Laila Soueif, on 247th day of hunger strike for jailed British-Egyptian son, defiant in face of death
Laila Soueif, lying shrunken on a hospital bed at St Thomas' hospital in London on the 247th day of her hunger strike in pursuit of freedom for her son, imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, is locked in what may prove to be her last of many trials of strength with Egypt's authoritarian regime.
A remarkable, witty and courageous woman, she has the self-awareness to admit: 'I may have made a mistake, God knows,' but she will not back down, and anyone looking back at her rich life has little evidence to doubt her perseverance.
Speaking from the hospital on Tuesday, Soueif said: 'My message is: use my death as leverage to get Alaa out. Don't let my death be in vain.'
Soueif told the BBC: 'It's something that I passionately don't want to happen. Children want a mother, not a notorious mother – whether the notoriety is good or bad – but if that's what it takes to get Alaa out of jail and to get all my children and grandchildren's lives back on track, then that's what I'm going to do.'
Fattah was arrested in September 2019, and sentenced in December 2021 to five years in jail for 'spreading false news and harming Egypt's national interest'. A UN panel concluded Egypt was illegally detaining him.
Soueif described her eventful life to the Guardian. Born in Britain in 1956, where she lived until she was two, she comes from an academic family. Her father, Mostafa Soueif, was the founder of Cairo University's psychology department and founder of Egypt's Academy of Arts.
Her mother, Fatma Moussa, was a professor of English literature at Cairo University, an accomplished translator of Shakespeare and Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel prize-winning novelist. Her sister Ahdaf is a distinguished novelist and essayist.
Her parentage gifted her a love of literature. At the age of 11, bed-ridden from typhoid, she was given a copy of War and Peace to keep her quiet and now even in hospital a novel has always been on her bed.
She said she was also raised on Jane Austen, so is 'partial to texts in which every word is considered and nothing is superfluous'. She also developed a love of maths, telling her father at the age of eight that she loved 'solving maths puzzles, and it did not seem like school work'. She went on to become an assistant professor of maths at Cairo University.
She spent her adolescence on Brazil Street in Zamalek, an affluent district in Cairo where like any other neighbourhood there was a band of rebellious teenagers. 'I loved riding motorcycles with the boys and had fleeting romances, but I steered clear of drugs. I never hid anything from my parents either. I'd even take my romantic calls on the house phone,' she recalled.
She said her sister Ahdaf 'was always the polished, captivating mademoiselle – five boys would be infatuated with her at the same time. She was the older sister everyone admired. Meanwhile, I was the punk, trying everything out. Our parents never wanted us to be replicas of each other, or of them.'
Politics was always part of the household and a pivotal moment came in 1967 when Israel defeated Egypt in the six-day war. It was a political awakening. She said: 'People who'd always remained silent spoke out. I remember seeing family friends who had been close to the regime, officers in the army, sitting in our living room, weeping: 'We betrayed the country! We lost it.''
She recalled her first student protest in high school in the early 1970s, when demonstrations were erupting across campuses calling for an uprising against the Israeli occupation of Sinai. 'I remember watching students march from everywhere, even Zamalek, to Tahrir Square. A student friend and I joined, thrilled.' She met her husband, Ahmed Seif el-Islam, and the father of Alaa, at Cairo University. She was doing an MA in algebra and he was a member of a secretive group called Al-Matraqa that had split away from the Egyptian Communist party, disillusioned by the party's reformism.
Laila had inherited from her parents a cynical attitude towards any party organisation, but she loved Seif for his mind and his sincerity.
Related: Must Laila Soueif die from her hunger strike in London before her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah is released? | Helena Kennedy
Alaa was born in 1981. In 1983, her husband was arrested and tortured. A year later she was given the chance to undertake a PhD at Poitiers University in France, taking her son with her, but returned to Cairo for a year after her husband was arrested in 1983. He was found guilty of illegal weapons possession, and sentenced to five years in jail. On bail, he went into hiding with his wife and young son for three months only to decide that life as a fugitive was impossible and so gave himself up. In jail he was again tortured.
While in prison he received a BA in law and within a month of leaving jail was admitted to the bar. He became one of the most effective human rights lawyers in Egypt.
It was in France that Laila formed a deep emotional bond with Alaa, but started to learn the sacrifice involved in political activism. She said: 'The fact that Seif was in prison when Alaa was very young created a very special relationship between us.
'I had to explain things that you should never have to explain to a child – why his father was in prison, that there are bad police and good police – the good ones, who catch thieves and organise traffic, and the bad ones, who arrest people who oppose the government.
'You don't usually need to know these things when you're four or five.'
Later her admiration for Alaa's ability to look after his two younger sisters comforted her in continuing a teaching career.
On returning to Cairo full-time, she helped found the March 9 movement in 2004, an organisation dedicated to academic autonomy and removing the state from universities. Her reputation as someone who would confront the police in protests became legendary. She was often the last to leave.
Although she participated in the demonstrations in Tahrir Square in 2011, she like many had not anticipated the scale of the popular movement that would bring about the fall of Egypt's then president, Hosni Mubarak. By then she was the matriarch of three human rights activists. Sanaa, the youngest of the three and then 18, joined their activism during the Mohamed Mahmoud street clashes in 2011 that resulted in more than 40 being killed.
A week before Mubarak's fall in February 2011, Soueif's husband was arrested in his office and later interrogated in prison by Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, then head of military intelligence, and now president. In an exchange with Sisi, Seif el-Islam unusually answered him back, describing Mubarak as corrupt.
Seif el-Islam later told the Guardian that Sisi 'became angry, his face became red. He acted as if every citizen would accept his point and no one would reject it in public. When he was rejected in public, he lost it.' The episode is sometimes cited as one reason Sisi seems so determined to keep Alaa in jail.
The revolution, in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, imploded. Soueif said: 'We couldn't believe that the most prepared organisation for governance wasted itself on eliminating the opposition as its first task, instead of achieving tangible accomplishments on the ground. Even the religious current in Iran, when it took power, implemented some social and economic achievements for the masses before it became a dictatorship. But for the MB to start by fighting the opposition in the streets – how did they think that would work?'
With the collapse of the revolution and the capture of power by the military, the family suffered. In June 2014 Alaa was first arrested for violating protest laws and then in October Mona, the middle daughter, then aged 20, was convicted of a similar offence and jailed for three years. She had two spells in jail. At the time Soueif and her other daughter Mona went on a hunger strike lasting 76 days.
When her husband died aged 63 in August 2014, two of his children were in jail, and were barred from seeing him in hospital. Alaa spoke movingly at his father's funeral.
Since then Soueif's life has been one long attempt to secure his release and ensure his life in prison is bearable.
She was once asked during the hunger strike whether what she was doing frightened her. 'My mind is aware that I am doing something different, but my feeling as a mother is that this is normal and intended.
'Any mother in my circumstances with the ability to do so would do this. People don't easily realise what you can do. I know all the time that there are things that work, I don't guarantee the results at all, but I tell myself that there's nothing more to lose.'
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Live updates: Iran calls US airstrikes on nuclear sites 'outrageous,' says it 'reserves all options'
America's move comes after Iran and Israel have been engaged in aerial strikes and Trump had been pondering US involvement for the past week. The United States joined Israel's war with Iran after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on three nuclear targets, winning praise and condemnation from members of Congress and new defiance from Tehran. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," Trump said in a live address after 10 p.m. ET on June 21, threatening further U.S. strikes if Iran failed to accept a diplomatic solution. Bombs and missiles launched from U.S. warplanes hit nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. No U.S. personnel were injured in the operation, which struck Iran well after midnight on June 22 local time. With 40,000 troops in the Persian Gulf region, the United States faces potential Iranian reprisals in the days ahead. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, warned that the country "reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people," saying America's strike was "outrageous and will have everlasting consequences." "Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior," he said on social media. Trump's move was assailed by some conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats in Congress as illegal, while others praised the move after more than a week of Israeli airstrikes on Iran and retaliatory missile fire wreaking havoc in Israel. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' Trump said. More: U.S. hits Iran nuclear facilities, braces for counterattack Israel says Iran launched another round of missiles Multiple explosions were heard in central Israel, including over Tel Aviv, in the early hours of June 22. Israel's military said sirens that sounded across the region were "due to another Iranian missile launch." USA TODAY could not immediately confirm any information on potential fatalities or injuries in the strikes. Iran says it 'reserves all options' to defend itself Iran reserves all options to defend itself after U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities, Araqchi shared on X, saying the attacks were "outrageous and will have everlasting consequences." "Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior," he said. What's the risk of nuclear fallout from the Iran attacks? The U.S. attacks against three of Iran's nuclear facilities, following Israeli attacks over the previous week, prompted questions about the potential risks of radiological or chemical releases. Both "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" and the International Atomic Energy Agency have previously stated the offsite risks are low from attacks at Fordow and Natanz. But in a June 20 post, François Diaz-Maurin, an associate editor for nuclear affairs at the atomic bulletin, termed the offsite risk at Isfahan 'moderate,' because it's one of the 'most important sites for Iran's nuclear program.' The International Atomic Energy Agency began posting updates on the new attacks on June 21. The nuclear complex in Isfahan, a key site of the Iranian nuclear program, has repeatedly been attacked and extensively damaged before June 21, said Rafael Mariano Grossi, agency director. 'Based on our analysis of the nuclear material present, we don't see any risk of off-site contamination," Grossi said. -Dinah Pulver Attack used bunker-buster bombs The Pentagon's attack on Iran's nuclear facility employed its most powerful bunker-buster bomb as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from submarines, according to a U.S. official. Pentagon planners coordinated the attack with Israel to enter Iran's airspace, said the official who had been briefed on the mission but was not authorized to speak publicly. B-2 bombers dropped GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, the first time they have been used in combat. The stealth bombers were accompanied by other aircraft, the official said, though it was unclear the type of warplane. The Pentagon's most sophisticated fighter, the F-22, was a likely candidate. President Donald Trump declared the attack a success, saying Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities had been completely 'obliterated.' The official, however, said battle-damage assessments had not reached a firm conclusion. −Tom Vanden Brook AOC condemns Trump's attacks, calling it a constitutional violation Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the latest lawmaker to take to social media in the hours after President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran to weigh in on the move, calling it 'grounds for impeachment.' 'The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,' she said in the post on X, formerly Twitter, published shortly after Trump's White House address. Congress is the only branch of government that has the power to declare war, however, presidents have engaged in foreign conflicts in recent decades under the executive authority to authorize defensive strikes 'He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,' Ocasio-Cortez said. 'It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.' −Kathryn Palmer Will Iran counterattack? Tehran could respond to Trump's strikes by launching counterattacks on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, current and former U.S. officials say. American bases in Gulf countries and Iraq and Syria could become targets, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro told USA TODAY before Trump attacked Iran. Iran could also target regional energy facilities and block oil and gas shipments from crossing the Strait of Hormuz, said Shapiro, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in the Biden administration. Roughly 40,000 American troops are stationed in the region. Trump warned in a Truth Social post of 'far greater' force against Iran if it pursues retaliation. −Francesca Chambers Muslim civil rights group condemns U.S. strikes on Iran The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, blasted President Trump's attack as an 'illegal and unjustified act of war' that favors the wishes of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the American people and threatens to drag the United States into a wider conflict. 'We condemn President Trump's illegal and unjustified act of war against Iran,' CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. 'This attack, carried out under pressure from the out-of-control Israeli government, took place despite the longstanding conclusion by our nation's intelligence community that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons.' 'Just as President Bush started a disastrous war in Iraq pushed by war hawks, neoconservatives, and Israeli leaders like Netanyahu, President Trump has attacked Iran based on the same type of false information put forward by those who consistently seek to drag our nation into unnecessary and catastrophic wars,' Awad said. -Josh Meyer Pete Hegseth to hold a press conference from the Pentagon Hours after the U.S. military launched strikes against three nuclear sites in Iran, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House calling the operation a 'spectacular military success.' He said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will hold a press conference at 8 am on July 22 at the Pentagon. Trump said the mission's objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the 'world's number one state sponsor of terror.' 'If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,' said Trump. 'Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.' -Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy Iranian retaliation could happen anywhere, ex-official says Terror alert levels should be elevated in the near term, even in major cities outside the Middle East and anywhere Iran may have sleeper cells, said Andrew Borene, a former senior official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center. 'What happens next is largely going to be driven by Tehran's next moves. Their shadow wars have never been confined to missiles, drones, and cyber attacks,' said Borene, who is now executive director for Global Security at private intelligence firm Flashpoint. Borene said in an analysis that there is 'a real risk of further spillover if Iran resorts to its historical use of asymmetric means through proxy terrorism.' Offensive cyber operations on critical infrastructure, or terrorist attacks by Iranian proxies, also could rapidly derail hope for de-escalation and diplomacy in the near term, Borene said. -Josh Meyer Peace or tragedy, Trump tells Iran 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' Trump said. He noted that there are many other targets in Iran. 'If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes,' he said. -Sarah Wire Trump says 'future attacks' could be worse 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,' Trump said in his address to the nation. 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.' He then described tactics of the regime. 'For 40 years, Iran has been saying, 'Death to America,' 'Death to Israel,'' he said. 'They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. That was their specialty.' The president appeared to be referring to attacks launched by Iran-backed militants in the years after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. -Erin Mansfield Netanyahu congratulates Trump on Iran bombing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Trump for bombing three Iran nuclear sites, saying the decision could lead the Middle East toward a future of 'prosperity and peace.' 'America has been truly unsurpassed,' Netanyahu said in a video statement. 'It has done what no other country on earth could do. History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime the world's most dangerous weapons.' -Erin Mansfield What is Fordow? Fordow is an Iranian underground uranium enrichment facility located about 80 to 90 meters deep inside a mountain, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. More: US bombs Iran: What to know about possible weapon, the 'bunker buster' It is located 20 miles north of the Iranian city of Qom. Fordow was one of three nuclear sites, including Natanz and Isfahan, that were struck by US military operations on July 21 to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. "A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump wrote on Truth Social. -Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy Bomb-carrying B-2 stealth fleet launched from Missouri base B-2 bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri in the early morning hours of June 21. The warplanes are known not only for their stealth technology, but also for their ability to fly long-range and carry the big 'bunker buster' bombs used in the June 21 mission. With design and materials that limit its ability to be detected by enemy radar, the B-2 is thought to be the only aircraft equipped to carry the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, known as the "bunker buster." The entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers is based at Whiteman, southeast of Kansas City, with the 509th Bomb Wing, part of the Air Force Global Strike Command. Fox News reported six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Iran's Fordow nuclear site. -Dinah Pulver Democrats in Congress erupt at Trump Democratic members of Congress expressed outrage over the strikes, which they said they learned about from social media. 'According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop,' said Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, in a post on X. Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman said Trump's handling of the situation was 'disgraceful." He asserted in a post that the U.S. was now at war with Iran. 'And so the United States goes to war with Iran without so much as a by your leave to the American people,' he said. 'No statement, other than on social media; no notice to Congress; no serious deliberation.' He added: 'This is the stuff of autocrats. Disgraceful.' War is something only Congress can formally declare. Lawmakers have also passed resolutions that authorized the use of military force like when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Trump has not said whether he plans to continue the bombing campaign, which he described as a "military operation" in a post on the attack. At least one Democrat came to Trump's defense, however: Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. "As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I'm grateful for and salute the finest military in the world," Fetterman said. Democratic Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that was critical of Trump that Congress should "fully and immediately" be briefed in a classified setting. – Francesca Chambers Can the president bomb a country without Congress? The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. The president is the commander in chief of the military, which means he carries out wars that Congress approves. However, presidents of both political parties have perennially used the U.S. military to bomb or invade countries without formal approval from Congress. There have even been allegations that the Korean War and the Vietnam War were illegal. Congress attempted to limit presidents from using this type of power when it passed the 1973 War Powers Act. Trump was most recently criticized for potentially violating the War Powers Act when he bombed the Houthis in Yemen, notoriously discussed on the SignalGate chat that embarrassed top officials in his administration. -Erin Mansfield B-2 bombers conducted strikes on Iranian targets B-2 bombers conducted a series of strikes on targets in Iran, according to a senior Defense Department official. There were no casualties. Measures to protect the nearly 40,000 U.S. troops in the region have been incrementally increased over the last two weeks, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The Army has been at third of four levels of alert at most places in the region, the official said. -Tom Vanden Brook More: U.S. hits Iran nuclear facilities, braces for counterattack Trump to address nation at 10 pm ET President Trump posted on Truth Social that he will be speaking to the nation at 10 p.m. ET on June 21. "I will be giving an Address to the Nation at 10:00 P.M., at the White House, regarding our very successful military operation in Iran," Trump wrote. "This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!" -Swapna Venugopal Republican lawmaker says Iran strike is 'not constitutional' Trump's decision came under immediate criticism from at least one Republican in Congress: Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. The lawmaker shared Trump's post on social media with the message, 'This is not Constitutional.' Massie had previously introduced a bill to prevent Trump from going to war with Iran without congressional authorization, which drew cosponsors that included progressive Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna of California. The GOP lawmaker was one of two members of Trump's political party who voted against his tax bill in the House of Representatives last month. Trump called him a 'grandstander' ahead of the vote and said he should be 'voted out of office.' Far-right GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of Trump's, publicly pushed for the U.S. to stay out of the war, a half hour before Trump announced the attack. 'Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war,' she said in a post on X. Greene has been one of the most outspoken opponent's within MAGA of American military involvement in the conflict that exploded on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear sites. 'There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first,' she said on June 21. 'Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight. Peace is the answer.' –Francesca Chambers State Department evacuations from Israel Earlier in the day, the State Department began evacuating American citizens and permanent residents from Israel and the West Bank, U.S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on social media. 'The Department of State has begun assisted departure flights from Israel,' Huckabee wrote in a post on X on June 21 asking people seeking government assistance to fill out a form. -Swapna Venugopal How the war started The strikes followed days of Israeli bomb and drone strikes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at disrupting Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon, to which Iran responded by launching missiles at Israeli civilian targets. Netanyahu had been pressing President Donald Trump to enter the war, knowing the Pentagon possesses the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capability. In his first term, Trump pulled out of the Iran deal brokered by President Barack Obama in 2015, saying it did not do enough to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. As the war between Iran and Israel has spiraled in recent days, he has repeated that Iran "cannot" get a nuclear weapon. Iran has threatened that the U.S. would suffer "irreparable damage" if it becomes directly involved in the conflict. The U.S. "should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on June 18. Only US warheads could penetrate Iranian nuclear site The U.S. Air Force has the unique capability to destroy deeply buried, fortified structures like those that house Iran's nuclear facilities. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, has a 'high-performance steel alloy' warhead case that allows the weapon to stay intact as it burrows deep into the ground, according to Pentagon documents. In 2012, the Air Force conducted five tests of the weapon at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Data and visual inspections showed that each bombing run 'effectively prosecuted the targets.' More: Israel wants to demolish Iran's nuclear facilities. Does it need US military help? There's only one warplane in the Air Force that can carry the bomb. Each B-2 Spirit stealth bomber based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri can hold two of the penetrators. Israel had sought the Pentagon to drop the bombs because their penetrating weapons cannot reach the depth necessary to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. -Tom Vanden Brook
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Iran Reacts to US Bombing
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday condemned U.S. airstrikes against three key Iranian nuclear facilities that brought the United States directly into the war between Israel and the Islamic Republic. "The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations," Araghchi, who had also been taking part in nuclear negotiations, posted on X. "The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior. "In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people," he said. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The US has changed the course of the conflict - how will Iran respond?
As Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium in the Israeli prime minister's office this morning, he did not at first address the Israeli people in Hebrew, to update them on the latest, dramatic development in this, his latest war. Instead he spoke in English, speaking directly to, and lavishing praise upon, US President Donald Trump after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites. If Netanyahu's tone was triumphant, and the smile barely suppressed, it is hardly surprising. He has spent most of his political career obsessed with the threat he believes Iran poses to Israel. Netanyahu has spent much of the last 15 years attempting to persuade his American allies that only military action (and only American munitions) could destroy Iran's nuclear weapons programme. While congratulating Trump for a bold decision that "will change history", Netanyahu can also congratulate himself on changing the mind of a US president who campaigned against overseas military adventures, and whose supporters were overwhelmingly opposed to joining Israel's war against Iran. Follow live updates It should also be noted that Trump's own intelligence agencies had not shared Israel's assessment of how quickly Iran could seek to build a nuclear weapon, nor indeed whether it had taken the decision to do so. Throughout this conflict, which began just 10 days ago, Israel's government and military have insisted that Israel had the capacity to deal with the Iranian threat on its own. But it was no secret that only America possessed the massive ordnance capable of dealing with the strongest levels of protection around Iran's nuclear facilities, particularly at Fordo, built deep inside a mountain. If the nuclear sites bombed last night are now indeed out of use then Israel's prime minister will be able to declare his main war aim complete, perhaps bringing this conflict closer to an end. For its part, Iran says it had already moved its nuclear material out. But without last night's bombing, Israel would have continued working its way down the long list of targets its air force has spent years drawing up. Damage would continue to have been inflicted on the Iranian military, on its commanders, on nuclear scientists, on government infrastructure and on the parts of the nuclear programme accessible to Israel's bombs. But Netanyahu may have been denied a clear point at which Israel could say the nuclear threat had been definitively neutralised. Perhaps only regime change in Iran could have delivered that moment. The B2 bombers have undoubtedly changed the trajectory of the war. Whether it escalates even further will depend on how Iran and its allies respond. Last week Iran's supreme leader had vowed to hit back at the US were it to enter the war. "The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Only on Saturday the Houthi group in Yemen - staunch Iranian allies - had threatened to attack US ships transiting through the Red Sea if America entered the war. American military personnel, businesses, and citizens in the region are now potential targets. Iran can strike back in multiple ways, should it so chose, attacking US warships, or bases in the Gulf, and potentially disrupting the flow of oil from the Gulf, and sending the price of petrol soaring. The US has signalled that, for now, its military action is over, and it has no interest in bringing down the government in Tehran. That may encourage Iran to limit its response, perhaps attacking US targets in ways that do not lead to high casualties, or using proxies in the region to do the same. Iran chose to follow this course after Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qasem Soleimani in 2020. On Saturday night, the US president repeated his own threat to Iran, to use overwhelming force to counter any retaliation. This morning the whole of the Middle East is holding its breath, waiting to see whether this marks the beginning of the end of this conflict, or the beginning of an even more deadly phase to the war. What we know about US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities Trump's Iran gamble fraught with risk - at home and abroad
