Political Observer.
Jun 14, 2025
Editor: In my in box this morning :
In the early hours of Friday morning local time there was a sudden, dramatic acceleration in the Middle East crisis, as Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, military commanders and scientists.
Iran called the strikes, which destroyed the leadership of its Revolutionary Guard, an “act of war” and the world is watching closely to see the extent of the “severe retaliation” promised by the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Julian Borger, our senior international correspondent, was in Jerusalem as the strikes began, covering, alongside Peter Beaumont and Deepa Parent, the details of how they unfolded. Julian was also a guest on Today in Focus Extra. Our journalists have also been tracing the scale of the attacks throughout the last 24 hours, including profiles of some of the generals and scientists killed. Our reporting team, including chief Middle East correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison, will be covering the story over the weekend, and you can keep up to date with all developments as they unfold via our unrivalled live blog.
Global affairs correspondent Andrew Roth was quick to analyse Israel’s moves, writing that the “unilateral strikes indicated a collapse of Donald Trump’s efforts to restrain the Israeli prime minister and almost certainly scuttled Trump’s efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran that would prevent the country from seeking a nuclear weapon … It also will probably lead to an Iranian retaliation that could develop into a larger war between Israel and Iran, a new conflict that Trump has publicly sought to avoid.”
Trump’s immediate response was to use Iran’s fragile position to further pressure it into conceding to US demands over its nuclear ambitions, while events on Friday will probably cast a pall over the president’s big 79th birthday celebrations – a huge military parade through Washington DC, no less. The parade, ostensibly a celebration of the US army’s 250th anniversary, was already likely to be overshadowed by protests – both against Trump, and against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids. Washington bureau chief David Smith laid out what to expect from the parade and spoke to those who drew a direct link between the Ice raids, the use of the national guard in LA and this show of military might.
Editor: Note that the ICE raids note a mention, and Trumps Birthday!
Political Observer.
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