Attention to the Unseen

The Washington Post reports: The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, said four people familiar with the classified intelligence circulating within the U.S. government. The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by President Donald Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they had anticipated,…

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Meron Rapoport writes: “Can we say this is the greatest victory in the history of the State of Israel?” This is what a host on Israel’s Channel 12 asked retired Israeli army General Giora Eiland — father of the so-called “Generals’ Plan” to starve and ethnically cleanse Gaza’s northernmost cities — some two hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect on June 24. Eiland was modest. The victory in the 1967 war was bigger, he reassured the…

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CNN reports: The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it. The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central…

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The Economist reports: On June 23rd Iran’s regime ignored President Donald Trump’s warnings and attacked American military bases in Qatar and Iraq. Missiles could be seen over skyscrapers in Doha, Qatar’s capital. While the damage and casualties appear minimal, the war has reached the Gulf, whose glimmering cities offer an alternative vision of the Middle East and whose energy the world needs. The strikes outside Iran come alongside a sudden, ominous power shift inside it. Military hardliners are grabbing power…

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James M. Acton writes: Speaking on Sunday morning, Vice President JD Vance stated that the Saturday U.S. air strikes on Iran had “set their nuclear program back substantially.” His comments came soon after President Donald Trump said that the operation had “completely obliterated” key nuclear facilities in the country. Satellite images of bombed buildings and cratered mountainsides certainly give credence to these claims. But these statements from Vance and Trump are far too confident. In reality, Iran can likely reconstitute…

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You will find more infographics at Statista The New York Times reports: President Trump declared a “spectacular military success,” saying that American bombs had knocked out key pillars of Iran’s nuclear program. Even if he is right, the operation may not have delivered a death blow to a program that is deeply embedded in Iran’s history, culture, sense of security, and national identity. Since Iran first embarked on an ambitious civilian nuclear program in 1974 under the shah, Mohammed Reza…

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NBC News reports: As the United States faces possible retaliatory attacks from Iran, a “brain drain” in top Justice Department and FBI national security and counterterrorism units could reduce their ability to prevent potential terror and cyberattacks from Tehran, according to six former senior DOJ and FBI officials. Staff levels in the DOJ National Security Division’s Law and Policy section have dropped by as much as two-thirds, two former DOJ officials said. Its counterintelligence and export control section — which…

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Isaac Chotiner interviewed James M. Acton, the chair and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: One point that opponents of the Obama deal have made is that Iran could have been using hidden sites to enrich uranium beyond what was allowed. But you have argued that that isn’t actually a case for military action. Why? One of the big challenges with all I.A.E.A. [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspections everywhere is, Does the I.A.E.A….

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Seyed Hossein Mousavian writes: On Sunday, US President Donald Trump publicly announced: “The US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” Following the attack, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the use of force by the United States against Iran today is…

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Middle East Eye reports: There had been growing speculation in recent days that further and larger strikes would hit Iranian nuclear facilities – especially Fordow, which is buried deep underground. However, military experts had said only US bunker-busting bombs could destroy the facility, and that Israel doesn’t have that capability. As a result, many Iranians were worried an American attack might be coming soon. Milad, 35, was one of them. He lives in the northwestern city of Mashhad, 900km from…

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Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war. There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first. Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight. Peace is… — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) June 21, 2025 🇾🇪⚡🇺🇲 | Houthis Say Striking Nuclear Facilities Is ‘Beginning’ Of Real War Mohamed al-Farah, a senior member of Yemen’s…

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Robert Kagan writes: I can think of nothing more perilous to American democracy right now than going to war. Think of how Trump can use a state of war to strengthen his dictatorial control at home. Trump declared a state of national emergency in response to a nonexistent “invasion” by Venezuelan gangs. Imagine what he will do when the United States is actually at war with a real country, one that many Americans fear. Will he tolerate dissent in wartime?…

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Nahid Siamdoust writes: Over the Islamic Republic’s four and a half decades, Iranians have tried hard to reform the system from within. They have been thwarted by their own government, but also by the breakdown of the nuclear agreement with the U.S. and other parties when Trump withdrew during his first term, the extreme sanctions that ensued and the recent peace negotiations that Netanyahu hijacked. They are now in an impossible position. On the one hand, many rejoice at seeing…

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