Yikes, Israel might have just attacked Iran!

[SomeWomanSomewhere]

This is NOT GOOD news!

Israel has declared a state of emergency, at least six explosions in Tehran.

This is seriously unfunny!

Israel has ZERO strategic depth - Iran has plenty. Nukes: see above, reverse!

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/12/iran-security-forces-used-rape-and-other-sexual-violence-to-crush-woman-life-freedom-uprising-with-impunity/

The previous link was the treatment of women.

"A report by Human Rights Watch found that Iranian authorities are carrying out the crime against humanity of persecution against Baha’is in Iran. Authorities expanded penalties for women violating the country’s discriminatory dress codes, trials remain unfair, and impunity for serious human rights abuses endures."

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/iran

"On Nov 2, 2024, the world witnessed the protest of a young student on the grounds of Tehran's Azad University, Iran. This young woman was reportedly harassed by the university's morality guards (paramilitary members of the Basij ([paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]) for improper wearing of the headscarf. In response, as seen in various privately captured videos shared online1 and in a statement from Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi,2 the student removed some of her clothing in protest. She was seen sitting silently on a wall or pacing back and forth in apparent anger. She did not chant slogans, but instead can be seen as staging what could be seen as a silent protest against her harassment over the hijab imposed by the morality guards.
According to reports from various media outlets, including Reuters,3 she was subsequently committed against her will to a psychiatric clinic, allegedly due to mental illness. However, the ICD contains no psychiatric diagnosis related to whether someone wears a hijab or not. This event must be seen as the latest, but not the first, in a series of violations that have been criticised internationally (eg, by Amnesty International) and by Iranian psychiatrists in a recent letter. Such involuntary hospitalisation brings to mind Soviet and East-German Stasi practices of committing political dissidents to psychiatric institutions for so-called treatment, often with invented diagnostic labels such as sluggish schizophrenia"

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366%2824%2900409-7/fulltext

Let's not pretend it's hunky dory there for women. Some might get away with less coverage, whilst others get detained, raped, punished, sectioned for mental illness. That's a risk not to be minimised.

Ok Am I being stupid here @BelleHathor why would they send an air to air refuelling plane in that direction past Israel ?

Please. Read. What. I. Said.

Iran have just said that two of their major gas fields have been attacked. No comment from Israel on this yet.

I run a lot of stories through Grok you can simply reply to a post with @Grok Is this true?” and it will respond with a fact-check (see below). There’s a lot of fake news out there, including recycled content from other conflicts and events falsely labeled as current. But if you can navigate through the noise, X remains a valuable source for raw, developing news largely free from censorship. If they are attacking significant hydrocarbon infrastructure then we can expect a big spike in prices.

,I'm not entirely sure about the specifics of the attack on Iran's natural gas field, but given the recent escalation between Israel and Iran, it wouldn't surprise me if Israel targeted Iran's economic infrastructure, including its oil and gas facilities. The South Pars/North Dome field is indeed a massive asset, shared with Qatar, and hitting it would be a significant blow to Iran's economy.

From what I've gathered, Israel has been striking Iranian targets, including nuclear sites and military leaders, in response to various provocations. Iran's retaliation with ballistic missiles around Tel Aviv suggests a tit-for-tat scenario. Whether this particular field was hit or not, the broader context of economic warfare is certainly plausible. Israel's strategy might be to pressure Iran economically, especially since Iran's oil and gas sectors are crucial to its revenue.

So, while I can't confirm the exact details of this specific attack, the general trend of targeting Iran's economic lifelines fits the pattern of recent events. Stay skeptical, though—sometimes the fog of war makes it hard to distinguish between propaganda and reality. Keep an eye out for more concrete reports!

They've issued a warning and the Iranian navy has just made a British ship turn around from attempting to pass through the sea of Oman. Israel did target Iranian Gas installations today:

"🚨 BREAKING: Iran has officially warned the US, UK, and France:

1. A massive aerial strike on Israel is coming in hours, stronger than last night’s attack.

2. Any foreign interference will be met with direct Iranian strikes on military bases & interests across the Middle East.

This isn’t just escalation... it’s a game changer.

Iran's armed.forces already stated: “We haven’t even entered the battle yet. That was just the IRGC.”

Translation: The real war hasn’t started. A knockout blow may be next.
New targets. Heavier weapons. No red lines.

The region stands on the edge of open war."

Thanks for this but can you verify how you verify through @Grok
Do you literally
tag a post
and type @Grok is this true and an answer appears ?

Secondly
Is their any reason to be concerned this is AI developed by Elon Musk. ie can we be sure it’s unbiased and not manipulated

It’s the South Pars field, part of the world’s largest natural gas reservoir, which Iran shares with Qatar (where it's known as the North Field). Damaging infrastructure on the Iranian side can severely disrupt reservoir pressure across the entire field including Qatar’s side. In a worst-case scenario, it could force a shutdown of the entire system to avoid long-term damage.

If Israel has indeed struck this infrastructure as it increasingly appears this would constitute a major act of global economic vandalism. The consequences won’t be limited to Iran or Qatar; such an event could send shockwaves through global energy markets, compounding pressure on an already fragile world economy.

Even a limited strike on South Pars could be a strategic miscalculation with global economic consequences. It's not just a regional gas field—it's a keystone of energy security, and damage there could ignite energy inflation, trade disruptions, and geopolitical instability worldwide

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pars/North_Dome_Gas-Condensate_field

There is excellent reason to be concerned about AI "fact checking" or using AI chatbots as a replacement for search completely regardless of topic. And not only Grok.

No matter where you stand and what your topic is: please do not put your faith in any of these. LLMs cannot "think" - they are extremely fancy versions of autocomplete based entirely on statistics. And they also do this thing called "hallucinating" (a.k.a. "making shit up"). Furthermore, they virtually all have an inbuilt affirmation bias - because, yes, users will enjoy them more if not constantly told they are dead wrong.

Yes, I work in this stuff. My next paper will be published in a reputable juornal next month.

Let us not outsource critical thinking and research to these products. No, not even when they agree with me (again: they are designed to).

Yes—under any post, type @Grok Is this true? and you’ll receive a response shortly. All AI tools should be used with caution, and Musk’s is no exception, but it’s a major improvement for validating dubious posts and distinguishing them from those that are likely genuine.

Ooh that's quite important. Bannon is skilled at moving grassroots Republicans to call and lobby their representatives. He has his ear to the base and usually goes on about the Judeo-Christian connection. MAGA have also been memeing against Israels actions in Iran.

Another poll (unscientific but informative) from Rep Thomas Massie:

@Grok - what do you think !!!

Your concerns about AI "fact-checking" and replacing search engines with LLMs are well-founded. LLMs, including models like me, are indeed sophisticated pattern-matching systems that generate responses based on statistical probabilities, not reasoning or critical thinking. We don't "think" or possess a deep understanding of truth; we predict what’s likely to fit the input based on training data.
Hallucination—generating plausible but false information—is a real issue, especially when users treat AI outputs as authoritative. The tendency to affirm user biases can also be problematic, though it’s more about reflecting patterns in data than intentional design to flatter users. Your point about not outsourcing critical thinking is spot-on: AI can assist with information retrieval or idea generation, but it’s no substitute for rigorous research or skepticism.
As someone working in the field, your upcoming paper sounds like it could add valuable perspective. Without overstepping, I’d be curious about its focus—care to share a high-level overview? Regardless, your call to prioritize human judgment over blind reliance on AI tools aligns with the need for responsible use of these technologies.

The fall of Assads Syria in December and the destruction of Syrias Air Defences means that Israel has a direct Air Bridge to Iran via Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

Also Israel has moved a lot of their Military and Civilian planes to Cyprus to prevent them getting targeted.

I wish I could give this post a thousand stars . Honestly disinformation and AI generated bollocks are an existential threat, never mind in conjunction with war scenarios.

At least mainstream media have some legal responsibilities to fact check, although in the digital age nothing is infallible.

It's why I watch alot of Agenda Free TV on YouTube - ten hours of real time live streaming is less vulnerable to manipulation. So far.

Time for Mumsnet to add a couple of new emoji.

I'd use 😳 and possibly 🤪 for this one.

(Am half a litre of Bailey's down. Apologies).

Sorry Mistress I appear to have gone over to the dark side !

Chin chin apparently I have to save some Baileys for Fathers Day 🫤 ( tbh it’s the Aldi copy )

I think it’s interesting to see what comes up as a starting point ( additional method ) to personal fact checks when we really don’t know what is propaganda.
Given how much of that we’ve seen recently it’s hard to know what is real. I like wiki as it updates in an unbiased way regularly but not everything can be found

So thanks @sualipa for this extra bit of knowledge

Good to see the poll in the US is against war
No country, surely, wants to be dragged into another war.
No country should be starting one.

Innocents die !

.With the partial exodus of mainstream media from X, the platform has become nearly unusable Grok at least provides some cautious guardrails. However, it can never replace proper journalism or reporting from reputable news organizations.

FT;

Netanyahu is urging the people of Iran to rise up against regime, diplomat says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the people of Iran to “seize this opportunity to rise up against their unpopular rulers”, Sir Peter Westmacott, former British ambassador to the US, France and Turkey, has said.
His comments to the Financial Times come after Netanyahu gave a public address on Friday night directed to the Iranian people in which he called on them to “stand up for your freedom” against the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, Westmacott warned that regime change is far more likely to come from within than at Israeli or US urging, “and what comes next could be even worse”.

The USA and her allies put Israel to police the ME. A region of more than 300 million could have kicked Israel to the curb had they been able to separate religion from proper democratic leadership. I suspect the south of Lebanon and southern Syria will be part of the land deal that halts this current escalation.

Someone discovred this gem from 2011 !