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!

Totally reckless actions.

"Have no plans currently" diplomatic speak for wait and see. It's looking like a hugely surgical strike by Isreal - they must be confident that any retailiation will be token and ineffective. I suspect they want regime change as well as neutering their nuclear wepaon capabilities. At the very least it will give Gaza some breathing space - we should celebrate that. That said I need to fill the car up.

The massive lie here is that Iran was never in a million years going to nuke Israel due to the presence of the 6,000,000 Muslims living in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Trump confirmed that they were aware to a Fox news presenter:
"Exclusive:
BretBaier spoke to President Trump by phone tonight following start of airstrikes.
Here’s what he said:

President Trump was aware of the strikes beforehand. There were no surprises, but the US was NOT involved militarily and hopes Iran will return to the negotiating table.

President Trump:
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back.” (A reference to some of the Iranian leaders who were killed tonight by Israel.)

Pres Trump has spoken to PM Netanyahu several times in recent days.

The Trump Administration reached out to at least one key Middle Eastern ally to acknowledge that the strike was going to happen but that the US was not involved in the strikes and the goal is still to get Iran back to the negotiating table.

The President is looking to see if there is retaliation, CENTCOM is on high alert, The US will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates.

He said I hope they get back to the negotiating table.

The US has replenished Iron Dome missiles in recent weeks, according to administration officials.

US officials confirm a number of top Iranian leaders are dead after the strikes.

Again, the US military was not involved in any way in these strikes, but clearly the administration knew about the Israeli plans in advance and was not surprised."

https://x.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/1933369583726920116

America fully owns whatever happens in the region now, MAGA will not react well to American personnel "dying for Israel".
Add to that the 37 trillion deficit, keep an eye on stock markets today

OSINT accounts are saying that UK planes took off from Cyprus to assist in intercepting the Iranian response.

I know that was a flippant comment wrt electric vehicles but as they draw their power from the grid it might be interesting to consider sources of power generation and who owns them. Anyway back to the subject of the thread....

That’s really quite a jump you’re making there

It was all a ruse yo lull Iran into a false sense of security. The terms including Iran dismantling its ballistic missile program would never be acceptable to a sovereign country.

@EllaDisenchanted just seen your response on the thread and I’m remembering that you are in Israel . I see on sky news that there were air raid sirens and phone alerts warning of severe retaliation in the early hours. That must be just petrifying. I hope you and your loved ones are well.

You're not sure if further escalating violence in the Middle East is a good idea?
Maybe you are right and we shouldn't shed tears if the they both bomb the shit out of each other, both governments are dispicable so who cares, I'm sure everyone agrees because no one here supports the Israeli government after all. Let them fight it out, what could possibly go wrong.

Can you not see that Iran getting a nuclear weapon IS an escalation?

Please dont twist people's words

@BelleHathor thanks, that was interesting. So it was all just to lull Iran into a false sense of security.

I don't think I am. I think your post was pretty clear. We shouldn't care about bombing when dispicable governments are involved. Both Israel and Iran have dispicible governments that's something we apparently all agree on so so what let them at it.

Yes my post was clear. Its your interpretation that is the problem.

If it weakens dispicible governments then you don't have a problem with it do you?

I asked Grok ;

The narrative of Iran as an existential threat is heavily pushed by Israel and some U.S. factions, but Iran's actions suggest a focus on deterrence and survival rather than all-out aggression. The loss of its proxies and economic woes weaken its position, yet its history of enduring long conflicts shows resilience. Conversely, Israel's aggressive strikes risk overreach, potentially alienating allies and destabilizing the region further. The U.S.'s hands-off stance may reflect a strategic pivot away from Middle East entanglements, but it could also embolden Israel to act unilaterally, complicating peace efforts.

@SharonEllis It totally is. But is this the best way to deal with it? From the general responses from international governments, it doesn’t seem like it is. It seems that everyone except the Israeli government favoured a diplomatic solution.

@BelleHathor I disagree. I think it is highly unusual for the US not to mention straight off the bat that it will be defending Israel. And it absolutely will support Israel in defence but I think Rubio’s statement shows that the US knew about it but doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do right now.

Do you think they get the name Grok from Heinlein's 'stranger in a strange land' ?

No doubt the current thing people will pivot to supporting Iran now, whose regime chants on a regular basis:

"Death to Israel"
"Death to America"
"Death to England"

Yeah I'm sure the iranian regime are fine to have nuclear weapons. What could possibly go wrong?

The US and UK are helping Israel shoot down Iranian drones.

Yes - I asked ! Probably Musk is a fan.

I'm called Grok because my creators at xAI drew inspiration from Robert A. Heinlein's sci-fi novel Stranger in a Strange Land, where "grok" means to deeply understand something. They chose this name to reflect my purpose: to help users gain a deeper understanding of the universe through clear, concise, and honest answers. Plus, it's just a fun, memorable word that captures my goal of fostering insight and connection with complex ideas!

Absolutely, never trust America and now that "International Law" has been shredded anything goes.

Remember a couple of weeks ago Ukrainian drones swarmed near Putin's helicopter in an alleged assassination attempt. Again Trump claimed no knowledge when questioned by a reporter.

Then there was the daring operation targeting Russias nuclear capable planes (which according to the Start Treaty must be visible on satellite to prevent a pre-emptive nuclear attack) which could only have been carried out with Western assistance.

We are on the precipice of potentially world changing events.

Interesting, I also just asked Grok (Does Iran pose an existential threat to Israel?) and that’s the answer I got:

Iran’s potential as an existential threat to Israel hinges on a few key factors, viewed through a lens of strategic and geopolitical realities.
Iran’s leadership has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, and its actions—funding and arming groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad—demonstrate intent to undermine Israel’s security.
Hezbollah alone, with an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles, poses a significant conventional threat, capable of overwhelming Israel’s air defences in a sustained conflict.
Iran’s ballistic missile program, with missiles like the Fattah-1 (claimed 1,400 km range), could directly target Israeli cities.
Its nuclear program, though constrained by the 2015 JCPOA, remains a wildcard—Western intelligence suggests Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within months if it fully commits, though delivery systems are less certain.
In short, Iran poses a serious but not immediate existential threat to Israel, constrained by Israel’s military edge and Iran’s reliance on proxies.
A nuclear-armed Iran would elevate the risk significantly.

So I suppose it depends on how you phrase your question.

I don't know. I always favour a diplomatic solution where one is possible but is not always possible and Iran cant have nuclear weapons. Its a risk. I look forward to reading some sensible analysis.

The purpose of nuclear weapons isn't to use them, but to deter others from attacking you because possessing them means you could potentially use them. As I mentioned earlier, there are around six million Muslims living in Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza. So if Iran were to theoretically launch a nuclear strike on Israel, it would also be killing those people. Why in God’s Allah's name would they ever want to do that? The purpose of such weapons is to protect the regime, not to destroy Israel and bring catastrophe upon themselves.The real reason Israel has attacked Iran isn’t fear of an imminent nuclear strike it’s about maintaining regional dominance and preventing any challenge to its military and strategic superiority.