Pakistan fires second missile in two days amid India-Pak tensions after Kashmir terrorist attack

Amid escalating tensions with India following the Kashmir attack on April 22, Pakistan's military conducted its second missile test in two days, as reported by AFP. The recent launch aimed to ensure troop readiness and validate the missile's navigation system and accuracy. This surface-to-surface missile possesses a range of 120 kilometers.
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Pakistan's military said on Monday that it has carried out another missile test, its second in two days, following a sharp rise in tensions with India following the fatal terrorist attack in Kashmir on April 22 that India has linked to Islamabad."The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile's advanced navigation system and enhanced accuracy," the military said in a statement, AFP reported. The military said the surface-to-surface missile had a range of 120 kilometres (75 miles).After second missile test, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said defence is 'in strong hands' Pakistan's military had on May 3 said it had carried out a training launch of a surface-to-surface missile. The military said the Abdali Weapon System — a missile with a range of 450 kilometres — was successfully launched.India sees Pakistan's launch of a ballistic missile on May 3 as a 'blatant' act of 'provocation', PTI had reported citing people familiar with the matter.Meanwhile, India has also been testing its defence muscle.India's newest indigenous warship, INS Surat, successfully intercepted a fast, low-flying target using a Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system in the Arabian Sea in April. India has also brought its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) fleet back into action after grounding it in January to check for possible technical faults. The move comes as tensions rise along the border, with large-scale military activity seen across the Line of Control (LoC).Several major world powers, including the United States and the European Union, have urged both India and Pakistan to ease tensions, while strongly condemning the terrorist attack.India and Pakistan have both made major upgrades to their military power since their last clash in 2019, increasing the chances of escalation even if a conflict starts off on a small scale, former army officers and defence experts told Reuters.Experts say neither country is likely to use nuclear weapons unless they are pushed to the extreme. However, even a limited military exchange carries serious risks of things getting out of control.The two neighbours have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — and have had many smaller clashes since independence, mostly over Kashmir. Both countries became nuclear powers in the 1990s, and Kashmir remains one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world.

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First Post

an hour 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.

Hindustan Times

an hour ago

• Hindustan Times

‘Step down, you'll get a fair trial': Exiled Iranian Crown Prince to Khamenei amid tensions with Israel

Amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has said that the Islamic Republic is nearing collapse, urging supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down. Iranian opposition leader and son of the last shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Reza Pahlavi holds a press conference in Paris on june 23, 2025. (AFP) Pahlavi also claimed that top Iranian leaders were preparing to flee the country and called for a peaceful transition through legal accountability. Follow all live updates on the Israel–Iran conflict here 'Islamic Republic (of Iran) is collapsing, (Ayatollah) Ali Khamenei and others are trying to flee Iran... I have a direct message for Ali Khamenei: step down, if you do, you'll receive a fair trial and due process of law,' he said. Addressing the international community, he cautioned Western governments against offering political or economic support to Tehran, saying it would only worsen the crisis. 'If the West throws the regime a lifeline, there will be more bloodshed and chaos. Because this regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated. It will lash out as long as it is in power; no country and no people are safe – whether on the streets of Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, Riyadh or Tehran,' the exiled crown prince added. Read: Israeli strikes hit Iran's notorious Evin prison, other govt sites Pahlavi also appealed directly to the Iranian people, offering to help guide the country through a democratic transition. He made clear that he is not seeking personal power, but rather aiming to assist the nation through a period of change. 'I do not seek power, only to guide Iran towards democracy': Reza Pahlavi 'I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road of peace and democratic transition. I do not seek political power, but rather to help our great nation navigate through this critical hour towards stability, freedom, and justice,' he added. His remarks come at a time of growing regional uncertainty, with Iran's domestic policies, international posture, and conflict with Israel drawing intense global scrutiny. Also read: US Embassy in Qatar sends urgent email to American citizens, issues 'shelter in place' warning amid Iran-Israel tension Reza Pahlavi, the exiled eldest son of Iran's last monarch Mohammad Reza Shah, on Sunday claimed that the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites were a direct consequence of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's 'catastrophic pursuit of nuclear weapons' by what he called a 'terrorist regime.' With agencies' inputs

Mint

an hour ago

• Mint

Israel-Iran war: Tehran's underground facility at Fordow attacked again; both nations trade wave of air, missile strikes

Iran's underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordow was again attacked on Monday, Iranian state television reported. According to the report, which was also carried by other Iranian media, there was no clarity on who launched the assault or what kind of damage was reported after the fresh attack. Israel has been conducting airstrikes throughout the day in Iran. Both countries traded another wave of air and missile strikes on Monday as the world braced for Tehran's response. According to an AFP report, sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel on Monday, after the army reported a fresh barrage of Iranian missiles, at least the third salvo in less than two hours. 'A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas in northern Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,' a military statement said, adding in another statement about 10 minutes later that people were allowed to leave shelters. Earlier on Monday, sirens wailed across Israel for over 30 minutes as the military warned of multiple missile barrages launched from its arch-foe, the report said. "Search and rescue forces are operating in several locations across the country in which reports of fallen projectiles were received," the military added. The US had attacked three nuclear sites of Iran – Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan sites, with Fordow being one of the most important sites. Located approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, Iran's Fordow nuclear facility contains centrifuge cascades, though it is smaller than Natanz. The IAEA reports that its construction started as early as 2007, but Iran notified the UN nuclear watchdog of the facility only in 2009, following awareness by the US and allied Western intelligence agencies. The nuclear facility is situated under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries to withstand airstrikes. This facility can be targeted by 'bunker buster' bombs, which are designed to go deep below the surface before exploding, such as the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal, according to a report by AP citing military experts. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday that 'very heavy damage' is expected at Iran's underground facility at Fordo after a US airstrike there this weekend with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the statement in Vienna, news agency AP reported. 'Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,' Gross said. He added that 'at this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo.'