The world waits in fear of US-Iran escalation
THE WORLD WAITS
With America claiming it has “devastated” Iran’s nuclear program with strikes on three sites over the weekend, the world awaits Tehran’s response amid fears of significant escalation across the Middle East.
At a press briefing earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Dan Caine, provided details on the attacks on Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, saying around 75 “precision guided weapons” were used, including 14 “Massive Ordnance Penetrators”, known as “bunker busters”.
In his presentation, Caine revealed the US had sent a number of B-2 bombers westwards into the Pacific as a decoy, while seven others headed east towards Iran. He also said a US submarine had launched “more than two dozen” Tomahawk cruise missiles against “key surface infrastructure targets” at the Isfahan nuclear site.
“Final battle damage will take some time, but an initial battle damage assessment indicates that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine added.
The New York Times points out that while US President Donald Trump was quick to claim America had “completely and totally obliterated” the nuclear facilities, top Pentagon officials said on Sunday that it was too soon to say whether Iran still retained some nuclear enrichment capacity.
The paper adds: “A senior US official acknowledged that the attack on Fordo, Iran’s most critical site, had not destroyed the facility, which is heavily fortified, but said that it had been severely damaged. Two Israeli officials with knowledge of the matter also said it appeared that Iran had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site before the strikes.”
The damage caused by the 13,600kg bunker-buster bombs can be seen in satellite imagery, with large craters visible at the Fordo nuclear site. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that “no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time”. The IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, added: “At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordo.”
The Trump administration spent Sunday both trying to tell the world what a successful and vital American strike it had been, while also trying to claim the US had not caused/entered into a prolonged conflict.
Hegseth said in his Pentagon briefing earlier that “this is most certainly not open-ended”, while US Vice President JD Vance told NBC News: “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”
Asked about how successful the strikes had been, Vance said: “I’m not going to get into sensitive intelligence about what we’ve seen on the ground there in Iran, but we’ve seen a lot, and I feel very confident that we’ve substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon, and that was the goal of this attack.”
When pushed on Trump’s claim on Saturday night that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”, the vice president replied: “Severely damaged versus obliterated — I’m not exactly sure what the difference is.”
NBS News reports Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Iran “reserves all options” for its response to the American strikes. Many publications, including the BBC, have attempted to compile what form that response could take.
The British broadcaster also reports Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the US “must receive a response for their aggression” following a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We have always stated that we are ready to engage and negotiate within the framework of international law, but instead of accepting logic, the other side has demanded the surrender of the Iranian nation,” he said in a statement. “Our nation will never surrender to bullying and oppression, and it is natural that it will respond appropriately to aggression.”
Reuters reports Iranian Parliament has approved a move to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly a quarter of the oil shipped around the world passes (actually closing the route would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council). Vance said on Sunday he thought Tehran potentially disrupting the shipping route would be “suicidal” for Iran.
Iran initially responded to the American strikes with more missile attacks on Israel on Sunday, which have “wounded scores of people and flattened buildings in Tel Aviv”, Reuters reports. The newswire highlights Araghchi also earlier declared: “The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,” adding there would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated.
The foreign minister, who has claimed Iran’s nuclear program is based on “domestic nuclear knowledge” which cannot “be destroyed by bombing”, said he is heading to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The New York Times says “by Sunday evening, the Kremlin had not confirmed the meeting”.
Speaking to Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran against retaliation, claiming such action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made”. He added that “there are no planned military operations right now against Iran — unless they mess around”.
Meanwhile, Israel has said it continued strikes across Iran on Sunday, claiming to have targeted “dozens of military targets”.
Meanwhile, Trump, who has called Iran “the bully of the Middle East” that “must make peace”, posted a lengthy rant in the last few hours aimed at representative Tom Massie, Republican for Kentucky, in which he claimed the US “had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the ‘bomb’ right out of their [Iran’s] hands”.
THE WORLD REACTS
As Tehran and Washington continue to exchange warnings, the rest of the world has been trying to react.
The UK, France and Germany released a joint statement on Sunday urging Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilise the region”, the BBC reports, adding: “We will continue our joint diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions and ensure the conflict does not intensify and spread further.”
The Guardian reports the Gulf states have expressed serious concern at the American strikes on Iran amid fear of retaliation against US military bases in their countries.
Qatar’s foreign ministry declared: “The current dangerous escalation in the region may lead to catastrophic consequences at both the regional and international levels.” The statement said Qatar was calling on all parties “to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation”.
The newspaper adds Saudi Arabia has also expressed “great concern” at the escalation and stressed the “need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint … and avoid escalation”.
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, posted on social media yesterday: “I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge — and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”
Meanwhile, Russia has described the American strikes as “irresponsible”, a “gross violation of international law” and a “dangerous escalation”, The Guardian adds.
Former president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev posted on X: “What have the Americans accomplished with their night-time strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran? 1. Critical infrastructure of the nuclear fuel cycle appears to have been unaffected or sustained only minor damage.
“2. The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue. 3. A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.”
The ABC reports the Australian government has “offered no endorsement of the United States’ strikes” and instead once again called for de-escalation.
“We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,” a government spokesperson said. “We note the US president’s statement that now is the time for peace. The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue, and diplomacy.”
The Coalition has backed the US strikes and claimed the Albanese government was being “too ambiguous” in its response, Guardian Australia reports. The Australian has claimed the government is “increasingly at odds with the US over the Middle East”.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Archaeologists have completed the “world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle” and revealed a series of ancient frescoes from a Roman villa in London.
CNN reports the frescos were found on fragments of shattered wall plaster which had been dumped in a large pit “probably as a result of Roman demolition work carried out prior to 200 AD”.
After the fragments were discovered during excavations, staff at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) started to meticulously put the pieces back together.
In doing so, they revealed frescos which apparently covered around 20 walls inside the villa.
“This has been a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out,” Han Li, senior building material specialist at MOLA, said.
“Many of the fragments were very delicate and pieces from different walls had been jumbled together when the building was demolished, so it was like assembling the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle.”
Say What?
When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like, I just want to play football man.
Timothy Weah
The Juventus soccer player said he found standing behind Donald Trump in the Oval Office “a bit weird” last week when the US President started taking questions.
CRIKEY RECAP
Whither the Greens in the wake of the Cox defection?
Senate numbers aside, the Greens have now lost two Indigenous senators within two terms, admittedly under very different circumstances (Lidia Thorpe left over the party’s position on the Voice referendum, a far more clear-cut reason than Cox’s). It’s an embarrassing outcome for the Greens, who have worked to increase their Indigenous representation but now yet again find themselves unable to field a First Nations spokesperson with lived experience — despite “a bevy of grassroots First Nations members”, as leader Larissa Waters put it.
There also remain questions about what direction the minor party should now take. While many voters still approve of the party’s approach (the Greens primary ended up unchanged on 12.2%, while it won its usual six Senate spots), it’s been a dispiriting few years of failing to make gains, even amid the coming of age of the left-leaning gen Z.
Is there something to Cox’s parting claim, however dubious her motives, that change is made not from the crossbench but from within the government? Is that what older progressives increasingly think, given Labor’s thumping majority, with three Greens MPs replaced with Labor ones?
NSW clubs celebrated for the vulturous, blood-sucking, amoral, gouging misery they inflict on their communities
The “Clubs and Community Awards Night” is part of the gambling lobby’s propaganda that the billions channelled through poker machines by gambling addicts and criminals (not to mention the lavish tax breaks clubs enjoy) are all for a good cause because clubs spend so much money on community support.
It’s bullshit. According to a study by the NSW RSL, in 2023 clubs spent just 3.5% of their billion-dollar profit on communities. That backed up a long-term study of Victorian RSLs, which showed they directed just 1.5% of gambling revenue to the welfare of veterans.
Many of the “winners” in last night’s propaganda exercise are also winners in another, far more important, field: increasing the profits of their poker machines.
How the four tempers of Trump-era news media are hurting Australia
Like all wannabe autocrats, Donald Trump has made it a priority to whip America’s oligarch-owned media into line with a frolicking mix of woe, dread and malice — mobilising their audiences against them, appealing to their billionaire class solidarity, and threatening them with targeted prosecutorial lawfare.
During Trump’s last presidential term, most media pushed back, as did The Washington Post, with its declaratory “democracy dies in the darkness”. This time? Outlets, including the once proudly independent, now Jeff Bezos-owned WaPo, are busy adjusting what is (and isn’t) news, moderating their commentary, flattening their journalism, and obeying in advance in the face of the president’s criticisms.
In both Australia and the United States, legacy media are playing it safe, studiously looking the other way as the Trump administration becomes inexorably more authoritarian. Australia’s media commentariat are (still!) sane-washing the president. They’re eager to get the government into line too, insisting for the past week that the traditional prime-minister-to-president sit-down is the defining test for the Albanese government.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
As the US bombs Iran and enters another war, China is the likely winner (ABC)
Major airlines cancel flights to Dubai, Doha after US strikes on Iran (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Trump’s attack on Iran could wipe up to 10% off equity markets (AFR)
Japan scraps US meeting after Washington demands more defence spending (Financial Times) ($)
Karl Stefanovic poised to cash in on new multimillion-dollar deal at Nine (The Australian) ($)
Celebs say this gossip forum ruined their lives. Now its owner has been unmasked (BBC)
THE COMMENTARIAT
What a difference a week makes: Trump falls into the Netanyahu trap — Andrew Roth (The Guardian): When 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.
Trump was holding back on Iran. Then he took a phone call — Jessica Gardner (AFR): His reasons for drawing the US into another war in the Middle East are perhaps many. He certainly didn’t give a detailed explanation in his brief address to the nation, warning instead of more attacks if Iran didn’t “make peace”. But what is known is that he received a tense phone call beforehand from Benjamin Netanyahu.
US media reported that Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke with Israel’s prime minister, along with Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir.
Israel was incensed that Trump could waste the opportunity to move against Iran’s crown jewel nuclear sites by giving it more time.
