Thread: US has struck 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign

Originally Posted by Shutree

Closing the straits would damage Iran's own economy when they couldn't get their oil out.

Although, there is a new rail line the Chinese built to link Tehran and China. The first train ran on May 10th out of China, arriving in Tehran on May 24th. Quicker than going by sea. It was designed as an alternative to sending oil by sea.

Oddly, no reports of any other trains running since that first one.

So the enriched uranium has been moved before the attack because Trump told Iran what he was going to do

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Yes, Willy isn't the sharpest tool in the box, is he?

Bangkok blast leaves attacker wounded | News | Al Jazeera

keep drinking that kool aid.

Originally Posted by Shutree

Some truth in this. American trade relies not at all on the Gulf or the Red Sea. Closing the straits would damage Iran's own economy when they couldn't get their oil out.
China would be most unhappy.
The US do have naval assets in the Gulf though and they will not want them shut down.

Yeah because oil hitting $150-200 a barrel wouldn't hurt the American economy eh?

Thinking about this more it seems like the forward deployment of the B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia 2 months ago, followed by their mysterious disappearance 2 weeks ago, was also a part of the bluff. When I read that they had disappeared from satellite imagery I was disappointed and thought that the attack plan was being wound back.

There was also the bluff about the '2 weeks to negotiate' to put the mad Mullahs in a more relaxed posture.

Then there was an additional bluff about the US and Israel 'not seeing eye to eye on Israel's attack plans' and Trump 'snubbing' Netanyahu on his middle-east trip, when it seems that they were actually working in close cahoots behind the scenes, with Israel taking control of Iran's airspace in the week before the B-2 bomber run to make the incursion as safe as possible.

Overall I would say Trump has played a pretty sharp game of cards here.

Good summary of the operation from the BBC

What we know about US air strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites

Originally Posted by Looper

I was disappointed and thought that the attack plan was being wound back.

Spoken like a true chickenhawk.

Iran say it has attacked a US base in Qatar as explosions are heard in Doha.

Qatari airspace closed.

Access Denied

Originally Posted by thailazer

The world is indeed in a precarious place due to MANY of Trump's actions. It is like a monkey throwing shit.

What would you have done differently in handling Iran if you had been in Trump's shoes?

Originally Posted by Looper

What would you have done differently in handling Iran if you had been in Trump's shoes?

All of this would’ve been avoided, if Brigadier Bone Spurs hadn’t backed out of the JCPOA.

Iran Gave Notice Before Attack on U.S. Base, and Trump Says It’s ‘Time for Peace’

Iran on Monday launched a missile attack on an American base in Qatar, the largest American military installation in the Middle East, in what appeared to be calculated retaliation for U.S. strikes on three critical Iranian nuclear sites.


Even as it attacked, there were signs that Iran was been looking for an off-ramp from a confrontation with the United States. Three Iranian officials said their government had given advance notice that the missile strike was coming, to minimize potential casualties, and President Trump responded with an olive branch online.


“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” he wrote in one of a series of posts on Truth Social.


Mr. Trump said that 13 of the 14 Iranian missiles fired at the U.S. installation, Al Udeid Air Base, had been downed and that no Americans had been harmed. He also suggested that the fight, at least between the United States and Iran, might be over.


“They’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” he said, thanking Iran “for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”


“CONGRATULATIONS WORLD,” he declared in a final post. “IT’S TIME FOR PEACE!”


The Iranian strike had initially stoked fears that the conflict with Iran might intensify, drawing in the United States further and expanding across the region. Qatar condemned the attack on its territory, and said it reserved “the right to respond directly.”


In discussing the attack on the air base, the Iranian officials said their country needed to be seen striking back at the United States for its attack on the nuclear installations, but in a calibrated way. A similar approach was used in 2020, when Iran gave a heads-up before firing ballistic missiles at an American base in Iraq in reprisal for the assassination of its top general.


Al Udeid Air Base serves as the regional headquarters for the U.S. Central Command. About 10,000 troops are stationed there.


The Iranian assault came as Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Tehran on Monday and promised more “in the coming days,” pressing on with its bombing campaign two days after the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear sites.


The new Israeli barrage, which a military spokesman said targeted a paramilitary headquarters and access routes to the Fordo nuclear enrichment site that the U.S. military bombarded, came as Iran fired salvos of missiles that sent Israelis to huddle in shelters, and as Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with a key ally, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.


While the Russian leader called the U.S. strikes “absolutely unprovoked aggression,” he stopped short of offering concrete support for Iran.

MORE nytimes.com

US attack on Iran not in breach of international law, NATO chief says

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday said he does not believe the US attacks on Iran violate international law, one day before the alliance's leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are to convene for a summit in the Netherlands.


Speaking at a press conference ahead of the meeting in The Hague, the NATO chief was asked on his view of the legitimacy of the US attacks on key Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.

"I would not agree that this is against international law, what the US did," Rutte responded, without elaborating how he came to the assessment.


Following more than a week of Israeli attacks on Iran, which Israel says are aimed at destroying the country's capability to build a nuclear weapon, the US intervened in the war late Saturday, bombing the Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.


The escalation has sparked alarm over a possible wider regional war, with the Middle East already on edge over Israel's action in Gaza.


Rutte stressed that NATO allies "have long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon."


"Allies have repeatedly urged Iran to meet its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty," he said.


Leaders and ministers attending this week's summit - which is set to focus on a massive increase in NATO defence spending - are likely hoping to learn more from the Trump administration on its strategy in the Middle East, as all eyes are on Tehran to see whether the Iranian leadership will execute its threats of severe retaliation.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world...ys/ar-AA1Hgheu

Originally Posted by malmomike77

So the enriched uranium has been moved before the attack because Trump told Iran what he was going to do

Trump is not smart but he is blessed with a smart military and the best intel. I am guessing that the generals thought this through, they wanted to hit the hardware without sending a radioactive cloud across the Middle East. So they watched the material get moved, then went in and did what the president had directed. The uranium can be dealt with more peacefully later.

Originally Posted by Shutree

Trump is not smart but he is blessed with a smart military and the best intel.

Like Tulsi Gabbard?

I think it’s laughable that people are just accepting Trump at his word, that they “obliterated “the nuclear sites.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Yeah because oil hitting $150-200 a barrel wouldn't hurt the American economy eh?

Seems unlikely. Press reports said 20% of the world's oil passes through Hormuz. They haven't said what share of that is Iranian, it should be a fair chunk. Does anyone here know?
The world economy isn't exactly going gangbusters at the moment so the demand side isn't booming and other players can pick up some slack in a crisis.
Anyway 90% of Iranian oil goes to China, all via Hormuz until they get that railway running. The Iranian economy depends on it. Meanwhile, 50% of China's oil is Iranian, plus a lot of their methane, so they have lots of reasons to be explaining to Iran why it is not in their mutual interest to close the strait.
Not that logic and a world view seem to be part of the Iranian decision making process.

Originally Posted by beachbound

All of this would’ve been avoided, if Brigadier Bone Spurs hadn’t backed out of the JCPOA.

You have a more optimistic view of the Mullahs' amenability to good faith negotiation than some.

Also you are going quite far back in time and causality can be harder to ascribe in such cases.

Given the situation as it stood 3 months ago, I think it was handled quite well.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Yes, only fucking idiots don't know Trump created this mess just to dog whistle his base by undoing something Obama had done.

That theory sound a bit shallow and petty even for Trump.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Apparently Boeing make the "bunker busters" and they cost as much as a several B737's if reports are to be believed.

So quite handy when you're losing aircraft orders to Airbus hand over fist.

I don't really subscribe to the ubiquitous 'it was done to generate defence industry revenue' 1st stop on the 'clandestine conspiracy theory' bus route.

Originally Posted by Looper

That theory sound a bit shallow and petty even for Trump.

Could be the internet's briefest ever thread.

Originally Posted by Looper

What would you have done differently in handling Iran if you had been in Trump's shoes?

Good question! The original agreement with Iran allowed hundreds of outsiders to enter the country and inspect what was going on. You can be certain that intelligence operatives were part of this which was necessary to see what is truly going on behind the inspected sites. We lost all those boots on the ground when Trump walked away from the original deal. (Monkey shit throwing.) What I would have done is get that agreement back in force with a renewed focus. You cannot bomb a country into compliance. John Kerry describes it well here at the 1:45 mark and beyond:

Originally Posted by Looper

Then there was an additional bluff about the US and Israel 'not seeing eye to eye on Israel's attack plans' and Trump 'snubbing' Netanyahu on his middle-east trip, when it seems that they were actually working in close cahoots behind the scenes, with Israel taking control of Iran's airspace in the week before the B-2 bomber run to make the incursion as safe as possible.

What a crock of shit, you trumpanzees are so fucking gullible, you will literally swallow whatever he tells you.

The fact is that Israel acted alone, attacking Iran there was no early coordination. Once it became apparent to the cheeto in chief how weak and vulnerable Iran was, he decided to step in and steal as much glory as he could for himself. The plan that was used to bomb Iran had been conceived a year and a half before, when Biden was still in office. It was no plan made by him or his administration.

Originally Posted by thailazer

We lost all those boots on the ground when Trump walked away from the original deal.

It is possible to argue that Trump should not have walked away from JCPOA. There is a month worth of weeds we could wade into there. I think Trump would say that he had grounds for believing that Iran was not holding up their end of the deal, which was the reason for his exit.

Originally Posted by thailazer

What I would have done is get that agreement back in force with a renewed focus

It is similarly possible to argue that Trump should have pursued the reinstatement of JCPOA or similar. I think there are good reasons to distrust Iran's honesty in following this route.

Originally Posted by Looper

Overall I would say Trump has played a pretty sharp game of cards here.

Just to clarify, my assertion here was in relation to how the military operation was planned and executed, rather than the possibility of avoiding the military operation.

Originally Posted by bsnub

The fact is that Israel acted alone, attacking Iran there was no early coordination. Once it became apparent to the cheeto in chief how weak and vulnerable Iran was, he decided to step in and steal as much glory as he could for himself.

I think you are in cuckoo-land on this one Snubs. It looks to me like the strike was planned and executed with unusual cunning in close cahoots with the Israelis, especially regarding the seizure of control of Iran's airspace before the bombing run. The misleading movements and statements to wrong-foot the Mullah's in the 2 months beforehand also has Trump written all over it, IMO.

Originally Posted by bsnub

The plan that was used to bomb Iran had been conceived a year and a half before, when Biden was still in office. It was no plan made by him or his administration.

OK so now it was actually Biden who planned all the details of the raid that took place at the weekend...

Come on mate!

Originally Posted by cyrille

Could be the internet's briefest ever thread.

Looper posts such retarded horseshit it's barely worth replying to.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Could be the internet's briefest ever thread.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Looper posts such retarded horseshit it's barely worth replying to.

A virtuosi masterclass in the peanut gallery school of debating style from Sizzle and Hazza

I think Looper makes many good points. I understood people such as John Bolton claimed the original agreement with Iran was shxt and buck passing the issue to future presidents. Mr. Biden wasn't up to it and so the problem landed on Mr. Trump's desk. I wish the American political system would push younger men into the White House.