Major US cities on high alert after airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC, released a similar advisory, noting increased coordination with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to share intelligence and ensure the safety of residents, visitors, and businesses. While MPD reported no known threats, it confirmed an increased police presence around religious institutions.In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass also weighed in, stating that city authorities are 'closely monitoring any threats to public safety' in the aftermath of the US military operation.advertisement"There are no known credible threats at this time and out of an abundance of caution, LAPD is stepping up patrols near places of worship, community gathering spaces and other sensitive sites. We will remain vigilant in protecting our communities," Bass wrote in a post.Paul Mauro, a former NYPD Inspector, told Fox News that law enforcement is likely giving "special attention" to locations tied to communities potentially impacted by the strike. "You never know what's going to develop," he said, referring to patrols at both Israeli-linked sites and Shia mosques, given Iran's Shia identity.AIRLINES AVOID MIDDLE EASTSeveral international airlines diverted flights away from large swathes of the Middle East on Sunday, following U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Data from tracking platform FlightRadar24 showed a notable shift in flight paths, with aircraft rerouting to avoid Iranian and nearby airspace."Following US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, commercial traffic in the region is operating as it has since new airspace restrictions were put into place last week," FlightRadar24 said on social media platform X.Flight tracking data showed a near-total absence of commercial air traffic over Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Israel, as airlines opted for alternate routes — either north via the Caspian Sea or south through Egypt and Saudi Arabia.In a televised address from the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that the American air force struck Iran's three main nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow."Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal," the President said.Speaking to Fox News, Trump said that six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites. US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, an official told news agency Reuters.Must Watch
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Earlier Pentagon reports also outlined scenarios in which US forces would intervene to secure nuclear weapons that were in danger of falling into the wrong hands. In an interview with NBC News in 2011, former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf had warned that a snatch-and-grab operation would lead to all-out war between the countries, calling it "total confrontation by the whole nation against whoever comes in". Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistan's best known nuclear physicist and a human rights advocate, too, said a US attempt to take control of Pakistan's nukes would be foolhardy. "They are said to be hidden in tunnels under mountains, in cities, as well as regular air force and army bases," he said. "A US snatch operation could trigger war; it should never be attempted." Despite such comments, interviews with US officials, military reports and even congressional testimony indicated that Pakistan's weaponry had been the subject of continuing discussions, scenarios, war games and possibly even military exercises by US intelligence and special forces regarding so-called "snatch-and-grab" operations, the 2011 NBC News report said. "It's safe to assume that planning for the worst-case scenario regarding Pakistan nukes has already taken place inside the US government," Roger Cressey, former deputy director of counter-terrorism in the Clinton and Bush White House, had told NBC News. "This issue remains one of the highest priorities of the US intelligence community ... and the White House." Pakistan's "emerging threat" to the US American concerns over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal narrated in the NBC News report in 2011 must have only grown over time as Pakistan stockpiled more nukes and also achieved greater military power. A decade later, in 2021, a Brookings article mentioned the American plan to capture Pakistan's nukes: "Indeed, since the shock of 9/11, Pakistan has come to represent such an exasperating problem that the U.S. has reportedly developed a secret plan to arbitrarily seize control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if a terrorist group in Pakistan seemed on the edge of capturing some or all of its nuclear warheads," wrote Marvin Kalb. "When repeatedly questioned about the plan, U.S. officials have strung together an artful, if unpersuasive, collection of 'no comments.' Last year, the US was alarmed by a new development in Pakistan. A senior White House official said in December that nuclear-armed Pakistan was developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an "emerging threat" to the US, Reuters reported. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer's surprise revelation underscored how far the once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad had deteriorated since the 2021 US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said the number of nuclear-armed states with missiles that could reach the US homeland "is very small and they tend to be adversarial," naming Russia, North Korea and China. "So, candidly, it's hard for us to see Pakistan's actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States," he said. An official told Reuters that the threat posed to the US is up to a decade away. Finer's speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development program, including for the first time against the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.
