MARK ALMOND: Iran now has Britain in its sights and sees an attack with hypersonic missiles as a smart move. The gloves have come off
As American 'bunker-busting' bombs rained down on three major Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities last night, the face of the Middle East changed forever.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally got his wish: the US is at war with .
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The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel 'very close' to achieving goals in war with Iran, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel is 'very close' to achieving its goals in the war with Iran, adding that he is 'genuine friends' with the US president and knew in advance about the US strikes. The US military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel's effort to destroy Iran's nuclear program
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Iranians ‘moved enriched uranium before US strikes'
Iran claims to have smuggled almost all of the country's highly enriched uranium to a secret location before the United States launched strikes on its nuclear bases. Donald Trump dispatched seven B-2 stealth bombers from American soil to drop massive bunker-busting bombs on three enrichment facilities, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, on Saturday night, in an effort to pummel Tehran's nuclear programme. Following the strikes, Mr Trump on Sunday said the US took the bomb 'right out of Iran's hands'. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: 'We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands.' His defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Iran's nuclear ambitions had been 'obliterated'. But officials believe that most of the material at Fordow, 400kg of 60 percent enriched uranium, had been moved elsewhere before the attack codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer. Satellite images of convoys leaving all three sites in recent days appeared to support Iran's claims that it moved its 400kg stockpile – much of it previously held at Isfahan. One image, released by Maxar Technologies, a US defence contractor, appeared to show a line of 16 trucks snaking down a road near to the entrance of the Fordow plant on June 19, which is concealed with earth and rubble. Trucks, bulldozers and security convoys appeared to swarm Fordow, with analysts suggesting the image revealed a 'frantic effort' to move centrifuges or shielding materials, according to TS2 Space, a Polish defence firm. Other images showed that Natanz, Iran's largest enrichment site, had already been damaged by extensive Israeli strikes. This means Iran could still possess the material needed to develop a nuclear weapon, although this would be several years away and dependent on Tehran's ability to rebuild vital equipment. Ronen Solomon, an Israeli intelligence analyst, told The Telegraph that even if Iran had moved its uranium, it would be 'like having fuel without a car', adding: 'They have the uranium, but they can't do a lot with it, unless they have built something we don't know about on a small scale.' Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to the supreme leader, said: 'Even assuming the complete destruction of the sites, the game is not over, because enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, and political will remain intact.' Uranium enrichment is the process of increasing the concentration of the uranium-235 isotope in natural uranium. To build a nuclear weapon, uranium must be enriched to about 90 per cent U-235. Once enriched to that level, the material is considered 'weapons grade'. Iran enriches uranium using centrifuges, which spin uranium hexafluoride gas at high speeds to separate the uranium isotopes, increasing the concentration of U-235. This process, called centrifuge enrichment, is done in stages called cascades. Iran has been progressively installing more advanced centrifuges, like the IR-2m and IR-6 models, which are faster and more efficient than the older IR-1 centrifuges. The more advanced the centrifuge, the faster and more efficiently it can separate uranium-235 from uranium-238 and in turn, speed up the time needed to make a nuclear bomb. Iran's current centrifuge capacity could allow it to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb in less than two weeks, according to the Arms Control Association. It is transported inside steel cylinders, specially designed to withstand significant pressure and temperature changes, according to the World Nuclear Association. The cylinders are then placed inside an extra level of protective casing, called an overpack, and can be transported via rail, road and sea. Iran produces most of its near weapons-grade material at Fordow, its most heavily fortified nuclear facility, buried deep within a mountain, and considered a high-value target for America. The base, reportedly shielded by half a mile of rock, could only be penetrated by the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators or MOP, weapons experts said prior to the attack. The bunker-busting MOPs are the largest and most powerful conventional bombs in the US arsenal. As of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6kg (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found. It was an increase of 133.8kg (294.9 pounds), or almost 50 per cent, since the IAEA's last report in February. JD Vance, the US vice-president, appeared to confirm the suggestion that the material had been moved at the 11th hour. 'We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,' he told ABC News. On Saturday, stealth pilots pummelled Iran's nuclear programme with 14 GBU-57 bombs, each weighing 30,000lbs, while a US submarine launched a further two dozen Tomahawk missiles. In a televised address to the US a few hours later, Mr Trump said the strikes had 'completely and totally obliterated' three of Iran's nuclear sites – and warned of worse to come. 'This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' he added. The full extent of the damage inside Fordow remains unclear. At a news conference on Sunday, Gen Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: 'Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.' Yet Two Israeli officials told the New York Times that their initial analysis suggested the fortified site at Fordow had sustained serious damage but had not been completely destroyed. They also said Iran appeared to have moved equipment and uranium away from the site. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim.
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
Abrego Garcia ordered released pending trial on migrant smuggling charges
NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Sunday ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant returned to the U.S. in early June after being wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador, released on bail pending his criminal trial on migrant smuggling charges. But the decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tennessee does not necessarily mean Abrego, as he prefers to be known, will go home to his family. The judge had acknowledged at a June 13 court hearing that Abrego was likely to be placed in immigration detention even if he is released. Abrego, a Maryland resident whose wife and young child are U.S. citizens, was deported on March 15 to El Salvador, despite a 2019 immigration court ruling that he not be sent there because he could be persecuted by gangs. Officials called his removal an "administrative error," but for months said they could not bring him back. Critics of President Donald Trump pointed to Abrego's case as evidence his administration was prioritizing increased deportations over due process, the bedrock principle that people in the U.S., whether citizens or not, can contest governmental actions against them in the courts. Trump, who has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration, has said Abrego belongs to the MS-13 gang - an accusation that his lawyers deny. The Justice Department brought Abrego back to the U.S. on June 6 after earlier securing an indictment charging him with working with at least five co-conspirators as part of a smuggling ring to bring immigrants to the United States illegally. Prosecutors say Abrego, 29, picked up migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border more than 100 times, and also transported firearms and drugs. Abrego has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say the Trump administration brought the charges to cover up their violations of Abrego's rights, and say the alleged co-conspirators cooperating with prosecutors should not be trusted because they are seeking relief from deportation and criminal charges of their own. In her ruling Sunday, Holmes said the government failed to show that Abrego posed a danger to the community or was unlikely to appear in court, scheduling a hearing for Wednesday. In a separate civil case, Greenbelt, Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is investigating whether the Trump administration violated her order to facilitate Abrego's return from El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld that order.
