Latest news with #IranConflict
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth, Gabbard sidelined on Trump administration's Iran plans: report
With Donald Trump operating so close to putting the U.S. into direct conflict with Iran, one might expect his secretary of defense and direction of national intelligence to be actively engaged and close at hand. Warren Strobel, national intelligence reporter for the Washington Post, talks with Jen Psaki about his reporting into why that is not the case.
Free Malaysia Today
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
China evacuates 1,600 from Iran and hundreds from Israel, warns of border congestion
Iranians fleeing the conflict arrive at the Gurbulak-Bazargan border post, seeking to cross into Turkey for safety. (AP pic) BEIJING : China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, as evacuees clog border crossings amid the intensifying conflict between the two countries. Evacuation efforts are continuing and China has maintained communication with Iran, Israel, Egypt and Oman, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference while calling for immediate measures to cool down tensions as soon as possible. China urges parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to immediately cease fire, Guo said. Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as the conflict showed no signs of a detente nearly a week after Israel first launched what it called 'pre-emptive strikes' against Iran. The Chinese embassy in Iran renewed calls for citizens to leave the country via land routes, while also warning people about longer immigration processing time as congestion has formed at two border checkpoints – Astara heading into Azerbaijan and Bajgiran into Turkmenistan. Those border crossing points are 490km and 910km away from Tehran, respectively. Chinese people can also leave Iran via Turkey, Armenia and Iraq, the embassy advised. Earlier on Thursday, China's embassy in Israel said it will begin evacuating people in batches from Friday, taking those who want to leave to the Taba Border Crossing into Egypt via bus, about 360 km from Tel Aviv.
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump weighs military action against Iran amid mounting legal concerns
President Donald Trump is contemplating whether to order U.S. on Iran and will make a decision within two weeks, White House officials said Thursday, capping days of intense speculation about the president's plan in the region—and touching off new fears of escalation, retaliation, and long-term engagement in another foreign conflict. Trump spent much of the week musing publicly about the prospect of involving the U.S. more directly in the Israeli-Iranian conflict, as the two countries continued to carry out deadly strikes against one another. As the week went on, Trump continued to break with attempts by Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had attempted to distance the role the U.S. played in helping Israel. Trump warned on social media Wednesday that the U.S. has "complete and total control of the skies over Iran," and demanded an "unconstitutional surrender" from Iran. He has also repeatedly refused to rule out the prospect of carrying out a direct strike on Iran. "I may do it. I may not do it," he told reporters Wednesday. "I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," he said. That statement, more than any others, illustrates the central question thrumming through much of Washington this week, as Trump continues to huddle with advisers for meetings in the Situation Room, including at least one meeting where he reportedly approved attack plans against Tehran, in the event they failed to put an end to their nuclear program, as the administration demanded. (News of that meeting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.) White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to elaborate on the nature of U.S.-Iranian talks on Thursday, telling reporters only that Trump planned to make a decision on how to proceed within the two-week period. Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected negotiations with the U.S. on Wednesday, warning that if it attacked Iran, the U.S. "without doubt, will face irreparable harm." Here's what we know about Trump's options, should he choose to order U.S. strikes on Iran— and the risks, legal and otherwise, the U.S. could encounter as a result. War Powers Resolution Trump has been weighing ordering the U.S. to conduct a strike against Iran, including the possibility of targeting the country's nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow, a key nuclear facility located south of Tehran. But while Trump huddles with his advisers at the White House, lawmakers have been convening on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue for closed-door meetings of their own. Trump's remarks have done little to quell mounting fears of escalation in the Middle East— both from some MAGA supporters, who rallied around his promises of ending "forever wars," and Democrats, who fear retaliation that an offensive would bring. Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., announced new bipartisan legislation this week that would require Trump to obtain congressional approval before signing off on any meaningful engagement in Iran, such as offensive strikes on its nuclear facilities. The bill has attracted the support of an odd coalition of bipartisan lawmakers, including Trump supporters who are opposed to U.S. engagement in more foreign wars, and Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Those lawmakers argue that Trump, in acting unilaterally, would violate standing U.S. laws— namely, limitations enumerated in the War Powers Resolution, or the law passed by Congress in 1973 aimed at codifying the instances in which a president can authorize the use of force in foreign conflicts without a formal war declaration. "The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war," Massie said in announcing the bill. "Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution." But in the decades since the law was passed, presidents have expanded their powers here significantly absent congressional authorization, including under both Democrat and Republican presidents. This has, to some degree, been reflected by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which has taken a broader view of the Article II powers granted to presidents when initiating the use of force— especially when it is in the "national interest" to do so. These broader powers have been used by Republican presidents, and during both the Obama and Biden administrations, officials told Fox News Digital. Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, stressed this in an interview with Fox News. "There's lots of precedents of presidents ignoring the technicalities" of the War Powers Regulation, he said in an interview Thursday. Ultimately, Rubin said, the president "has the ability to act without it for a set period of time. And so [the law] really only applies if we're going to be going into a major operation rather than a one-time bombing." "The fact of the matter is, the worst option for American security is allowing Iran to reconstitute its program because of what it has buried in Fordow," said Rubin, a former Pentagon official whose work at AEI focuses largely on issues in the Middle East. Fears of escalation In the interim, however, Trump's threats have sparked concerns from some critics, who see his remarks as both dangerous and potentially rife for possible retaliation from Tehran. Critics have suggested they could also endanger U.S. officials stationed overseas, including those within the strike range of Iran. "It should be the interest of the White House to use U.S. leverage to stop the fighting," Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, told Fox News in an interview. "The U.S. is assisting Israel with missile defense right now," he said. The business of defense "is to stop the fight," he said. International law There are also fears that the U.S. could be acting in violation of international law, including the United Nations charter that "prohibits the threat or use of force except in certain limited circumstances, such as self-defense," according to a white paper published in 2019 by Just Security. In this situation, critics say the U.S. has no pretext to authorize a strike against Iran. "I don't think there's any plausible self-defense argument for U.S. military action against Iran," Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, told Fox News in an interview. "So any U.S. military action against Iran would violate the UN Charter and thus breach the president's duty of the Constitution to take care that the laws are faithfully executed," he said. Others on the Hill and beyond have taken a more supportive posture as Trump weighs his next steps. Speaking in an interview Thursday morning on "Fox & Friends," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., praised Trump's actions so far in the region, saying Trump is "doing absolutely the right thing to keep America safe." "He has been very consistent for 10 years saying Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Barrasso said. "He said it strongly. He's read it repeatedly because he knows that Iran with a nuclear weapon is a threat to the people of the United States. We stand with the people [of] Israel." Sen. Lindsey Graham has been among Trump's most vocal supporters, and said in interviews earlier this week that he believes Trump has a desire to "finish the job" in destroying Fordow. "I don't think Israel can finish Fordow without our help, and it's in our interest to make sure this program is destroyed, as much as it's Israel's," he said in an interview. "And so if there's something you need to do to help Israel, do it," he said. Rubin, the AEI fellow, also sought to differentiate Trump's actions from other presidents who have engaged in lengthy foreign conflicts. "The issue with Iran is we're not entangling the United States in war," Rubin said. "We're taking an opportunity to end a crisis once and for all. It seems to be a one-shot deal." Next steps Still, it's unclear what Trump's end game will be, should he choose to strike Iran. That's in part by design, said Finucane, the adviser at the International Crisis Group, who previously spent a decade in the Office of Legal Counsel for the State Department. "The Constitution, very deliberately, gives the power to declare war to Congress," he said. "And it does so to make going to war hard," he said. "It requires collective decision-making, and prior public debate; deliberation [of] the cost and benefits of the most consequential decision that the U.S. government can make, in terms of blood and treasure," he said. "Therefore, if the U.S. wants to minimize the risk of getting dragged into an unnecessary war in the Middle East, and at least minimize risks to people in the region, including Americans in the region, then it should be in the interest of the White House to put a stop to the fighting— whether or not it wants to get involved,"
Malay Mail
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Satellite images reveal empty tarmac at major US air base in Qatar
ISRAEL, June 20 — Dozens of US military aircraft are no longer on the tarmac at a major US base in Qatar, satellite images show — a possible move to shield them from eventual Iranian air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to intervene in Tehran's conflict with Israel. Nearly 40 military aircraft — including transport planes like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance aircraft — were parked on the tarmac at the Al Udeid base on June 5, according to images published by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by AFP. In an image taken yesterday, only three aircraft are visible. The US embassy in Qatar announced yesterday that access to the base would be limited 'out of an abundance of caution and in light of ongoing regional hostilities,' and urged personnel to 'exercise increased vigilance.' The White House says US President Donald Trump will decide sometime in the next two weeks whether to join ally Israel's strikes on Iran. The Islamic republic could then respond by striking US bases in the region. Mark Schwartz, a former lieutenant general in the US Army and a defence researcher at the Rand Corporation, said the personnel, aircraft and installations at Al Udeid would be 'extremely vulnerable' given its 'close proximity' to Iran. Schwartz, who served in the Middle East, told AFP that even shrapnel could render the aircraft 'non-mission capable.' 'You want to reduce risk to US forces, both personnel and equipment,' he said. The planes that have left the tarmac since early June could have been moved to hangars or to other bases in the region. A US defence official would not discuss the specific positioning of assets but told AFP: 'We remain committed to maintaining operational security while executing our mission with the highest level of readiness, lethality and professionalism.' US forces in the Middle East have been mobilized since Israel's first strikes on Iran nearly a week ago, with an additional aircraft carrier en route and significant aircraft movement. An AFP analysis of open source data tracking aircraft positioning showed that at least 27 military refuelling planes — KC-46A Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotanker planes — travelled from the United States to Europe from June 15-18. Twenty-five of them were still in Europe as of late Wednesday, with only two returning to American soil, the data showed. — AFP
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Daybreak Asia: US Futures Pare Losses as Trump Weighs Iran Role
US equity futures moderated declines early Friday as President Donald Trump weighs whether to back Israel militarily in its conflict with Iran. Contracts for the S&P 500 were down around 0.3% from Wednesday's close in early Asia hours, compared with a 0.9% drop on Thursday when US markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday. While traders were offered some short-term clarity as the White House said Trump will decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran, the remarks did little to resolve broader uncertainty around potential US involvement and the risk of renewed energy-driven inflation. For more on what's ahead, we heard from Maria Rost Rublee, Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne. She speaks with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts. Markets were already on edge after the Federal Reserve downgraded its estimates for growth this year and projected higher inflation. As projected, Fed officials held rates steady at their policy meeting this week. We get some analysis from David Laut, Chief Investment Officer at Abound Financial.
