Women gather in central Tehran on June 22 to protest U.S.and Israeli air strikes on Iran
Rayhan Uddin – Middle East Eye June 24, 2025
After an 11th hour exchange of fire, and a sweary address to reporters from Donald Trump, Israel and Iran have ceased hostilities.
The US president announced a “complete and total ceasefire” late on Monday, ending 11 days of clashes.
Israel launched attacks on Iran on 13 June, saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons.
It attacked Iranian nuclear and military facilities, and assassinated high-profile security, intelligence and military figures, as well as nuclear scientists.
Tehran, which denies it seeks a nuclear weapon, retaliated with ballistic missile strikes on Israeli towns and cities. At least 439 Iranians were killed and 28 in Israel.
While the assault left Iran undoubtedly damaged, it nonetheless provided lessons about its nuclear and military capabilities, as well as the domestic standing of the Islamic Republic itself.
Nuclear strategy rethink
There is little question that Iran suffered a setback on its nuclear programme, according to Mohammad Eslami, an expert on the proliferation of conventional and unconventional weapons in the Middle East.
“Precision Israeli strikes severely damaged key components of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure,” Eslami told Middle East Eye, citing attacks on a heavy water reactor at Arak, uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz and Fordow, and research labs in Isfahan.
“These sites represented decades of accumulated technical effort and institutional knowledge,” he said.
The level of damage that Israeli, and later US, strikes inflicted on Iran’s nuclear sites is not fully clear. Iranian authorities are currently carrying out assessments to determine the extent of the damage. No nuclear fallout has been reported at the sites.
Several nuclear scientists were also killed by Israel.
“Building infrastructure is one thing; rebuilding a generation of homegrown scientists with deep expertise in nuclear physics, engineering and centrifuge design is far harder,” said Eslami.
As for Iran’s nuclear diplomacy in the near future, the conflict may have given it a clearer sense of how to move forward.
Up to now, US intelligence assessments suggest that Iran is not yet actively pursuing the manufacture of a nuclear weapon, and that it is years away from being able to produce one anyway.
Iran is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and insists that it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. Its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, previously issued a fatwa ruling that Iran could not pursue a nuclear weapon.
After the events of the last few days, however, some ordinary Iranians have taken to the streets and demanded that Tehran go ahead and obtain nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
“Possessing a nuclear infrastructure without a credible deterrent leaves it vulnerable to high-precision attacks,” said Eslami.
He added that while Iran tries to insist that it has the right to a civilian nuclear programme, pursuing such an approach could open it to confrontation.
“One lesson Iran may internalise is that strategic ambiguity – neither confirming nor denying its capabilities – might be a more sustainable path going forward,” Eslami added.
That would be comparable to Israel’s own nuclear strategy, which is shrouded in secrecy. Israel has never publicly acknowledged that it has a nuclear arsenal.
Military ‘can surive and retaliate’
Iran suffered blows to its military infrastructure too.
Its military assets, including missile launchers, were directly struck by Israel. It has also likely burned through a significant chunk of its existing arsenal of ballistic missiles, which will now need replacing.
“Despite its losses, Iran’s missile programme made a powerful impression. Its projectiles repeatedly breached Israeli and allied regional air defence systems, impacting both civilian and military targets,” said Eslami.
“Iran has shown that it can not only survive, but retaliate in meaningful ways. That capability cements its status as a regional military power.”
The strikes on cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa caused major damage, completely destroying apartment buildings and other sites.
While Israel has withstood rockets and missiles from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis over the past two years, none of these groups managed to inflict the level of cross-border damage seen in recent days.
Ali Rizk, a Lebanese political and security analyst, said that Iran showed its allies in the region how far it is willing to engage in direct military action.
In recent years, Iran has been less prone to direct attacks, relying more on proxy warfare via its allied groups.
“Iran wasn’t even silent on American attacks,” Rizk told MEE, referring to Iran’s retaliatory strike on the US’s al-Udeid military base in Qatar on Monday.
“It was a symbolic attack, but nevertheless… The fact that Iran also insisted on responding to that, gave more and more reassurance to its allies of how far Iran is willing to go.”
War rallied Iranian people
Beyond nuclear and military considerations, there were far more existential questions posed over the past two weeks, regarding whether the Islamic Republic would survive until the end of the war.
Both Israeli and US leaders insinuated regime change was one of the conflict’s key aims, in addition to curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Ultimately, however, there was no groundswell in support of overthrowing the government and political system on the streets of Iran.
“One of the most important conclusions to draw is that the United States is not in the business of pursuing regime change against Iran,” said Rizk. “It still deems that to be too risky of an endeavour.”
Despite Iran having a shaky few months on the global stage – with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic government in Syria, as well as the severe weakening of Hezbollah during its war with Israel – Netanyahu was still unable to persuade the US to help Israel overthrow the Islamic Republic.
Rizk says that the war may have had the opposite intended effect: by inadvertently helping to rally the Iranian people around its leaders, the attacks have made the Islamic Republic’s position stronger.
“Those who didn’t designate Israel as an enemy are going to do so now. Even those who formerly didn’t support the [Iranian] government,” he said. “So this is a major strategic blunder for Netanyahu.”
The so called “expert” does not know what he is talking about.
He is either a lier, a propagandist or a fool.
As part of the original nuclear deal with Iran – which Iran complied with fully, but the orange goblin cancelled when he was last President – the Irak heavy water reactor was closed.
It was filled with concrete actually – to fulfil one of Iran’s commitments under the now cancelled nuclear deal.
So bombing of a closed heavy water reactor filled with concrete does not set back Iran’s nuclear program.
Lots of disinformation folks, always making the case for more wars and killing.
Find and eliminate the source of this fake information means the human race has a better than 50% chance of surviving the next 100 years.
LOL..
The so called Islamic republic is a bogey man…
..it’s founders were all Mi6 and CiA stooges living in the West not the East.. its’s leaders all related to the same families that had always run the shithole.. it met with jewes in Paris before it took lol power when kissinger handed them the keys…it’s biggest anti-semites are unsurprisingly jewes..OPEC is controlled opposition to prevent the leak of profits downwards..
The only real independent leader and it was tenuous at best was Qaddafi…the first thing they bombed was his water..(he knew)…
I was reading a Russian GRU guy over the weekend, who is in the know and emminently sensible on both current fake wars…the most interesting thing he noted was how Drumpf and his goons had all made good money on the performance..and a fair few in Persia too..
diddling the markets..
….because of course the market loves the weekend.. and volatility and war is great for investors particularly when you are arranging all that volatility..
it’s all just business and of course self interest..it always is.. so put your flags away.
lol..
“Women gather in central Tehran” …. Oooooof, get a load of that parade of ugly in the photo….a hobo smearing shit in the street would have more aesthetic value. I imagine that pregnancy rates are plummeting in Iran if that mob of moldy potatoes is the least bit representative of the, er um quality, of woe-men there.
Too bad – the genocidal cabal such as nutyahhoo, gvir, stromich. drumpt among others did not get eliminated. Yes, the talmud evil cult likes to eliminate the scientists and other top intellectuals so there is no one left to question the khazarian cabal/mafia so they can continue since millennium to exploit and plunder all resources for themselves in order to enslave everyone else.
Name a country without a regime, I dare you.
chesterton on June 25, 2025 at 10:20 am
LOL..
The so called Islamic republic is a bogey man…. ‘ The only real independent leader and it was tenuous at best was Qaddafi…the first thing they bombed was his water..(he knew)…’. He was a great actor too.he was a great leader in the media .he was a patsy ,assigned the role of’mad dog of arabia’ by uncle Shmuel.he was the hero of international socialism.the financier of international leftist terrorism.nuke parts collector.a simple Bedouin,uneducated,spoke no english.a great puppet in’spitting image’.
He was cast for playing a role in the creation of a new middle east/north africa area.he played the amazigh- african robin hood , defying the shareefs of arabia.he lived in a tent,they dwelled in palaces.this guy was over the top afrika bambaata and parliament of funk.he was the light skinned shaka zulu.he starred in the Bangles video ‘walk like an Egyptian’.he blew up airliners.
Front242 made a tribute to the great leader of the revolution.he had an all female bodyguard.nowadays the ‘imperialists’ have a new elkhaddaffi in black Africa, challenging the ‘colonialist power’.youtube ,the third world part of it, loves him.this Tyrone always wears polyester desert camo and some kind of fingerless cyclist’s gloves.a polyster something over his mouth ,and a red beret.toy soldier.he recently visited putin and gave him a warm and heartfelt cuddle.pitin obliged,and put his arms around this tall African hunter gatherer.putin just reached his soft baby waist.the african smiled with a baby face,as he was escorted by russian mercenaries.wagner?he couldn’t find any loyal soldiers amongst his colleagues or countrymen.
The inimitable Chesterton perfectly summarizes the shit show of distractionary theater, as he so often does.
Umbra bellator. https://iranhealthagency.com/services/plastic-surgery-in-iran/. Iran: The Cradle of Beauty Surgeries
Due to the large number of cosmetic surgeries being performed every year, doctors have been able to gain considerable experience in this area. Iran, as an age-old cultural and medical hub, has managed to become a center for all sorts of operations, especially cosmetic surgeries, which can be attributed to the high experience of its doctors, very high quality and low cost of medical services, use of the most up-to-date techniques and technologies, and most importantly, a high percentage of customer satisfaction. Operation and Cost
1-Rhinoplasty 1400 $
2-Eyelid 1000 $
3-Liposuction 1500 $
4-Brazilian Butt Lift 1500 $
5-Hair Transplant 700 $
6-Full Face Lift 3000 $
7-Buccal Fat Removal 1000 $
8-Jaw Line V shaping 3000 $
9-Forehead Reduction 2000 $
10- Cat Eye 1500 $
Umbra Bellator on June 25, 2025 at 12:03 pm
“Women gather in central Tehran” …. Oooooof, get a load of that parade of ugly in the photo….a hobo smearing shit in the street would have more aesthetic value. I imagine that pregnancy rates are plummeting in Iran (no) if that mob of moldy potatoes (these potatoes are the little baby moolah factories)is the least bit representative of the, er um quality, of woe-men there. The iranian goddesses are quite popular in the carnal content industry .they are very prolific,in making amateur videos too.
He was typecast as a new north African lion who would liberate the people from oppression.a freedumb fighter who would unite mother Africa and lead the Arabs.against the Zionist entity.he envisaged an Isra-tine.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isratin. The Green Book rejects both capitalism and communism, as well as representative democracy. Instead, it proposes a type of direct democracy overseen by the General People’s Committee which allows direct political participation for all adult citizens.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Book_(Gaddafi).
I used to watch the several state tv channels operated by the Libyan peoples propaganda office of the peoples for the people in the name of big brother al Kaid -affi,of the people.sat tv was muzzie tv.globally and plainly.to the remotest places on earth . parabolically by chinese made receivers for little cash.
For an apple and an egg. “To buy something for an apple and an egg” (meaning to buy something cheaply) is an idiom in German (“fürn Appel und ein Ei” or “etwas für einen Apfel und ein Ei bekommen”) and in Dutch (“Lets voor een appel en een ei kopen”). Some people claim that this idiom is associated with the “Big Apple” (the nickname of New York City).https://barrypopik.com/blog/big_apple_and_the_dutch_phrase.
Maybe that is the proliferation the joos are affraid of?they don’t want to lose market share?they hate persian p***y?
Khadaffi starred in Back to the fjooture.he delivered the plutonium, (through a ruse by the Jewish doc.einstein) for the Devilorean to move beyond E=mc2.at exactly 88 miles an hour.he was the mad dog of arabia, Reagan said.his terrorists drove around in a Volkswagen Van, shooting with their Abdul Kareem 47’s on US soil .in a terrorist attempt to kill the greatest jewish scientist.
By holywood the jews always manage to come out alive and on top.the wwf airings on 80’s Sky were the best preparation for the fjooture i could have wished for.
is that “The Judean Peoples Front?”
…or the “The Peoples Front of Judea?”
https://jewishcurrents.org/gaddafi-the-jew. https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaddafi-killed-anyone-who-discovered-his-mother-was-jewish-claims-aide/.