7 h. ago Netanyahu says Israel is close to fulfilling goals of Iran campaign

Comments towards Tehran come after top US officials insisted they were not seeking a different government there

Politics

12 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump bombing Iran: an illegal and reckless act | Editorial

The US president has chosen war at Israel’s behest. He may imagine he has scored an easy win, but the world is likely to pay a steep priceDonald Trump was predictably quick to claim victory following the illegal US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities: “Completely and totally obliterated,” he crowed. Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and sycophants at home rushed to fawn over his “courageous” and “brilliant” decision. The most senior US military official, Dan Caine, offered a more muted assessment: it was “way too early” to know the full outcome despite severe damage. We cannot yet know whether the blow has ended Iran’s nuclear aspirations – or will spur it to pursue the bomb. It may be weeks or months, too, before Iranian retaliation plays out, with all its potential repercussions.Two nuclear-armed states have gone to war on the unevidenced claim that a third state is on the verge of acquiring its own nuclear arms. In March, the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said I...

Events

21 h. ago What a difference a week makes: Trump falls into the Netanyahu trap

People were starting to laud the US president for his resistance to the Israeli PM’s pull, but what now?Middle East crisis – live updatesWhen he was elected, Donald Trump suggested he could hammer out a new relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who was used to getting his way with the White House. But after just over 150 days in office, it appears Trump has fallen into the same trap as his predecessors – and launched the most consequential strike on Iran in generations.From early suggestions that the Trump administration would rein in Netanyahu’s military ambitions, it now appears that the Israeli PM has manoeuvred the US into striking Iranian uranium enrichment sites directly after a series of military attacks that Washington was unable to deter the Israeli PM from. And the US is now bracing for a retaliation that could easily bring it into a full-scale war. Continue reading...

Politics

29 h. ago US begins evacuating residents from Israel as Trump drops 'full payload of BOMBS' on Iran's main nuclear facility and strikes two others

President Donald Trump departed his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday evening and headed back to The White House where he had a scheduled meeting with his national security team.

Events

48 h. ago Iran is the enemy Netanyahu has always wanted to destroy. Even from their bomb shelters, most Israelis support his war | Aluf Benn

Within Israel, Iran is seen as the ultimate threat. The prime minister knows this is his chance to rewrite his bloodied legacy “It’s 1938 and Iran is Germany The Jewish people will not allow a second Holocaust.” Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recited slogans like these incessantly for decades, urging action against the gravest threat to the Jewish state – a nuclear-armed Iran. He conveyed the message to successive US presidents. He presented a bomb cartoon at the UN. At countless Holocaust memorial events he described Iran’s nuclear ambitions as the present-day “final solution”.Netanyahu talked and talked about the pressing Iranian threat, but his listeners were not convinced. They dismissed him as an alarmist whose deadline Iran crossed year after year without deploying a nuclear weapon (it still hasn’t). Netanyahu’s critics at home taunted him as a chicken who would never dare to attack Iran’s nuclear installations – unlike his more decisive predecessors, who had ord...

Events

65 h. ago We’re on the brink of a disastrous, illegal conflagration in the Middle East. Trump must be stopped | Fawaz Gerges

This is a war of choice, based on misinformation. If the US and UK join it, they risk a rerun of the Iraq debacle of 2003Like the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Israel’s war on Iran is neither legal nor just. It is a war of choice, not of necessity – and should the US or its European allies, particularly Britain, join in, they risk being dragged into another disastrous and unlawful conflict in the Middle East.A US military intervention would be in direct contravention of international law. Already, the US, once the architect and guardian of the international order, is now among its chief violators. Instead of pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu to end his siege and destruction of Gaza, Donald Trump has fully sided with Netanyahu and called Israel’s attacks on Iran “excellent”. He has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”. Trump is considering military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Doing so is explicitly prohibited under article 56 of the additional protocol to...

Events

2 d. ago Israel and Iran launch strikes a week into their war as new diplomatic effort takes shape

Israel and Iran have struck at one another again a week into their war as President Donald Trump weighs U.S. involvement and new diplomatic efforts appear to be taking place

Politics

3 d. ago Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost’ of postponing son’s wedding

Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family’s sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son’s wedding.The Israeli prime minister’s remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war that Netanyahu unleashed on Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost’ of Iran war

Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family’s sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son’s wedding.The Israeli prime minister’s remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war that Netanyahu unleashed on Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘Who in the hell are you?’ Steve Bannon rips Netanyahu over influence on Trump and US

‘Who are you to lecture the American people? The American people are not going to tolerate it,’ former Trump strategist raged on his War Room podcast.

Politics

4 d. ago British, German and French foreign ministers plan meeting with Iranian counterpart

The meeting in Geneva would be the first face-to-face diplomatic communication with Iran since Israel’s attackThe foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany are planning to meet the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in what could represent a potential diplomatic breakthrough after five days of Israeli bombing.The meeting is due to take place in Geneva on Friday but final confirmation from Tehran is still pending; if confirmed it would represent the first face-to-face diplomatic meeting since Benjamin Netanyahu launched Israel’s attack on Iran’s military and nuclear sites. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago MARK ALMOND: The lesson from history to everyone hoping to topple Iran's mullahs: Be careful what you wish for!

For the first time since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which swept the mullahs to power, the collapse of Iran's tyrannical regime is a realistic prospect, writes MARK ALMOND.

Politics

5 d. ago How Netanyahu's war on Iran is bolstering his support in Israel despite rising death toll

Every night since last Friday, when Israel launched surprise military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, I've gone to bed at night braced for the alert that will send me racing down to the shelter.

Events

5 d. ago Netanyahu speaks of regime change in Iran. But it’s not the same as regime destruction

Israeli president has no interest in Iran’s future beyond weakening and destabilising a regional rival Middle East crisis – live updatesOn Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, pontificated on a theme he has become increasingly attached to in recent years: that Israel under his leadership would not simply attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes through military attack, but in the process usher in regime change in Tehran.The government in Tehran, he said, was “very weak”, adding that given the opportunity, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Netanyahu speaks of regime change in Iran; what he means is regime destruction

Israeli prime minister has no interest in Iran’s future beyond weakening and destabilising a regional rivalMiddle East crisis – live updatesOn Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, pontificated on a theme he has become increasingly attached to in recent years: that Israel under his leadership would not simply attempt to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes through military attack, but in the process usher in regime change in Tehran.The government in Tehran, he said, was “very weak”, adding that given the opportunity, “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago How Israel used spies, smuggled drones and AI to stun and hobble Iran

Israel stunned Iran last week with an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision

Politics

6 d. ago European leaders at G7 trying to bring Iran back to negotiating table

UK prime minister and French president among those pressing for de-escalation of conflict with IsraelMiddle East crisis – live updatesUS politics live – latest updatesEuropean leaders at the G7 summit in Canada are trying to engineer an Iranian return to the negotiating table using Gulf leaders as intermediaries.But Iran is demanding a joint ceasefire with Israel, while Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is resisting the move, and Donald Trump has yet to show his hand. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Pakistan 'tells Iran they will NUKE Israel if Netanyahu uses nuclear weapons against Tehran', regime officer claims in huge WW3 apocalypse threat

Pakistan has threatened to drop a nuclear warhead on Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu uses nuclear weapons against Iran, according to a top Iranian officer. 

Events

7 d. ago Netanyahu gives telling response about Trump's 'help' with Iran blitz as Hegseth sparks WW3 fears

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed the truth about how closely the US and Israel are working together to stop Iran during an interview that aired on Fox News on Sunday.

Politics

8 d. ago UK moving jets to Middle East as Israel warns more severe strikes coming

Sir Keir Starmer confirmed Britain was moving military assets to the region as Iran warned UK bases would be targeted if it helped defend Israel

Events