US strikes against Iran not aimed at regime change, Pentagon chief says

June 22, 2025

The US military’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were not a preamble to plans for regime change, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday, adding that private messages had been sent to Tehran encouraging them to negotiate, Reuters reports. Still, Hegseth warned Iran against following through with past threats of retaliation against the United […]Continue Reading

US strikes on Iran nuclear sites are real-life test of hard power’s limits

June 22, 2025

US military strikes overnight in which President Donald Trump said Iran’s main nuclear sites were “obliterated” will put to the test the widely held view that such attacks can delay a nuclear programme but not kill a determined push for atom bombs, Reuters reports. As Iran’s nuclear programme has expanded and become more sophisticated over […]Continue Reading

Russia’s Medvedev says Trump started new war for US after attack on Iran

June 22, 2025

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump had started a new war for the US by attacking Iran, Reuters reports. US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites, Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more devastating attacks if it […]Continue Reading

US airlines face heightened risks as global carriers bypass Middle East after attacks on Iran

June 22, 2025

An organisation that monitors flight risks warned on Sunday that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites could heighten the threat to American operators in the region as some airlines cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Doha, Reuters reports. Airlines continued to avoid large parts of the Middle East due to ongoing missile exchanges between […]Continue Reading

Strikes on Iran mark Trump’s biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble

June 22, 2025

With his unprecedented decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, directly joining Israel’s air attack on its regional arch-foe, US President Donald Trump has done something he had long vowed to avoid – intervene militarily in a major foreign war, Reuters reports. The dramatic US strike, including the targeting of Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation […]Continue Reading

Iran says it reserves all options on response to ‘outrageous’ US strikes

June 22, 2025

Iran reserves all options to defend itself after U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday on X, saying the attacks were “outrageous and will have everlasting consequences”, Reuters reports.Continue Reading

Trump says US forces bombed Iran nuclear sites; says ‘Fordow is gone’

June 22, 2025

US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites, President Donald Trumpsaid late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more attacks if it did not agree to peace, Reuters reports. After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against its major rival Iran […]Continue Reading

Israeli scientists scramble to save work after Iranian missile hits labs

June 20, 2025

Researchers at Israel’s prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science have been scrambling to save their experiments after an Iranian missile destroyed a building containing dozens of cutting-edge laboratories, Reuters reports. The missile struck the institute’s campus at Rehovot, on the southern periphery of Tel Aviv, in the early hours of Sunday, damaging Continue Reading

On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday, recalling the cake that rattled the junta

June 20, 2025

The Myanmar military’s propaganda channels on Telegram have been busy inciting the surveillance and arrest of people planning to hold a flower strike and wear blue shirts to commemorate detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 80th birthday on Thursday,  The Irrawaddy reports. Many people believe the social media campaign reflects the junta’s fear […]Continue Reading

Putin on Iran, Khamenei, regime change, Ukraine and NATO

June 20, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the following comments to senior news agency editors on the conflict between Iran and Israel, NATO and the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports. The remarks were translated from Russian by Reuters reporters. ASKED ABOUT HIS REACTION IF ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES KILLED IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI: “If […]Continue Reading