Latest news with #BallisticMissiles
News18
17-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
India successfully test fires Prithvi-II & Agni-I missiles
Balasore (Odisha) Jul 17 (PTI) India Thursday successfully test fired Short-Range Ballistic Missiles – Prithvi-II and Agni-I – from the Integrated Test Range off the Odisha Coast, defence sources said. 'The launches validated all operational and technical parameters. These tests were conducted under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command," the sources said. Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel's Iran strategy heavily banks on US getting good nuclear deal, sources say
Israel also hopes that Trump can successfully place limits on Iran's ballistic missile supply, but this is even more uncertain. Israel is feeling ascendant after its significant achievements against Iran during the June 13-24 war. Still, sources have said that the current strategy going forward is overwhelmingly banking on the US nailing Tehran down to a tough and long new nuclear deal. If the US does not secure such an airtight deal, Israel is unclear on what its strategy or next steps would be. In contrast to the ceasefire deal and end of the war with Hezbollah on November 27, 2024 which in and of itself set clear limits on Hezbollah's right to rearm and clearly outlined how Israel could proactively enforce those limits, the Iran ceasefire simply stopped the fighting between the sides with zero provisions regarding the future. This lack of a clear plan and certainty is true about how much Israel thinks it can hold back the Islamic Republic from rebuilding its heavily damaged nuclear weapons program, and sources have indicated that the plan may even be less clear regarding imposing and enforcing limits on Iran's ballistic missile program. Jerusalem's ideal world would be a US-brokered deal that ends Iran's nuclear program or ends its uranium enrichment and advanced centrifuges for a period of multiple decades, as well as keeps its quantity of ballistic missiles with a range to hit Israel down at the current 500-1,000 total missiles level. But what if Iran only agrees to certain concessions, but not others? For example, Iran could agree not to enrich uranium for the next year or two, during a period of time when it may not in any event be able to do so after the Israeli and American attacks, followed by enriching uranium at "low levels" like it did under the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal. This would basically be accepting the offer that US President Donald Trump was offering them before the war, except now they would be "losing" nothing because they cannot, at least for some period of time, do very much uranium enrichment right now anyway. Would Trump reject such a deal and potentially allow Iran to rebuild its nuclear program with no limits and no IAEA inspectors? The part about the IAEA inspectors is not theoretical, as since June 13, the UN nuclear inspectors have had no access to any aspects of the Iranian nuclear program. In fact, as of Wednesday, Iran also formally announced that it has indefinitely cut ties with the IAEA. This does not mean that Jerusalem and Washington are blind about what is happening in Iran. On Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iranian territory leading up to and ruing the 12-day war. But wherever the IAEA had electronic surveillance, it had 24-7 surveillance even indoors, even underground, something which is difficult even for top intelligence agencies to achieve. In short, IAEA inspections have never been sufficient by themselves, but they are crucial and invaluable. If the world was partially blind regarding Iran's nuclear program when Iran rolled back cooperation with the IAEA in 2021 and again in 2022, it is truly blind now. The only good news so far on the nuclear front is that even Iran is starting to admit that its nuclear facilities, including Fordow, were badly damaged. This means that even if the world is blind, there could be several months or more of little new progress by Iran toward reconstituting its nuclear program, no matter how hard it tries. Prior to the war, the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile program was not even on the table. Now, Israel will try to inject it onto the table, arguing that Iran's three massive ballistic missile attacks on the Jewish state in April 2024, October 2024, and this month make it a new existential threat. What if Trump settles for a nuclear deal, but with no limits on ballistic missiles? Israel was worried about Iran building a facility which could jump its missile inventory from 2,500 to 4,000 in around a year or so, and to 8,800 in around two years. Such numbers could overwhelm Israel's missile shield in a far more devastating way than even the 28 Israelis killed and 1,250 wounded from the 12-day war. Presumably, then, Israel would attack before the numbers ballooned that much. But how soon would Israel attack? When will the numbers get back to the pre-war 2,500 level? Earlier, such as when Iran builds and starts to operate a new ballistic missile production facility? Or yet earlier, as soon as it starts to build such a facility? Or maybe Israel can agree to Iran building unlimited ballistic missiles as long as their range falls below the 1,500 kilometer range to hit the Jewish state, given that many Iranian missiles do fall below that range. Will Jerusalem really risk ballistic missile attacks on hospitals, universities, and central Israel just to stop a facility from being built? And if it won't, will it get harder to respond even as the process goes forward because Israeli leaders will need to admit they are afraid of the Iranian response? Jerusalem has some time to let Trump try to resolve these issues. But if Trump cannot resolve them in the coming weeks or months, Israel will likely need to make some clear, hard, and uncompromising decisions about being ready to enforce certain limits, with coordination with the US and a yellow light to strike, even if there is not full-throated approval.
India Today
25-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Pak working on long-range nuclear ballistic missile that can reach US: Report
The Pakistani military is secretively developing a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach the United States, according to intelligence agencies in Washington. The report by 'Foreign Affairs' comes amid reports that Pakistan was looking to upgrade its nuclear arsenal with support from China after India's Operation report, quoting US officials, said if Pakistan goes on to acquire such a missile, Washington would designate the country as a nuclear nation possessing nuclear weapons that is considered a potential threat or opponent of the US is seen as a nuclear adversary. Presently, Russia, China and North Korea are considered adversarial to the US. "If Pakistan acquires an ICBM, Washington will have no choice but to treat the country as a nuclear adversary. No other country with ICBMs that can target the United States is considered a friend," the report quoted US officials as NUCLEAR ARSENALPakistan has always claimed that its nuclear program was strictly focused on deterring India. Its policy has been focused on developing short- and medium-range Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), which can be armed with both nuclear and conventional warheads, are capable of hitting targets over 5,500 km. Presently, Pakistan has no 2022, Pakistan tested the surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile Shaheen-III, which can hit targets over 2,700 km, bringing a number of Indian cities under its developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, Pakistan might be looking to deter the US from trying to eliminate its nuclear arsenal in case of a preventive attack, and also prevent it from intervening on India's behalf if both the neighbouring countries clash SANCTIONSThe issue is being viewed with concern by the US. Last year, Washington imposed fresh sanctions related to Pakistan's long-range ballistic-missile sanctions were slapped on the National Development Complex, the state-owned defence agency overseeing the missile program, and three other firms. It froze any US property belonging to the entities and barred American firms from doing business with Pakistan called the move "biased", the US action was based on a State Department factsheet that said Islamabad sought to obtain components for its long-range ballistic-missile which possesses around 170 nuclear warheads, is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The treaty is aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting peaceful uses of nuclear SINDOORThe fresh development comes after the latest World Threat Assessment report by the US said Pakistan, rattled by India's Operation Sindoor, was obtaining materials and technology for developing weapons of mass destruction from last month's hostilities, India destroyed nine terror camps and targeted 11 vital airbases deep inside were reports that Pakistan fired Fatah-II, a hypersonic ballistic missile, towards India. However, the missile was intercepted by India's robust air defence then, several ministers, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Rajnath Singh has asserted that Pakistan could be trusted with such weapons.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Iran risks enraging China by closing Strait of Hormuz
Closing the narrow Strait of Hormuz is a tempting option as Iran considers how to respond to the US attack on its nuclear facilities. However, shutting the channel to maritime traffic would be a monumental undertaking – one quite possibly beyond Iran's military capabilities. It would also be a mission fraught with hazards, risking enormous damage to Iran's tottering economy, potentially enraging its backer China – nearly half of whose total crude oil imports pass through the strait – and almost certainly inviting further, more extensive US military retaliation. The Strait of Hormuz is among the world's most vital maritime choke points. Located between Iran and Oman, it connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. While Iran could launch some of its dwindling stockpile of ballistic missiles at energy infrastructure in the Gulf, such direct action carries substantial risks of retaliation. Iran could instead rely on proxy groups to attempt limited disruption of shipping in the Persian Gulf — a 'plausible deniability' approach that could roil global energy markets without necessarily provoking an immediate US military response. It could mine the strait or attach limpets to the hulls of tankers — a middling course of action it might calculate would deter escalation. Iran chose this option during the tanker war and was accused of doing so to six commercial ships in 2019. Or, in desperation, it could wage a full-frontal, multi-pronged operation if it decides to draw the US into a large-scale war — an option that would entangle Donald Trump in the kind of 'forever conflict' he has long sought to avoid, but which would also imperil the survival of the Islamic regime. A fifth of global oil production — around 20 million barrels per day — passes through the strait. Blocking the narrow channel could gum up energy supply lines and send oil prices soaring — potentially doubling to $150 a barrel, according to some analysts, bringing misery to motorists across the world. China, heavily dependent on oil shipments through the strait, would probably feel the impact most acutely as pressure mounts on its strategic petroleum reserves. Beijing — despite its anti-US rhetoric and strong political and trade ties with Iran — is presumably using its leverage on Tehran not to take such a drastic step. China buys some 90 per cent of all Iranian crude oil. It is by far the largest destination for oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz with an estimation of 5.4 million barrels per day. Iranian oil accounts for as much as 15 per cent of the crude shipped to China. Closing the strait would also jeopardise Iran's own oil-dependent economy. Even under heavy sanctions, it still exports roughly 1.5 million barrels of crude a day. Iran exported $67 billion of oil in the year to March, bringing in its highest level of oil revenue in the past decade, according to estimates by the Central Bank of Iran. Some 20 million barrels of oil go through the Strait per day. A small amount of that goes to the US, accounting for about 7 per cent of total US crude oil. Iran also shares the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars field, with Qatar. Europe's imports from Qatar are providing nearly 10 per cent of its LNG needs. History suggests that when Iran believes the military imperative outweighs all other considerations, it is willing to gamble. During its eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran attempted to seal the strait in retaliation to enemy attacks on its shipping. In a preview of the kind of action it may now be considering, Iran sought to close the strait by firing anti-ship cruise missiles at commercial vessels belonging to Iraq's trading partners. It also laid mines across the waterway. During the so-called tanker war, Iran launched attacks on 168 merchant vessels, while Iraq — better armed thanks to weapons supplied by the US and France — struck 238 ships. As security in the Gulf deteriorated in the 1980s, the Royal Navy dispatched the so-called Armilla Patrol to the region, despite having withdrawn its forces 'East of Suez' nine years earlier. With British commercial interests under threat, and following a plea from Washington, Margaret Thatcher deployed the Navy to protect merchant ships sailing under the Red Ensign and reassure friendly Gulf states. The Royal Navy is smaller today than it was then —it operates 14 destroyers and frigates now, compared with 64 in 1980. But it maintains a maritime presence in the Gulf under Operation Kipion, the successor to the Armilla Patrol, and has a naval support facility in Bahrain. Britain could therefore be called upon to support a US-led mission to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Lessons from history There are grim lessons to be learnt from the past, as well. As the tanker war escalated, the US launched Operation Earnest Will in 1987 to protect Kuwaiti tankers from Iranian attack. Although the mission ensured that 98 percent of commercial vessels passed through the Gulf safely, it was nonetheless fraught with mishap. Even before the operation formally began, an Iraq air force jet mistakenly fired two Exocet missiles at the USS Stark, killing 37 American sailors. Three other US warships later struck Iranian mines. In the most infamous incident of the operation, the USS Vincennes mistakenly shot down a Iranian passenger airliner, killing all 290 people on board, shortly after a battle with Iranian naval forces. Whether or not Iran and the West are now doomed to repeat the tanker war remains to be seen — but history suggests such confrontations offer few rewards to either side.
LBCI
20-06-2025
- Business
- LBCI
US sanctions target those providing Iran with 'defense machinery,' Houthi oil trading
The Trump administration said on Friday it had issued fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting eight entities, one vessel and one person for their alleged role in providing sensitive machinery for Tehran's defense industry. "The United States remains resolved to disrupt any effort by Iran to procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime's ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "Treasury will continue to degrade Iran's ability to produce and proliferate these deadly weapons, which threaten regional stability and global security," he added in a statement announcing the action. Two of the entities include shipping companies based in Hong Kong: Unico Shipping Co Ltd and Athena Shipping Co Ltd, the statement said. The Treasury Department on Friday also issued counterterrorism-related sanctions targeting Yemen's Houthis over alleged illicit oil trading and shipping, it said in a separate statement. Those sanctions target four individuals, 12 entities, and two vessels over imported oil and other illicit goods to support the Houthis, the department said. Reuters
