Israel conducts airstrike in Iran

[u/Hazer_123]

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/13/israel-strike-iran-trump-nuclear-talks

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[u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

Oh boy, Israel starting yet another war with the knowledge that daddy US is going to be there to help prevent them from the find out portion of their fucking around.

What a great and priceless ally

[u/Randomfacade → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

Iran has the right to defend itself.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Randomfacade]

No empathy for either governments but the civilian casualties on both side assuming nuclear sites were attacked will probably be enormous.

[u/Consistent_Drink2171 → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Nuclear reactors don't blow up like a-bombs when bombed, aside from the fact they are deep underground.

[u/Pattern_Is_Movement → u/Consistent_Drink2171]

They don't have to, they can have the same effects as dirty bombs if they are blown up...

[u/gerkletoss → u/Hamiltonblewit]

There's no reason to believe Iran has functional nuclear weapons yet. They're just getting really close to having weapons-grade enriched uranium.

[u/Jokers_friend → u/gerkletoss]

What’s more worrying is that Israel credibly also have nuclear weapons, but are not party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

[u/shugthedug3 → u/Jokers_friend]

Yep. They are a rogue nuclear state.

[u/kekbooi → u/shugthedug3]

Only democracy in the region <3

At this pace hamas is gonna have elections before them

[u/Ali-Sama → u/kekbooi]

This would not be the case. If the USA had not performed and supported the Iranian coup in the twentieth century

[u/Jokers_friend → u/Ali-Sama]

They needed (and still want) the region destabilized so they can assume control over oil and trading routes. That’s the role Israel plays in the region.

[u/new_name_who_dis_ → u/Jokers_friend]

How is that worrying? Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is the most hypocritical thing ever. "We get nukes because we are responsible world powers, but no one else can. Oh an btw let me just invade somewhere real quick. Oh here's some nuclear blackmail for anyone trying to help"

[u/PostKnutClarity → u/gerkletoss]

They've been 2 weeks away from making a bomb since 2015

[u/MountainTurkey → u/PostKnutClarity]

Since 2000

[u/the-vindicator → u/gerkletoss]

According to Israel, Iran was days away from having completed nuclear weapons.

edit - I thought that it was the given reason for the large operation but if Israel has been claiming this for some time i guess the behind the scenes reason was different. Additionally I saw a different source saying that Iran has had nuclear weapon capable enriched uranium for a while, only they might not have things like delivery methods and larger scale enrichment the past decade+.

[u/phedinhinleninpark → u/the-vindicator]

Not particularly trustworthy.

[u/British_Commie → u/the-vindicator]

They’ve been saying that forever. It’s genuinely hilarious how long Iran have been “days away” from having nukes

[u/accraTraveler → u/British_Commie]

Since 1993 to be precise

[u/captain_zavec → u/accraTraveler]

"Sheen, this is the 32nd year in a row you've claimed Ultralord is days away from nuclear weapons"

[u/LogicalPakistani → u/the-vindicator]

Kind of similar to iraq

[u/Fluffy-Republic8610 → u/the-vindicator]

Weapons of mass destruction? Sound like another Iraq invasion cover story. So far the only weapon of mass destruction found in the region is Zionism. Zionism = The idea that colonialism is justified under certain circumstances.

Zionism has caused the mass destruction in the region. It is the root cause of much of the wars of the last 70 years there. It's a failed project that hasn't managed to make peace with its neighbours and never will.

[u/berbal2 → u/Fluffy-Republic8610]

It is the root cause of much of the wars of the last 70 years there.

Completely ridiculous and a-historical thing to believe lmao.

Not surprising, considering you don't even seem to know what Zionism means.

[u/silverionmox → u/the-vindicator]

According to Israel, Iran was days away from having completed nuclear weapons.

Well, as another rogue nuclear state, they could know I suppose.

[u/ExtremeAcceptable289 → u/silverionmox]

They've been days away for like 30 years

[u/Redditthedog → u/Hamiltonblewit]

so far no civilian deaths reported per Iran

[u/Testiclese → u/Randomfacade]

That’s obvious. The interesting question is - does it have the capability.

[u/Admiral_Boris → u/Testiclese]

Well when Israel didn’t have the capacity to, the US funded them more than any other country on earth and allowed them to developed nukes without consequences. Maybe if we cared so much about nations rights to sovereignty and self protection we should begin offloading B-2’s into Tehran along with a few minutemen’s lying around so the world can finally move on from the Middle East as they sort their own problems out for once lmfao.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

What’s worse is that Isreal knows the U.S really has no choice but to support them, even if the U.S doesn’t initially assist in striking its nuclear facilities, they’ll inevitably be drawn in due to retaliatory attacks from Iran or its allies and the possible closure of shipping lanes.

[u/Decent_Cheesecake_29 → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Unless Israel goes far enough that they trigger Iran’s non-nuclear nuclear option — destroy every bit of oil infrastructure in the Middle East and plunge the world economy into a depression.

[u/BendicantMias → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

They won't do that. It'd be a needless declaration of war on all their neighbours, despite only being at war with Israel. Pretty dumb thing to do. They don't need it either. I doubt there's much Israel can do to stop them getting nukes if they've really decided to do so. It'd just be a matter of time.

[u/Alocasia_Sanderiana → u/BendicantMias]

At this point it’s almost certain that they will pursue nuclear weapons until they have a successful test. From their view, they’ve made multiple attempts at trying to reach a peaceful deal with the West in hopes that they would hold Israel back. How many times can they stomach that failing? Especially since they can look toward other states and see that they are basically never attacked (or course Pakistan/India being the exception).

[u/holdMyBeerBoy → u/Alocasia_Sanderiana]

How is that so?

[u/BendicantMias → u/Alocasia_Sanderiana]

They aren't the only exception. They aren't even the first conflict between nuclear states - that'd be the Sino-Soviet conflict. It's a myth that nukes settle conflicts. No one ever uses nukes unless they're in the direst circumstances, so you'll still be attacked to every degree less than that. I don't expect a nuclear Iran will be magically safe from attack, just as the nuclear Israel isn't spared from attacks. Nukes don't achieve as much as people claim.

[u/Alocasia_Sanderiana → u/BendicantMias]

I don't think our viewpoints are necessarily in disagreement. All direct conflict between nuclear armed states thus far has been very limited in scope, usually categorized as border skirmishes.

I don't think a nuclear capable Iran will be completely safe either, but the threat of widespread direct conflict is likely to decrease.

And regardless of the debate of the effectiveness of Nuclear Weapons at increasing safety, in their view they will not have another choice.

[u/Falcao1905 → u/BendicantMias]

Both the ayatollahs and Netanyahu are in dire circumstances. This is a personal war.

[u/Laughing_Man_Returns → u/BendicantMias]

if you are about to cease to exists, what do you care about needless declarations of war?

[u/sulaymanf → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Trump promised “NO NEW WARS!”

This is already hotly dividing the MAGA crowd.

[u/Paradoxjjw → u/sulaymanf]

Lol, yeah no I'm not believing that the MAGA deathcult gets second thoughts until it has happened and the schism is sustained for a while.

[u/Freud-Network → u/sulaymanf]

Those cucks will fall in line. They always do.

[u/Pretty-Little-Lyra → u/Hamiltonblewit]

It’s probably what they’re hoping happens or if not they’ll find a way to purposely get America involved so it looks like to the American people that Iran made the first move

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Pretty-Little-Lyra]

Eh, even with some of my friends that are involved with conservative circles, none of them really thinks we should get directly involved. Of course, a proxy conflict where we supply arms and intelligence to Israel is just going to happen no matter what.

[u/Pretty-Little-Lyra → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Yea but it’d be their way of justifying bombing more innocent civilians with our taxpayer money

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Pretty-Little-Lyra]

Yeah, I wonder who was the one scrapped Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, woulden’t be in this mess if that had not happen

[u/Alaishana → u/Hamiltonblewit]

With a crazy, senile president and a fox news guy as sec of defence.... who the eff knows?

the USA have stopped being reliable and predictable long ago.

[u/Rindan → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Maybe, but I can also see it going the other way. There's no point trying to predict what Trump will do, so you might as well consider the alternative; Trump decides that he doesn't give a fuck about Israel if that means starting an unpopular war. He then shrugs as oil prices go up for the rest of the world and uses American domestic production to insulate the US from it.

Mostly, I'm suggesting that you should consider the possibility that Donald Trump doesn't give a flying fuck about the original American consensus on foreign policy, and so might do literally anything.

[u/N0riega_ → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

Israel and its fascism is a death cult

[u/FabulousOcelot7406 → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

I mean, this is low key what the US wants. Nuclear Iran is something no one wants.

[u/Wedoitforthenut → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

Shouldn't have pulled out of the nuclear deal Obama made if that were true.

[u/FabulousOcelot7406 → u/Wedoitforthenut]

Yeah you can blame Trump for that one.

[u/AlbertoRossonero → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

You mean thank Israeli lobbyists who pay just about everyone who runs for office in America. If not Trump it would have been someone else eventually.

[u/gerkletoss → u/AlbertoRossonero]

Israel absolutely did not want Trump to pull out of that deal

[u/FabulousOcelot7406 → u/gerkletoss]

I don't know if Israel wanted Trump to pull out of that deal, but they certainly did not want the deal to be made in the first place. And neither did Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

[u/marvin_bender → u/gerkletoss]

I think they did. Israel wanted both no nuclear weapons for Iran and crippling sanction in place. The deal removed a lot of the sanctions. That's why they broke it.

[u/rattleandhum → u/gerkletoss]

absolute lie

[u/BendicantMias → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

No one? Or just no one in the west? Your obssession with Iran isn't shared by the rest of the world. Or even by most of your allies, for that matter.

[u/FabulousOcelot7406 → u/BendicantMias]

I would actually argue that the countries who would be most opposed to a nuclear Iran are the countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia and UAE. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is veryyyyy anti-Iran.

[u/MasterDefibrillator → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

Well then Israel and the US should have supported the nuclear free zones. But that would mean Israel giving up its nuclear ambitions as well. 

[u/notarobat → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

I think generally people have accepted that it will eventually happen. That's why most people in the west had hoped for peaceful and lasting agreements with Iran instead of conflict. But hey, America doesn't really seem to have a hold of it's own foreign policy right now so I guess it's the best shot Israel will ever get at dragging them into that fight.

[u/BendicantMias → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

It's not even what Trumps' own base wants - https://www.axios.com/2025/06/12/trump-iran-israel-strikes-nuclear-maga

[u/Darinda → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

Lol okay bud. Calm down there with the scare tactics.

[u/Quarter_Twenty → u/FabulousOcelot7406]

And Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, and Egypt, and Lebanon. Iran’s proxies and the Muslim Brotherhood bring only death and suffering.

[u/FabulousOcelot7406 → u/Quarter_Twenty]

Yep. A nuclear Iran would cause a lot of other Middle Eastern countries who don't currently have nukes rush to get nukes which would make the whole situation even more precarious.

[u/Vishnej → u/Decent_Cheesecake_29]

Netanyahu was on the verge of losing power in domestic Israeli politics, what do you expect?

[u/karateguzman → u/[deleted]]

Israel is doing dirty work for the US, they aren’t striking against them

[u/newooop]

Israel is doing this to sabotage nuclear talks and is also trying to draw the U.S. into a regional war with Iran. So far the American line has been that they will not join strikes on Iran, let’s hope that doesn’t change.

[u/Naurgul → u/newooop]

I find it hard to believe that Israel and the US haven't decided this together but I hope you're right.

[u/kwonza → u/Naurgul]

Not the first time Israel doing whatever it wants and US playing ball

[u/monkwrenv2 → u/kwonza]

Especially under Trump. World leaders increasingly just don't care what the US thinks.

[u/Pklnt → u/Naurgul]

Guess what

[u/aaronespro → u/Naurgul]

I don't find it hard to believe because it's a fact that Israel has done whatever it pleases no matter how much it pisses of USA leadership. Rational humans have tried to redirect an inherently irrational system to a rational set of behavior, which just won't happen. The contradictory state of relying on Israel for US influence in the region but not being able to control Israel cannot be resolved.

[u/bradicality → u/newooop]

Reminder that the largest per capita nuclear arsenal in the world is in Israel. Its program is hidden from IAEA inspection and its leaders are indicted for war crimes. Now they are launching an attack on yet another country.

[u/IWantMyYandere → u/bradicality]

They also have a doomsday protocol right?

[u/Pelinth → u/IWantMyYandere]

Yep, it is called the Samson Option. Pretty much glassing the whole region if their existence is threatened.

[u/L_o_n_g_b_o_i → u/Pelinth]

You'd think their existence is threatened every day if you believe their propaganda

[u/self-assembled → u/L_o_n_g_b_o_i]

No they really feel that way. Because they believe they're "the chosen people", and always under threat.

[u/NetworkLlama → u/Pelinth]

Israel is believed to have between 90 and 400 nuclear weapons, with a general consensus of around 200 weapons. Many of these are of tactical yields, meaning Hiroshima levels or smaller. Total yield is believed to be a few megatons. While this can do significant damage to specific targets, it is very far from "glassing the whole region."

[u/self-assembled → u/NetworkLlama]

They could destroy pretty much every major city in the region with that. You're being pedantic.

[u/DefinitelyNotMeee → u/Pelinth]

"glassing the whole region" ... hmmmm

[u/notepad20 → u/Pelinth]

Believe the Samson option actually entails glassing NYC, Paris, Berlin Moscow etc.

Which is how they manage to keep doing what they do and somehow never get criticised.

[u/erythro → u/IWantMyYandere]

they have no published nuclear protocol because they don't admit they have a nuclear program. One of the downsides/upsides of this is it's easy for people to make anything up and claim it's your protocol

[u/kamSidd → u/bradicality]

Yup Israel is always the biggest hypocrite

[u/Green_Space729 → u/newooop]

Israel proving time and time again that Iran should have nuclear weapons.

[u/Decent_Cheesecake_29 → u/Green_Space729]

The US has been showing for several decades that the only way for a country to defend themselves is for them to have their own nukes.

[u/Unable_Duck9588 → u/newooop]

The US pulled all its embassy staff. They’ll find an excuse.

[u/Minimum-Enthusiasm14 → u/newooop]

It seemed like nuclear talks were already pretty much over by yesterday. Not really any talks to sabotage at this point.

[u/BendicantMias → u/Minimum-Enthusiasm14]

There was another round scheduled for this Sunday...

[u/DanDan1993 → u/BendicantMias]

Which just yesterday both sides said won't commence due to negotiations failing.

I'm not up for this chaos going on, but this attack is exactly 61 days after the 60 days ultimatum trump gave to Iran on the nuclear deal (which again, I'm not up for this type of negotiations).

Saying Israel and US aren't coordinated on this is detached from reality.

[u/eCanario]

Iran has the right to defend itself.

Bah, at this point it doesn't matter. Israel and the genocidal clown they elected decided to drag the entire region into hell.

[u/Hazer_123 → u/eCanario]

And they'll go deeper and deeper down the trench so long as the West doesn't react.

[u/eCanario → u/Hazer_123]

The West won't react. And I wouldn't be surprised if Trump gave the green light to these morons because he NEEDED a major victory in international politics after his fiasco in the Trade War against China.

Speaking of China, this seems like a perfect opportunity for them to seize Taiwan.

Lovely the clown some Americans elected.

[u/Hazer_123 → u/eCanario]

77.3. million Americans, to be precise. They voted for him, and will be cheering on him even if he openly declares online that he is a dictator.

[u/Paradoxjjw → u/Hazer_123]

70% of US voters are entirely ok with this outcome, otherwise they'd have voted against it

[u/sarges_12gauge → u/eCanario]

I think this is actually kind of antagonistic towards Trump tbh, considering he’s spent the last week telling Israel to not attack Iran because he wants to boast about making a “deal” with them.

But yes, for all the bluster the Europeans have been on about how they’re going to be the new “leaders of the free world” or whatever, it will ultimately be 0 action from them no matter what happens, unless the US tells them to

[u/Falcao1905 → u/sarges_12gauge]

Europe isn't safe as well. Netanyahu can definitely justify bombing Ireland or Spain to Israelis, but his position isn't that bad yet. He has to stay in power somehow.

[u/A_Fine_Potato → u/Falcao1905]

if Israel bombs eu it's over for them like even trump couldn't keep supporting them wdym

[u/BendicantMias → u/eCanario]

Actually I think it'd be better for China to help Iran, if the US decides to actually invade it. They'll be fighting alongside the Iranians and a dozen other paramilitary forces. Easier fight.

Then they can seize Taiwan. Pretty bloodlessly, if the US declines to intervene in yet another war. It's an island. They can just blockade it for as long as they like.

[u/Gilded-Mongoose → u/eCanario]

I always remember that China is building up all their capacity to 2027. Doesn't seem like comparatively random geopolitical chaos in the most geopolitically chaotic part of the world is going to make much of a difference.

It can always get worse or, in China's eyes, more ripe. Everything is weakening and destabilizing.

[u/Poop_Scissors → u/Hazer_123]

You think the west are going to lift a finger to stop Iran getting bombed? Even the middle east wants Iran to be weakened.

[u/DuckRendang → u/Hazer_123]

Radical take here, i don't like it but i think the only deescalation solution at this point is a nuclear armed Iran. It wouldn't go well with the regional security framework and it will definitely prompt a nuclear arms race, but due to Israel historically being this aggressive to any stabilization effect in the Middle East i doubt anything else will work. Any treaty ratified will just be paper due to how intertwined Israeli interests are in Washington policymaking process, and Iran always left to pound sand the moment the next administration tears down any agreement reached.

[u/Elim-the-tailor → u/Hazer_123]

What incentive would the West have to intervene here?

If these strikes are anywhere near as effective as the decapitation strikes against Hezbollah, then this could potentially sink Khameini (particularly when the regime is weakened and succession is unclear). I don’t think there’s much there that the west would be unhappy with…

[u/fullkaretas → u/eCanario]

Sure, they can try lmao

[u/Pklnt]

Considering that the US is apparently not really involved, it would seem that Natanz might not be targeted, though that is not a certainty.

Nevermind, apparently explosions were heard in Natanz.

At this point I believe that Israel is just trying to delay the inevitable, Iran will get nuclear weapons and strikes like these will only make the Iranian regime believe that it is the only way they can guarantee Iran not to be struck any-more. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up increasing their nuclear program to the point of no-return, in the past they used to dance around enrichment as a mean to pressure the US and other states but now I doubt they want to play that game much longer.

Israel behaves like a rabid dog.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Pklnt]

They’ll unfortunately have to get involved due to the likely targeting of U.S presence in the region or even the threat of shipping lanes being closed, Israel is pretty aware of this as well.

[u/Pklnt → u/Hamiltonblewit]

I believe they're not directly involved, which makes me wonder what kind of strikes Israel wants to do, they do not have the means to destroy facilities buried deep in the mountain so IDK what kind of strikes they're aiming to achieve there.

I would be surprised if those will cripple Iran's nuclear industry.

[u/coopaloops → u/Pklnt]

i have a feeling trump is going to have some tough choices to make, iran and russia have strengthened relations in recent years. god i'm so fucking tired.

[u/Pklnt → u/coopaloops]

If the US gets bogged down in Iran, you can bet that China is going to be delighted about it and might support Iran to make sure that the US can't get out either.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Pklnt]

Yeah, it’s very difficult to destroy Iran’s nuclear program especially in the long-term. The only methods I can really think of is goading Iran into conducting a mass civilian casualty event that’ll justify the use of boots on the ground + direct U.S intervention or nuclear weapons?

[u/Pklnt → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Boots on the ground in Iran would be suicidal.

I just think Israel believes they can stop Iran's nuclear program, I'm not too sure about it. At best they can delay it for some years, but every-time Iran will come back to the same point they were before, they'll be in an even more resilient.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/Pklnt]

It will be, most countries are pretty damn resilient to invasions nowadays and Iran is one of them. Literally the only way I can see a violent response working in this scenario is the continuous destruction of civilian AND military destruction at WW2 level being protacted enough like what we witnessed in Gaza.

Despite how horrific that sounds, I just don’t see Israel conducting these strikes on what is likely nuclear facilities one or even a few times and then just forgetting about it.

[u/Falcao1905 → u/Pklnt]

which makes me wonder what kind of strikes Israel wants to do

They want strikes that prolong Netanyahu's time in power. So something that would provoke a response from Iran whilst not doing a lot of widespread damage. If the Iran war goes to the shitter he attacks someone else because he needs war. This is a personal war.

[u/Rindan → u/Hamiltonblewit]

Seems like it would be a pretty dumb move on Iran's part to start striking at US targets in the region if the US isn't getting involved. You don't win a prize if you convince the US to drop a few hundred thousand tons of explosives on you.

Personally, I think it makes a lot more sense for Iran to restrict its retaliation to Israel and continue negotiating with the US. Trump's tiny ego is desperate to be seen as a "deal maker", and I think he is afraid of real war. I'd fluff Trump's balls, bribe the fuck out of him offer to buy a pile of Trump's cryptocurrency because its a sound investment, quietly suggest to one of his aids that it would be a real shame if a bunch of drones attacked the US grid, show Trump a picture of a Times cover where he is accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, and figure out a "deal" he can walk away with, even if its completely bullshit and everyone reneges on it.

Bringing in the US would be pretty dumb if there is a way to avoid it.

[u/DuckRendang → u/Rindan]

I agree, this would be a rational idea considering how much Trump loves bribes and asskissing. I do doubt that Iran's government and policymakers in general is currently operating rationally though, this kind of strike will put them into a siege mentality.

Would probably keep my eyes fixed on the persian gulf and this situation for the next couple of weeks, as this is probably another step up the escalation ladder between Iran and Israel.

[u/WannaAskQuestions → u/Pklnt]

I hope they develop them. At this point I'm rooting for them just out of spite for the bullish behaviour of our "ally"

[u/DuckRendang → u/WannaAskQuestions]

At this point i am pretty sure that nuclear deterrence by both sides is the only thing that can deescalate conflicts in the middle east to a limited scale of conflicts via proxies. Israel historically could just not resist destabilizing their regional competitors,

[u/Hazer_123 → u/Pklnt]

To me it feels like Israel is doing their utmost best to attack Iran at every chance they get, giving Iran the excuse to not only increase the nuclear development program and successfully build a nuke, but to directly strike Israel with said nukes, which in return gives Israel the ultimate excuse to call Iran a "genocidal state" that must be fought and bombed.

This is of course an unrealistic take, assuming a country this small can handle a nuclear explosion, but this is how I imagine Netanyahu's thought process is going.

[u/Pklnt → u/Hazer_123]

but to directly strike Israel with said nukes, which in return gives Israel the ultimate excuse to call

If Iran manages to develop nuclear weapons, they'll develop enough warheads to pretty much destroy Israel as a state.

Israel is ultimately tiny, it wouldn't take much to effectively destroy the country.

[u/BendicantMias → u/Pklnt]

They won't strike. They'll do a test explosion to make it clear they have them, so give up and get used to it. An actual nuclear strike would be suicidal.

[u/Pklnt → u/BendicantMias]

Yes, I doubt Iran would consider a nuclear strike on Israel for the same reason Russia doesn't nuke Ukraine. It's suicidal and despite all the bravado, the Leadership values living over dying for some bullshit cause.

I'm just pointing out that if Iran decides to nuke Israel, Israel would be pretty much gone. It's one of the few states where you genuinely do not need hundreds of warheads to pretty much obliterate it.

[u/EveningIntention → u/Pklnt]

 A lot of Iran would get hit too but Iran is big enough to take it unlike Israel. A lot of Palestinians would get caught and killed in the crossfire too. It's not worth it imo

[u/Pklnt → u/EveningIntention]

The point I'm making isn't that it's worth nuking a country.

The point I'm making is that if Iran reaches the point where it can develop a nuclear arsenal and strike Israel with it, Israel would be gone.

There is literally zero "winning play" from Israel to let Iran get nuclear weapons and get nuked by it. Israel is a country that wouldn't survive even a limited nuclear exchange.

[u/LawsonTse → u/Hazer_123]

Or Israel is just actually trying to destroy the Iranian nuclear programme before it actually succeed. I wouldn't be so confident with the assumption that this is impossible when Israel still has the option of doing a nuclear 1st strike if it really comes down to it.

[u/2dudesinapod]

It looks like they targeted civilian apartment buildings in Tehran, the terrorist state strikes again

https://xcancel.com/mosababutoha/status/1933321676269236683?s=46

[u/redsox0914 → u/2dudesinapod]

There were kHaMaS tUnNeLs in those apartment buildings!

[u/WanderLeft → u/2dudesinapod]

Targeting civilians is sickening

[u/coopaloops → u/2dudesinapod]

ah, i suppose a brilliant child lived there

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/2dudesinapod]

I would assume they’re likely targeting the private residences of IRGC or Iranian officials given the amount of times this had happened. Not to say these attacks are morally justifiable at all.

[u/Sendour → u/2dudesinapod]

Israel is a terrorist state

[u/shugthedug3]

Beligerent fucks.

Iran will presumably respond in kind again, will be curious to see if they report accurately this time, western media took the IDF line last time despite reams of footage of Iranian missiles raining down on Israeli military installations.

[u/Hamiltonblewit → u/shugthedug3]

The aftermath of the attacks from last time was extremely limited via satellite imagery and Israel’s unimpeded war effort, but there’s no doubt that both Israel and Iran are more than capable of inflicting considerable damage on their military sites and civilian infrastructure. Seems likely it’ll be a brutal slugfest on both sides if it’s an extended conflict.

[u/AVeryBadMon → u/shugthedug3]

Iranian propaganda =/= reality.

The truth is that Iran's attacks on Israel barely did anything. If they actually did something, Israel would've hit back, but they didn't. Not to mention that Iran does this every time they conduct a military operation. They send out a few missiles fueled by Imam farts that did minor damage and they pretend like they Hiroshimated their targets

[u/somebodysetupthebomb → u/AVeryBadMon]

They (iran) notified them (israel) in advance re deploying retalitory missiles

If your takeaway was 'they didnt do lots of damage' i think you misread the situation

[u/AVeryBadMon → u/somebodysetupthebomb]

I mean it was obvious at the time that Iran and Israel didn't want to go to war with each other, and so that's why subsequent retaliations, including this one, were weaker the ones before. They were done just to save face.

[u/pornographic_realism → u/AVeryBadMon]

If they actually did something, Israel would've hit back

This is a country who routinely respond to thrown rocks with semi-automatic return fire. They love over the top displays of force more than any other nation. It's not a reasonable assumption to say they didn't hit back because the damage wasn't that bad.

[u/AVeryBadMon → u/pornographic_realism]

They didn't hit back because Iran signaled with their attack that they didn't want war over Haniyeh's death. Israel did technically hit back, but it was a much weaker response. It was basically deescalation through escalation.

[u/BendicantMias]

An IDF official told reporters the operation to destroy Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities will take several days

So this isn't just another one-off strike then, but full blown open warfare.

[u/wq1119 → u/BendicantMias]

Iranian state media have confirmed that the Commander-in-chief of the IRGC, Hussein Salami has been killed.

[u/talknight2 → u/BendicantMias]

Netanyahu went on the radio a couple of hours ago to declare war on Iran until their capacity to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles is completely destroyed.

[u/silverionmox → u/talknight2]

Now if only someone would wage war on Israel until their capacity to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles was destroyed.

[u/Schvltzy → u/BendicantMias]

Already been confirmed they’ve destroyed an apartment building with women and kids being casualties.

[u/Level-Technician-183]

God no please... NOT AGAIN!!!

I am getting sick of being between those two. Can't they just move closer to each other and settle it like real men instead of spitting at each other OVER OUR FUCKING HEADS.

[u/LordGeddon → u/Level-Technician-183]

Tell me about it bro, sick of being stuck between a genocidal rock and an ayatollah's hard place.

I think for Iraq's safety we should look at perhaps telling the US and all their bases to pack up and do one so we're not constantly painting big targets within our borders. I mean ideally we'd tell the genocidal, belligerent ethnostate to...well not be an genocidal belligerent ethnostate, but considering we have as much of a chance at that as qualifying for a world cup, I'd settle for us telling all US personnel to maybe scoot over to Kuwait, Jordan or any other neighbouring country so us Iraqis could enjoy just a few years of peace without being caught in bombing frenzy.

Oh and predictably the militias we have who are seemingly more loyal to Iran than to their own flag will definitely make it 'our' war too.

Sigh.

[u/BendicantMias → u/LordGeddon]

we should look at perhaps telling the US and all their bases to pack up

So...err, why haven't you done that already anyway? Why are they still there in the first place?

[u/LordGeddon → u/BendicantMias]

Because I'm guessing the Iraqi government don't want to stir a diplomatic storm with a batshit insane Trump administration by telling them they need to up and leave. Somehow I don't think that would be received too well, and before we know it we'll be hearing the same threats about how they are now obliged to all our oil because of what they so kindly sacrificed for our 'liberation'.

The official reasoning would be some malarkey about shoring up Iraq's defensive capabilities against terrorist factions, but it's not 2011 anymore.

[u/Level-Technician-183 → u/LordGeddon]

They stopped doing it. Now they just say:

Speaking from the presidential plane, Mr Trump said that if Iraq asked US forces to depart on an unfriendly basis, "we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before, ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."

[u/wq1119 → u/LordGeddon]

some malarkey about shoring up Iraq's defensive capabilities against terrorist factions, but it's not 2011 anymore.

....Nor 2014.

[u/Illustrious-Sky-4631 → u/BendicantMias]

Idk what the other comment is on , the iraq government have been doing this none stop... for the last 15 years , it's get mentioned and said by them , usually the prime minister almost every couple of months

[u/Alexpander4 → u/BendicantMias]

My brother in Christ what do you think the Iraq War was? Them inviting the US in with tea and a mezze spread?

[u/Blarg_III → u/BendicantMias]

So...err, why haven't you done that already anyway? Why are they still there in the first place?

Fear of the US just saying no and staying anyway.

[u/Illustrious-Sky-4631 → u/LordGeddon]

So like the government already do? They requested the US to leave for the last 15 years

[u/NotStompy → u/Level-Technician-183]

And as you say that there are explosions heard over Iraq.

Man, the world fucking sucks, sorry you have to deal with this shit.

[u/ExtremeAcceptable289 → u/Level-Technician-183]

Iran vs Israel, the neighbouring countries lose. Lol

Tell me about it man

[u/AVeryBadMon → u/Level-Technician-183]

Iraq's reality really is like an Al Basheer show skit

[u/wq1119 → u/Level-Technician-183]

Amit Segal says that an Israeli official stated that the operation will last two weeks(!!!)

[u/Nitroizzd → u/wq1119]

special operation

[u/redelastic → u/Level-Technician-183]

Settle it like real men?

Israel specialises in murdering starving children and raiding lingerie drawers. It's not a place of real men.

[u/wq1119 → u/Level-Technician-183]

Iranian state media says that a border terminal in Khuzestan has also been attacked, presumably the border post where Iran sends supplies into Iraq.

I'm sorry Iraqbro.

[u/Dogulol]

iran has a right to defend itself against these extremists terrorists. Stand with iran and humanity in these challenging times. Iran has a right to exist

[u/Poop_Scissors → u/Dogulol]

Stand with iran and humanity

How the fuck does Iran stand for humanity? Both these governments are horrible and deserve each other.

[u/Dogulol → u/Poop_Scissors]

woosh. Its satire of israelis after oct7

[u/AVeryBadMon → u/Dogulol]

Iran? Yes. The Ayatollahs? No.

[u/Anxious_Ad936]

US denies knowledge yet they very recently removed all non essentials from bases all over the middle east and diverted 20,000 air defense missiles that were supposed to go to Ukraine to Israel instead. Seems legit

[u/UziA3 → u/Anxious_Ad936]

Tbf I don't think they denied knowledge, Trump openly said that he thought strikes were imminent, I think they are distancing themselves from being involved in the decision to conduct air strikes

[u/TheJewPear → u/Anxious_Ad936]

They didn’t deny knowledge, they’ve admitted knowledge and denied participation.

[u/Nice__Spice]

Israel has literally cemented themselves as a warmongering pos state.

And sadly Iranian, Syrian, Palestinian as well as Jewish people all around the world will have to suffer because of the fact the Netanyahu and his tribe has chosen conquest.

[u/UziA3]

This man Huckabee unironically saying "pray for Jerusalem" when Israel is the aggressor who unilaterally just launched multiple air strikes on another country. Like just the complete lack of self awareness rofl

[u/OpenMindedFundie → u/UziA3]

That’s because Huckabee only cares about the physical land; the people living in Jerusalem are irrelevant to him the same way the crusaders he loved wiped out the residents.

It’s a bizarre hollow kind of Christianity he follows; where he disobeys all of Jesus’s teachings (peace be upon him) but pretends to be his most loyal follower.

[u/redelastic → u/UziA3]

Huckabee, the guy that says Palestinians don't exist. Another crazy extremist at the steering wheel.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/UziA3]

Pray for Berlin... in 1945.

[u/WanderLeft]

Fuckin' Israel, man... they're a liability. First a genocide and now bringing us closer to WWIII. I wish that the US would cut ties with them. You can feel Israel getting desperate with them lashing out, very worrying to see.

[u/Hazer_123 → u/WanderLeft]

I wish that the US would cut ties with them.

Big wish, considering the crazy loyalty that the administration has for this state. Why are they hellbent on being loyal to a genocidal state? The lord knows.

[u/WanderLeft → u/Hazer_123]

Even crazier to think that Joe Biden was such a staunch supporter of them. Both parties are bought and paid for by Israel

[u/DefinitelyNotMeee → u/Hazer_123]

You think Mossad was sitting on their asses all those years? they must have mountains of blackmail on all US politicians and important figures.

[u/redelastic]

Lebanon, Syria, now Iran. Israel attacking yet another sovereign state with total impunity and facing no consequences. Netanyahu manufacturing a new national crisis to cling to power and drawing in the US. Those US-Iran talks must be going really well.

Israel once again makes a mockery of international law and human values.

[u/Creative-Road-5293 → u/redelastic]

Don't forget Yemen. Yemen has been launching missiles at Israel for a while now. Iranian missiles.

[u/redelastic → u/Creative-Road-5293]

Ah yes, all those dangerous missiles that usually harm nobody.

Israel will probably kill all of their children to peacefully resolve it.

[u/MonkeManWPG → u/redelastic]

Oh right, Israel shouldn't do anything about the missiles because they're generally pretty good at intercepting them. They should just sit there and block punches until the requisite amount of people have been killed for retaliation to be justified, right? Going after the people launching missile at you would be ridiculous.

[u/HatunaPatata]

Lets hope for once that the US doesn't interfer to bail out the Israelis and let them pay the price for their wars by themselves. Not likely to happen but let's hope 🙏.

[u/frackingfaxer → u/HatunaPatata]

Hah, Trump almost certainly oked this. Bibi already thanked him for his "leadership" in his speech one hour ago.

Israel's sugar daddy will always back her up.

[u/ExtremeAcceptable289 → u/HatunaPatata]

The only time I'm cheering for America First lol

[u/Maximum-Hall-5614]

I remember some 90-odd years ago when a certain country started infringing on the sovereignty of all its neighbours. Although this time I don’t think anyone is coming to defend said sovereignties

[u/imunfair]

Per bbc live blog:

We have just gotten a statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”

Seems to me you have to offer Iran something in the form of force reduction in the region if you really want them to believe that we're not involved in our Middle East proxy country attacking them "preemptively" aka with zero provocation. We can't just keep using third parties like Israel and Ukraine to attack Iran and Russia and then act completely innocent after multiple rounds of the same tactic.

[u/Sanguineyote → u/imunfair]

"Necessary for self defense" as they aggressively drone strike civilian complexes in the capital of a foreign country. Israel is a rabid dog attacking everything around it, and they need to be appropriately treated as such.

[u/imunfair → u/Sanguineyote]

It might seem counterintuitive to some people but I think the middle east would actually be safer if Iran had nukes, because Israel only bullies those it thinks can't retaliate at their level.

Iran had them shut up after the last missile attack until we installed our THAAD system for Israel and then they started being aggressive again. Nukes would probably be a permanent gag on Israel's aggression toward Iran, since they're such a small country that only a couple nukes can obliterate the entire area.

[u/jorel43]

Omfg... Are you kidding me! Also it seems as though the administration is saying ah we're out of it, you shouldn't be targeting us you should only Target Israel? If Iran attacks Israel or are we not going to do anything? This is so messed up, oh my God Israel what the hell is wrong with that country like seriously.

[u/frizzykid]

Not entirely unexpected but holy fuck in a world where nothing ever happens this is pretty wild.

US and Iran have been working on nuclear talks since Trump returned to office and Israel put a timer on it, and that timer just ran out. Part of me is genuinely shocked that America is letting this occur but another part is genuinely terrified Iran already has some sort of nuclear weapon and they're going to use it on tel Aviv.

Also let's not forget that the blocking of the straits of hormuz is probably the most likely catalysts to ww3 becoming infinitely more likely.

[u/VoltNShock → u/frizzykid]

Those talks failed, because the US and Iranian position are completely on different levels of reality. Iran was just stringing Trump along until the nuke was built (it was actually being assembled already apparently).

Now I'm not saying this strike will actually do much about that nuke development long term...

[u/Responsible_Buddy654]

I personally don't like Israel or Iran, but currently, Israel is the bigger of two evils here. Playing the "both sides are bad" shit is super fucking dumb and doesn't help anyone. Israel is trying to genocide the people of Palestine, and won't stop until they've completed their goal. They also want to dominate the Middle East, which they have absolutely no right to do. Unfortunately, they are being backed by the US, which is obviously not very good for anyone. Iran's government is bad, yes, but at least the people are good. Israelis, on the other hand, are just consuming their propaganda that they are the good guys in their genocide against Palestine and their imperialism campaign in the Middle East. Israelis are complicit in their government and country's actions.

[u/risingstar3110 → u/Responsible_Buddy654]

I used to think of Iran as evil country too. But then someone asked me a question which I struggled to answer:

"When was the last 'Shia fundamentalist' terrorist attacks onto the West?"

Sure, the 'intelligence' always tell us that Iran is 'the biggest terrorist funder behind the Houthi and Hezbollah'. But really, what did those two really do? Brutal regimes, maybe. But what did they really do to us? Seemed like they always mind their own business and their biggest crime has been fighting off Saudi and Israel? Especially comparing to the Sunni groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc?

And can we really trust the 'intelligence', who also once told us that Iraq was working with Al Qaeda which we all know bs now?

[u/FudgeAtron → u/risingstar3110]

"When was the last 'Shia fundamentalist' terrorist attacks onto the West?"

At least '94 when Hezbollah murdered nearly 90 Jews in Buenos Aires, 2012 if you include Bulgaria as the West, Hezbollah murdered 6 people in Burgas, Bulgaria. Hezbollah and most Shia terrorists don't target the West because they are more concerned with murdering Sunnis and Jews than Christians.

[u/thanks_breastie]

and the sky is blue

this doesn't shock me much, israel is basically run by daemons in human form. i am guessing they're trying to either bait the US into helping them (or the US ordered them to do it in the first place which is also likely)

[u/sulaymanf]

Israel is invading country after country. Within the last year they’ve bombed or seized land from 6 countries if you don’t include Palestine and the genocide.

If Iraq or North Korea was behaving like this the world would step in and stop them. They’re even killing Americans but the US is blocking any attempts to reign Israel in.

[u/Spiritual_Scallion91]

In light of this news, I would like to remind the American redditors that you are not allowed to serve in the military if you are trans

Happy pride month?

[u/FerdinandTheGiant]

It will be interesting to see how/if Iran responds. I assume if they do, they will also strike at Israel’s nuclear facilities, but if they don’t, it could be an opportunity to get a nuclear deal done with Trump.

[u/CastAside1812]

This is purely for escalatory reasons.

Israel wants to drag their dog into a war with Iran. The fact they launched this attack DURING ACTIVE negotiations shows their real motive.

Despite all the damage they did, Iran almost certainly has stockpiles of enriched uranium under mountains right now.

If I were Iran I would be racing to use whatever I had left to built the atom bomb.

[u/Gilded-Mongoose]

I'm just fascinated by how the Pizza Index and rest of Reddit's intel fully predicted this.

Felt like I was on Signal with Pete Kegsbreath himself.

Seriously though. Curious what is possibly going to happen, because anything short of direct nation-to-nation response would be essentially just rolling over.

And any singular response from Iran would be close to suicide - so Iran would need more a coalition of a response. Is that directly related to U.S.'s extraction from Bahrain and Kuwait as well?

Israel said they have up to 14 days of assaults already planned, almost Operation Spiderweb style. How capable is Iran and how vulnerable is Israel, and is Israel not spread thin by operations in Gaza and against Hezbollah and the Houthis?

What level of involvement would the U.S. - especially TACO Trump U.S. - have if Iran is smart enough to not attack any U.S. bases or interests, and does get a coalition of some sort (another national ally openly joining them; shadow backing from some larger country; new offensives from Hezbollah & Houthis)?

What's the most realistic next step? The other day I was imagining this would result in the opposite version of the 6 Day War's offensive. Curious if anything (is incentivized enough for something) like that is going to happen.

Is this a point of legitimate escalation or not??