Germany Summons Chinese Envoy After Laser Targeted Plane
As part of the European Union -led ASPIDES operation to protect sea lanes in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi militia, a German surveillance aircraft was targeted with a laser without cause or warning, according to the German defense ministry. In response to the incident, China's ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Berlin.
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The Developing World's G-7 Would Like a Word
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'Who wouldn't want it?': Netanyahu open to receiving stealth bombers, bunker-busters from US
As the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran continues, the Jewish State's leader said that he would be open to having access to some of America's most powerful military equipment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a stop on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson before a later confab with the Senate. It's his first trip to Washington since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran erupted, and comes on the heels of a stoppage in fighting between the two countries. When asked if he would be open to Israel gaining access to B-2 stealth bombers and bunker-busting bombs — the same U.S. military equipment used to cripple Iran's nuclear program — Netanyahu appeared to relish the thought. "Would I like to see Israel have the capacities that the United States has? Of course we'd like it. Who wouldn't want it?" he said. "But we are appreciative of what assistance we've received, and I think it's served not only the interest of Israel's security but America's security and the security of the free world," Netanyahu continued. Netanyahu's sentiment comes as a bipartisan duo in the House, Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are pushing to allow President Donald Trump the capability to send Israel the stealth bomber and powerful, 30,000-pound bombs capable of burrowing 200-feet into the ground before exploding, if Iran is found to still be marching forward with its nuclear program. Their bill currently has three other Democratic co-sponsors, including Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Juan Vargas, D-Calif. The same aircraft and munitions were used in Operation Midnight Hammer, the secretive strike authorized by Trump last month to hit some of Iran's key nuclear facilities, including Fordow, a facility buried below layers of rock that previous Israeli strikes couldn't crack. Currently, the U.S. does not loan out any of its fleet of B-2s to allies. Netanyahu's remarks also came after he met with Trump on Monday, and he lauded his work with the president since his return to the White House. "I have to say that the coordination between our two countries, the coordination between an American president and Israel Prime Minister has been unmatched," he said. "It offers great promise for Israel, for America, for our region and for the world."
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Iran says it can strike the US and Israel for two years. Does it really have that power?
Even amid a fragile ceasefire, Iran continues to warn the United States and Israel that it retains the ability to inflict serious damage if provoked. Iranian officials have declared the country can sustain daily missile strikes for two years — a claim drawing increasing scrutiny from military experts and Western intelligence analysts. "Our armed forces are at the height of their readiness," said Major General Ebrahim Jabbari of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), speaking to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. "The warehouses, underground missile bases, and facilities we have are so enormous that we have yet to demonstrate the majority of our defense capabilities and effective missiles." "In case of a war with Israel and the U.S., our facilities will not run out even if we launch missiles at them every day for two years," he added. Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, echoed that warning: "The Zionists know that some of our forces, such as the Navy and the Quds Force, have not yet entered into battle," he said. "So far, we have produced several thousand missiles and drones, and their place is secure." But intelligence analysis suggests Iran's claims mask serious losses. Tehran began the conflict with an arsenal of about 3,000 missiles and 500 missile launchers to 600 missile launchers, according to open-source intelligence. By the end of the so-called "12-Day War" — a series of attacks by Israel on its military storage warehouses and production facilities followed by U.S. attacks on nuclear sites and Iran's counterattacks — it was down to between 1,000 missiles and 1,500 missiles and only 150 launchers to 200 launchers. "The regime has increasingly been forced to choose between using or losing these projectiles as Israel targeted missile launchers," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Replacing the missile launchers after Israel degraded their production capabilities will be extremely difficult, according to Danny Citrinowicz, Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies. "Israel attacked every place that the Iranians manufacture missiles," he told Fox News Digital. Iran may have the capacity to attack Israel with its missiles, but "not in the hundreds." Iranian rhetoric occasionally has floated the idea of striking the U.S. directly, but analysts agree that the threat is far more limited. "The theoretical way they can strike the U.S. is just using their capacity in Venezuela," Citrinowicz said, referring to Iran's growing military cooperation with its capital of Caracas. "Strategically, it was one of the main goals that they had — to build their presence in Venezuela. But it's a long shot. It would be very hard to do so, and I'm not sure the Venezuelan government would like that to happen." Instead, any retaliatory strike would likely focus on U.S. assets and personnel in the Middle East. Can Kasapoglu, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Middle East military affairs expert, said Israel's war aims went beyond missile factories, targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure and advanced weapons development. "We are not 100% sure about the damage to centrifuges, so we cannot say the nuclear program is annihilated," Kasapoglu said. "But we can safely assume the nuclear program had a setback for years." He added that Israel focused heavily on Iran's solid-propellant, medium-range ballistic missiles — many of which have "very high terminal velocity, close to Mach 10," and are capable of evasive maneuvers. "That makes them even more dangerous," he said. Still, despite the setbacks, Iran "is still the largest ballistic missile power in the Middle East," he emphasized. "We saw that during the war, as Iran was able to penetrate Israeli airspace — even when Israeli and American interceptors were firing interceptor after interceptor to stop a single ballistic missile." Comparing "magazine depth," Kasapoglu noted Iran still maintains a deeper stockpile of missiles than Israel, even with U.S. assistance, and has interceptors. The regional threat isn't limited to Iran's mainland arsenal. Iran's proxies, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, remain a potent force. "The Houthis are the one Iranian proxy I am really concerned about." Kasapoglu pointed to new intelligence accusing Chinese satellite companies of providing real-time targeting data to the Houthis, who have resumed maritime attacks in the Red Sea. "Two days ago, they attacked a Liberian-flagged Greek merchant vessel," he said. With advanced Chinese satellite support and hardened anti-ship cruise missiles, the Houthis could destabilize shipping lanes and widen the conflict beyond the Israel-Iran front. "Iran still has significant asymmetric capabilities in the maritime domain and transnational terrorist apparatus, but it's hard to see how deploying these assets would not invite further ruin," said Taleblu. "Bluster and hyperbole have long been elements of Iran's deterrence strategy." The so-called "12-Day War" ended in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, but the region remains on edge. Iran's leaders continue to boast about untapped military capabilities, but battlefield losses, manufacturing disruptions and previous counter-attack measures have limited its options. While Tehran retains the power to project force and threaten both Israel and U.S. regional assets, experts agree that its ability to launch sustained, high-volume attacks has been meaningfully curtailed. Iran may still be dangerous, but its bark, for now, may be louder than its bite.
