Arab countries next target of US, Israel, says J&K Ex-CM Farooq Abdullah

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah warned the Arab countries on Monday that they will be the next target of Israel and the US as Tel Aviv and Washington are eyeing their oil and gas.
"It is their (United States') long-time policy that Iran should not become a nuclear power. Even the Sunni countries in the region are against it but they do not have the courage to speak up.
"Today, they think Iran has been attacked, but I want to warn them through you that one day, Israel will attack them also, because they want their wealth like oil and gas. Israel is only a facade, America is standing right behind," Abdullah told reporters after a party meeting at Nawa-i-Subah here.
Asked about the impact of the escalation of the war in the Middle East, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said it will severely affect the economic condition of all countries.
"I am hopeful that the (other) world powers are watching the situation. If this (war) escalates, the economic condition of every country will head towards ruin. They should try to stop it and I pray that they are successful as our condition in India is also very bad," he added.
"Who told them (about the conditions)? Did they get a revelation? The media here is habitual of spreading lies, it does not speak the truth. Statehood is a right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is not a favour to them," he said.
Earlier, Abdullah said the NC has formed a human rights wing that will be headed by Pampore MLA Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi, who will be assisted by two other members.

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an hour ago

• News18

National Conference May Approach Supreme Court Over J&K Statehood Delay, Says Farooq Abdullah

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir acknowledged that his party is 'waiting patiently' for the Centre to fulfil its commitment regarding statehood National Conference president Farooq Abdullah warned on Saturday that his party would approach the Supreme Court of India if there was any further significant delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing reporters in Kokernag after a party workers' meeting, Abdullah expressed the widespread local desire for an immediate resolution of their issues, which he said is hindered by the region's current union territory status. Abdullah underscored that the local populace, particularly following the elections late last year, is eager for its demands to be met, including the desire to see its elected representatives, such as National Conference MLA Altaf Kaloo, take on ministerial roles. However, he noted that these aspirations cannot be realised until full statehood is restored. He expressed hope that the restoration of statehood would also return 'all the powers" previously enjoyed by the region. The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir acknowledged that his party is 'waiting patiently" for the Centre to fulfil its commitment regarding statehood. However, he warned that if the central government 'takes a long time", the National Conference would have 'no option but to go to the Supreme Court". Several mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are frustrated over the prolonged delay in reversing the 2019 decision that stripped the erstwhile state of its special status under Article 370 and bifurcated it into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The Supreme Court, in its December 2023 verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370, had directed the Election Commission of India to take necessary steps to hold elections in the assembly by September 30, 2024, and urged the government to restore statehood at an early date. Despite the recent assembly elections, statehood remains elusive. (With PTI inputs) First Published: June 21, 2025, 22:46 IST

First Post

3 hours ago

• First Post

Netanyahu is the real winner in US bombing of Iran nuclear plants

Donald Trump always wanted to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. Benjamin Netanyahu only had to convince him read more US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (Photo: AFP) After an agonising and frustrating wait of more than two decades in which he desperately tried to convince the US to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, Benjamin Netanyahu had his moment on Saturday night. The Israeli PM has finally convinced Israel's best friend Donald Trump to bomb Iran's three critical nuclear facilities while Operation Rising Lion continued to bomb Iran into submission without much success. June 21, 2025, will go down in West Asia's (Middle East) history as the most defining moment after Nakba and the four Arab-Israeli Wars. Seven B-2 Spirit bombers dropped 12 GBU-57A/B bunker buster bombs, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), on Iran' secretive, subterranean Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant—buried 80 metres in mountains 30 km north of the Iranian city of Qom—and two on Natanz. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 🇺🇸🇮🇷 This is how the US Army's Bunker Buster bomb is supposed to work on Iran's Fordow nuclear site. — Jesse Cohen (@JesseCohenInv) June 21, 2025 Meanwhile, US submarines fired 30 BGM-109 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles at Isfahan. Iranian officials have downplayed the impact, especially on Fordow. 'Based on precise information, I am able to state that contrary to the claims of the lying president of the United States, the Fordow nuclear installation has not been seriously damaged. Most of the affected areas were above ground and can be fully restored,' said Manan Raeisi, an Iranian lawmaker representing Qom. For years, the Netanyahu had raised the spectre of Iran developing a nuke on the pretext of enriching uranium and nuking his country, the only nuclear power in West Asia. 'The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear that they [Iran] were working on a secret plan to weaponise the uranium. They were marching very quickly,' Netanyahu told Fox News on June 15. Bibi's claim was the exact opposite of what America had concluded for years with the most recent 'Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and supreme leader [Ayatollah] Khomeini has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme that he suspended in 2003,' Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence (DNI), said on March 26. In its November 2024 report, too, the Office of the DNI made the same conclusion: 'The Intelligence Community continues to assess that as of September 26, 2024, Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.' In October of the same year, then-CIA director William Burns said that the CIA doesn't 'see evidence today that the supreme leader has reversed the decision that he took at the end of 2003 to suspend the weaponisation programme'. A year earlier, Burns had said the same thing. 'We don't believe that the supreme leader in Iran has yet made a decision to resume the weaponisation programme.' A March 2024 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states: 'Neither the US government nor the IAEA have publicly described any evidence that Iran is conducting covert nuclear activities.' Even the 2022 US Nuclear Posture Review concludes that Iran 'does not today possess a nuclear weapon and we currently believe it is not pursuing one'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Yet with the approval of Trump, who had given a 60-day ultimatum to Tehran to sign a new nuclear deal after five rounds of US-Iran talks and later dismissed Gabbard's assessment, Netanyahu went ahead. Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13, couldn't have been launched at a more opportune time to target Iranian nuclear facilities. The October 7 Hamas terrorist attack was the darkest blot on Netanyahu's career, dealing a massive blow to his reputation as a strong leader. The war with Hamas has dragged on for more than 1.5 years despite the elimination of its top leadership and that of Hezbollah and the overthrow of Iran's ally and former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The hostage crisis exacerbated the situation with polls showing him losing in the next election. The devastating bombing of Gaza, with thousands dead, triggered global condemnation. The Opposition was hammering Netanyahu. The blitzkrieg against Iran was Bibi's last chance to continue in power with the Opposition now rallying behind him. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Operation Rising Lion for how long? Israel launched the massive military operation against Hamas immediately after the group's terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Netanyahu had pledged to destroy Hamas and end its rule in Gaza. However, after more than 1.5 years, Hamas, though severely degraded, is present in Gaza. When Operation Rising Lion was launched, it seemed that Iran would be bombed into submission and renegotiate a nuclear deal with Trump. However, Iran retaliated with a barrage of missile strikes, including the hypersonic Fattah series, with several of them evading Israel's famed missile shield (Arrow 3, 2, David's Sling and Iron Dome) and the US THAAD system. Iran responded with another salvo of missile strikes after the US bombings. Netanyahu had realised that the operation can't continue forever with Iran's nuclear enrichment programme intact. Iran has, at least, 20 nuclear facilities, above and below the ground, dispersed all over the country due to the threat posed by US precision-guided munitions and Israeli airstrike capability. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel targeted three important nuclear facilities: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. Natanz, the heart of Iran's enrichment programme, has two plants. The fuel enrichment plant (FEP) is vast, located 20 meters below and enriches uranium up to five per cent. The above-ground pilot fuel enrichment plant (PFEP) enriches uranium up to 60 per cent purity. The site has six above-ground buildings and three underground buildings, two of which can house 50,000 centrifuges. According to the IAEA, the Israeli strike severely damaged four critical buildings at Natanz, including the PFEP and an electrical substation. However, most of the research and development work at the PFEP had already been moved to the FEP. Though Israel claimed that the FEP had collapsed, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said, 'No indication of a physical attack on the underground cascade hall containing part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant and the main fuel enrichment plant.' However, later he said that the underground plant was also directly hit. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Isfahan, the largest nuclear research complex, has three Chinese-supplied research reactors, a conversion facility, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant and other facilities and laboratories. Iran also builds centrifuge parts, prepares uranium for enrichment, converts yellowcake to uranium hexafluoride, produces reactor fuel and makes uranium metal for nukes. Satellite imagery showed that four buildings at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, were damaged. However, most of the enriched uranium stockpile, stored in an underground facility at Isfahan, per Grossi, has been missing since the war started. Fordow, constructed secretly 80 metres underground in a mountain and the most protected N-enrichment centre, has 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium up to 60 per cent. Iran started the plant in 2002 but made it public only in 2009. In 2018, Israel made 55,000 documents seized in Iran public. According to Netanyahu, blueprints showed that Iran aimed to produce WGU at Fordow for one or two nuclear weapons annually. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD ISIS chief David Albright says, 'It's hundreds of thousands of pages. I mean, you just can't make that amount of stuff up. … they have no reason to do that other than to go the next step and turn it into weapon-grade uranium.' According to ISIS, 'Iran can convert its current stock of 60 per cent enriched uranium into 233 kg of weapon-grade uranium in three weeks at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.' Satellite imagery shows that Israeli airstrikes caused little damage to the Fordow plant. 📸New high-resolution satellite images collected by @maxar show no damage to the primary buildings at the Fordow enrichment facility. See here: — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 14, 2025 Time was running out for Netanyahu The big question is if Iran's nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, why does it enrich uranium beyond 3.67 per cent? To destroy the underground sites, Israel needed bunker buster bombs. Israel's biggest bunker buster is the US-supplied 2,268-kg GBU (guided bomb unit)-28. Tests have shown that the bomb can penetrate 30.5 metres of earth, around 10 metres more than the depth of the Natanz plant. The other Israeli bunker busters, GBU-31 and BLU-109, have a penetration depth of only 3.6 metres and 2.4 metres. Israel's only warplane that can deliver the GBU-28 is the F-15I Ra'am, a superior version of the US F-15 Strike Eagle that has a greater range than its F-35I Adir and F-16I Sufa and is best suited for long-range strikes. Israel's best option for destroying Natanz was the US 13,600-kg GBU-57A/B, which can penetrate 61 meters. But Israel has neither the bomb nor the delivery platform. Only the US stealth B-2 Spirit bomber is programmed to deliver the MOP and can carry two such bombs. Again, more than one B-2 were needed to bomb all the underground facilities. The B-2 can drop the equivalent of 5 Ford F-350s onto a target. The bomb shown here is a GBU 57 bunker buster weighing in at a robust 30,000lbs. Not something you want to be on the wrong side — 🐺 (@LeighWolf) June 17, 2025 Several MOPs would have been required to strike a particular spot on Fordow to destroy the plant. In a $18.82 billion deal signed in 2024, the US State Department cleared the acquisition of 50 new F-15IAs, based on the F-15EX, and 25 F-15I+, an upgraded version of the Ra'am. The F-15EX's biggest advantage is that it can carry the GBU-57A/B. Netanyahu knew Iran didn't have a choice Iran never had a choice except signing a new nuclear deal. After the fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome, Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made a preliminary proposal to Iran. Under the proposal, Iran wouldn't construct enrichment facilities, dismantle critical infrastructure for conversion and processing of uranium, halt new research and development on centrifuges, make underground enrichment facilities non-operational for a period of time agreed by the parties and limit enrichment in above-ground facilities temporarily to the level needed for nuclear reactor fuel per IAEA guidelines. The proposal's best part was that Iran could enrich uranium up to three per cent, needed for nuclear power reactors, after a regional enrichment consortium is created. Besides, US sanctions would be lifted after Iran demonstrated 'real commitment' to the satisfaction of America and the IAEA. However, Tehran was adamant and the sixth round of talks were never held after Israel attacked Iran. A shrewd and calculating Netanyahu knew that Iran wouldn't agree to scrapping enrichment and managed to convince Trump during several phone calls that bombing the nuclear facilities was the only option. In fact, Trump always favoured bombing Iran—all Bibi had to do was to persuade him. In early 2020, Trump's foreign policy advisers twice suggested attacking Iran's nuclear plants if he lost the election. After losing the election, Trump considered missile strikes in response to provocations against American interests in the region. Then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, stopped him. 'If you do this, you're gonna have a fuc*ing war,' he said. In November 2020, Trump convened an Oval Office meeting and asked senior aides about the attack options against Natanz. Milley and other then-Cabinet members, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and acting-defence secretary Christopher C Miller, warned that a strike could trigger a broader conflict. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal in late 2024, Trump's transition team was seriously considering striking Iran's nuclear facilities to stop Tehran from building nukes. Hinting at the possibility of pre-emptive strikes on Iran's N-sites, Trump told the TIME magazine in a wide-ranging interview on November 25 that 'anything can happen; it's a very volatile situation.' Netanyahu always had Trump's backing along the way. The US president fooled the media and European powers and the media into believing that he wasn't sure about bombing Iran and still considered a nuclear deal as the best option. Trump's most recent ploy to mislead the world and the media was his two-weeks diplomacy deadline to Iran to negotiate a deal. During Trump's Middle East tour in May, the international media reported that Trump skipped Israel delivering a message to Netanyahu that the Gaza bombardment and his insistence on bombing Iran had rankled him. Both Trump and Netanyahu knew Iran was without options. Operation Rising Lion was launched with Trump's approval and the US bombing was next. Iran has no choice even now—and neither there will be a wide-ranging war in the Middle East. No country in the region will join Iran against the US and Israel. Like the Israel's massive airstrikes against Iran and the US bombings, there's a barrage of media reports that Trump has pushed Middle East into a war. The Iranian reaction is typical warning the US of 'everlasting consequences.' 'The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,' Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X. Trump has warned striking Iran with 'force far greater than what was witnessed tonight (Saturday)' if it retaliates. '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…if peace does not come quickly we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,' he posted on Truth Social. Iran had warned the US of attacking its bases in the region when Trump considered bombing its nuclear facilities a few days ago. Iran can only retaliate with missiles and drones. Its air force, comprising old jets like the F-14, MiG-29 and Su-24, is too weak to attack the US bases. It Iran retaliates, it will be really 'obliterated', the word used by Trump after bombing the three N-facilities, this time. The US bases in the region pack a massive punch powerful enough to take on any military. The US has around 40,000-50,000 and military assets on, at least, 19 bases in the region, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, the largest US military base in the Middle East, houses around 100 aircraft and drones, 10,000 troops and is the forward headquarters for US Central Command (CENTCOM). The headquarters of the US Navy Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, which have around 9,000 US military and civilian personnel, provides security to ships and aircraft. Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, is the main logistics, supply and command hub for CENTCOM. The Al-Dhafra airbase, UAE, houses the best US stealth jet, the F-22, and surveillance planes, drones and AWACS. The Erbil Air Base, Iraq, is used by US for air operations in northern Iraq and Syria. Iraq also has the Al Asad Air Base, used to assassinate IRGC's Quds Force leader Qasem. The US has two aircraft carriers, nine destroyers and multiple fighter wings in the region that can destroy Iran. The USS Nimitz aircraft carried is already headed to the Middle East to join the USS Carl Vinson. Besides, the USS Gerald R Ford, America's most advanced aircraft carrier, will depart for Europe on June 24. The guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and destroyers USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence are part of the UUS Carl Vinson. The Carrier Air Wing 2 includes around 50 jets, including F/A-18E/F, F-35C and E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare fighters. Three other destroyers, the USS Sullivans, the USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Thomas Hudner, are in the eastern Mediterranean. Another pair of independent destroyers are in the Red Sea. The USS Nimitz, which has similar air power, has four guided-missile destroyers. The writer is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. He tweets as @FightTheBigots. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not reflect Firstpost's views.

News18

4 hours ago

• News18

Were Foreign Workers Barred From Israeli Bomb Shelters? Viral Videos Stir Online Debate

Last Updated: One of the most widely circulated videos appears to show an Israeli man allegedly preventing Thai and other foreign workers from entering an underground shelter Several purported videos have surfaced on social media claiming that foreign workers in Israel were denied access to bomb shelters amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. The conflict, now in its 11th consecutive day, shows no signs of de-escalation, with both sides continuing to launch missiles and drones at each other. In Israel, where most homes are equipped with bunkers due to long-standing civil defence laws, citizens have been regularly taking shelter as sirens sound across cities. Since the 1950s, Israeli law has required all new buildings to include bomb shelters as part of civil defence preparedness. Amid rising tensions, the newly circulated videos allege that some foreign workers are being barred from using these shelters. News18 has not independently verified the videos but has reviewed clips that have been widely shared across platforms. One of the most widely circulated videos appears to show an Israeli man allegedly preventing Thai and other foreign workers from entering an underground shelter. In the footage, the workers stand outside a closed shelter door. One of them asks, 'Why are you preventing us?" The man replies, 'You are Thai, and the shelter is for Jews only." Footage shows israelis preventing Thai & foreign workers from using public bunkers — don't work for israelis, don't trade with them: learn — Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) June 16, 2025 Another video, shared by a Chinese worker in Israel, claims that only Israelis are allowed to enter the shelters. The man adds, 'My conscience does not allow me to sympathise with the Jews. I really can't understand their behaviour." In a separate video, a Ukrainian woman in Tel Aviv claims she was denied entry to a shelter because she is not Jewish. 'They told us, 'We're not obligated to let you in; there's not enough space.' So much for Israeli solidarity," she says in the clip. A Ukrainian woman in Tel Aviv denied entry to bunker as she's not Jewish'They told us, 'We're not obligated to let you in; there's not enough space.' So much for Israeli solidarity," she says. — Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 18, 2025 Another widely shared video shows a man from Daliyat al-Karmel, near Haifa, alleging that he was turned away after people heard him speaking Arabic. 'They didn't let me into the shelter because I'm an Arab," he says. 'They didn't let me into shelters because I'm an Arab"– Israeli Druze from Dalit al-Karmel, near Haifa, who was forced to stay outside because they heard him speak arabic — Harrison H. Smith ✞ (@HarrisonHSmith) June 19, 2025 Counterclaims Emerge Alongside these videos, some social media users have challenged the allegations. One user on wrote: 'Bassem Youssef and Hamas Quds News mistranslate to claim Jews prevent Thai workers from entering the shelter, when they were really being invited in. The original video (without the Arabic text added) and account shows the inside of the shelter with the workers." 9. Bassem Youssef and Hamas Quds News mistranslate to claim Jews prevent Thai workers from entering the shelter, when they were really being invited inThe original video (without the Arabic text added) and account shows the inside of the shelter with the workers. — Alex Hearn (@hearnimator) June 17, 2025 The user also shared screenshots which they claim show the Israeli man welcoming foreign workers into the shelter. However, this counterclaim has not been independently verified. 'The antisemitic blood libels are coming fast and furious. Arabic media and social media are claiming there is a video where an Israeli Jew prevents Thai workers from a bomb shelter because it is for 'Jews only." In fact, he was begging them to come IN to shelter," another user responded. As of now, the Israeli government has not issued an official response regarding the specific incidents shown in the videos. Location : Israel First Published: June 23, 2025, 18:06 IST News viral Were Foreign Workers Barred From Israeli Bomb Shelters? Viral Videos Stir Online Debate