Tag: perpetual war

Beyond the Bombs: Who Really Won the 12-Day War Between Israel and Iran?

On June 13, 2025, Tel Aviv launched what many international observers and Iranian officials have described as an unprovoked military strike on Iran. Israeli jets bombed military and nuclear sites, while Mossad-run sleeper cells carried out sabotage missions against air and missile defense systems from within Iran, and drones smuggled into Tehran were launched against local missile launch bases.

Dozens—perhaps more—of nuclear scientists and top military commanders were murdered with surgical precision, often in the presence of innocent family members, who were themselves frequently killed. A climate of chaos and uncertainty seemed to engulf everything.

These early results so exhilarated Israeli officials that they talked a big game on where their operation would lead, making several incendiary claims along the way. They boasted of operating in Iranian airspace without hindrance, invited the U.S. to get formally involved with the “elimination” of Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, and anonymously briefed the media that “a multi-faceted misinformation campaign”—in which Donald Trump was an “active participant”—had been conducted “to convince Iran that a strike on its nuclear facilities was not imminent.”

Internationally-wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu forecast on June 15 that Israel’s war on Iran “could certainly” produce regime change, as the government was “very weak,” and that “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out.”

A hard-hitting response to Netanyahu’s premonitions and Tel Aviv’s military strike quickly arrived from Tehran in the form of a wave of missile attacks. Wreaking unprecedented damage on Tel Aviv and Haifa. The impact on Israeli military installations is difficult to assess due to its strict policy of internal censorship.

Visibly, though, Iran’s bombardments sent Israelis scurrying for shelter, while many others fled the country outright. Such was the exodus, from a country that has already suffered mass depopulation since October 7, 2023—the Israeli government has since scrambled to implement legally questionable bans on its citizens leaving.

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Baby Formula Runs Out in Gaza, Newborns Face Imminent Risk of Death Amid Israeli Blockade: UNFPA

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) warned on Monday that hundreds of newborns in incubators at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis are at imminent risk of death due to a severe shortage of baby formula, as Israel continues to block the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

In a post on X, the UN agency said, “Infant formula has completely run out in the Gaza Strip, and they are at risk of death.”

On Thursday, two infants were announced dead due to a lack of medicine and nutrition, especially baby formula, at the Nasser Hospital, where lead doctors have been making demands to key figures, organisations and authorities to let in essential types of baby formula and other medical necessities to ensure the wellbeing of mothers and their children.
A total of 18,741 children in Gaza have been admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This comes amid a months-long Israeli blockade, with Gaza’s entire population now facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
In the first two weeks of June alone, there were 1,648 new admissions, with 17 of the patients suffering from complications, it said.
“The current volume and pace of deliveries remain critically insufficient to meet the needs of Gaza’s entire population, which is facing high levels of acute food insecurity,” OCHA said.

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UK rap duo faces ‘hate crime’ probe over anti-genocide chants at Glastonbury

British authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the Glastonbury Music Festival performances of Kneecap and Bob Vylan, UK police announced on 30 June.

During their performance at the festival on Saturday, punk-rap duo Bob Vylan led tens of thousands in a chant of “Death, Death to the IDF,” in reference to the Israeli military that is committing genocide in Gaza, and “Free, Free Palestine.”

Avon and Somerset Police stated that a criminal investigation is now underway, citing hate crime laws.

“A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation,” a police spokesperson said. “This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage.”

The investigation will be “evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes,” the statement added.

Following the concert, US authorities revoked Boby Vylan’s US visas. The artists were also dropped by their agent at the US-based United Talent Agency.

Irish-language rap trio Kneecap took the stage next despite calls for them to be banned from performing. A member of the group, rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, is facing a terror charge after displaying a flag in support of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah at a performance in London last November.

The criminal investigation comes as the UK continues to crack down on pro-Palestine speech, journalism, and activism.

On Monday, the UK campaign group Palestine Action announced that it had launched legal proceedings to block the British government’s move to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws, a step that would make membership a criminal offense.

The legal challenge follows Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s announcement that she plans to place Palestine Action on the UK’s list of banned organizations, citing what she called the group’s “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.” 

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US Bombing of Iran Harms Non-Proliferation

Iran didn’t violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States did. When the U.S. bombed Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities on June 23, they didn’t just violate the cardinal rule of international law by attacking a sovereign nation, without Security Council approval, that had neither attacked it nor threatened to attack it. They also violated the NPT. In doing so, the U.S. may have done irreparable harm to the non-proliferation regime.

As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran was protected by the “inalienable right to a civilian [nuclear] program.” Iran and the world watched, not only as that nonnuclear umbrella collapsed and failed to protect Iran, but as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the guardian of the non-proliferation regime, whispered barely a criticism. Iran’s parliamentary speaker has criticized the IAEA for having “refused to even pretend to condemn the [American] attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

Iran has accused IAEA director general Rafael Grossi of issuing a “biased” report on Iran’s nuclear program right as Trump’s sixty day window for diplomacy was closing that could be used as a “pretext” for the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The U.S. was complicit in using the resolution that followed the report, since only 19 out of 33 countries voted in favor of it after the U.S. pressured eight countries they saw as “persuadable… to either vote with the US on the IAEA vote or not vote at all.”

After Grossi clarified that the IAEA “did not find in Iran elements to indicate that there is an active, systematic plan to build a nuclear weapon” and concluded that “We have not seen elements to allow us, as inspectors, to affirm that there was a nuclear weapon that was being manufactured or produced somewhere in Iran,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the clarification came “too late.” He blasted Grossi for “obscure[ing] this truth in your absolutely biased report that was instrumentalize by E3/U.S. to craft a resolution with baseless allegation of ‘non-compliance’; the same resolution was then utilized, as a final pretext… to launch an unlawful attack on our peaceful nuclear facilities.” Baghaei finished with the accusation that Grossi “betrayed the non-proliferation regime.”

On June 20, Iran filed a formal complaint against Grossi to the Security Council, accusing him of a “clear and serious breach of the principle of impartiality.” Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, criticized Grossi’s failure to condemn American and Israeli threats and use of force against its peaceful nuclear program as demanded by IAEA resolutions “which categorically prohibit any threat or use of force against nuclear facilities dedicated to peaceful purposes.” He said that Grossi’s “passivity… amounts to de facto complicity.”

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US Refueled Israeli Jets Throughout Iran War

US military tanker aircraft refueled Israeli jets throughout the 12-day US-Israeli war against Iran to ease the burden on Israel’s limited and aging fleet of tankers, Israel Hayom has reported.

The report said that “hundreds of aerial refuelings were conducted for Israeli fighter jets flying to Iran” during the 12 days of attacks on Iran. It was always believed that Israel wouldn’t be able to launch significant airstrikes on Iran without the US supporting the attacks with refueling.

In the first days of the 12-day war, dozens of US KC-135s, KC-46s, and other tanker aircraft were spotted by flight trackers leaving the United States and heading east across the Atlantic Ocean. US officials confirmed that the tanker deployment was related to the Middle East, and the Israel Hayom report said that some of them were used to refuel Israeli jets.

Besides the refueling, the US also supported Israel’s attacks on Iran by providing intelligence, helping intercept Israeli missiles and drones, and eventually launching its own airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities using B-2 bombers, a fleet of fighter jets, and a submarine.

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Israel and Ukraine Used Smuggled Drones To Wreak Havoc on Their Enemies. Could China Do the Same?

A covert Israeli drone base secretly installed in the heart of Iran. More than 100 Ukrainian remote-controlled military aircraft smuggled deep into Russia, concealed under wooden sheds. Israel and Ukraine have activated these assets to devastating effect over the past year, decimating the Iranian military command and crippling Russia’s Air Force—all with a flip of a switch.

The stunningly successful asymmetric attacks have some experts wondering: Could China, America’s “number one geopolitical foe” in the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, be laying the groundwork to do the same in the United States?

“Mossad did this in secret. The Chinese Communist Party is doing it openly,” warned Michael Sobolik, a veteran China analyst with the Hudson Institute. “The mullahs in Iran had no idea. Putin had no idea. But we know, and we have no excuse. Do we have the political will and the self respect to make sure we can survive in a crisis?”

Several China experts told the Washington Free Beacon that the United States has left the door wide open for its communist adversary to establish a foothold in the country. Top of mind for many is the Chinese-owned farmland adjacent to at least 19 military bases across the United States, which Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described as the elephant in the room following Israel’s covert strikes against Iran.

“Letting firms or individuals with CCP ties buy property next to U.S. bases hands Beijing the hardest part of that playbook—the forward staging area—no smuggling required,” Singleton told the Free Beacon. “A prudent policy starts with the assumption that a determined, tech-savvy adversary will exploit every acre it controls.”

The threats, however, go far beyond Chinese-owned farmland. Former FBI director Christopher Wray warned in a speech last April that China has been laying the groundwork to “physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing.”

That includes America’s shipping ports, which are almost entirely reliant on automated cranes manufactured by ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned military contractor. A joint congressional investigation in 2024 discovered unauthorized cellular modems embedded in some of those cranes, potentially giving China the ability to remotely shut down U.S. ports and wreak havoc on America’s food chains and manufacturing capabilities.

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Hegseth presses defense industry to ramp up munitions amid depleted stocks, China threat

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gathered some of the leaders of America’s largest military contractors for a closed-door meeting at the Pentagon last week, urging them to ramp up the production of critically needed munitions amidst depleted weapons stocks and a growing threat from China, Just the News has learned.

A senior Trump administration official, who declined to be named in order to describe a private discussion, told Just the News that the main reason for Thursday’s closed-door meeting with defense company leaders — which included well-known firms such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and BAE Systems — was to seek to hold munitions manufacturers accountable so that U.S. warfighters are equipped to face 21st century threats.

The closed-door meeting came shortly after Hegseth gave an impassioned defense of the powerful U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites earlier in June.

The official also told Just the News that Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, who was also at the meeting with the industry leaders, are working to fix the inefficiencies enabled and ignored by their predecessors, and that the duo encouraged the defense company executives to rise to the moment to meet the significant challenge.

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NATO Holds Drills Near Russian Border Based on Israel-Iran Conflict Tactics

NATO forces near Russia’s border in Karelia have recently conducted drills simulating a breakthrough of Russian air defenses, based on scenarios from the recent Israeli-American campaign in Iran, the Izvestia newspaper said citing unnamed sources.
According to the outlet, NATO aircraft maneuvers in Finland near the Russian border took place as part of the Atlantic Trident 25 exercises held from June 16 to 27. The drills involved over 40 aircraft from the air forces of Finland, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the Izvestia reports that RQ-4D Phoenix reconnaissance drones were deployed to Finland for the first time during the exercise.

In parallel with Atlantic Trident 25, NATO also reportedly conducted another set of maneuvers titled Itakaira-2025/2, which were not officially announced by the alliance. These exercises included rapid aircraft launches, air combat, gaining air superiority, striking ground targets, and penetrating Russian air defense systems, according to the publication.

Military analyst Yuri Lyamin stated that NATO’s growing strike presence along Russia’s border necessitates a reinforcement of Russia’s fighter aviation and air defense systems.

Another expert, Dmitry Kornev, suggested that in the event of actual hostilities in the region, NATO could deploy over 70 aircraft against Russia.

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State Department Confirms: Beijing Exploits U.S. Tech Platforms for Military Intelligence

A senior State Department official confirmed this week that Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has supported, and continues to support, China’s military and intelligence operations. The case highlights Beijing’s broader strategy of using American technology platforms to advance its defense goals.

DeepSeek used Southeast Asian shell companies to bypass U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors, allowing it to operate within the U.S. tech ecosystem while maintaining ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The incident illustrates how China exploits U.S. openness to access critical technology and gather intelligence, an approach likely mirrored across other Chinese firms.

DeepSeek’s operations reflect a broader Chinese strategy of using commercial technology platforms for intelligence gathering. U.S. officials report that DeepSeek appears in procurement records for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over 150 times and has provided services to PLA research institutions. With a global user base, the company gained access to vast amounts of user data, which it transmitted to China via infrastructure linked to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom provider.

Congressional analysis of DeepSeek’s privacy policies confirms this data flow. The platform collected user queries, data inputs, and usage patterns from millions worldwide, allowing China to profile U.S. research priorities, problem-solving methods, and technological capabilities. This is intelligence gathering at scale, made possible by users unknowingly feeding data into a system tied to a foreign military.

The episode exposes broader flaws in U.S. efforts to restrict China’s access to sensitive technology. Despite bans on sales of advanced AI chips to Chinese firms, DeepSeek reportedly acquired large volumes of Nvidia’s H100 processors by exploiting third-party shell companies and remote data center access. These methods highlight how Chinese firms bypass restrictions through indirect channels, suggesting systemic gaps in enforcement.

DeepSeek’s presence on major U.S. cloud platforms, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, further expanded China’s access to American infrastructure. This integration allowed Beijing to collect intelligence while posing as a commercial partner, gaining insight into cloud operations and user behavior.

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Russia captures over 100-acre lithium reserve, one of Europe’s biggest ‘white gold’ sites

Russian forces have seized control of a key lithium-rich zone near the village of Shevchenko in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

The site, located roughly 2 miles (3 km) from the border of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, spans approximately 100 acres (40 hectares) and contains one of the largest lithium reserves in Europe, according to a report by The New York Times. 

One of Europe’s richest lithium sites

The Shevchenko deposit lies about 6 miles (10 km) from Velyka Novosilka, a town that fell to Russian forces in January. 

Though the village holds little tactical value, its subsurface resources are of growing strategic significance. 

Lithium, often called “white gold,” is a critical input for producing electric vehicle batteries, aerospace alloys, energy storage systems, and electronics.

With global demand for lithium rising parallel with decarbonization efforts and military modernization programs, control over such reserves offers more than a battlefield advantage. 

It provides long-term leverage over industrial supply chains. In 2022, lithium prices peaked at over $80,000 per metric ton. 

As of June 27, 2025, the price in China stands at approximately $8,500 per ton, down significantly, yet still commercially and strategically relevant, according to Defence Blog.

The Russian occupation of the Shevchenko site allows Moscow to further consolidate its hold over Ukraine’s natural resources. 

The war shows a pattern of attacks on military targets and important resources like energy, minerals, and industry.

These attacks can hurt Ukraine’s recovery after the war and may impact future investments from the West.

Before the invasion, the Shevchenko area had attracted foreign interest and was under consideration for development by Ukrainian state agencies aiming to reduce dependence on imported raw materials.

Analysts suggest the seizure may form part of a larger Russian campaign to dominate resource corridors and inhibit Ukraine’s access to domestic revenue streams. 

With critical mineral extraction sites under Russian control, Ukraine faces new obstacles in rebuilding its industrial base, even as reconstruction frameworks gain international support.

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