Israeli military: ‘At this hour, we are striking Iran’
An Israeli military spokesperson has said that Israel is currently striking Iran, and that its enemy “still has an arsenal that can cause grave damage to Israel”.
The spokesperson warned that Iranian attacks on Israel “are not behind us”.
Israel would continue to “attack and destroy” Iranian surface-to-surface missile sites, the spokesperson said.
That will take forever...
‘Netanyahu likes to play games every now and then’
Iranian foreign policy analyst Mostafa Khoshcheshm says Israel has failed to bomb Iran’s missile reserves despite its ongoing attacks.
“Iran has so many missile towns and silos. It has tens of thousands of missiles – liquid and solid fuel missiles – and it [Israel] has failed in striking these stashes,” he said.
Khoshcheshm, who is also a professor of media studies in Tehran, dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claims that the Iranian public wants a regime change. “Netanyahu and other Israeli officials know that this is a mockery and they are pursuing other purposes, otherwise they would be fools to have such wishful thinking,” he told Al Jazeera.
“While I’m talking to you, tens of thousands of people are out celebrating Eid al-Ghadir – the start of the leadership of Imam Ali, the first Shia imam. Every now and then they chant slogans in support of Iran’s missile strikes and demand more missile strikes on Israel.”
Khoshcheshm said Netanyahu is aware that these attacks will not bring a regime change. “They’re doing it to bring Tehran down to its knees on the negotiating table [on nuclear talks]. That’s why US President Trump acknowledged that they had been informed and are in full coordination [with Israel] while we were waiting for the latest round of talks on Sunday.
“This shows that the purpose is to target Iran’s independence and scientific progress in the nuclear industry. Netanyahu likes to play [these] games every now and then.”
US official: We ‘hope the Iranians will come to the table soon’
A senior US official has confirmed that the nuclear talks that had been scheduled to take place in Oman on Sunday will no longer be happening.
The official told The Associated Press news agency that although the talks were off, “we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” speaking anonymously to discuss diplomatic matters.
Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi had said earlier that the sixth round of talks would not be happening in light of the strikes being traded between Israel and Iran, adding that “diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace”.
Might want to stop helping Israel bomb Iran first...
