Israel-Iran

NPR  - Today, European diplomats are meeting Iran’s foreign minister in Geneva in an attempt to reach a diplomatic solution between Israel and Iran as they enter their second week of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Israel will continue attacking Iran’s nuclear sites even if Trump doesn’t take part. Over 650 people in Iran have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to an independent group. Israel says Iranian missiles have killed 24 people in its country. 

European diplomats have called for restraint but say Israel has the right to protect its security, which is a sharp contrast from Europe’s calls for Israel to end the Gaza war, NPR’s Daniel Estrin says. A person familiar with the conflict says they believe Israeli officials can destroy Fordo, Iran's most fortified nuclear site, on its own without the U.S.'s help. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, Estrin says. Experts tell Estrin that the U.S.’s bunker-busting bombs would do serious damage to the site, but it wouldn’t destroy Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons in the future. 

The Nation - After Benjamin Netanyahu struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, and Iran retaliated, we have been brought startlingly close to World War 3. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been predictably erratic in his attitude toward the war. A message from the State Department indicated “Trump has no intention of thrusting the US military into what would be its sixth war in the greater Middle East in nearly a quarter of a century,” Daniel R. Depetris reported this week. At the same time, John Nichols explained, “Trump was sending signals that caused at least some analysts to suggest that he might increase US military support for Israel’s war efforts.” 

Unfortunately, “Trump seems to be the only figure capable of ending the ongoing war between the regimes,” writes Tara Kangarlou. But he doesn’t seem to be on his way to stopping it. (“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” his recent post on Truth Social reads.) 

 

Whatever happens next, it’s important we remember that damage has already been done in Iran, where much of our poetry editor Kaveh Akbar’s family and friends remain. Netanyahu may say this hawkishness is about nuclear threat, but Akbar begs to differ: “Netanyahu knows already how he will be judged by the dead. He’s trying to win over the not-dead-yet. Don’t fall for it.”