3 h. ago Mapped: Where Iran and Israel’s missiles have struck as Tehran hits major hospital

Tensions escalate after Israel launches largest bombardment on Iran in decades early on Friday

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7 h. ago 'Strong case' for Donald Trump to attack Iran's nuclear sites with bunker

Sir John Sawers, head of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2009 to 2014, believes it may be better if the US president ‘got on with it’

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18 h. 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...

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49 h. ago Could US attack Iran’s Fordow nuclear site? Military movements offer a clue

Refuelling aircraft were tracked heading east, potentially to support B-2 jets carrying bunker-buster bombsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US has stepped up its military presence in the Middle East since the weekend but has left certain details vague to preserve operational ambiguity for Donald Trump as he considers whether the US will intervene in the Israel-Iran war.Critically, there has been no new information about the deployment of B-2 bombers that would be used to attack Iran’s deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow with 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate 60 metres of rock. Continue reading...

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50 h. 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

50 h. 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

51 h. ago US has no shortage of military assets if it wants to target missile launch sites in Iran

An assault to eliminate Fordow fuel enrichment plant would require more than one bomberMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US has stepped up its military presence in the Middle East since the weekend but has left certain details vague to preserve operational ambiguity for Donald Trump as he considers whether the US will intervene in the Israel-Iran war.Critically, there has been no new information about the deployment of B-2 bombers that would be used to attack Iran’s deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow with 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate through 60 metres of rock. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago The UK should protect its allies in the Gulf and Middle East – but Israel isn’t one of them

Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear programme is good for the UK – but helping Israel now is not, and here’s why, explains world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Politics

4 d. ago The UK should protect its allies in the Gulf and Middle East

Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear programme is good for the UK - helping Israel now is not, and here’s why, Sam Kiley, World Affairs Editor explains.

Politics

4 d. ago Mapped: Where Iran and Israel’s missiles have struck as Middle East tensions escalate

Escalating tensions as Israel launches largest bombardment on Iran in decades early on Friday

Events

5 d. ago Mapped: Where Iranian and Israeli missiles have struck as Middle East tensions escalate

Escalating tensions as Israel launches largest bombardment on Iran in decades early on Friday

Events

5 d. ago Israel issues stark warning to Iran after three people killed in missile attack

Iran had responded to an attack on its nuclear bases by Israel, which killed a number of generals and scientists.

Events

5 d. ago Netanyahu outplayed Trump on Iran. Now the US risks being mired in another war | Mohamad Bazzi

If Trump wants to be the peacemaker he claims to be, he must negotiate a new deal with TehranBefore dawn on Friday, Israel unleashed a wave of air strikes against more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and air defense systems. The surprise Israeli attack also killed some of Iran’s most senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. The Iranian regime called it a “declaration of war” – and western powers raced to prevent a wider regional conflict that could draw in the US along with other countries in the Middle East.While the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claims that he’s trying to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the attack is as much intended to blow up ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Donald Trump’s administration. While Trump’s overall foreign policy has been a disaster, for months he had resisted Netanyahu’s pleas to give Israel a green light to attack Iran, with US assistance. Trump insiste...

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5 d. ago How Israeli strikes dealt a serious blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions

Israel’s sweeping attack across Iran struck at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program, delivering a blow to the country’s ability to enrich uranium and potentially setting its nuclear ambitions back by months or years

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5 d. ago Further airstrikes reported in Iran as Trump says ‘we knew everything’ about Israeli attacks – live

Iranian state media reports explosions in Tehran and surrounded areas, more than 12 hours after Israel launched overnight attack targeting Iranian nuclear sitesFull report: Israel targets Iran’s nuclear facilitiesIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the nation, saying the IDF had targted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.He said that Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz had been targeted.This operation will continue for as many days as it takes We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Israel’s shock attack on Iran: confusing US signals add to the peril | Editorial

The recklessness of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the incoherence of Donald Trump’s deepen the crisis in the Middle EastUS presidents who thought they could easily restrain Benjamin Netanyahu have quickly learned their lesson. “Who’s the fucking superpower?” Bill Clinton reportedly exploded after his first meeting with the Israeli prime minister.Did Donald Trump make the same mistake? The state department quickly declared that the devastating overnight Israeli attack on Iran – which killed key military commanders and nuclear scientists as well as striking its missile capacity and a nuclear enrichment site – was unilateral. Mr Trump had reportedly urged Mr Netanyahu to hold off in a call on Monday, pending US talks with Iran over its nuclear programme due this weekend. The suspicion is that Israel feared that a deal might be reached and wanted to strike first. But Israeli officials have briefed that they had a secret green light from the US, with Mr Trump only claiming to oppos...

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6 d. ago Republicans back Israeli attack on Iran but some Democrats say it sabotages nuclear talks

Trump and GOP cheered the strikes, but others say Israeli PM deliberately harmed nuclear program negotiationsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump and Republicans in Washington on Friday cheered Israel for carrying out long-threatened strikes on Iran, but several Democrats accused that country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of deliberately sabotaging talks to resolve the question of Tehran’s nuclear program peacefully.Iran has few friends within the American political establishment, while Israel retains widespread support in Congress, even as some Democrats publicly condemn its conduct in the war in Gaza. Republicans lined up behind the president in praising the attack, which seems certain to put an end to weeks of thus-far fruitless negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Iran says Israel’s strikes on its nuclear facilities are a ‘declaration of war’ as Trump says ‘we knew everything’ – live

Israel launched overnight attack on Iran targeting nuclear sites after claiming Tehran was building nuclear warheads as US president says he knew about strikesFull report: Israel targets Iran’s nuclear facilitiesIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the nation, saying the IDF had targted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.He said that Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz had been targeted.This operation will continue for as many days as it takes We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Netanyahu says his attack on Iran was to avert an existential threat. He may have made it worse | Jonathan Freedland

Israel has eliminated many of the brains behind Tehran’s nuclear programme. But don’t expect the regime to back downThis is a war 30 years in the making. Benjamin Netanyahu was talking about the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb back in the 1990s and he has scarcely let up since. For decades he has believed that a nuclear Iran would represent the one truly existential threat to Israel and that military force is the only sure way to prevent it. Several times during the many years in which Netanyahu has sat in the prime minister’s chair, an all-out strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has been weighed up, debated and planned for. In the early hours of this morning, it finally happened.Netanyahu will be pleased with the early results, including the elimination of key Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. But the ultimate consequences could look very different. By his actions, he may only have accelerated the very danger he has feared for so long.Jonathan Freedland is a Gua...

Events

6 d. ago Netanyahu attacked Iran to avert an ‘existential threat’. He may have made it worse | Jonathan Freedland

Israel has eliminated many of the brains behind Tehran’s nuclear programme. But don’t expect the regime to back downThis is a war 30 years in the making. Benjamin Netanyahu was talking about the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb back in the 1990s and he has scarcely let up since. For decades he has believed that a nuclear Iran would represent the one truly existential threat to Israel and that military force is the only sure way to prevent it. Several times during the many years in which Netanyahu has sat in the prime minister’s chair, an all-out strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has been weighed up, debated and planned for. In the early hours of this morning, it finally happened.Netanyahu will be pleased with the early results, including the elimination of key Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. But the ultimate consequences could look very different. By his actions, he may only have accelerated the very danger he has feared for so long.Jonathan Freedland is a Gua...

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