G7" — he signed a trade pact with the United Kingdom and agreed to try and reach one with Canada within 30 days.
Trump said he "loved" his time at the summit and the leaders "got a lot done."
Israel
and Iran have been exchanging airstrikes since Israel launched a major
attack last week. The aftermath of an Iranian airstrike on Israel is
seen here. (Rami Shlush/Reuters)
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he understands the president's decision to leave early.
"I'm very grateful for the president's presence and I fully understand why he must return," he said.
A Prime Minister's Office spokesperson said Canada was made aware of Trump's schedule change "through official channels" before it was publicly announced.
Trump's departure means he will miss the second day of the G7 program, including the visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump was set to meet with Zelenskyy and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
Earlier Monday, during his bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump hinted that he might have to leave early when he was asked about bringing Iran to the table.
"I think Iran basically is at the negotiating table. They want to make a deal," he said. "And as soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here. I have … this commitment. I have a lot of commitments."
Smoke rises from the building of Iran's state-run television after an Israeli strike on Monday. (The Associated Press)
Trump arrived in Calgary Sunday evening and took part in the G7 leaders' discussions Monday on the economy and some security matters.
He met with Carney for a bilateral meeting Monday morning and had private pull-asides with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump left the last G7 meeting Canada hosted in 2018 early to travel to Singapore for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
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Israel-Iran conflict escalates, will be high on G7 agenda
Hundreds killed in Iran since Israeli attacks started; Tehran's response has killed 10
Israel, Iran trade strikes for 3rd day as nuclear talks are called offIsrael and Iran kept up their attacks, killing and wounding civilians and raising concern among world leaders at a G7 meeting in Canada this week that the biggest battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict.
The Iranian death toll in four days of Israeli strikes, carried out with the declared aim of wiping out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, had reached at least 224, with 90 per cent of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said.
Early on Monday, the Israeli military said it had detected more missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.
"At this time, the [Israeli air force] is operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat," the Israeli Defence Forces said. Live video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and Reuters witnesses said explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem.
At least 10 people in Israel, including children, have been killed so far, according to authorities there.
Group of Seven leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority.
Trade war, Middle East conflict could dominate Canada's G7German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his goals for the summit include for Iran to not develop or possess nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel's right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy.
"This issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit," Merz told reporters.
Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. "I hope there's going to be a deal. I think it's time for a deal," he told reporters. "Sometimes they have to fight it out."
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday.
A
man carries a wounded child following a blast in downtown Tehran amid
Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran on Sunday. (Morteza Zangene/ISNA/The Associated Press)
Images of Tehran showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran's oil and gas sector — raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.
Brent crude futures were up $1.04 US, or 1.4 per cent, to $75.39 a barrel by 0115 GMT (9:15 p.m. ET Sunday), having jumped as much as $4 US earlier in the session. While the spike in oil prices has investors on edge, stock and currency markets were little moved in early trading in Asia on Monday.
"It's more of an oil story than an equity story at this point," said Jim Carroll, senior wealth adviser and portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth. "Stocks right now seem to be hanging on."
In Washington, two U.S. officials told Reuters that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
When asked about the Reuters report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that."
"We do what we need to do," he told Fox's Special Report With Bret Baier.
Israel began the assault with a surprise attack on Friday that wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will escalate in the coming days.
The intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Iran has vowed to "open the gates of hell" in retaliation.
An aerial view shows destroyed buildings reportedly hit by a missile fired from Iran in Bat Yam, Israel, on Sunday. (Ariel Schalit/The Associated Press)
Earlier on Sunday, Human Rights Activists — a Washington-based human rights group that has long tracked Iran — said that more than 400 have been killed in the country so far. The group says it cross-checks local reports against a network of local sources.
In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a nine-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven were missing.
Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.
Explosions rattled Tel Aviv in the afternoon as Iran launched its first daylight missile raid since Israel attacked on Friday. There were no immediate reports of direct hits in the initial barrage.
Hours later, shortly after nightfall, Iran launched a second wave of missiles that struck Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city in northern Israel. An Israeli military official said that an elderly care facility was hit. The national emergency service reported nine people were injured in the strike, along with two others following a missile impact in southern Israel.
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Haifa, in northern Israel, on Sunday. (Rami Shlush/The Associated Press)
Trump has lauded Israel's offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part.
"If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said in a message on Truth Social, his social media platform. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict."
Trump had earlier said the U.S. had no role in Israel's attack and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets. The U.S. military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel, two U.S. officials said on Friday.
Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but Western countries say could be used to make a bomb.
The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.
With files from The Associated Press
Elon Musk activates Starlink over Iran after regime imposes nationwide internet restrictions
Sky News Australia Sky News host Rita Panahi discusses how Elon Musk implemented Starlink satellites above Iran after the regime imposed internet restrictions around the country.
Israel's strikes on Iran just the latest step in Netanyahu's plan to reshape the Middle East
Iran’s tepid response to attacks, assassinations in the past year hints at deep weaknesses
Israel's attack on Iran, its nuclear sites and its military leadership are part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's larger ambition to reform the dynamics of the Middle East and vanquish longtime foes.
With the Islamic Republic weakened by the near defeat over the past year of key proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, the final — and arguably most dangerous — elements of Israel's military strategy were put in play early Friday local time in Iran.
"Pandora's box has been cast wide open with Israel's sweeping overnight air campaign against Iranian targets — an escalation that risks reshaping the strategic landscape of the Middle East," the London-based Royal United Services Institute said in a briefing note.
"For Tehran, this is not only a tactical loss, but a profound strategic humiliation," said the defence and security think-tank.
Smoke
rises following the Israeli strikes, in Kermanshah, Iran, in this
screen grab obtained from a social media video released on Friday. (Reuters)
Netanyahu outlined his maximalist goals for the military operation in a video statement.
"'Operation Rising Lion' is a targeted operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's survival," he said.
Raising the spectre of what he termed a potential future "nuclear holocaust," Israel's leader said now was the time to destroy Iran's nuclear program before the "tyrants of Tehran" can develop an atomic bomb.
"In recent months, Iran has taken steps it has never taken before to weaponize this enriched uranium," Netanyahu said as justification for the extraordinary and unprecedented attacks on nuclear facilities, military installations and the assassination of key military and scientific leaders.
Nuclear progress?
Iran's actual progress toward making an atomic bomb remains murky.
Does the country have such a weapon at the moment? In a report released just a day earlier by the International Atomic Energy Agency the conclusion appeared to be, likely not.
Do they have the fuel to make one? Probably. Are they hiding things from inspectors? The nuclear watchdog's verdict: most definitely.
Israel says it hit at least 100 targets, including several nuclear facilities. The heads of Iran's armed forces, its revolutionary guard and its emergency command were all assassinated, as were six top nuclear scientists — some apparently in their homes alongside their families.
Unverified images posted on social media pinpoint missile strikes, with holes punched in the side of concrete buildings where those inside were presumably killed, likely as they slept.
Other reports suggest many of the military leaders were killed together by an Israeli missile taking out an underground command bunker.
Just hours before the attacks, Iran had boasted its forces were at the "highest level" of readiness and there would be payback if Israel attacked — but by afternoon no such retaliation had materialized.
Israel's military reported a token force of 100 Iranian drones had been intercepted outside its borders as they flew over Syrian and Jordanian territory, but Iran's Fars News Agency says no drones were launched.
Caught by surprise
A former cabinet minister for veterans in the first Trump administration noted that the demise of Hezbollah in Lebanon — thanks to Israeli decapitation strikes last summer — combined with December's removal of the Assad regime in Syria to clear a path for Israel's military to operate more freely against Iran.
"What struck me was apparently how unprepared the Iranians were," Robert Wilkie told BBC News.
Israeli security sources reportedly briefed local media that Israel had teams of special operatives on the ground in Iran who launched pre-emptive drone strikes on Iranian ballistic missile launchers to thwart an Iranian response.
Rescuers work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Tehran on Friday. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Wilkie says the other important factor was U.S. President Donald Trump.
"There's nothing Trump has done that has held the Israelis back — and I think this was their [Israel's] window of opportunity."
In a social media statement following the attacks, the U.S. president offered Iran's leadership what he called "a second chance" to cut a deal on its nuclear program.
The U.S. has been pushing Iran to end its enrichment activities, the precursor to creating nuclear weapons — something Tehran has refused to do. Talks, which have happened since mid-April, appeared to hit a recent impasse, although another round of discussions was set for Sunday in Oman.
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher on Iran with Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, told CBC News he doesn't believe Tehran's leadership is in a position to back down.
"Because it's capitulation — it's surrendering to the West," he said. "What will happen is probably the contrary, more escalation rather than a deal right now."
Iran's foreign minister termed Israel's attacks a "declaration of war" and Muslim countries accused Israel of "blatant aggression."
Qatar's prime minister said Israel had destroyed any prospect for peace and had put global security in imminent danger.
The Washington-based Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, offered one of the more scathing assessments, blasting the Netanyahu government for exposing U.S. military installations and citizens in the Middle East to extreme risk.
"Netanyahu has started a war with Iran that has no justification," the group said in a release.
Iran was not on the precipice of acquiring nuclear weapons, the group said, but rather Tehran was attempting to maximize its leverage in negotiations.
Iran warns of 'severe punishment' after Israeli strikes, but allies' response muted so far Proxy wars
Since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel and killed more than 1,200 people, Israel has been waging immensely destructive battles with the Iranian proxies that surrounded its borders.
While Israel's military and security services scored surprising successes at neutering Hezbollah in Lebanon, the war in Gaza and the staggering cost Israel has inflicted on the civilian population has led to international condemnation and political isolation.
More than 55,000 Palestinians have died in the bombardment and many Western countries, including Canada, have censured Israel for cutting off humanitarian aid and food — deliberately keeping hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in near starvation conditions.
Retaliation cost
Despite the apparent success of the Israeli strikes Friday, analysts noted Iran's military resources remain vast, and its capacity to inflict damage is high.
"The Iranian response might be delayed or split into multiple phases, but its main weapon will be ballistic missiles," said the Royal United Services Institute in its statement. The think-tank also noted Iran could mobilize terror attacks to strike soft targets inside and outside of Israel.
Israel's foreign ministry announced Friday that it was shutting down many of its foreign embassies in response to the presumed threat.
Earlier this week, the website Axios reported Iran had scaled up the manufacture of long-range missiles to around 50 a week, adding to an already immense arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Last November, Iran fired about 180 long-range missiles at Israel, mostly at military targets, in response to Israel's killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
While most of those projectiles were shot down, some did cause damage at Israeli military facilities and in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Citrinowicz, the Israeli researcher, says Iran's leadership may be pondering the cost of retaliation. While Israel's attacks hit some nuclear locations, others remain intact and functional — for now.
"The Iranians have a huge dilemma in front of them," he said. "They want to attack Israel to rebuild the deterrence equation with Israel — but on the other hand, if they do so, they will be exposed to [more] Israeli attacks."
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