A woman carries her child following Israeli strikes on Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025 (Amir Kholousi/WANA/Reuters)

Israel Maintains Deadly Pressure on Iran; Tehran Strikes Tel Aviv and Haifa

UPDATE, JUNE 21:

I joined France 24 English on Saturday to evaluate the latest Israeli strikes on Iran and the attempt by other countries — including European states and Turkey — to arrange negotiations to pause the assault.

In the 10-minute interview, I discuss Israel’s targeting of Iranian nuclear sites and efforts to assassinate its leaders, and evaluate if Iran’s regime can remain in power.

I analyze the efforts by the Europeans and the Turks to persuade the Trump Administration to step back from military operations and to encourage Israel to cease fire — and whether the Gulf States will end their reticence and add their pressure.

UPDATE, JUNE 19:

I returned to India’s WION on Wednesday evening to evaluate the latest developments in Israel’s war on Iran.

I discuss the status of Iran’s nuclear program after the International Atomic Energy Agency — alongside the intelligence services of the US and other countries — reiterated that Tehran has not been pursuing an atomic bomb.

I review how Israel “played” Donald Trump into support of the war and whether Trump could order American forces to join the attacks.

UPDATE, JUNE 17:

I joined India’s WION on Monday evening for a 15-minute interview about developments in Israel’s war on Iran and the Iranian retaliation.

I evaluate the damage to Iran’s uranium enrichment complex at Natanz, whether Israel can attack the Fordoo facility buried deep inside a mountain, and if the Trump Administration could join the operations.

I explain why Iran’s retaliatory strikes are unlikely to put any immediate pressure on the Netanyahu Government to halt its assault as it “goes for the kill” against the Iranian leadership.

And I talk about cutting through the “fog of information/disinformation” as each side makes claims about its damage to the other.

The discussion is in three parts.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, JUNE 16: I joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday to make clear that with Israel striking military and civilian targets across Iran and the Iranians retaliating with missiles on Israel, this is now a war.

I assess the consequences, beginning with Iran’s possible withdrawal from international nuclear agreements and — for the first time — its further enrichment of uranium to pursue a nuclear weapon.

At some point, the war is going to have to end. Unless Israel completely obliterates the Iranian leadership, that prospect of Iran rebuilding its nuclear program will be back on the table.

I continue, “I need to emphasize to your viewers how serious this is. This is not ‘one of the most serious confrontations’ between Israel and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This is an unprecedented confrontation.”

Israel’s stated aim with this operation was to prevent Iran having nuclear capacity.

We are far beyond that. Israel is trying to break the Islamic Republic, to break the leadership. They want to put Iran in a positon where it cannot function domestically as well as across the region.