US/Israel Versus Iran – Round One
By William Schryver – imetatronink – July 5, 2025
My summary assessment of the missile war over Israel during the 12-day-long first act of the ongoing war between Israel et alia and Iran et alia :
The first Iranian counterstrike against Israel (14 June) began with a few hundred drones and relatively antiquated subsonic cruise missiles, whose primary mission was to soak up air to air and Iron Dome magazine depth.
Additionally, the IDF claims the Iranians fired over 200 ballistic missiles on 14 June. I think that is probably an exaggeration. But, in any case, the overwhelming majority were older Iranian missile stock and purpose-built decoys.
My sense is that no more than about three dozen strikes in the 14 June attack were carried out by later generation Iranian ballistic missile models. Most, if not all, got through unscathed.
Over the next week (15-21 June), in addition to continuing drone strikes, Iran fired, on average, ~25 ballistic missiles per day (again, according to the IDF).
By this time, reports began swirling in Israeli and western analytical circles that US/Israel air defenses had been severely attrited and were proving to be far less effective than advertised.
US land-based THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6 from US ships in the eastern Mediterranean, and Israeli Arrow anti-ballistic missile interceptors were being consumed at a prodigious rate, but achieving few, if any, interceptions of the few dozens of upper-tier ballistic missiles fired from Iran.
On 22 June, a large Iranian counterstrike took place, including ~100 ballistic missiles.
By this stage of the battle, the Iron Dome had been significantly depleted, and even the slow-flying Iranian drones were defeating it in many instances. THAAD had more or less disappeared, and the Israeli Arrow systems were attesting multiple “malfunctions” and what (based on OSINT video evidence) appeared to be almost frantic firing patterns against single-digit salvos of Iranian hypersonic missiles.
A half-dozen or more Israeli missiles were being fired without success against individual incoming Iranian missiles, which blew right through them, their plasma envelope glowing brightly in the night sky as they streaked down to their targets.
By the time a ceasefire was agreed on 24 June, Israeli and American air defense capability in the theater of battle had reached near-exhaustion, even as the Iranians had begun to employ modest but increasing numbers of impressively capable higher-end strike missiles.
There is no doubt the Iranians welcomed a break in the fighting in order to catch their breath and reorganize their own defenses. But it was the Israelis who were, by far, most desperate to stem the tide of events.
The Israelis suffered damage far in excess of anything inflicted upon them in their history. They also expended long-developed on-the-ground sabotage and intel assets within Iran, and the round-up of those exposed assets continues.
The Iranians have proven beyond dispute that they are capable of delivering large-warhead hypersonic strikes with high accuracy (<10m CEP). And while it remains to be seen how many of these top-shelf missiles they truly possess and what their rate of production is, the bottom line is that Iran has achieved a major strategic victory which carries a strong deterrence effect in its wake.
With each passing month, the Iranians will grow stronger – and the Israelis will become more desperate to try to do something about it.
I doubt making peace will be on their agenda.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is fed up with U.S. support for Israel and more wars
If Americans Knew | July 3, 2025
Marjorie Taylor Greene, aka MTG, is a MAGA Republican and the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district since 2021.
Excerpts taken from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show (June 27, 2025): 
• Marjorie Taylor Greene: AIPAC, NYC’s Futur…
Protesters in London defy ban to rally in support of Palestine Action
Palestine Action supporters outside London’s High Court in London, July 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Press TV – July 5, 2025
In a direct challenge to the British government’s new ban, protesters have gathered in central London to show solidarity with the pro-Palestinian campaign group, Palestine Action.
The group, which uses direct action against Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was officially designated a “terrorist organization” after a late-night legal bid to delay the move failed on Friday. The proscription came into force on Saturday.
Under the new legislation, membership of or public support for the group is now a criminal offense in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Protesters on Saturday gathered at Parliament Square, defying a warning from the Metropolitan Police, who said expressing support for the group “is a criminal offence.”
The demonstration, organized by campaign group Defend Our Juries, however, saw protesters holding signs and chanting in support of the pro-Palestine group.
Pictures from the rally showed protesters holding placards reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” in Westminster.
Police had warned that chanting slogans, wearing clothing, or displaying flags and signs in support of the group could lead to arrest under the Terrorism Act.
The Met said more than 20 people have been arrested in London.
In a letter addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, protesters said that they “refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.”
Palestine Action has focused much of its campaign on Elbit Systems UK, which it accuses of manufacturing and supplying weapons to the Israeli military amid the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza.
In its most recent action, activists stormed Guardtech, a subcontractor the group says provides “essential clean room services” to Instro Precision—a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms producer.
Protesters blocked the company’s only entrance on Wednesday and covered it in red paint, symbolizing the blood shed by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip.
Palestine Action says Instro Precision cannot operate without Guardtech’s services, which are used to maintain the controlled environments necessary for producing radar kits and targeting systems.
Reacting to the ban on the group, a spokesperson for Palestine Action said, in a statement, “While London is rushing through Parliament absurd legislation to proscribe Palestine Action, the real terrorism is being committed in Gaza.”
It said that the activist group “affirms that direct action is necessary in the face of Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity of genocide, apartheid and occupation, and to end British facilitation of those crimes.”
‘Act of terrorism’: Iran urges formation of fact-finding group for 1982 abductees in Lebanon
Press TV – July 5, 2025
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has decried as an “act of terrorism” the 1982 kidnapping of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s call for the formation of a fact-finding group to determine the fate of the abductees.
The ministry said in a statement on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the abduction of the Iranian diplomats that the Israeli regime is responsible for the abduction and hostage-taking of its citizens, and continues to seriously pursue the matter with relevant international authorities.
On July 4, 1982, Ahmad Motovasselian, a military attaché at Tehran’s Embassy in Beirut, Mohsen Mousavi, the Iranian chargé d’affaires in Lebanon, Taqi Rastegar Moqaddam, an employee of the Embassy, and Kazem Akhavan, a photographer for the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), were abducted by Israeli-affiliated armed groups.
“There is ample evidence, as repeatedly stated, and copious indications proving that the Iranian diplomats were abducted by an armed group inside Lebanon during the occupation of Lebanese soil by the Zionist regime, handed over to the occupying forces, and transferred to the occupied territories,” the statement said.
“The abduction of Iranian diplomats on July 4, 1982, in Beirut was not only an act contrary to international law and a flagrant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, but also constitutes an act of terrorism according to the Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1979).”
The statement also expressed Tehran’s gratitude for the Lebanese government’s cooperation in following up on the status of the four abducted Iranian diplomats, including Beirut’s registration of the issue through correspondence with the then secretary-general of the United Nations in September 2008.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, as the statement said, once again calls on the authorities of the Lebanese government, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross and other competent international bodies, to fulfill their legal and humanitarian responsibilities in pursuing the case and to exert all their efforts to clarify the status of the abducted Iranian diplomats.
“In this framework, the proposal for the formation of a joint fact-finding committee between Iran and Lebanon, with the cooperation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, to pursue the matter and clarify the status of the abducted Iranian diplomats is once again emphasized,” the statement said.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called for the Lebanese government, the UN, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the incident and determine the fate of the missing diplomats.
Lebanese militiamen from the Lebanese Forces Group admitted to the 1982 kidnapping of the four Iranian nationals who were on a diplomatic mission in North Lebanon. Investigations show that they were last handed to Israel at the time.
Although there is information about those who abducted the Iranian diplomats and their whereabouts, the fate of these Iranians is still shrouded in mystery, with their families and Iranian authorities believing they are still alive and languishing in Israeli jails.
How Israeli propaganda mills recycled fabricated claims of intercepting Iranian missiles
By Ivan Kesic | Press TV – July 5, 2025
For the third time, the Israeli regime has declared an implausible success rate in intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles, this time touting a fanciful figure of 86 percent, a claim parroted with little scrutiny by much of the Western mainstream media.
This week, Israeli media outlets relayed statements from the regime’s war ministry claiming that 86 percent of Iranian missiles and 99 percent of drones were intercepted during the June 2025 Israeli war against Iran.
The figures, they said, were drawn from 12 days of the war, during which Iran launched 532 ballistic missiles in approximately 42 barrages targeting the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the same sources, about 300 missiles landed in “open areas,” while 200 were allegedly intercepted by Israeli and American air defense systems.
The interception systems credited include Israel’s David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and 3, along with the US-supplied THAAD and Aegis systems, altogether costing around 5 billion shekels, or nearly $1.5 billion.
In a triumphant assessment, the Israeli war ministry claimed their interception prevented over $15 billion in potential property damage and “saved countless lives.”
Some Zionist officials went even further, asserting that only 25 to 31 Iranian ballistic missiles actually struck targets within the occupied territories.
Despite the glaring inconsistencies in these numbers, and their defiance of both available evidence and basic mathematics, Western media repeated the claims almost reverently, offering little in the way of critical examination.
A pattern of fabricated success
This is not a one-off occurrence. It marks the third time the Israeli regime has released clearly falsified data on interception success rates, only to see these narratives absorbed uncritically into Western discourse.
After Iran’s Operation True Promise 1 and 2 in April and October last year, Israeli regime officials boasted a now-familiar “99 percent” interception rate. In the second operation alone, they claimed 200 Iranian ballistic missiles were launched, implying that only two managed to bypass Israeli defenses.
Yet satellite imagery tells a vastly different story. At Nevatim Airbase, one of the three key Iranian targets (alongside Tel Nof Airbase and Mossad headquarters), 33 Iranian missiles made direct contact, 26 of which caused severe structural damage, including to five hangars.
These figures alone debunk Israel’s exaggerated claims, as does independent footage from civilian sources, which recorded dozens of strikes, far more than the “three” the regime was willing to admit.
Tel Nof Airbase saw direct hits that triggered secondary explosions among stored munitions. At least two missiles impacted areas near Mossad’s headquarters. In total, over 40 Iranian missiles successfully penetrated much-hyped Israeli defenses during Operation True Promise 2, twenty times more than Israeli officials conceded.
Their missile launch count was also exaggerated. Visual evidence confirms that 53 missiles were launched in three waves: 25 from Kermanshah, 18 from Tabriz, and 10 from Shiraz. This suggests that over 75 percent of Iranian missiles struck their intended targets, an accuracy rate far closer to Iranian estimates of 90 percent than the Israeli claim of 1 percent success.
The same distortions appeared after Operation True Promise 1, with Israel again insisting it intercepted “99 percent of 300 missiles and drones”—a figure clearly contradicted by publicly available footage capturing numerous impacts.
Latest round of deception
As with the previous two retaliatory operations, the latest Israeli claims, of an 86 percent interception rate, 300 harmless impacts in open areas, and only 30 successful Iranian strikes, lack any verifiable evidence.
Most Iranian retaliatory strikes and Israeli interception attempts occurred at night and were recorded in numerous public videos. These show luminous streaks of incoming missiles, and often, impact explosions, across the occupied territories.
All Israeli systems engaged, David’s Sling, Arrow 2/3, and THAAD use hit-to-kill technology, designed to intercept missiles at long ranges and high altitudes. When successful, these intercepts generate massive hypersonic collisions that produce blinding explosions visible across the region.
If Israel had indeed intercepted 200 ballistic missiles, as claimed, there would be a flood of corroborating footage from personal and security cameras, all time- and date-stamped.
But such evidence is conspicuously absent. Even the Israeli military, known for showcasing its “successes,” has failed to release convincing proof.
Nor is there any physical evidence of widespread missile debris in Iraq or Jordan, which should exist if large numbers of missiles had been intercepted in those areas.
Conversely, hundreds of videos document Iranian missiles piercing Israeli defenses and detonating across the occupied territories. If most Iranian missiles were truly falling into uninhabited open zones, as claimed, the regime would be eager to release images proving it. Instead, photo and video censorship has been rigorously enforced.
In fact, the scale of destruction suggests widespread strikes on Israeli military infrastructure, not craters in farmland. Israeli media themselves have pegged total damage at $12 billion, with projections reaching $20 billion when indirect costs are counted.
These staggering figures are inconsistent with the claim that only 25–31 missiles hit, unless one believes each missile inflicted $500, 800 million in damage, an implausible notion.
The official 86 percent success rate also contradicts a statement by a senior Israeli intelligence officer to American media, who admitted that by the seventh day of fighting, only 65 percent of Iranian missiles were being intercepted.
He attributed this drop in effectiveness to Iran’s deployment of faster, more maneuverable, and more sophisticated missiles.
Initially, Iran had used older liquid-fueled ballistic missiles, such as Shahab-3, known for their slow speed and predictable trajectories, making them easier to intercept. However, these outdated models were paired with decoys, confusing air defense systems and draining interceptor stockpiles.
Despite the extensive documentation of missile attacks, no comprehensive analysis has yet detailed how many Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors were deployed, or what the true interception rate was.
Open-source analysts have attempted estimates using nighttime footage from Jordanian photographer Zaid M. al-Abbadi, but his recordings cover only a fraction of the conflict, nighttime only, with limited geographical and vertical scope.
Nonetheless, they point to a clear trend: Iranian missiles breached Israeli air defenses far more often than official figures admit, and did so with a frequency higher than the number of interceptors deployed.
Diversions and disinformation
In addition to exaggerating interception figures, the Israeli regime employs a range of propaganda tactics to conceal its failures and downplay Iranian achievements.
During Operation True Promise 1, iconic images of glowing Iranian missiles above Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds stunned the world, symbolizing Iran’s reach and resolve.
In response, Israeli regime officials, most notably UN ambassador Gilad Erdan, offered the bizarre narrative that Israel was “protecting Al-Aqsa from Iranian missiles,” attempting to sow discord between Iran and the wider Muslim world.
In truth, those missiles were aimed at Nevatim Airbase, located 65 kilometers south of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
Similarly, during Operation True Promise 3, Israeli propagandists claimed Iran had deliberately struck the Al-Jarina Mosque in Haifa. In reality, a missile hit the Sail Tower regime building complex 50 meters southeast, with the mosque sustaining only minor facade damage from shockwaves.
Israel also falsely alleged Iranian attacks on schools and homes. But released images show damage consistent not with Iranian warheads, but with malfunctioning Israeli interceptors.
Perhaps the most egregious example was the claim that Iran targeted Soroka Hospital. In fact, the damage was from a strike on a nearby C4I military intelligence HQ. The regime routinely positions military infrastructure adjacent to civilian areas, then manipulates resulting collateral damage as evidence of Iranian wrongdoing.
Facilities like the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv and the military-linked Weizmann Institute are presented as “civilian” in official narratives. Moreover, videos of Iranian missile strikes on these sites are heavily censored, and sharing such footage risks severe legal punishment.
Finally, Israeli propaganda claims that missile victims are mostly “non-Israelis”—while failing to mention that non-Jewish residents are often banned from entering bomb shelters.
During the recent war, Palestinians, Chinese workers, and Turkish journalists all testified to being denied shelter access, highlighting both systemic discrimination and the hypocrisy of Israeli victimhood narratives.
Sy Hersh Says Lack of Radiation Means Iran Moved Uranium Before US Attack
Sputnik – 05.07.2025
No signs of radioactive contamination have been detected since US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, suggesting that enriched uranium may have been removed from key sites before the attack, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh says.
Veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says Iran moved highly-enriched uranium from key sites before attacks ordered by US President Donald Trump.
The US Air Force and US Navy targeted deeply-buried Iranian nuclear sites, including those in Fordow and Isfahan, in the June 22 operation codenamed ‘Midnight Hammer’.
Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both claimed the targets had been “obliterated.” But Hersh’s sources say Iran had already removed large quantities of uranium enriched to up to 60% of the fissile isotope U235.
“450 pounds of enriched uranium had been moved from Fordo to the reprocessing site at Isfahan prior to the US attack there” Hersh wrote on his Substack blog.
The attack on Isfahan — a site believed to be involved in further uranium enrichment and processing — used cruise missiles launched from a US Navy submarine.
While the official objective of the strike was the “complete dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program, Hersh argues it was merely aimed at a temporary disruption and the destruction of critical infrastructure.
His sources say the destruction of Fordow and Isfahan has set Iran’s nuclear development back by several years, but did not eliminate the program entirely.
“Results? Glass is half-full,” Hersh writes. “a couple of years of respite and uncertain future. Critics? Half-empty. Reality? Half-full. There you are.”
He stresses that Israel was the main beneficiary of the operation, while the risk remains that Iran could restore its nuclear infrastructure and eventually resume the program.
31 Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire in Gaza ground war: Report
MEMO | July 4, 2025
At least 31 Israeli soldiers have been killed by friendly fire during the ongoing ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Army Radio reported Friday.
According to the broadcaster, 72 soldiers have died in total due to “operational incidents” since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza on Oct. 27, 2023, representing about 16% of the 440 Israeli soldiers killed in ground operations.
The breakdown of operational deaths includes 31 killed by friendly fire, 23 in ammunition-related incidents, seven run over by armored personnel carriers, and six in unspecified shooting incidents, the report said.
Since the resumption of Israel’s military assault on Gaza on March 18, two soldiers have been killed in operational incidents out of 32 total deaths recorded during that period, according to the broadcaster.
Five additional deaths were attributed to workplace accidents, including falls and mishandling of engineering tools, Army Radio added. One of those incidents occurred Thursday night, though no further details were provided.
Israeli military data shows 882 soldiers have been killed and 6,032 injured since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to health authorities in the enclave.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions in the enclave.
‘Israel’ faces massive economic fallout from its war on Iran
Al Mayadeen | July 4, 2025
Israeli media sounded the alarm over $14 billion in losses, a surging defense budget, and tens of thousands of compensation claims, as economic strain deepens in the aftermath of the 12-day war on Iran.
According to a report by the Israeli daily Maariv, the war has inflicted severe financial damage on the Israeli economy, with the total impact estimated at over 52 billion shekels (approximately $14 billion USD). The report noted that the war has delivered a major blow to “Israel’s” total economic activity and threatens broader budgetary stability.
“It’s no longer just about rebuilding damaged buildings, it’s about rebuilding the economy,” Maariv reported, highlighting that daily life during the war was “nearly impossible” due to constant sirens, rocket fire, destroyed infrastructure, and casualties.
Even under optimistic recovery scenarios, the paper noted that half of the damage is unlikely to be recuperated, leaving a net loss of 26 billion shekels, or 1.3% of GDP, a substantial economic blow.
Defense budget grows into a ‘bottomless pit’
The financial strain is further compounded by the ballooning costs of the Israeli occupation’s defense spending. Maariv reports that the 2025 defense budget, recently approved by the Knesset, stands at 135 billion shekels, or 21.8% of the national budget. This includes 75.7 billion shekels in debt repayments to the National Insurance Institute.
The newspaper described both the security establishment and debt servicing as “a bottomless economic pit,” given the continued war-related expenditures.
Of the allocated defense budget, 67 billion shekels had already been spent within the first five months of 2025. Now, the Israeli military is reportedly requesting an additional 55–60 billion shekels to fund recent wartime expenses, further straining fiscal resources.
Infrastructure damage, compensation soar
In parallel to military spending, the Israeli entity faces rising compensation obligations. According to Maariv, more than 36,000 compensation claims have been filed with the Property Tax Authority and the Compensation Fund at the Tax Authority, with an estimated added cost of 5 billion shekels.
The claims include:
- 3,392 for destroyed vehicles
- 3,758 for household damage
- 10,996 from evacuated settlers
- Nearly 4,000 settlers were forced to relocate to their relatives’ residential units
Thousands more claims are still being submitted, the paper added, warning that the financial toll on “Israel” is rapidly escalating and may continue to rise sharply in the coming months.
This report follows earlier findings from Calcalist, which estimated the total cost of direct damage at over 5 billion shekels (approximately $1.3 billion), though thousands of cases remain under review or are yet to be formally filed.
Israeli censorship hindering assessment of damage from Iranian strikes
“Israel” has admitted to being struck by more than 50 missiles during its 12-day war on Iran, but the full scope of the damage may never be revealed due to strict press censorship.
Such media restrictions are long-standing in “Israel”, where any content, written or visual, considered potentially harmful to the vaguely defined notion of “national security” can be legally suppressed.
Recently, the Israeli entity has further tightened its grip on wartime reporting.
Israeli special forces launch massive raid in southern Syria
The Cradle | July 4, 2025
Israeli occupation forces carried out a large-scale raid near the Syrian capital Damascus late on 3 July, lasting several hours and involving the use of helicopters and armored vehicles.
With three helicopters, Israeli special forces carried out a landing operation in the Yaafour area located around 10 kilometers from Damascus, local sources told Al Mayadeen.
The troops raided a site belonging to the Republican Guard of Syria’s former military.
“The search operation lasted for five hours before the force departed via helicopter,” Al Mayadeen’s sources added. “Another Israeli force entered the village of Saysoun in the Yarmouk Basin area of the western Deraa countryside, with six military vehicles,” the sources went on to say.
Simultaneously, Israeli troops launched ground incursions into Rakhlah in the western Damascus countryside.
Additional forces reportedly entered Ayn Dhakar in the Yarmouk Basin area. “This was the first incursion of its kind into the area,” Al Mayadeen’s sources noted.
Since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government last year, Israeli forces have established a widespread occupation across southern Syria.
Israeli troops have set up a new base on Eastern al-Ahmar hill in Quneitra governorate in southern Syria, local sources told Al-Akhbar newspaper on 1 July.
The hill lies adjacent to a nearby Israeli base established months earlier on the western side of the same ridge.
Israeli forces are “rapidly working to turn it into a key operational hub,” the sources said.
Israel’s continued expansion in Syria comes amid negotiations between Tel Aviv and Damascus, and talk of a potential normalization agreement between them.
The Syrian government claims the negotiations are indirect. However, Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi confirmed on 24 June that Israel is engaged in direct, daily communication with Syria’s interim authorities, with the aim of exploring normalization.
Speaking to Israel Hayom, Hanegbi said he personally leads the talks “at all levels” with political officials in Damascus.
According to Israeli media reports, a potential meeting between Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being considered for the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Russia warns of Israeli ‘war party’ seeking to reignite aggression against Iran
Press TV – July 4, 2025
Russia has warned about various Israeli officials’ efforts to trigger the resumption of aggression against Iran.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks during a press conference alongside his visiting Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan in Moscow on Friday.
“We sincerely hope that the so-called 12-day war is indeed over,” the Russian top diplomat said.
He was referring to the Israeli regime’s launching attacks against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear, military, and civilian targets on June 13. The assaults claimed the lives of at least 935 Iranians, including senior military officials and nuclear scientists, the latter group being targeted inside their residential buildings.
The Islamic Republic responded with decisive defensive maneuvers and counterstrikes, hitting critically sensitive nuclear, military, and industrial infrastructure across the occupied Palestinian territories. The retaliation forced the regime to request a ceasefire.
Lavrov, however, warned, “We intend to stay vigilant, as the ‘war party’ remains highly active in the Middle East.”
“We keep hearing a variety of statements from some representatives of the Israeli leadership,” he added, suggesting that those officials were persistently agitating for the resumption of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
Iran has, on many occasions since the cessation of the attacks, cautioned that its next reprisal against potential renewed aggression would be of far more intensity and magnitude to the extent that it would take Tel Aviv and its allies by surprise.
‘European states role in war’
Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov criticized some European states’ “aggressive” anti-Iranian efforts, which saw them force the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Board of Governors to issue its most recent anti-Iranian resolution.
He pointed out how the European countries “unnecessarily and aggressively pushed through anti-Iranian resolutions, which did nothing to ease tensions or advance negotiations, but instead created a pretext for forceful measures.”
The Israeli regime used the resolution as a pretext to launch the war. The resolution was also used by the United States, the regime’s biggest ally, as a plea to join it in attacking Iran towards the end of the warfare.
“I sincerely hope that European nations will come to recognize their responsibility and their share of the blame,” Lavrov said.
For his part, the Saudi foreign minister also underlined that differences with the Islamic Republic had to be resolved through diplomatic processes.
‘Israel’ establishes 10th military outpost in Syria
Al Mayadeen | July 3, 2025
“Israel’s” occupation forces have constructed a new forward military outpost within Syrian territory, marking the tenth such site since the fall of then-President Bashar al-Assad’s control, according to Israeli media outlet i24.
The i24 report states that these outposts are distributed between two positions on Mount Hermon and eight across the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. The latest position was reportedly completed on Tuesday.
The 7006th Battalion of the Israeli military is responsible for building and maintaining this latest outpost, as part of broader efforts to entrench “Israel’s” military presence in the occupied territories.
Consistent Israeli-Syrian engagement
According to a report by Axios, “Israel” is engaging with Syria through at least four communication channels. These include Tzachi Hanegbi, the national security advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; David Barnea, director of the Mossad; Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar; and ongoing military coordination through the Israeli army.
Al-Sharaa reportedly held a covert meeting with senior Israeli intelligence officials in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, marking a dramatic departure from Syria’s historic rejection and refusal to submit to “Israel”.
Moreover, a source cited by i24NEWS reported that the April 13 meeting in Abu Dhabi was mediated by the UAE and attended by top Israeli representatives from the Mossad, National Security Council, and IOF intelligence.
Additionally, previous reports have indicated that Netanyahu is interested in initiating negotiations for a broader security agreement with Syria, which could serve as a preliminary step toward a comprehensive “peace” accord.
New outposts signal long-term Israeli occupation
On a related note, earlier in March this year, The New York Times reported that the Zionist regime is entrenching its military presence in Syria and Lebanon by building a network of outposts and infrastructure that signaled a potential long-term occupation of neighboring lands.
Satellite imagery, eyewitness accounts, and UN sources confirm the establishment of fortified positions, roads, surveillance towers, and military housing in illegally occupied lands. In the Syrian town of Jubata al-Khashab, heavy machinery has been spotted alongside new barriers and defensive walls, underscoring the scale of the ongoing land grab.
The Israelis moved aggressively to fortify their hold in Syria, establishing at least nine outposts across the south. Citing distrust in Syria’s newly formed government, Tel Aviv expanded its reach into formerly demilitarized zones, backed by continued airstrikes.
Even though Al-Sharaa reaffirmed Damascus’ commitment to the 1974 cease-fire, Netanyahu dismissed the agreement, declaring it void and calling for the “complete demilitarization” of southern Syria.
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Lies are Unbekoming | January 25, 2026
The waiting room is clean. The receptionist is polite. The forms ask reasonable questions. Nothing in the physical environment suggests danger. The magazines are current. The hand sanitizer dispenser works. Someone has chosen calming colors for the walls.
A pregnant woman sits in a chair designed for her comfort. She has been told to be here. Not ordered—no one orders. Recommended. Strongly recommended. Everyone does this. Her mother did this. Her friends did this. The women in her prenatal group compare notes about their appointments the way they compare notes about nursery furniture. Which provider did you choose? What tests have you had? The questions assume the answers. The answers assume the questions.
She will be offered things today. Offered is the word used. The offers will come with information sheets that list risks and benefits in tabular form. She will sign consent documents. Everything will be voluntary in the legal sense. No one will hold her down. No one will threaten her. She will choose, and her choices will feel like choices, and she will leave feeling she has done the responsible thing.
What she will not feel is the weight of what has been arranged before she arrived. … continue
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- Philosopher Schopenhauer: Climate Science Certainty Stems From Stupidity, Ignorance
- New Study: Species Extinction Rates Declining Since 1980 – ‘Climate Change Is Not An Important Threat’
- Denmark Places Climate Protection Above Animal Welfare, Poisoning And Culling Cows
- New Study: Greenland Was 3-7°C Warmer And Far Less Glaciated Than Today 6000-8000 Years Ago
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