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Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
UN's atomic agency's Iran policy gets mixed reviews from experts after US-Israel 'obliterate' nuclear sites
JERUSALEM - After 12 days of fighting, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory against Iran's nuclear program. Trump declared three nuclear sites had been obliterated, as Netanyahu announced that Israel had "removed an immediate dual existential threat: both in the nuclear domain and in the area of ballistic missiles" – achievements the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) failed to reach throughout some 20 years of monitoring Iran's nuclear activities. Dr. Or Rabinowitz, a nuclear proliferation scholar from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting associate professor at Stanford University, told Fox News Digital that the IAEA "cannot, by itself, stop a country that wants to divert nuclear material and technology from its civilian program to its military program." "It can warn, and that's what it has been doing," she said. "Sometimes these warnings led to United Nations Security Council resolutions, and sometimes they didn't, but the IAEA by itself, can't do more than that – it is only as strong as the board members and the countries that participate in it." Days before Israel launched its military assault on Iran with the aim of removing the nuclear – and conventional – weapons threat, the global nuclear watchdog reported that Iran had an estimated 408.6 kilograms (nearly 901 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60%, enough to make some nine nuclear bombs. The report, which also criticized Iran's lack of cooperation with the IAEA, prompted the agency's board of governors, for the first time in 20 years, to declare that the Islamic Republic was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations. "We shouldn't be surprised by this failure, and we should add to this failure, the failure of the United Nations," said Dr. Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. Guzansky highlighted the fact that just a week ago, in the midst of launching hundreds of ballistic missiles into Israeli towns and cities, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. "Iran was welcomed there, and Israel was bashed," he noted. "It just shows that the U.N. system has long failed, and is long in need of remodeling, remaking, rebuilding," Guzansky continued, adding that compared to other U.N. bodies, "the IAEA is fairly okay." "It's not black and white, it has had some achievements, but it depends on what your expectations are," he continued. "I don't think anyone expected that the IAEA would entirely prevent Iran." Guzansky said that two decades of inspections and such reports had actually allowed Israel, and the U.S., to "gather intelligence and an understanding of Iran's nuclear program" – a fact that was tested over the past week and a half. Iran has consistently maintained that all its nuclear activities were entirely peaceful and that it would never seek to develop or acquire nuclear weapons. "The real problem here isn't necessarily the IAEA, it's that Iran has been cheating for 20 years and has not been playing a straight bat," said Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society. "Iran has been confusing and tricking and secretly developing programs, which the IAEA has not been able to access," he said, adding, "so, in many ways, it's not the IAEA fault, per se, it doesn't have any enforcement capabilities -- its job is just to monitor." Mendoza also said that Iran's ability to advance its nuclear ambitions and enrich uranium to weapons grade level was "really the fault of the international community, rather than an agency." "This could have been cracked down upon years ago, as we have now seen, whether by military or other means, to actually force Iran into compliance," he said. "What this ultimately shows you is that when you have an international malefactor who continues to want to game the system, the only way to deal with them is to blow up the system and say, 'Okay, you want to play it that way,' well, here's our response." Despite the U.S. and Israel's successful use of force, the IAEA has held back from commending their actions. At an emergency session of the agency's board members on Monday, Rafael Grossi, the IAEA's Director General, was still urging diplomacy and warning that fighting risked "collapsing the global nuclear Non Proliferation regime." "There is still a path for diplomacy, we must take it, otherwise violence and destruction could reach unimaginable levels, and the global Non-Proliferation regime that has underpinned international security for more than half a century could crumble and fall," he said, without a word about Iran's lack of transparency and its clear violation of international agreements over more than two decades. But on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on three key nuclear sites in Iran, Grossi told Fox News' Martha MacCallum that his agency did not know where nearly 900 pounds of potentially enriched uranium is now located, after Iranian officials said it had been removed for protective measures ahead of the US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. "Like all the international bodies who have been condemning US and Israeli action, these organizations exist for the purpose solely of diplomacy," Mendoza said, adding, "The agency doesn't have any military function. It has no recourse to it. It can't call for it, so, if you think about it, all they're doing is merely protecting their position within the international system." Requests for a response from the IAEA were not immediately answered on Wednesday.
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Israel, Iran and the US are all stuck in traps of their own making
It was one of the most public, personalised and extraordinary schisms between the US and Israel, and certainly the first conducted on television and in real time. US President Donald Trump found himself decisively in over his head, swearing at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and – largely for politically necessary balance – at Iran's leadership, to maintain his ceasefire. On TV, then social media, and finally an angry telephone call. In a flurry of 20 minutes, Israel was compelled to call off a major air strike. As Israel sent aircraft streaking towards Iran in response to a lone missile that, as he noted, may well have been erroneously launched, Mr Trump instantly recognised that he was about to be played. He wasn't going to put up with it. The old dictum about 'no daylight' between American and Israeli positions just can't function with a US President as patrimonial as Mr Trump and an Israeli Prime Minister as prevaricating as Mr Netanyahu. Mr Netanyahu was compelled to hit a minor radar installation site instead. That's how a 48-hour whirlwind of real and phony attacks, theatrical and genuine threats, and an atmosphere of overall mayhem, saw Mr Trump flailing and frustrated. The US President found himself trapped between his characteristically self-serving rhetoric and realities, and between his goals and Mr Netanyahu's ongoing effort to lure the Americans into a protracted conflict with Iran that Mr Trump is still seeking to avoid. As the dust settles, it's unclear what was really accomplished by Israel's 'war of the cities' with Iran launched on June 13, with the important but hardly decisive American footnote last Saturday. Israel did manage to at least postpone what appeared to be promising US-Iranian talks, with an American proposal of Tehran joining a regional 'consortium' for nuclear energy production with key Arab countries as a potential workaround for the vexed problem of Iran's 'right to enrich'. The idea alarmed Israel sufficiently to unleash its barrage, and that, in turn, was successful enough to prompt Mr Trump to join the fray with a single action that was never intended to be the opening salvo of a protracted US bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear sites. All three parties now find themselves in traps of their own making. It's unclear how much damage was done to Iran's nuclear programme. But Tehran has taken some potent blows, including the devastation of its paramilitary leadership and a generation of top nuclear scientists. Tehran paid a heavy price for playing games with highly enriched uranium, as noted in a damning report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and more broadly for reckless rhetoric about 'destroying' Israel and absurd slogans like 'death to America'. However, Israel has certainly not ensured that Iran will never become a nuclear power. On the contrary, it may have ensured that while Iran proceeds with greater caution, the war has only amplified the already evident lesson that adversarial countries that don't have a nuclear deterrent, like Iraq and Libya, are likely to face external attack while those that do, like North Korea, aren't. Iran has sought a nuclear deterrent since the Shah and that determination will undoubtedly have sharply increased, even among those implacably opposed to the current establishment. The Israelis may have thrown their best punch, leaving Iran bloodied and battered but more determined than ever to eventually become the second nuclear weapons power in the Middle East – Israel itself having long since introduced those weapons to the region. How Israel deals with this new reality, unless it finds a way to resume warfare despite Mr Trump's angry objections, remains to be seen. A satisfactory solution appears farther off than ever. Even Mr Trump, albeit clearly less than his Iranian and Israeli counterparts, has put himself in an unenviable corner without an obvious escape route. His administration is already tying itself into rhetorical contortions over his insistence that the three Iranian nuclear sites he struck were 'completely and totally obliterated', at least in terms of enrichment. Even at the time, it was obvious that he couldn't have been relying on any serious preliminary evaluation, and was simply engaging in his trademark 'truthful hyperbole', as he described his form of self-serving remarks in his ghost-written memoir, The Art of the Deal. Leaked reports from the Defence Intelligence Agency – based on actual preliminary assessments, including new surveillance footage, signals intelligence and very possibly human intelligence from inside Iran – suggest that, on the contrary, while the bunker-buster bomb attacks may have badly damaged entranceways to the Fordow mountainside network, they did not render the interior facilities non-functional or even hard-hit. They concluded that Iran's enrichment work there, and at other sites in question, will be disrupted for months, but hardly 'obliterated'. This is consistent with what one would expect from a strike that would have been only the opening salvo in existing US plans to actually obliterate that facility. These called for round-the-clock bunker-buster strikes over many days, if not weeks, before the tunnel network was collapsed on itself or rendered otherwise fully non-functional. That obviously wasn't going to happen from a handful of impacts, even with such powerful weapons. Israel, too, cannot fully know how much harm it has caused to Iran's nuclear research and development programme. Even Iranian officials are most probably still assessing the true extent. Israel was surely seeking to deliver a knockout blow to the programme, or rather to get Washington to do that for it. Neither seems to have occurred. So, less than two weeks after Israel launched its supposedly decisive war, we are effectively back to square one, albeit with Iran having absorbed significant and painful losses that will take energy, resources and time that the impoverished country can ill afford. Whether Mr Trump can get Iran back to the negotiating table with renewed seriousness remains to be seen, although it would clearly be in Tehran's interests to strike a deal with Washington even now. However, we may eventually look back at this conflict as the moment in which Israel ensured that it would have to live alongside a nuclear-armed Iran rather than having permanently eliminated the prospects for that.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Iranian professor in Colorado reacts to bombings against country, impact on civilians
University of Colorado professor describes what it's like to have family back in Iran University of Colorado professor describes what it's like to have family back in Iran University of Colorado professor describes what it's like to have family back in Iran It's been 20 years since University of Colorado Boulder Professor Shideh Dashti left her hometown in Tehran, a city that sits just north of one of the three Iranian nuclear sites bombed over the weekend by U.S. missiles. "It's a baggage of mixed emotions," said Dashti. "My father lives in Tehran. Many of my cousins. Most of my family is still in Iran, but I also have a family of 90 million in Iran... they're all at... at great risk right now." Shideh Dashti CBS Amid the United States' recent military involvement in the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, the Iranian Republic has cut off access to communication for Iranians like Dashti's family. Dashti said that communication has been difficult. "Is our family okay? Are they safe? Was the explosion near their house, or how are they doing? How are they coping?" said Dashti, "And we cannot reach them." Dashti was driven to use her engineering background to make a plea for the fighting to stop. Ahead of last week's air attacks, she recorded a YouTube video warning President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of the impact bombing nuclear facilities in Iran could have on the infrastructure and livelihoods of innocent civilians. She also expressed concerns about radiation and contamination that could follow these attacks. CBS "No other country has the intention or the right to determine the fate of another nation," said Dashti. For Iranians who have lived under the Islamic Republic, they've witnessed everything from massive killings to oppression and imprisonment from that regime. While it might initially feel hopeful to see the Islamic Republic's power weakened through airstrikes like these, Dashti fears the destruction will only get worse. "As much as I hate the Iranian regime, this is not the way to do it," said Dashti. While Iranian Americans like Dashti await to see if an apparent ceasefire between Iran and Israel will stick, Dashti hopes for lasting peace in the region and a path for her people to establish a new government on their own. Shideh Dashti Shideh Dashti "I think that job is on us, on Iranians inside and outside. No foreign government has the power or responsibility to create a sustainable and permanent solution that is accepted by the people of Iran," said Dashti. "It's a recipe for disaster."
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump aides once helped elect Netanyahu, reflecting leaders' deep ties
The U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities have focused attention on the long-standing, complex relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has spoken with Netanyahu almost every day since Israel attacked Iran last week and gave him a heads-up before the strikes, a senior White House official said, highlighting the familiarity between the two men who have known each other for decades.
Al Bawaba
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
A Masterclass in Strategic Illusion: How Trump and Netanyahu Engineered the Strike on Iran's Nuclear Program
Published June 22nd, 2025 - 08:00 GMT Dr. Gil Feiler In a bold and precisely executed operation during the night of June 21, Israeli aircraft—supported by U.S. intelligence and logistical backing—struck deep into Iran's nuclear infrastructure, delivering a devastating blow to Tehran's weapons ambitions. What made this mission possible was more than just military capability. It was the result of extraordinary coordination between President Donald J. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—two leaders who, while often underestimated, have once again demonstrated their unmatched strategic acumen on the world stage. What sets this operation apart is the way it was prepared, concealed, and executed. For months, global analysts were led to believe that Trump and Netanyahu had drifted into divergent political priorities. But behind this veil of distance lay a tightly choreographed partnership, culminating in one of the most consequential military operations in recent Middle Eastern history. Misdirection as Strategy Throughout the spring of 2025, the White House and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office projected a narrative of limited engagement. Public disagreements on smaller diplomatic issues created an illusion of distance. Yet behind the scenes, a secret channel was alive and active—linking top-level American military planners with Israeli intelligence and air force design, Iran, Russia, and even European intelligence services were caught off guard. U.S. satellites blinded Iranian radar in the hours before the attack. Cyber teams inserted malware into Iranian defense systems. Israeli fighter jets flew at low altitude across multiple vectors, striking fortified uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz and Fordow with pinpoint coordination was total—and devastatingly effective. Iran's most advanced centrifuges were destroyed. The underground bunkers were rendered inoperable. Tehran, now reeling from the blow, finds itself exposed, humiliated, and unable to respond militarily without risking total escalation. Global Benefits: Peace Through Strength President Trump's doctrine of 'peace through strength' was on full display. The operation significantly degrades Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon in the foreseeable future, restoring a degree of stability to a region that was nearing the nuclear brink. Trump and Netanyahu didn't just remove a direct threat—they created new space for deterrence and recalibrated the balance of power in the Middle said, it is still too early to measure the full impact on global markets. As today is Sunday, financial markets have not yet opened. Early indicators suggest that Monday may bring initial volatility in energy prices and global indices. Oil markets, in particular, may experience fluctuations as investors assess the risk of Iranian retaliation, attacks on shipping lanes, or disruption to Gulf oil longer-term outlook remains cautiously optimistic: the removal of a major nuclear threat could stabilize the region and improve investor confidence, but short-term spikes in risk premiums are expected. The world will be watching for Iran's next move—and Trump and Netanyahu have shown they are prepared for it. Trump's Vision for a Safer, Stronger World This moment is not a one-time military achievement. It is a continuation of President Trump's consistent global vision—one that produced the Abraham Accords, pulled the U.S. out of flawed nuclear deals, rebuilt deterrence against rogue regimes, and helped isolate terrorism on a global his second term, Trump's policies have continued to reduce the threat of global terrorism. The caliphate is long gone. The IRGC is weakened. ISIS has not reemerged. And now, Iran's nuclear capacity has been decisively is not only about defense. Under Trump's leadership, the American economy has remained strong, energy independence has been restored, and global alliances have been reshaped based on realism and strategic interest. His strategic clarity, willingness to act, and rejection of appeasement have brought measurable these achievements—culminating in this high-risk, high-success mission—Trump deserves recognition on the global stage. He has lowered the risk of nuclear conflict, undermined terror proxies, and made the free world safer. These are the credentials of a true statesman, and they merit serious consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu: Steady, Strategic, Resolute Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership was equally critical. Facing internal political pressure, regional instability, and an emboldened Iran, he remained focused on one goal: Israeli security. In his sixth term, Netanyahu has reaffirmed why he remains one of the world's most seasoned and capable leaders. It was Netanyahu who insisted that delay would only embolden Tehran. He directed Mossad to intensify its penetration of Iran's security and nuclear infrastructure. It was under his command that Israel's Air Force prepared for deep strikes with precise payloads and minimized risk to civilians. And it was his diplomatic skill that kept regional Arab partners informed while maintaining complete secrecy from adversaries. Together, Trump and Netanyahu acted not as populists or media figures, but as experienced national leaders, coordinating with intelligence, defense, and strategic clarity. Putin's Allies Left Exposed Another clear consequence of the strike is the message it sends to Vladimir Putin and his allies. For years, Iran has relied on Moscow as a diplomatic and military partner, believing that Russian support could shield it from Western aggression. Yet, once again—just as in Syria a decade ago—Putin was unable to prevent or even predict a decisive Israeli-American radar operators and advisors in Iran were bypassed. Russian diplomatic circles have offered only muted responses. Putin's silence is louder than words: the Kremlin cannot shield its clients from a determined and capable Western coalition. This leaves Iran politically isolated, Hezbollah disoriented, and other Putin-aligned regimes increasingly uncertain about the value of Russian support. Trump and Netanyahu have exposed the vulnerabilities of authoritarian networks built on bluster and overreach. Conclusion: A Defining Moment in Global Leadership June 21, 2025, may go down in history not only as the day Iran's nuclear dream was shattered, but also as the moment the world was reminded of what decisive leadership can Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a strategic masterstroke through careful deception, flawless execution, and mutual trust. They demonstrated that peace is not secured through weakness or indecision, but through credible deterrence and bold action. As the world waits for market openings and watches for Iran's response, one truth is already clear: two leaders, long underestimated and often criticized, have again changed the course of history. They have defended their nations—and arguably, the entire free world—from the brink of nuclear escalation. And in doing so, they have raised the bar for what real leadership looks like in the 21st century. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
