Israel Suffered Extensive Damage

Despite the arduous efforts of Israeli censors to hide the devastation Iran inflicted on Israel with its barrage of ballistic missiles during the 12-Day War, information is emerging that destroys the myth that Israel had an impregnable air defense. The map at the head of this article reveals the sites targeted by Iran. Based on the videos of strikes in Haifa and Tel Aviv, I think this map accurately portrays the massive scale of the Iranian attack. For the first time in its history, Israel took a major beating.

According to various Israeli media reports, damage spanned residential buildings, scientific infrastructure (e.g., labs at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot), the Israeli Defense Ministry complex, and commercial hubs like the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Iran also struck a military target near the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. The medical center was hit by the blast wave, which caused extensive structural damage, a chemical leak, and dozens of injuries. The Israeli press claimed this was a direct strike on Soroka, but the fact that no one was killed undermines that claim.

Iran also struck the following residential areas, reportedly targeting Israeli military and intelligence officials:

• Bat Yam: 9 killed, ~200 wounded; high-rise apartments destroyed.

• Ramat Gan: Nine buildings destroyed, hundreds displaced.

• Haifa and Tel Aviv: Strikes near military HQs (“Kirya”) and civilian neighborhoods.

Iran also caused extensive damage to the Port of Haifa and the Port of Ashdod (note, I had no information on the latter when I posted yesterday), as well as the refineries at Haifa and Ashdod. Israel has maintained a complete blackout on the damage to its military and intelligence facilities, but the sites identified on the map above indicate that Iran likely enjoyed similar success as that observed in Haifa and Tel Aviv.

The following brief video shows Tel Aviv — before and after. Israel got a taste of what it has done to the Palestinians in Gaza; it was a painful morsel.

Despite Donald Trump’s specious claim that the US obliterated Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s Defense Minister Katz is telling a different story:

So, what will Iran do? According to Ayatollah Khameni, Iran will continue to enrich uranium. While the US and the IAEA will be stomping their feet and clamoring for Iran to give it up, I don’t think that Iran is in a charitable mood. Trump has painted himself into a corner by his insistent and repeated claim that the US strikes eliminate Iran’s uranium enrichment program. How can Iran surrender something that Trump says no longer exists?

CNN is reporting that Trump is offering Iran a deal that is likely to cause Bibi Netanyahu to have a stroke:

Personally, I find it incomprehensible that Iran would trust any deal offered by Trump in light of his betrayal of the previous negotiations — i.e., he allowed Israel to launch the decapitation strike on June 13 rather than postpone the action in order to continue talks, which were schedule for June 15. My advice to Iran is simple: solidify your military ties to Russia and China, launch a massive counterintelligence campaign to identify and eliminate those elements collaborating with Mossad and Western intelligence agencies, replenish and harden air-defense systems, and build more ballistic missiles.

Iran’s situation reminds me of the scene from The Godfather, when Don Corleone’s sons debated about how to respond to the attempted murder of their father.

There is a critical difference… I am not advocating that Iran strike back, as did Michael, by killing Sollozo and the corrupt police captain. However, if there are any Iranian authorities who believe that Israel and Western intelligence agencies have given up on their dream of murdering Iranian leaders and collapsing the Iranian regime, they should be removed from office.

In Washington, the brawl between Trump and the intelligence community is not over. I anticipate that DIA, the CIA and the NSA will be producing additional intel that demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that Iran moved the enriched Uranium.. Trump boxed himself in with this statement today:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said on ABC News on Monday the U.S. was “confident” Iran’s nuclear program was “completely and totally obliterated,” noting there was a “high degree of confidence” the locations the U.S. strikes took place is where Iran stored its enriched uranium and that Iran “no longer [has] the capability … to threaten the world.”

But the Telegraph is reporting, thanks to Israeli sources, the opposite:

Donald Trump will demand that Iran hand over all its enriched uranium as the price for peace, according to Israeli sources.

A report ahead of next week’s US-Iran talks said the US is requiring the Islamic Republic to give up any nuclear fuel enriched to 60 per cent or more, which is near weapons-grade.

Maybe the Iranians have a mischievous sense of humor and will tell Trump’s negotiators, “How can we turn over something that President Trump said he obliterated?” At some point, I expect Trump will do one of his pivots and admit that Iran is hiding its enriched uranium.

I discussed some of these issues today with Garland Nixon: