Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
You could have made your point without this dick-swinging horseshit.aerius wrote:You're just as badly uninformed about this war as you are on the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Quit drinking the Western media Kool-aid and talking about shit you know nothing about.
Did I fucking stutter?3-Body Problem wrote: 2025-06-16 08:22pm Why are we pulling aerius out of this when it's ES stalking them and making biting comments without contributing anything that is the root of the conflict? I've stepped back from this board a bit recently, and know aerius can be a prick, but this board has never had an issue calling out a pissant like ES for being a cheap me-tooing rat with an axe to grind.
I can't see Iran agreeing to any deal Trump would have the power to kill. So this is going to lead to either Trump backing down or the US throwing more support to Israel.US President Donald Trump said Wednesday the US knows where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding during the Israel-Iran conflict but doesn’t want him killed "for now".
Trump urged, in a social media posting, Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" as the five-day conflict continues to escalate.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," Trump added. "He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin."
Trump's increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government come after he urged Tehran's 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
The comments about Khamenei and calls for surrender came shortly after Trump in a separate posting touted complete control of the skies over Tehran.
Trump in the opening days of the conflict rejected a plan presented by Israel to kill Khamenei, according to a US official familiar with the matter, who was not authorised to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Israelis had informed the Trump administration that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei. But White House officials informed the Israelis that Trump opposed such a move. Administration officials were concerned that the plan to kill Khamenei could inflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region.
Trump returned to the White House from his abbreviated trip to the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies early Tuesday at a moment of choosing in his presidency.
Israel, with five days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran's nuclear program — particularly if it gets a little more help from the Republican president.
But deepening American involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offering other direct US military support, comes with enormous political risk for Trump.
Trump, as he made his way back to Washington, expressed frustration with Iranian leaders for failing to reach an agreement. He said he was now looking for "a real end" to the conflict and a "complete give-up" of Tehran's nuclear program.
"They should have done the deal. I told them, 'Do the deal'," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "So I don't know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate."
Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb.
Trump, who was holding a Situation Room meeting with advisers on Tuesday, has been gradually building the public case for a more direct American role in the conflict. His shift in tone comes as the US has repositioned warships and military aircraft in the region to respond if the conflict between Israel and Iran further escalates.
Meanwhile, the State Department created a special task force to assist Americans seeking to leave Israel and other Mideast countries, although no government evacuations are currently planned. There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual US-Israeli citizens, now in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran.
Trump made an early departure from G7
The White House announced Monday that Trump was cutting his participation in the G7 summit so he could return to Washington to focus his attention on the Mideast crisis. Trump, while at the summit, also raised alarms when he urged Iranians with a social media posting to "immediately evacuate Tehran".
Asked about his evacuation comment, Trump told reporters: "I just want people to be safe".
Trump said he wasn't ruling out a diplomatic option and he could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.
He also dismissed congressional testimony from National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, who told lawmakers in March that US spy agencies did not believe Iran was building a nuclear weapon.
“I don’t care what she said," Trump said. "I think they were very close to having it.”
Gabbard on Tuesday brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing her earlier testimony and asserting that “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said."
Speculation grows that Trump may be tilting toward more direct involvement
The Israelis say their offensive has eviscerated Iran's air defences and they can now strike targets across the country at will. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli bombardment will continue until Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed.
So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility.
The site is buried deep underground — and to eliminate it, Israel may need the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. But Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it — the penetrator is currently delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber.
Israel’s own defences remain largely intact in the face of Iran's retaliatory strikes, but some of Tehran's missiles are getting through and having deadly impact.
A widening schism over Iran among Trump's MAGA supporters
Trump bristled when asked about some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further U.S. involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars.
"Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,' IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!'" the president wrote on social media.
Other prominent Trump supporters have also raised concerns about how far the president should go in backing Israel.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk are among prominent Trump World allies who have noted that voters backed Trump because he promised not to entangle the nation in foreign clashes and to be wary of expanding US involvement in the Mideast conflict.
He ran on a promise to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine but has struggled to find an endgame to either.
In a Tuesday posting on X, Vance said he wanted to address "a lot of crazy stuff on social media" about Trump's approach to Iran.
Vance made the case that Trump has been consistent that "Iran cannot have uranium enrichment" and has said "repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways — the easy way or the 'other' way."
There are also Trump backers, including Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who are making the case that this is Trump's moment to deliver a decisive blow to Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to "go all-in" in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
Remind me; what's the number of total OWA/UAS drones launched by Iran and the actual number that reached Israel?aerius wrote: 2025-06-16 02:28pmYou're just as badly uninformed about this war as you are on the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Quit drinking the Western media Kool-aid and talking about shit you know nothing about.
Israel good and Iran bad. Any questions?Zaune wrote: 2025-06-17 09:53pm Would someone care to explain to me why Iran having a nuclear deterrent is a problem but Israel having one is not, given the events of the last couple of years? Besides the obvious fact that the latter bends the knee to Washington when push comes to shove, of course.
https://x.com/iraninarabic_ir/status/19 ... 5885823421Iranian state TV: "Tonight, a great surprise will occur, one that the world will remember for centuries."
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1935129919505256530Statement No. 10 of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard: In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. “So when you meet those who disbelieve, [then] smite
their necks.” The eleventh wave of Operation “True Promise 3” was launched with pride and honor, using first-generation “Fateh” missiles, announcing the beginning of the end of the legendary air defense system of the Zionist army, amidst a state of confusion and internal collapse among the entity’s leaders. We congratulate the commanders and fighters of the Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for this achievement.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed in a statement earlier, “Tonight's missile attack showed that we have gained complete control over the skies of the occupied territories and that its residents have become completely defenseless against Iranian missile attacks.”
In reality, the only thing that Iran was able to successfully strike during tonight’s ballistic missile attack, was a car park to the southeast of Tel-Aviv, with all other missiles landing in open areas or being intercepted by Israel.
aerius wrote: 2025-06-16 02:28pmIran has demonstrated their ability to hit any Israeli target they want, even the most heavily defended ones. If they so choose, they can destroy every power plant, desalination plant, and all vital infrastructure in Israel. Once that happens Israel will be unable to support anything close to its current population or technology level, the people will either have to leave or die.
A war of choice...over a major national defense and foreign policy goal.MKSheppard wrote: 2025-06-18 06:59am
There's a remarkable tone-deafness by the Israelis regarding this war -- this was a deliberate war of choice launched by Netanyahu;
Israel never threatened to wipe Iran off the map. On the other hand, isn't it one of Iran's official state policies to wipe Israel from the map?Zaune wrote: 2025-06-17 09:53pm Would someone care to explain to me why Iran having a nuclear deterrent is a problem but Israel having one is not
It's been....thirteen years since this meme in 2012:Ralin wrote: 2025-06-18 07:24amI think the Israeli government as a collective entity can be taken at their word as absolutely not wanting their sworn enemy to have a nuclear arsenal.
their necks.” The eleventh wave of Operation “True Promise 3” was launched with pride and honor, using first-generation “Fateh” missiles, announcing the beginning of the end of the legendary air defense system of the Zionist army, amidst a state of confusion and internal collapse among the entity’s leaders. We congratulate the commanders and fighters of the Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for this achievement.