Could US attack Iran’s Fordow nuclear site? Military movements offer a clue
"Was Iran months away from producing a nuclear bomb? [...]Kelsey Davenport, director for non-proliferation policy at the US-based Arms Control Association, said Israel's prime minister "did not present any clear or compelling evidence that Iran was on the brink of weaponizing". P - "Iran has been at a near-zero breakout for months," she told the BBC, referring to the time it would take Iran to acquire enough fissile material for one bomb if it chose to do so. P - "Similarly, the assessment that Iran could develop a crude nuclear weapon within a few months is not new." P - She said some of Iran's nuclear activities would be applicable to developing a bomb, but US intelligence agencies had assessed that Iran was not engaged in key weaponization work."
Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor
Refuelling aircraft were tracked heading east, potentially to support B-2 jets carrying bunker-buster bombs
Middle East crisis – live updates
Wed 18 Jun 2025 01.20 AEST
The only plane certified to carry the 6m-metre bunker-buster bombs is the B-2. Photograph: Reuters
The US has stepped up its military presence in the Middle East since the weekend but has left certain details vague to preserve operational ambiguity for Donald Trump as he considers whether the US will intervene in the Israel-Iran war.
Critically, there has been no new information about the deployment of B-2 bombers that would be used to attack Iran’s deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow with 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate 60 metres of rock.
On Monday night, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said he had “directed the deployment of additional capabilities” to US Central Command in the Middle East, an exercise he said was “to enhance our defensive posture in the region”.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, told reporters he was looking for “a real end” to the conflict as the US president returned to Washington having cut short his trip to the G7 summit in Canada. “I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a ceasefire,” he said, without being more specific.
malcolmnance.substack.com Are We At War With Iran? Yes, No, Maybe.
A B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bomber drops the BLU-57A Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb. (Photo: USAF)
On June 15, 2025 Israeli Media issued reports stating that the United States was launching airstrikes against Iran. For a few hours the world held its breath wondering where the blows would land. However, a wide range of news reports seem to both confirm and refute that very simple assertion. What exactly is going on? How could we explain away? Very credible reports coming out of Israel. At the same time the air attacks by Israel seemed to stop over the skies of Iran according to eyewitnesses on the ground, who spoke to me from Tehran.
Add to this a series of very credible reports that over 28 in-flight refueling tanker aircraft deployed from the United States two bases in England, Spain, and Germany, and one could reasonably assume that the USA was preparing to attack.
By the end of a 24 hour series of flops, flips and backflips, Trump is going to war as "the Peace President.” However, like everything he does he absolutely has no idea what he is doing. He was boxed in by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu who struck Iran right before his big beautiful nuclear deal could be consummated … now he has to appear strong no matter what the cost.
Israel seized an opening to strike. The hard part may be closing it. As the U.S. and Iran jockeyed, Benjamin Netanyahu decided this week that he couldn’t wait any longer. Updated June 13, 2025 at 7:35 p.m. EDTtoday at 7:35 p.m. EDT David Ignatius [...] The Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv on Friday. (Leo Correa/AP)
Israel struck decisively Friday at what its leaders have called “the head of the snake” — assassinating senior Iranian military commanders and scientists who helped direct Tehran’s nuclear program and proxy forces, along with an array of other military targets. In its first hours, this appeared to have been conceived as a “decapitation” strike, much like Israel’s devastating attack last fall against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But this snake is hard to kill. Especially when President Donald Trump, the leader of Israel’s closest ally, has been playing the role of snake charmer. “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,” he said Friday, warning Iranian leaders that there was “much more to come” from Israel — and then in the same social media post imploring them to “make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”
Trump’s diplomatic opening to Iran, leveraged by Israel’s overwhelming military force, is among the most ambitious moves of his presidency. But given the covert tools Iran has at its disposal for retaliation — especially through its links to al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and Afghanistan — Trump should remind himself that he needs to move with care. Misjudging Iran could have catastrophic consequences. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176319232
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
