{"id":7538,"date":"2025-06-15T03:33:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T08:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=7538"},"modified":"2025-08-16T15:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T20:41:16","slug":"7538","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2025\/06\/15\/7538\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLive Updates: Israel and Iran Trade Strikes in Increasingly Deadly Attacks,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaps and Photos: Israel\u2019s Strikes and Iran\u2019s Missile Retaliation,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0This article is helpful in two ways.\u00a0 First, it gives about as good a look as any for the public of where the fighting (air, missile, drone) is.\u00a0 Second, this article (its headline) is a reminder that the NYT and the media in general do not portray the real story.\u00a0 The story is not that Israel attacks, then Iran counterattacks.\u00a0 That makes the story sound like this all started with Israel.\u00a0 Instead, the headline AND the story\u2019s text itself do not communicate Iran\u2019s drive for nukes, its animosity toward Israel, the earlier failed attempts to stop the nuclear program including the Obama agreement, and now the passing of the two month deadline from Pres. Trump.\u00a0 Israel had no choice.\u00a0 The world including Europe and the UN were not going to stop the nuclear program.\u00a0 Nor does this article give credit to Israel for being the only country in the world to stop such a deadly program not once (Iraq 1981), or twice (Syria 2007), but now three times (Iran 2025).<\/p>\n

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, told the UN Security Council that “the above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enr Will Israel send commandoes into the nuclear sites, which are undoubtedly booby trapped, to blow up the facilities from within and with air assistance?iched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed”.\u00a0 But Israel has not attacked some other portions of the program.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSatellite imagery reveals damage to key Iran nuclear sites,\u201d<\/a> BBC, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

Some varying thoughts garnered from listening to various media.\u00a0 First, per the NYT, the ISI planned to fire about 1,000 ballistics but damage from the IDF\u2019s preemptive strikes on missile bases resulted in less than 100 being fired.\u00a0 Another thought\u2014Will Israel try to kill the Ayatollah?\u00a0 Also, i24 is showing the pictures of mass exodus\/traffic jams as persons leave Iran\u2014that is a vote of no confidence in the Iranian government.\u00a0 Here\u2019s another thought\u2014Israel is targeting the nuclear program and the military officers of the Regime.\u00a0 Iran is targeting of civilians in Tel Aviv–that is called war crimes.\u00a0\u00a0The only persons killed in Israel have been civilians as of June 15.\u00a0 And there have been Palestinians killed by Iran\u2019s missiles.\u00a0 They do not seem to care, nor the Houthis, even if their indiscriminate fire hits other countries.\u00a0\u00a0Last thought for now–The action by Israel against Iran is arguably the biggest change in the Middle East since the 1967 War.\u00a0 And it may be shorter than six days.<\/p>\n

I see a NYT op-ed now by Bret Stephens, he is correct, and mirrors my above comments from this morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIsrael Had the Courage to Do What Needed to Be Done,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 6-13-25.<\/p>\n

Back to the question above, is Israel going after Khamenei?\u00a0 According to this article\/NYT, No.\u00a0 \u201cIsrael\u2019s Attack in Iran<\/a> Echoes Its Strategy Against Hezbollah,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0But after the success against Nasrallah, I predict Yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIranian media reported that Tehran had warned the U.S., the U.K. and France that it would strike their military bases and naval vessels if they chose to defend Israel against its retaliatory strikes.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cStarmer confirms military buildup in Middle East as Europe urges restraint,\u201d<\/a> Politico, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

I was wrong on this question, seeing this article from three hours ago.\u00a0 But imagine the embarrassment of the Supreme Leader, who has used every name in the book against the United States, its presidents, and Donald Trump.\u00a0 And now Pres. Trump has spared him.\u00a0 \u201cTrump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US officials say,\u201d<\/a> Reuters, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

\u201cA quick deal now that would give up enrichment would be seen as a surrender, said Vali Nasr, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies who served in the State Department during the Obama administration. That could make the Iranian government more vulnerable at home. \u201cThey won\u2019t give up enrichment, not this easily,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to surrender.\u201d\u201d\u00a0 So, why not give them sanctions relief to save face?\u00a0 The article doesn\u2019t explore this.\u00a0 See \u201cDiplomacy With Iran Is Damaged, Not Dead,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

So where is the Grand Ayatollah?\u00a0 \u201cKhamenei and his family hiding in bunker north of Tehran, sources say,\u201d<\/a> Iran International, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan in northeastern Tehran hours after Israel began its attacks on Tehran early Friday, two informed sources inside Iran told Iran International. All members of Khamenei’s family including his son Mojtaba are with him, the sources said. \u2026 The diplomatic source added that Israel could have eliminated Khamenei on the first night of the operation, but the Israeli government chose to keep him alive to give him a final chance to decide on completely dismantling the Islamic Republic\u2019s uranium enrichment program. \u2026 With the start of Israel\u2019s airstrikes, that opportunity has been offered once again \u2014 this time for him to realistically assess Israel\u2019s military capability and order the dismantling of the enrichment program, the sources said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, people are fleeing Tehran.\u00a0 Traffic was already bad, now it is hardly moving.\u00a0 \u201cMassive Israeli air raids engulf Tehran: Intelligence ministry hit, bazaar shut,\u201d<\/a> Iran International, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

Iran and Hamas are, not surprisingly, following the same demand\u2014the IDF attacks must stop first.\u00a0 But neither will give up its \u201cright\u201d to enrich uranium (Iran) or the hostages (Hamas).\u00a0 \u201cIran turns to Qatar, Oman in bid to halt Israeli strikes, U.S. presses for nuclear concessions,\u201d<\/a> I24, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

We were waiting for this.\u00a0 \u201cReports of ‘massive blast,’ 2.5 magnitude earthquake in vicinity of Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant,\u201d<\/a> i24, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0An earthquake?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 BTW, Fordow is just a half hour drive from Qom, Iran\u2019s Shia spiritual center.\u00a0 That is a message to the world, and now this is a message to the ayatollah-driven radical autocracy.<\/p>\n

\u201c350 missiles fired from Iran and 24 casualties since the start of Rising Lion | LIVE BLOG,\u201d<\/a> i24, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrain behind Iran\u2019s nuclear detonation technology killed in Israeli strike,\u201d<\/a> Iran International, 6-15-25.\u00a0 Nuclear explosion triggers have no role in peaceful nuclear energy programs.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how the Leader is doing this since no one is wearing beepers\/pagers and he is holed up in his bunker.\u00a0 Via smoke signal?\u00a0 (too soon).\u00a0 See \u201cInside Khamenei\u2019s war cabinet: how Iran guides its contest with Israel,\u201d<\/a> Iran International, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0As much as Iran Intl\u2019 reporting has been accurate worldwide the last couple of years, this article doesn\u2019t actually say how the cabinet is operating.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US officials say,\u201d<\/a> Reuters, 6-15-25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLive Updates: Israel and Iran Trade Strikes in Increasingly Deadly Attacks,\u201d NYT, 6-15-25. \u201cMaps and Photos: Israel\u2019s Strikes and Iran\u2019s Missile Retaliation,\u201d NYT, 6-15-25.\u00a0\u00a0This article is helpful in two ways.\u00a0 First, it gives about as good a look as any for the public of where the fighting (air, missile, drone) is.\u00a0 Second, this article (its … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2819,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2532],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2819"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7538"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7817,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538\/revisions\/7817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}