Attention to the Unseen

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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Fawaz Gerges writes: Like the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Israel’s war on Iran is neither legal nor just. It is a war of choice, not of necessity – and should the US or its European allies, particularly Britain, join in, they risk being dragged into another disastrous and unlawful conflict in the Middle East. A US military intervention would be in direct contravention of international law. Already, the US, once the architect and guardian of the…

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Peter Beinart writes: Given the gravity of this moment, Democratic leaders should be holding news conferences, addressing mass protests, even bringing Congress to a standstill with all-night filibusters in order to prevent an unauthorized, unjustified war. The public is deeply weary of conflict. And yet top Democrats are not boldly rallying them against the possibility of another. This is a serious blunder. It’s a foreign policy blunder because Iran — a corrupt and brutal regime interested primarily in staying in…

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Reuters reports: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters. According to the diplomats, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks, which began on June 13. They said…

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The Guardian reports: Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called “bunker buster” bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes…

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The Washington Post reports: As the United States moves additional military forces into the Middle East to help defend Israel from Iranian counterstrikes, protect U.S. assets and possibly launch bunker-busting bombs at Iran’s buried nuclear sites, Trump is relying more on a pair of four-star generals than on Hegseth, his defense secretary, according to three U.S. officials. The generals are Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman; and Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, which has operational authority…

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The Guardian reports: Benjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family’s sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son’s wedding. The Israeli prime minister’s remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Beersheba, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war…

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Tucker Carlson confronts Sen. Ted Cruz on his support for regime change in Iran:   Greg Sargent writes: You may have heard it said that Donald Trump won in 2024 in part by vowing to end “forever wars.” During the campaign, Trump ripped Democrat Kamala Harris for campaigning with Liz Cheney, slamming her for wanting “war with every Muslim Country known to mankind.” News organizations credulously insisted that this sort of anger over military entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan fueled…

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