How much killing is enough for these destructive old men?
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WAR
Cathy Wilcox thinks of the Wild West (Letters, 17/6). The events in the Middle East remind me of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and of Greek tragedy: apparently irreconcilable differences in perspective and belief leading to endless violence. In Greek tragedy, a family cursed by the gods tears itself apart, the violence fuelled by destructive old men on each side. In Northern Ireland, the war ended when both sides grew tired of burying their children.
Presently, we are like a Greek chorus, flapping around, waiting for the gods to intervene. They won't. Destructive old men will still make the decisions until both sides grow tired of burying their innocents.
David McLachlan, Armadale
Iran regime a danger
Why are we not uniting with the free world and Israel and putting an end to the Iran regime? I fully support Israel's approach. How can a country sit back and watch while being told you should not exist and they fund terrorist organisations? How long should the world sit back while they continue their nuclear secrecy?
Steve Robertson, Torquay
Lack of diplomatic skills
One of President Donald Trump's thoughts about the Iran-Israel conflict was 'sometimes they have to fight it out, but we're going to see what happens'. That idea might possibly work for a couple of kids fighting in the schoolyard but it's an inane and unhelpful comment about an extremely volatile moment in global politics and one that demonstrates the leader of the free world's limited grasp of foreign affairs and lack of diplomatic skills.
Ross Bardin, Williamstown
Wiping their enemies off the map
As your correspondent points out (Letters, 17/6), when Iran had its Islamist revolution in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini quickly made it clear that Israel must be annihilated. From the very start Iran's Jihadist mission has been to wipe Israel off the map, reclaim Jerusalem and establish a caliphate. A nuclear weapon is merely the tool.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East
Fighting for its survival
Your correspondent (Letters, 17/6) has no deep understanding of the threat to Israel's existence by Iran. The Iranian Mullah leadership has called for the total destruction of the Jewish state of Israel for over 20 years. It is terrible to see the destruction and killing of innocent civilians in both Israel and Iran. Iran has paid the way for its proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Syria – to continue to fight for the destruction of Israel. The Israeli government saw the immediate opportunity to stop the Iranian threat of developing nuclear missiles.
Diplomacy was being stalled and delayed by Iran while it continued to develop nuclear warheads in breach of its agreement. If the Iran threat is not eliminated now, then Iran would continue to achieve its goal of a nuclear arsenal. Israel has not 'crossed the line'. It is fighting for its survival against a tyrannical state seeking Israel's total annihilation.
Ian Fayman, Malvern East
No winner but arms dealers
The current wars are being waged by control freaks as they have been for centuries. Now we have Iran and Israel, each wanting to wipe the other out. It won't happen but how many innocent lives will be lost? No one will be winners except the arms manufacturers. If all leaders sat around a table and included the International Criminal Court it might be a start.
Ian Anderson, Surrey Hills
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2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
No diplomatic breakthrough as Israel-Iran war drags on
Talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran have failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war enters its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries. European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasising that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking. "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes," he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue "for as long as it takes" to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without US help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli air strikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Israel's defence minister said on Saturday it killed a commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the 20-month long war in Gaza. Saeed Izadi, who was commander of the Palestine Corps for the elite Iranian Quds Force, was killed in an apartment in the city of Qom. Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the US, France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the US out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel said its warplanes hit dozens of military targets across Iran on Friday, including missile-manufacturing facilities, while an Iranian missile hit Israel's northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people. Iranian state media reported explosions from Israeli strikes in an industrial area of Rasht, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Israel's military had warned Iranians to leave the area around Rasht's Industrial City, but with Iran's internet shut off - now for more than 48 hours - it's unclear how many people could see the message. The Israeli military believes it has destroyed most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, contributing to the steady decline in Iranian attacks. But several of the roughly three dozen missiles that Israel said Iran fired on Friday slipped through the country's aerial defences, setting off air-raid sirens across the country and sending shrapnel flying into a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba, where a hospital was hit on Thursday. Talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran have failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war enters its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries. European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasising that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking. "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes," he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue "for as long as it takes" to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without US help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli air strikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Israel's defence minister said on Saturday it killed a commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the 20-month long war in Gaza. Saeed Izadi, who was commander of the Palestine Corps for the elite Iranian Quds Force, was killed in an apartment in the city of Qom. Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the US, France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the US out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel said its warplanes hit dozens of military targets across Iran on Friday, including missile-manufacturing facilities, while an Iranian missile hit Israel's northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people. Iranian state media reported explosions from Israeli strikes in an industrial area of Rasht, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Israel's military had warned Iranians to leave the area around Rasht's Industrial City, but with Iran's internet shut off - now for more than 48 hours - it's unclear how many people could see the message. The Israeli military believes it has destroyed most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, contributing to the steady decline in Iranian attacks. But several of the roughly three dozen missiles that Israel said Iran fired on Friday slipped through the country's aerial defences, setting off air-raid sirens across the country and sending shrapnel flying into a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba, where a hospital was hit on Thursday. Talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran have failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war enters its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries. European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasising that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking. "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes," he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue "for as long as it takes" to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without US help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli air strikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Israel's defence minister said on Saturday it killed a commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the 20-month long war in Gaza. Saeed Izadi, who was commander of the Palestine Corps for the elite Iranian Quds Force, was killed in an apartment in the city of Qom. Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the US, France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the US out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel said its warplanes hit dozens of military targets across Iran on Friday, including missile-manufacturing facilities, while an Iranian missile hit Israel's northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people. Iranian state media reported explosions from Israeli strikes in an industrial area of Rasht, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Israel's military had warned Iranians to leave the area around Rasht's Industrial City, but with Iran's internet shut off - now for more than 48 hours - it's unclear how many people could see the message. The Israeli military believes it has destroyed most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, contributing to the steady decline in Iranian attacks. But several of the roughly three dozen missiles that Israel said Iran fired on Friday slipped through the country's aerial defences, setting off air-raid sirens across the country and sending shrapnel flying into a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba, where a hospital was hit on Thursday. Talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran have failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war enters its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries. European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasising that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking. "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes," he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue "for as long as it takes" to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without US help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli air strikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Israel's defence minister said on Saturday it killed a commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the 20-month long war in Gaza. Saeed Izadi, who was commander of the Palestine Corps for the elite Iranian Quds Force, was killed in an apartment in the city of Qom. Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the US, France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the US out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel said its warplanes hit dozens of military targets across Iran on Friday, including missile-manufacturing facilities, while an Iranian missile hit Israel's northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people. Iranian state media reported explosions from Israeli strikes in an industrial area of Rasht, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Israel's military had warned Iranians to leave the area around Rasht's Industrial City, but with Iran's internet shut off - now for more than 48 hours - it's unclear how many people could see the message. The Israeli military believes it has destroyed most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, contributing to the steady decline in Iranian attacks. But several of the roughly three dozen missiles that Israel said Iran fired on Friday slipped through the country's aerial defences, setting off air-raid sirens across the country and sending shrapnel flying into a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba, where a hospital was hit on Thursday.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Bunker ‘did not exist': Aussie reporter's terrifying scramble for shelter in Israel amid missile threat
An Aussie journalist has spoken of the chilling moment she realised a bunker she'd been trying to seek shelter in 'did not exist' as Iran launched missiles at Israel amid the countries' ongoing, deadly conflict. Channel 7 Europe Correspondent Jacquelin Robson is in Israel reporting on the country's escalating conflict with Iran. Robson told Sunrise she was out filming with her crew when they received an alert to seek shelter after missiles were fired from Iran. She was forced to pull over and try to find somewhere to shelter, telling the program of the chilling moment she realised a bunker she'd been trying to take refuge in didn't exist. 'There were some locals who were calling us over to a bunker, and we soon discovered that that bunker did not exist,' Robson told Sunrise. 'The final siren then sounded, and we were forced to run to find shelter, and found some space between some buildings.' Sirens can be heard going off in the footage as Robson puts on a helmet, crouching down in a corner against a building. An explosion can be heard in the footage, with Robson saying it was the sound of a ballistic missile being intercepted. Israel last week attacked a string of Iranian nuclear and military sites, with missiles fired back and forth between the countries since. There have been reports of 224 deaths in Iran as a result of the deadly conflict. Israeli Military chief of staff Eyal Zamir on Friday warned the IDF was prepared for a 'prolonged campaign'. 'We have embarked on one the most complex campaigns in our history,' Mr Zamir said, according to SBS. 'We have embarked on a campaign to remove a threat of this magnitude and against such an enemy that requires readiness for a prolonged campaign. 'The IDF is prepared for this. 'Day by day, our freedom of action is expanding and the enemy's freedom of action is shrinking.' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said the country was 'ready to consider diplomacy once again, once the aggression is stopped', SBS reported. 'In this regard, I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are not negotiable,' Mr Araghchi said. He said Iran's nuclear program was 'peaceful'.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
If Iran's bunkers are busted, what might escape?
Remember Chernobyl? Remember Fukushima? So, is bombing Iran's nuclear facilities really such a good idea? Concern is growing across the Middle East that the fallout of Israel's assault on Iran will not just be political, economic and potentially military. They're anxiously watching for spikes in radiation. Qatar's energy ministry has announced it has enhanced its monitoring activities and is working with neighbouring states to plan for any necessary response. 'We have to emphasise, when we are talking about the waters of the Gulf, it's the main source of water for all of us here in the region,' foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told media this week. 'The international community has to make it very clear that any targeting of nuclear facilities, any targeting of fuel or energy facilities in this region, would have ramifications that are unknown to us in the Gulf.' Iran has only one functioning nuclear reactor, at Bushehr on the country's southwestern coast. There is also a small research reactor near Tehran. But it does have several uranium processing plants and nuclear research facilities scattered around the country. Usually deep underground. Israel has struck several nuclear sites in the past week. It's hit Iran's largest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in the central province of Isfahan. The smaller Fordow fuel enrichment plant near the city of Qom has been damaged. As has a heavy water nuclear plant in Arak. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that radioactive material has been released at at least one site. 'Within the Natanz facility there is both radiological and chemical contamination,' its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, stated earlier this week. 'Considering the type of nuclear material at this facility, it is possible that Uranium isotopes contained in Uranium Hexafluoride, Uranyl Fluoride and Hydrogen Fluoride are dispersed inside the facility.' But Uranium enrichment and heavy water plants are not nuclear reactors. And that's a critical factor in assessing the risk of any bombing campaign. Radiological release Explosions and drone strikes on and around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have sent shivers through the spines of nuclear analysts around the world since President Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion. His troops now occupy the site. And while it has been idled to halt the flow of electricity, it still poses a serious environmental risk. Ukraine knows what that means. The forest surrounding the wreck of the Soviet-era Chornobyl power plant is expected to remain unsafe for human habitation for at least 22,000 years. And the clean-up of Japan's Fukushima isn't likely to be completed before the mid-2050s. So what about Iran's bombed nuclear facilities? Only reactors have the highly radioactive fuel rods needed to turn water into the superheated steam that drives generators to produce electricity. So far, Iran's reactors at Bushehr and Tehran have been spared from attack. Its uranium enrichment and heavy water manufacturing plants, however, have not. Uranium enrichment involves powerful centrifuges. These spin uranium yellowcake, as dug out of the ground, into powders and gas. And the spinning separates these materials into their component isotopes (atomic elements) according to their weight. Weapons-grade enrichment demands concentrations of the isotope U-235 of more than 90 per cent. Nuclear fuel only needs between 3 and 5 per cent. Iran is alleged to have amassed 400kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent U-235. And the effort needed to take that to 90 per cent represents only a fortnight inside the centrifuges. Even then, the material is not suitable for weapons. The gas and powders must be turned into a metal. Only then can it be machined into devices capable of triggering a nuclear detonation. So, the most significant risk of bombing processing sites such as Natanz is the release of uranium hexafluoride gas. 'It's a big, heavy gas molecule,' says University of Alabama at Birmingham physicist Emily Caffrey. 'It's likely not going to travel super-far.' That means any escape from sites such as Fordow will likely only contaminate the immediate area. But the attack on the Arak reactor, some 250km southwest of Tehran, could potentially have produced more severe contamination. Heavy water is used for medical processes and nuclear research. And while not radioactive itself, the process of making it can produce deadly plutonium and deuterium. Both can be used in nuclear weapons. Long term threat 'We have nothing to be concerned about right now, but obviously prolonged escalation will have unpredictable consequences,' warns Qatar's al-Ansari. Assessment of satellite photos reveals most of the above-ground structures at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility have been destroyed. But the sites associated with the deep underground caverns holding the vital centrifuges appear untouched. That, according to analysts, does not mean they're undamaged. Sudden interruption to the power control could send the centrifuges spinning out of control. And shockwaves from nearby blasts could topple them from their mountings. The similar Fordow bunker facility does not yet appear to have been hit. But it is believed to be where most of the highly enriched, 60 per cent U-235 material is located. 'There's not a significant, dire health threat if those materials got released to the environment,' Union of Concerned Scientists spokesman Edwin Lymann told US public media. The kinds of uranium isotopes found within these facilities 'are at the low end of hazard with regard to radioactive materials,' he added. The IAEA agrees. To a point. 'The radiation, primarily consisting of alpha particles, poses a significant danger if Uranium is inhaled or ingested,' Director Grossi states. 'However, this risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the affected facilities. The main concern inside the facility is the chemical toxicity of the Uranium Hexafluoride and the Fluoride compounds generated at the contact with water.' Uranium hexafloride can combine with moisture in the air to create hydrofluoric acid. This is highly corrosive and is used in glass etching and electronics manufacturing. But it can enter the human body through the skin, eyes or inhalation. 'That is an acutely hazardous material that can harm or kill people,' Lyman explains. Once in the body, it interferes with the nervous system and burns soft tissues. But not all of Israel's targets are limited to Uranium Hexafluoride. Images of the heavy water facility at Arak show its central reactor structure has been hit. And analysts say four other nuclear sites, mostly associated with turning the enriched uranium into a metal, have been targeted. This potentially means long-lived, highly radioactive fragments are scattered among the debris.
