NEWS

The administration of former US President, Joe Biden, knowingly allowed Israel’s genocide in Gaza to continue long after it had lost any clear military objective, with senior officials in Washington privately admitting it amounted to “killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying”. This damning assessment, along with revelations of political manipulation, diplomatic cover-ups and sabotaged peace efforts, comes from a bombshell investigation aired by Israel’s Channel 13. Details of the investigation have been translated by Drop Site News and shared on X.

The Biden administration allowed Israel unprecedented leeway to carry out its military offensive, despite the enormous death and devastation it inflicted on Gaza. Former Israeli ambassador, Michael Herzog, made a startling admission about Biden’s support: “God did the State of Israel a favour that Biden was the president during this period. We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.” His remarks encapsulated a broader sentiment that the White House gave Benjamin Netanyahu all the political space he needed to execute the military offensive, which has claimed the lives of more than 52,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

READ: ICC judges order prosecutor to keep arrest warrant requests confidential in Gaza probes

The investigation, which included interviews with nine current and former US officials, reveals a deeply troubling portrait of US complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Former national security aide, Ilan Goldenberg, stated that the war amounted to “killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying”, with no viable political alternative ever established. Despite the White House’s public messaging about restraining Israel, the internal consensus appeared to be that the administration had no intention of exerting real pressure on the Occupation state.

The Biden administration also shielded Israel from allegations of war crimes, prompting a major backlash from staffers in the State Department. Lawyer Stacy Gilbert, for example, resigned in protest after being excluded from a key report that falsely claimed Israel had not violated US arms laws. Gilbert described the report as “shocking in its mendacity”, pointing out that aid obstruction and settler attacks were well documented, yet ignored. Meanwhile, Washington continued to certify Israeli compliance with US law, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of weapons.

The investigation also revealed that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, deliberately sabotaged hostage negotiations in order to prevent a ceasefire. US officials confirmed that Netanyahu tanked talks out of fear that a deal would compel him to halt the war.

Despite public backlash, Biden’s private approach remained deferential. Even after reportedly telling Netanyahu he was “full of shit” and hanging up mid-call, Biden ultimately maintained support. After briefly halting a shipment of 2,000-lb bombs due to concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza, Netanyahu publicly accused Washington of broader arms delays. Biden, rather than escalating pressure, resumed the shipment process shortly thereafter.

The Channel 13 exposé further confirms that Biden’s reluctance to push Israel was deeply tied to a failed diplomatic initiative with Saudi Arabia. A landmark normalisation deal was in sight, but it required Israeli recognition of Palestinian statehood. These were flatly rejected by Netanyahu’s far-right coalition. Former US ambassador, Jack Lew, said he found Israel’s refusal “shocking”, while Amos Hochstein expressed disbelief that such a strategic opportunity was squandered. Sources confirmed that Netanyahu deliberately stalled negotiations in hopes that President Trump would return to office and claim the diplomatic win for himself.

These revelations lend significant weight to long-standing accusations that the Biden administration has not only provided diplomatic cover for Israel’s propaganda by repeating lies, but also actively enabled what many view as a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Critics note that Biden himself amplified false Israeli claims, such as the widely discredited allegations of Hamas beheading babies, rhetoric that helped to dehumanise a population in order to carry out genocide.

OPINION: Advisory opinions will not stop genocide

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Tensions soar at UN as Iran, allies condemn US military action, while US, Israel reject censure.

The United Nations Security Council has convened an emergency session following US-led strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, prompting sharp rebukes from several member states and renewed calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East, as allies Israel and the US lauded the attack.

Russia, China and Pakistan have proposed a resolution demanding an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire”, according to diplomats familiar with the draft circulated on Sunday. While the proposal does not explicitly name the United States or Israel, it condemns the attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. A vote has not yet been scheduled.

To pass, the resolution requires the backing of at least nine members and no vetoes from the five permanent members — the US, UK, France, Russia and China, which makes it a non-starter since the US will not censure itself.

Speaking to the Council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the region stood “on the brink of a deadly downward spiral.”

“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” Guterres said. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation. We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear programme.”

Acting US ambassador Dorothy Shea defended the military action, stating that Washington had moved to dismantle Iran’s enrichment capacity in order to protect both its citizens and allies.

“The time finally came for the United States, in defence of its ally and our own interests, to act decisively,” Shea told the chamber. “Iran should not escalate… any Iranian attack, direct or indirect, against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation.”

Iran’s Ambassador Ali Bahreini said the Israeli and US attacks on Iran did not come about “in a vacuum”, adding that they are the result of “politically motivated actions” of the US and its European partners.

He said the US “decided to destroy diplomacy” and pointedly made it clear that the Iranian military will decide on the  “timing, nature and scale” of its response.

Meanwhile, Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon said the attacks had made the world “a safer place”, rejecting calls for condemnation. “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us,” he said when asked whether Israel supported regime change in Tehran

China’s ambassador Fu Cong condemned the US strikes and urged restraint. “We call for an immediate ceasefire,” he said. “China is deeply concerned about the risk of the situation getting out of control.”

Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya described the attacks as yet another sign of Washington’s disregard for global norms. “The US has opened a Pandora’s box,” he said. “No one knows what catastrophe or suffering will follow.”

Pakistan’s ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad also condemned the US bombing, calling it deeply troubling. “The sharp rise in tensions and violence as a result of Israeli aggression and unlawful actions is profoundly disturbing,” he said. “Pakistan stands in solidarity with the government and brotherly people of Iran during this challenging time.” This came the day after Pakistan suggested US President Donald Trump be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump’s announcement that American forces had “obliterated” Iran’s key nuclear sites marked the most significant Western military action against Tehran since the 1979 revolution.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told the Council that while the scale of underground damage remains unclear, impact craters were visible at the Fordow enrichment site. The entrances to tunnels at Isfahan appeared to have been struck, while Natanz — long a target of Israeli sabotage — had been hit again.

Iran has castigated Grossi for being complicit in paving the way for Israel and the US to attack it.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors approved a resolution declaring Iran was not complying with its commitment to international nuclear safeguards the day before Israel launched its initial attack on June 13.

Phoenix Suns All-Star forward Kevin Durant will join his fifth NBA team after being traded to the Houston Rockets.

The Houston Rockets are acquiring 15-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for guard Jalen Green and forward Dillon Brooks as well as the number 10 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and five second-round picks, ESPN reported on Sunday.

The trade can be completed when the new league year for the US National Basketball Association (NBA) begins on July 6. At that point, Durant will be eligible to sign a two-year extension worth up to $122m.

Durant has one season left on his current deal and is set to earn $54.7m in 2025-26.

Durant will join a Rockets team that finished the regular season as the second seed in the Western Conference. The star forward will join All-Star Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Fred VanVleet, among others, in Houston.

Durant, who turns 37 in September, played in 62 games with the Suns in 2024-25. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocks, not far off of his career averages. He also shot 43.0 percent from three-point range.

Selected to the All-NBA first team six times, Durant has appeared in 1,123 games with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder (2007-16), Golden State Warriors (2016-19), Brooklyn Nets (2020-23) and Suns. He has career averages of 27.2 points, 7.0 rebounds. 4.4 assists and 1.1 blocks, shooting 39 percent from long distance.

Green, 23, averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists while starting in all 82 games this season. He now ventures to Phoenix to join All-Star Devin Booker in a potent backcourt.

He has contributed 20.1 points, 4.3 boards and 3.4 assists in 307 games since being selected by the Rockets with the second overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft.

Brooks, 29, averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 75 games this season.

He has contributed 14.2 points, 3.2 boards and 2.0 assists in 492 games with the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-23) and Rockets. He was selected by Houston in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

At least 20 people have been killed and 52 others wounded in a suicide bombing at a church on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria’s health ministry has said.

The attacker entered Mar Elias Church in Dweila during a service and opened fire with a weapon before detonating an explosive vest, according to the interior ministry.

It added that he was affiliated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). There was no immediate claim from the group itself.

The Syrian Civil Defence – whose emergency teams are widely known as the White Helmets – posted photos and video from inside the church showing a heavily damaged altar, pews covered in broken glass and a bloodied floor.

One person told AFP news agency outside Mar Elias that “someone entered carrying a weapon” and began shooting. “[People] tried to stop him before he blew himself up,” he added.

A worker at a nearby shop said: “We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance.”

Security forces have cordoned off the area around the church and are investigating the attack, according to the interior ministry.

It was the first such attack in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – whose Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria – has repeatedly promised to protect religious and ethnic minorities.

However, the country has been rocked by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.

Last week, a prominent Saudi Sheikh, Mohammed Al-Issa, visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation, which signalled the end of the Nazi Holocaust. Although dozens of Muslim scholars have visited the site, where about one million Jews were killed during World War Two, according to the Auschwitz Memorial Centre’s press office, Al-Issa is the most senior Muslim religious leader to do so.

Visiting Auschwitz is not a problem for a Muslim; Islam orders Muslims to reject unjustified killing of any human being, no matter what their faith is. Al-Issa is a senior ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who apparently cares little for the sanctity of human life, though, and the visit to Auschwitz has very definite political connotations beyond any Islamic context.

By sending Al-Issa to the camp, Bin Salman wanted to show his support for Israel, which exploits the Holocaust for geopolitical colonial purposes. “The Israeli government decided that it alone was permitted to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Auschwitz [in modern day Poland] in 1945,” wrote journalist Richard Silverstein recently when he commented on the gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Holocaust event.

READ: Next up, a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem 

Bin Salman uses Al Issa for such purposes, as if to demonstrate his own Zionist credentials. For example, the head of the Makkah-based Muslim World League is leading rapprochement efforts with Evangelical Christians who are, in the US at least, firm Zionists in their backing for the state of Israel. Al-Issa has called for a Muslim-Christian-Jewish interfaith delegation to travel to Jerusalem in what would, in effect, be a Zionist troika.

Zionism is not a religion, and there are many non-Jewish Zionists who desire or support the establishment of a Jewish state in occupied Palestine. The definition of Zionism does not mention the religion of its supporters, and Israeli writer Sheri Oz, is just one author who insists that non-Jews can be Zionists.

Mohammad Bin Salman and Netanyahu – Cartoon [Tasnimnews.com/Wikipedia]

We should not be shocked, therefore, to see a Zionist Muslim leader in these trying times. It is reasonable to say that Bin Salman’s grandfather and father were Zionists, as close friends of Zionist leaders. Logic suggests that Bin Salman comes from a Zionist dynasty.

This has been evident from his close relationship with Zionists and positive approaches to the Israeli occupation and establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, calling it “[the Jews’] ancestral homeland”. This means that he has no issue with the ethnic cleansing of almost 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, during which thousands were killed and their homes demolished in order to establish the Zionist state of Israel.

“The ‘Jewish state’ claim is how Zionism has tried to mask its intrinsic Apartheid, under the veil of a supposed ‘self-determination of the Jewish people’,” wrote Israeli blogger Jonathan Ofir in Mondoweiss in 2018, “and for the Palestinians it has meant their dispossession.”

As the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Bin Salman has imprisoned dozens of Palestinians, including representatives of Hamas. In doing so he is serving Israel’s interests. Moreover, he has blamed the Palestinians for not making peace with the occupation state. Bin Salman “excoriated the Palestinians for missing key opportunities,” wrote Danial Benjamin in Moment magazine. He pointed out that the prince’s father, King Salman, has played the role of counterweight by saying that Saudi Arabia “permanently stands by Palestine and its people’s right to an independent state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.”

UN expert: Saudi crown prince behind hack on Amazon CEO 

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 News reported Bin Salman as saying: “In the last several decades the Palestinian leadership has missed one opportunity after the other and rejected all the peace proposals it was given. It is about time the Palestinians take the proposals and agree to come to the negotiations table or shut up and stop complaining.” This is reminiscent of the words of the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, one of the Zionist founders of Israel, that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Bin Salman’s Zionism is also very clear in his bold support for US President Donald Trump’s deal of the century, which achieves Zionist goals in Palestine at the expense of Palestinian rights. He participated in the Bahrain conference, the forum where the economic side of the US deal was announced, where he gave “cover to several other Arab countries to attend the event and infuriated the Palestinians.”

US President Donald Trump looks over at Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they line up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders’ Summit 2018 at Costa Salguero on 30 November 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Daniel Jayo/Getty Images]

While discussing the issue of the current Saudi support for Israeli policies and practices in Palestine with a credible Palestinian official last week, he told me that the Palestinians had contacted the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ask him not to relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem. “The Saudis have been putting pressure on us in order to relocate our embassy to Jerusalem,” replied the Brazilian leader. What more evidence of Mohammad Bin Salman’s Zionism do we need?

The founder of Friends of Zion Museum is American Evangelical Christian Mike Evans. He said, after visiting a number of the Gulf States, that, “The leaders [there] are more pro-Israel than a lot of Jews.” This was a specific reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, and his counterpart in the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed.

“All versions of Zionism lead to the same reactionary end of unbridled expansionism and continued settler colonial genocide of [the] Palestinian people,” Israeli-American writer and photographer Yoav Litvin wrote for Al Jazeera. We may well see an Israeli Embassy opened in Riyadh in the near future, and a Saudi Embassy in Tel Aviv or, more likely, Jerusalem. Is Mohammad Bin Salman a Zionist? There’s no doubt about it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Cambodia’s PM Hun Manet announced that the decision would take effect from midnight on Sunday.

Cambodia has announced it will stop all fuel imports from its neighbour Thailand as relations have plunged to their lowest ebb in more than a decade after a Cambodian soldier was killed last month in a disputed area of the border.

Prime Minister Hun Manet announced the decision on Sunday, posting on social media that it would take effect from midnight.

Manet said energy companies would be able to “import sufficiently from other sources to meet domestic fuel and gas demands” in the country.

Separately, on Sunday, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens not to travel to Thailand unnecessarily. Concurrently, Thailand’s consular affairs department warned Thais in Cambodia to avoid “protest areas”.

The ongoing escalation between the two countries began last month after a brief exchange of gunfire in the disputed border area killed a Cambodian soldier.

For more than a century, Cambodia and Thailand have contested sovereignty at various un-demarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border, which was first mapped by France when it colonised Cambodia in 1907.

But following the soldier’s death, the two countries have taken several measures to secure their borders, with both announcing closures of border checkpoints and crossings.

Leaked phone call

The border dispute created wider political turmoil after a leaked phone call on Wednesday between Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the former Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, who remains a powerful influence in his nation.

During the call, the Thai premier told Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to “the opposite side”, including a prominent Thai military commander at the border.

Soon after the leak, a major coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai Party, quit the ruling alliance, overshadowing Paetongtarn’s premiership.

But on Sunday, the Thai leader said all coalition partners have pledged support for her government, which she said would seek to maintain political stability to address threats to national security.

Following a meeting with her coalition partners, she said, “The country must move forward. Thailand must unite and push policies to solve problems for the people.”

A rally has, nevertheless, been called for June 28 to demand that Paetongtarn, the daughter of influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, resign.

Here are the key events on day 1,214 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Sunday, June 22:

Fighting

• Russia has struck several locations, including Chernihiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 20 over the past day, the Kyiv Independent has reported.
• Ukraine has said it has evidence that Russia is preparing new military operations on European territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said on X.
• Emergency workers have found three bodies under the rubble of a four-storey residential building in Kramatorsk hit by a Russian missile.
• Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii has said that Ukraine will continue, and increase, its strikes against military targets deep inside Russia three weeks after a brazen attack on remote Russian airbases.

Politics and diplomacy

• Zelenskyy’s office has said Kyiv imposed new sanctions on individuals and legal entities doing business in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea.
• Russia has sent Ukraine at least 20 of its own dead soldiers in recent exchanges with Kyiv due to Moscow’s disorganisation, the Ukrainian president said.
• Russia has rejected the claims, saying that reports over body substitutions are propaganda, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
• “Ukraine has received 6,060 bodies of its servicemen. In return, we have received the remains of 78 Russian soldiers,” the report said.

Six-time MotoGP world champ beat brother Alex and Fabio Di Giannantonio to sweep podium for local manufacturer Ducati.

Ducati’s Marc Marquez won the Italian Grand Prix after a dogfight for podium places at the Mugello Circuit, taking the chequered flag ahead of his brother Alex to maintain his iron grip on the MotoGP riders’ championship.

Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez briefly led the race early on Sunday before Marc took control, while Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing claimed third place after snatching the final podium spot from his Italian compatriot Francesco Bagnaia.

Home favourite Bagnaia also led the race in the initial stages, but the factory Ducati rider, who had won the last three races at Mugello, was overshadowed by the Marquez brothers and could only finish fourth in front of his home fans.

Marc Marquez’s victory was also the 93rd win of his career across all classes, matching his motorcycle number, and the Spaniard celebrated by planting a Ducati flag in front of the home fans who once saw him as a rival when he was with Honda.

“Amazing feeling … three Ducatis on the podium, to win here [at Mugello] in the red,” said Marc, who now leads Alex by 40 points while Bagnaia is 110 points back in third.

“I already understood this morning that was super special for them, even for me, because I feel part of them. Super happy.

“We managed the race … I was calm and then when the tyres dropped a bit, I started to give everything. Happy to take the 37 points in this amazing weekend.”

Fresh from claiming his historic 100th career pole with a blistering lap record and Saturday’s unlikely sprint victory, Marc found himself locked in a fraternal battle with Alex – a running theme this season.

The opening laps unfolded as a masterclass in close-quarter racing between the two factory Ducati machines – their special Italian Renaissance livery flashing through Mugello’s sweeping turns – while Alex stayed on their tails.

Bagnaia denied victory at home race

The crowd erupted when Bagnaia briefly snatched the lead from Marc after turn one, but what followed was high-speed drama as they traded positions, occasionally making heart-stopping contact with each other.

Disaster nearly struck when Bagnaia, pushing his bike to the limit, touched Marc’s rear tyre as he was forced to brake hard and surrender his position to Alex.

Fans in the grandstand witnessed a spectacular moment when all three riders thundered into turn one abreast, a three-wide gamble that saw Alex briefly seize control, drop to third on the brakes and then reclaim the lead moments later on the exit.

But Marc eventually broke free, leaving brother Alex to doggedly defend second position against a relentless Bagnaia.

However, the Italian did not have the late-race pace to catch up, and he was soon forced to defend the final podium place, with Di Giannantonio looking to upstage his compatriot.

With two laps to go, Di Giannantonio made his move on turn seven as he squeezed past the two-time champion and raced away to claim his first podium finish at Mugello.

“I knew that I had to risk a lot to take him, but at the end, the last lap, I said, ‘OK, let’s go for it,’ and we’ve done it,” Di Giannantonio said.

“My first podium in MotoGP Mugello, in front of this fantastic group of fans.”

England’s Harry Brook is caught out for 99 after dropping a pull right into the hands of Shardul Thakur at deep backward-square on day three of the first Test at Headingley.

FOLLOW LIVE: England v India first Test – day three

Available to UK users only.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the US military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling it an ‘outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation’ of international law. He accused the Trump administration of colluding with Israel to breach Iran’s sovereignty, and vowed Tehran would defend its territory ‘by all means necessary.’

It seems like just yesterday that United States President Donald Trump was pushing a “diplomatic resolution” to the Iranian nuclear issue.

Now, the US has joined Israel’s illegal assault on Iran, striking three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday in what Trump has boasted was a “very successful attack”.

As CNN dramatically put it, “a midsummer night in June 2025 could come to be remembered as the moment the Middle East changed forever; when the fear of nuclear annihilation was lifted from Israel; when Iran’s power was neutered and America’s soared”.

Of course, a “fear of nuclear annihilation” has nothing to do with Israel’s current strikes on Iran, which have been dutifully portrayed in the US media as targeting military and nuclear facilities but have somehow managed to slaughter hundreds of civilians. The victims include 23-year-old poet Parnia Abbasi, killed along with her family as they slept in their Tehran apartment building.

As is clear as day to anyone not in the business of defending Israeli depredations, the attacks on Iran are simply a war of convenience for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is killing all sorts of birds with one stone in his campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities.

In addition to distracting the world from Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, where starving Palestinians continue to be massacred on a daily basis as they seek food and other aid, Netanyahu has also managed to divert attention from his own embroilment in numerous corruption charges at home.

Plus, the war on Iran is wildly popular among Israelis, which translates into big points for a prime minister who has faced significant domestic opposition.

Trump’s initial insistence on diplomacy with Iran naturally got Netanyahu’s panties into a giant bunch – but the situation has now been rectified by the midsummer night’s bombing, which, according to the president, has “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites.

To be sure, Iran has long occupied US crosshairs, with many an establishment figure salivating at the prospect of bombing the country to smithereens. Some have salivated more openly than others, as in the case of John Bolton – a former US ambassador to the United Nations and briefly the national security adviser in the first Trump administration – who in 2015 took to the opinion pages of The New York Times with the following advice: “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran.”

That the editors of the US newspaper of record did not bat an eye in publishing such a blatant call for the violation of international law is indicative of the extent to which Iran has been thoroughly demonised in US society and media. Recall that in 2002, then-US President George W Bush appointed the nation to his infamous “axis of evil” along with Iraq and North Korea.

And yet, aside from being a persistent thorn in the side of US imperialism, Iran’s behaviour has been rather less apparently, um, “evil” than certain other international actors – like the US itself. For instance, Iran is not the one currently funding a straight-up genocide to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

Nor is Iran the one that has spent the past several decades bombing and otherwise antagonising folks in every corner of the world – from backing right-wing state terror in Latin America to conducting mass slaughter in Vietnam.

Furthermore, the sole clandestine nuclear weapons power in the Middle East is not Iran but Israel, which has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has never allowed UN safeguards on its facilities.

Those who applaud the strikes on Iran citing the “oppressive” nature of the Iranian government would, meanwhile, do well to revisit the US track record of fuelling oppression in the country. In 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup d’etat against Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohammad Mossadegh, which paved the way for the extended reign of the torture-happy shah.

Historian Ervand Abrahamian notes in his book A History of Modern Iran: “Arms dealers joked that the shah devoured their manuals in much the same way as other men read Playboy.” Indeed, the shah’s obsessive acquisition of US weaponry did much to enable his rule by terror, which was put to an end by the Iranian Revolution of 1979. And the Iranian nuclear programme that Trump has now bombed? It was started by that very same shah.

Now, arms dealers are presumably not too upset over the midsummer night’s events and the general escalation of the crisis in the Middle East. For his part, Netanyahu has gone out of his way to thank Trump for his “bold decision” to go after Iran “with the awesome and righteous might of the United States”.

In Netanyahu’s words, Trump’s action will “change history” – as though making the world safe for more war is anything new. And as the US media scramble to justify illegal attacks on a sovereign nation, the sinister hypocrisy of two heavily nuclear-armed nations undertaking to police nuclear “threats” cannot be overstated.

It is anyone’s guess what Trump, who prides himself on spontaneous and manic behaviour, will do next. But rest assured that, whatever happens, the arms industry won’t be going hungry any time soon.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Iran and Israel have exchanged a barrage of missiles after the United States bombed key Iranian nuclear sites, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Iran on Sunday launched two volleys of 27 missiles, targeting Israel’s main Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, research facilities, and command centres, an Iranian state news agency reported.

Air raid sirens were sounded across most of Israel, sending millions of people to safe rooms and bomb shelters as explosions and missile interceptions were seen above the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the port city of Haifa, and other parts of the country.

At least 20 people were wounded, according to Israeli emergency workers.

“This is certainly the first time that we have seen two volleys coming in such close succession. Usually, there are hours between each volley of missiles. This time, it was less than half an hour,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan.

The targeted areas spanned the occupied Golan Heights in Syria to the Upper Galilee to northern and central Israel, affecting 10 separate sites either directly by missiles or by large shrapnel, Odeh said.

“There is extensive damage in those sites, especially in the Tel Aviv area and Haifa,” Odeh said.

Videos from Tel Aviv and Haifa towards the north showed rescue teams combing through debris, apartments reduced to rubble, mangled cars along a street filled with debris, and medics evacuating injured people from a row of blown-out houses.

In a statement, the Israeli army said it was investigating why no air raid warnings were sounded in Haifa.

Israel also carried out another wave of bombings on “military targets” in western Iran. The Israeli military earlier said its strikes destroyed Iranian missile launchers and targeted soldiers.

The latest exchange of missiles between the Middle Eastern enemies followed the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, with President Donald Trump saying the attacks had “obliterated” the three facilities.

Trump said Iran’s future held “either peace or tragedy” and that there were many other Iranian targets that could be hit. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,” he said.

Iran responded by saying it “reserved all options” to defend itself and warned of “everlasting consequences” if the US joined the war.

In a statement, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US attacks on its nuclear facilities as a “gross and unprecedented violation” of international law.

“The world must not forget that it was the United States that, in the midst of a diplomatic process, betrayed diplomacy” by supporting Israel’s “aggressive action”, and is now waging “a dangerous war against Iran,” the ministry said.

It has become clear that the US “adheres to no rules or ethics, and in order to advance the aims of a genocidal and occupying regime, spares no lawlessness or crime”, it added.

Meanwhile, Israel said it will temporarily reopen its airspace for flights from 11:00 GMT on Sunday as it repatriates thousands of citizens left stranded overseas by its war with Iran, the country’s airport authority said.

Ben Gurion Airport “will open for landings from 02:00pm-8:00pm as part of Operation Safe Return”, the authority said in a statement, referring to the government’s efforts to bring home citizens.

Most airlines continue to avoid large parts of the Middle East after the US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, according to the flight tracking website, FlightRadar24.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised US President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran as ‘bold, righteous and historic.’ The UN Secretary General has condemned the US strikes as a ‘dangerous escalation’.

Iran has carried out a barrage of missile attacks against Israel, hours after the United States attacked key Iranian nuclear sites.

Loud explosions were heard in coastal hub Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Sunday shortly after the Israeli military reported incoming Iranian missiles and activated air defences.

Sirens rang in Israeli cities, with rescue services and media reports saying at least 20 people were injured.

Israeli police reported “the fall of weapon fragments” in an area near the northern port of Haifa, where local authorities said emergency services were heading to an “accident site”.

Tel Aviv, Haifa, and the southern city of Beersheba have been the three Israeli areas targeted by Iran frequently.

Reporting on missile strikes is subject to strict military censorship rules in Israel, where at least 50 impacts have been officially acknowledged nationwide and 25 people have been killed since the war started on June 13, according to official figures.

Iran has warned of “everlasting consequences” after President Donald Trump claimed the US attacks “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Fordow and Natanz.

Meanwhile, Iran’s National Nuclear Safety System Centre and the United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), say there has been no increase in radiation levels following the US strikes.

Inter Milan have come from behind to beat Urawa Red Diamonds and knock the Japanese side out of the Club World Cup, while Borussia Dortmund held off Mamelodi Sundowns to win a seven-goal thriller in hot conditions.

Fluminense rallied in the second half to beat Ulsan 4-2 and knock out the South Korean side, while Monterrey and River Plate played out an entertaining goalless draw as the tournament entered its second week on Saturday.

At Lumen Field in Seattle, Ryoma Watanabe got an early opening goal for Urawa Reds, who were backed by a noisy contingent of their supporters.

But captain Lautaro Martinez – who got Inter’s equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their opening game – repeated the trick to level matters with a clever overhead kick 12 minutes from time.

Valentin Carboni was then the unlikely hero as he grabbed the winner two minutes into injury time.

The result left some Urawa fans in tears and Inter level on four points with River Plate with the two teams meeting next.

River Plate were let down by their finishing in a scrappy, foul-ridden encounter with Mexico’s Monterrey, who sit on two points.

Esteban Andrada, Monterrey’s Argentinian keeper, made a series of saves while River’s forwards were unable to put away the few chances that came their way.

Monterrey could still make it into the last 16 if they beat Urawa and River, or Inter win their game.

Dortmund break South African hearts in Cincinnati ‘sauna’

Earlier, Jobe Bellingham got his first goal for Dortmund as his new club overcame stifling heat in Cincinnati to beat Sundowns 4-3 and move to four points from two matches in Group F.

The South African champions had taken a surprise early lead through a fine solo goal from Lucas Ribeiro.

However, Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams handed Dortmund their equaliser on a plate, passing the ball straight to Felix Nmecha, who stroked home.

Serhou Guirassy gave Dortmund the lead with his 35th goal since the beginning of the season.

English midfielder Bellingham, who this month followed older brother Jude’s footsteps in joining the German side from Sunderland, started for the first time for Dortmund and made it 3-1 just before the break.

Khuliso Mudau’s own goal made it 4-1 before the hour mark, but Sundowns salvaged some pride by reducing the deficit through Iqraam Rayners and Lebo Mothiba.

“I’m sweating like I’ve just come out of a sauna,” said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac when asked about the conditions in a game which started at midday local time.

“It was tough going for both teams, but the opposition are used to it. We certainly didn’t give our best performance, but that wasn’t possible today.”

Sundowns will still go into their final game in Group F with a chance of qualifying for the last 16.

“The boys made a wonderful performance… it was a hell of a match. I’m not happy but very proud,” said their Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso.

South Korea’s Ulsan gave Fluminense a real scare in their Group F clash at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, leading 2-1 until the 66th minute before the Brazilians ran out 4-2 winners, eliminating the K-League champions in the process.

Colombian striker Jhon Arias put Fluminense ahead with a 27th-minute free-kick, but goals from Lee Jin-hyun and Um Won-sang gave Ulsan the advantage at the break.

Nonata levelled for the Brazilians in the 66th minute before Juan Freytes put Fluminense ahead in the 83rd minute, slotting home after a scramble in the box.

Keno added a fourth in stoppage time to leave Fluminense on top of the group, level on 4 points with Borussia Dortmund ahead of their final game against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in Miami on Wednesday.

A win or draw for the Rio club in their final group game will ensure their passage into the last 16.

Former England captain Alastair Cook believes Ollie Pope showed admirable control in the century that helped guide his side to 209-3 – trailing India by 262 runs – at the end of the second day of the first Test at Headingley.

MATCH REPORT: England v India first Test – day two

Available to UK users only.

After announcing the “very successful” US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, United States President Donald Trump addressed the nation.

Here is the full transcript of his speech on Saturday evening:

A short time ago, the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.

Tonight, 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. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.

If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.

For 40 years, Iran has been saying, “Death to America, death to Israel”.

They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs – that was their speciality.

We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate, in particular, so many were killed by their general, Qassem Soleimani.

I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen.

It will not continue.

I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.

I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done and, most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight, and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that’s so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan “Razin” Caine – spectacular general – and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

With all of that being said, this cannot continue.

There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.

Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal, but if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.

There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, will have a press conference at 8am (12:00 GMT) at the Pentagon, and I want to just thank everybody, and in particular, God.

I want to just say, “We love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them.” God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America.

Thank you very much. Thank you.