The United States Air Force has been developing missiles that have the capability to wreck the electronics of Iranian nuclear facilities using high-power microwaves, the Daily Mail reported. According to the news outlet, the missiles, which were built as a part of the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP), can carry out their tasks without causing any casualties. The weapon was first tested back in 2012. According to the Daily Mail, the US has been installing them in numerous locations across the world.
Israel allegedly fired 3 ballistic missiles in strike on Iran mocks Israel, describes its weapons as ‘toys’Iran……..
Israeli forces launched three ballistic missiles in yesterday’s retaliatory strike on Iran, NBC News reported citing officials with knowledge on the matter. As per the officials, the missiles were air-launched and targeted an Iranian airbase. Furthermore, the officials noted that no targets in Baghdad were struck, although parts of the projectiles fell on the territory of Iraq. After the event, Iran’s military entered a mode of “high alert,” anticipating any possible further attacks.
Iran mocks Israel, describes its weapons as ‘toys’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (pictured) told NBC News in an interview that Israel’s weapons used in the attack on Tehran resembled “toys that our children play with, not drones.” “As long as there is no new adventurism by Israel against our interests, then we are not going to have any new reactions,” the Iranian official stated. He added, however, that should Israel strike again, “our response will be immediate and to the maximum and will cause them to regret it.” Yesterday, Israel carried out a retaliatory attack against Iran. NN: I hear the spin. But this ain’t over. Israel needs to get serous and teach them a hard lesson.
Israel Debates If Reported Iran Attack Is Strong Enough Message
As Israel maintained official silence on Friday’s reported attack on Iran, its analysts and officials weighed in on whether the scale of the assault was a sign of strength or weakness. “Iran must understand that when it acts against us, we have the ability to strike at any time, and we can do serious damage,” Eyal Hulata, a former national security adviser, said on Army Radio, shortly after reports emerged that Israel had attacked targets in the Iranian city of Isfahan. “We have a highly capable air force, and the United States is on our side.”
“Weak,” tweeted Itamar Ben Gvir, the hard-right national security minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He’s been calling all week for a crushing retaliation to the hundreds of missiles and drones that Iran launched at Israeli targets last weekend, almost all of which were intercepted.
Isfahan has several military bases and facilities and is believed to have been one of several launch sites for Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday night. Two US officials confirmed Israel was behind the attack. The Israeli government told officials and embassies not to confirm or discuss the strike, a fairly common practice, according to Israeli officials. Iran did not accuse Israel of launching an attack and state media mostly downplayed the incident, saying no damage was caused. Many Israeli analysts emphasized the importance of the loose coalition formed last weekend between Israel, the US, UK, France and regional Arab states that repelled Iran’s missile and drone attack. It needs to be preserved, they said, so Israel’s response was purposefully limited. Mossad spy agency, said on Channel 12 that, while limited, the attack offered a taste of what Israel can do Countries across the region and further afield spent the week urging Israel not to react, to “take the win,” as President Joe Biden reportedly put it, regarding the successful defense against the Iranian attack. Israel is contending with multiple conflicts right now. About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza by Hamas, the militant group whose fighters swarmed into southern Israel in October, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 250. The Israeli army is still operating inside Gaza, as well as confronting almost daily attacks from Iranian-backed proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and European Union and Israel says its goal is to eliminate the group’s leadership and ensure it can never carry out another attack. More than 33,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Few complained about the attack itself or its legitimacy, given the severity of last weekend’s unprecedented direct assault. Although it caused little damage and no deaths, the potential for casualties and severe destruction was enormous.
Yossi Kuperwasser, a former top military intelligence official, said by phone that while Friday’s counter-attack was limited, “we have to be prepared for any potential reaction, a big one as well.”
“What we have accomplished, assuming it is an Israeli operation, is that we clarified to the Iranians that they are vulnerable,” said Kuperwasser, who is also a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. “The targets were not far away from nuclear facilities. We can reach those places and cause damage. That’s the message.” Nir Dvori, a military analyst and correspondent for channel 12, demurred. He was asked by the news anchor whether Iran would understand Israel’s message and he said he doubted it, that more would likely be needed. General Eliezer Marom, a former commander of the Israeli navy, said on the same broadcast that if the message isn’t enough, another one will be sent.
Iran Acknowledges Drone Attack by Israel and Says It Failed
Iranian state media confirmed an attack by Israel in the early hours of Friday and said the “sabotage” operation involving drones had failed. Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran following last week’s missile and drone barrage from Tehran, according to two US officials, though media from both countries appeared to downplay the severity of the incident. An explosion was heard early Friday in Isfahan, Iran’s third-biggest city, Fars news agency reported. Nuclear facilities located there are safe, state television and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said. The Israeli government, which rarely comments on specific military actions linked to Iran, hasn’t confirmed the strike. Flights were suspended in Isfahan and the Iranian cities of Tehran and Shiraz as well as airports across the country’s western borders, but those restrictions were soon eased. The incident follows days of frantic diplomacy from the US and European nations in which they tried to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond too aggressively, if at all, to Saturday night’s Iranian attack. Their main concern is to avoid a wider war in a region already roiled by the Israel-Hamas conflict and which could send oil prices above $100 a barrel. Crude and gold initially jumped in early trading on Friday, but later pared their gains as reports suggested the apparent attack was far from extensive. A senior Iranian military official also said Tehran had already responded to Israeli threats, and didn’t blame the Jewish state for the latest incident. Isfahan is home to around 2 million people and several military bases and facilities. It’s believed to have been one of several launch sites for Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday night. The New York Times reported a military air base near Isfahan was struck. Israel notified the US on Thursday it planned to retaliate in the next 24-48 hours, two American officials said to Bloomberg. They asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Spokespeople for the National Security Council and the Pentagon declined to comment. Israel had vowed to retaliate against Iran for its barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles, the vast majority of which were destroyed before hitting their targets. While there was limited damage and no one was killed, Israel said it would send a message of weakness to Iran and its other enemies if it didn’t respond. Iran said it was a justified reaction to a strike on its embassy compound in Syria on April 1, which killed several Iranian officers and was blamed on Israel. The US, Europe and Arab states urged Netanyahu to act with restraint. The foreign ministers of the UK and Germany both traveled to Israel on Wednesday to see him. Netanyahu faced a dilemma this week. While many of his far-right coalition members insisted on a firm response, the Israeli public was split on whether the country should react at all. Many, according to a poll, said it wasn’t worth provoking Iran and straining Israel’s ties with the US. Israel is more than six months into the war in Gaza and still intent on attacking the city of Rafah, where it says several thousand Hamas fighters are lodged. Many in the country want the government to focus on finishing the conflict against the Iran-backed militant group that launched a deadly invasion on Oct. 7. If attributed to Israel, the nature and scope of the strike on Friday — including any casualties — could determine whether the tit-for-tat responses between the two sides escalate or start to get scaled back. “The ball is in Iran’s court now,” said Ziad Daoud, chief emerging-market economist for Bloomberg Economics. “The most likely scenario is avoiding escalation through another direct attack on Israel.” Many analysts had said targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities would be the riskiest and most aggressive option open to Israel, with strikes on non-nuclear military facilities and cyberattacks among the less escalatory choices. Early indications are that this was a “symbolic attack” that won’t force Iran to respond aggressively, retired Israeli General Israel Ziv told the nation’s Channel 12. Israel’s hawkish national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, suggested he wasn’t happy with his country’s apparent response. “Weak,” he said in a one-word post on X in Hebrew. Ben Gvir isn’t part of Netanyahu’s Likud party and doesn’t sit in the five-man war cabinet that takes final decisions on military actions. But he’s key to the survival of Netanyahu’s coalition and said after Iran’s attack that Israel had to hit back hard. Iranian media portrayed a sense of calm in Isfahan and asserted that everything was proceeding as normal. The country’s Supreme National Security Council decided against convening for an emergency meeting, according to state TV.Iran was bracing for a reprisal by Israel all week. Tehran has routinely accused Israel of attacks and sabotage activities targeting its nuclear and military sites in the past, including in Isfahan, home to some key nuclear enrichment and missile facilities. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but the West accuses it of seeking to develop atomic weapons. On Thursday, Iran said it may reconsider its nuclear policies if Israel attacked its atomic sites. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also warned Israel against lashing out after the weekend assault. “In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level,” he said to CNN.
Analysts Believe Oil Market Is Underpricing Risk
Analysts at Standard Chartered said they think geopolitical risk in oil has escalated significantly and the market is underpricing that risk. “We think Iranian actions and statements on 13-14 April represent a significant escalation in geopolitical risk that is likely to persist for an extended period,” the analysts said in the report. “We are not convinced by commentary suggesting that the scale of the Iranian attack on Israel was at the lower end of market expectations or/and was fully priced into the market before it happened,” they added. In the report, the analysts said they detected little evidence that market participants were quantifying the likely scale of the attack in advance. “What discussion there was seemed to involve, at most, far fewer projectiles than the roughly 300 assorted drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that were used,” they analysts noted. “Likewise, we do not think the market expected Iran to draw new red lines quite so explicitly and in a way that would leave relatively little room for obfuscation and de-escalation after a future flashpoint,” they added. “According to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) statement on 14 April, Iran’s revised position is that any future attacks on Iranian interests anywhere will draw significant retaliation,” they continued. The Standard Chartered analysts stated in the report that the IRGC seizure of a cargo ship on April 13 seems to have been intended as a related signal of Iran’s ability to influence regional shipping flows.“In all, we do not think the oil market anticipated the scale of the attack, the new Iranian red lines (or ‘equation’ in the words of the IRGC statement) or the signal about shipping,” they added. “Further, we think the market is understating the risk of further escalation due to miscalculation, miscommunication, or other human error,” they continued. Also in the report, the Standard Chartered analysts said the company’s machine-learning oil price model, SCORPIO, “appeared to take the geopolitical turbulence in its stride”. “The SCORPIO indication for Brent settlement on 12 April was $89.81 per barrel, which was just $0.19 per barrel less than the actual settlement; the market screens last showed $89.81 per barrel less than 20 minutes before settlement,” they added. For settlement on April 19, SCORPIO indicates a price of $89.16 per barrel, with technical indicators and dollar strength the main sources of weakness, the analysts highlighted in the report. In a note posted on Morningstar’s website earlier this week, which was also sent to Rigzone, the company’s equity strategist, Stephen Ellis, said Morningstar believes the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend places some additional stress on the oil markets. “However, we also think the ample public and private forewarning from Iran amid rising regional tensions means the attack was already reflected in oil prices via a higher geopolitical risk premium,” he added. “We attribute nearly all the increase in oil prices (to around $91 a barrel from the mid-$70s in February) to geopolitical concerns rather than supply risks. On the supply side, Saudi Arabia and OPEC+ have about five million barrels per day of supply (if not more) that can be returned to the markets if prices overheat and spike above $100 a barrel,” he continued. “We expect more downside risks than upside at the moment and see a higher potential to touch $75 by the end of 2024 versus a sustained movement beyond $100 a barrel,” Ellis went on to state. Morningstar warned in an October 9, 2023, note that the major risk for the oil markets remains a direct escalation of hostilities between Iran and Israel, Ellis highlighted in the company’s most recent note. “This is not that scenario,” he added. “We see it as a more limited retaliation for the earlier Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria. Iran has stated that with this attack, it considers the matter complete,” he continued. “While we consider tensions in the region somewhat combustible, Saudi Arabia and Iran recently restored diplomatic ties. This suggests we are far from a scenario similar to the one that led to the 2019 attack on the Saudi Abqaiq oil facility, which temporarily shut down more than half of the country’s oil production,” Ellis went on to state. Ellis also stated in the note that the U.S. and other G7 countries are urging Israel to consider its defense against the strike as a success and not retaliate. “The risks to the oil markets remain material if the situation escalates further,” Ellis warned. “Iranian oil production was about 3.1 million barrels per day as of February 2024. Increased U.S. economic sanctions against the country could reduce that amount by 500,000 barrels per day of production,” he added.
“A more dangerous scenario would be an Iranian attempt to close the Hormuz Strait, which handles about 30 percent of the world’s crude, mostly heading for Asia,” he said.
Ellis also highlighted in the note that Morningstar thinks U.S. increases in oil production “are an increasing counterweight to a potential conflagration in the Middle East”.
Israel Strikes Targets in Iran
- Israel struck targets in western Iran, two US officials Say
- Explosions reported in central city of Isfahan
- Iran says Isfahan nuclear site is safe
- Oil, gold, wheat jump on fear of Middle East conflict
Iran’s Oil Exports Climb to the Highest Level in 6 Years
Crude oil exports from Iran hit the highest level in six years during the first quarter of the year, data from Vortexa cited by the Financial Times has shown.The daily average over the period stood at 1.56 million barrels, almost all of which was sent to China, earning Tehran some $35 billion.“The Iranians have mastered the art of sanctions circumvention,” Fernando Ferreira, head of geopolitical risk service at Rapidan Energy Group, told the FT. “If the Biden administration is really going to have an impact, it has to shift the focus to China.” The news comes as the EU and the United States prepare new sanctions against Iran in a bid to convince Israel to not retaliate against Tehran after the latter’s drone and missile attack on Israeli military targets last weekend. Iran’s oil industry would be the no-brainer target for new sanctions as suggested by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “Clearly, Iran is continuing to export some oil. There may be more that we could do. I don’t want to preview our actual sanctions activities, but certainly, that remains in focus as a possible area that we could address,” Yellen said earlier this week as quoted by Reuters. Analysts, however, have told the FT that the Biden administration is reluctant to tighten the sanction noose too much as this would inevitably lead to an increase in oil prices that a president running for re-election cannot really afford in an election year. That’s especially relevant in light of the fact that the federal government would hardly be able to repeat the SPR release from 2022 to tame prices at the pump as the reserve sits at the lowest level in 40 years after that 2022 release. Also, any heavy-handed action against Iran’s oil exports would affect relations with China, which is virtually the only outlet for Iranian crude. That crude, according to the FT, covers a tenth of China’s total oil imports.
Iran says it could destroy Israel’s nuclear facilitie…….. Iran Says Israeli Threats May Spark Shift in Nuclear Policys
A top Iranian general said his country may reconsider its nuclear policies if Israel threatens to attack its atomic sites, an implicit warning that Tehran might race toward a nuclear weapon as rhetoric continued to escalate in the wake of its April 13 drone and missile attack.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Ahmad Haghtalab didn’t specify what the change might be, but Tehran has long said its nuclear program, which has prompted concern from the US, Israel and the United Nations for years, is solely for peaceful purposes. Haghtalab also said such an attack would prompt a tit-for-tat attack on Israel’s nuclear facilities.
“It’s possible and conceivable to revise the nuclear doctrine and policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and deviate from the considerations of previous declarations” if Israel uses the threat of an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities to pressure Tehran, he said, in comments reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. The comments fanned tensions that the US and its allies have been seeking to tamp down in the days since Iran launched a barrage of some 300 drones and missiles on Israel in response to a strike in Syria that killed several Iranian officers on April 1. Israel, the US and UK shot down almost all of the incoming weapons, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials have said the country has no choice but to respond.
Speculation has mounted that Israel might use a retaliatory strike to target Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran has continued to enrich its uranium to 60% purity, part of work it’s pressed ahead with in the years since the Trump administration backed out of a nonproliferation deal that was meant to halt its nuclear advances.
“The nuclear centers of the Zionist enemy have been identified, and the necessary intelligence about all targets is at our disposal,” Haghtalab said. Israel has a nuclear-research center near the desert town of Dimona and is widely believed to have nuclear weapons though it’s never confirmed their existence.
The head of the Iranian Nuclear Protection and Security Corps Ahmad Haqtalab said on Thursday that Iran has identified Israeli nuclear facilities and has its “hand on the trigger” to target them if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear centers, according to the Iranian state news agency Tasnim. He said Iran could “revise and deviate from the declared nuclear policies and considerations” if threatened.
Haqtalab assured that Iran is “ready to face any threat” from Israel “by using passive defense plans as well as highly advanced facilities and equipment, and due to the dispersion of our country’s nuclear complexes and facilities.”
Netanyahu Is Caught Between Hitting Iran and Heeding Allies……….Iran says it could destroy Israel’s nuclear facilities
When Iraq fired dozens of Scud missiles on Israel in early 1991, the US implored then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir not to respond. Shamir said he had to act. After days of late-night calls, high-level visits and long cabinet meetings, Israel stood down and the US led a 42-nation alliance that defeated Iraq in what became the Gulf War. Iran’s decision to launch 350 missiles and drones at Israel last weekend was the first time since then that a sovereign nation carried out such an assault on the Jewish state. Another hardline Likud party leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, is prime minister and an equally frantic set of calls and visitors is urging him not to react while cabinet meetings focus on the need to do something. But while offering many parallels, the latest events are different from 1991 in at least one significant way: Israel’s powerful Western allies aren’t offering to do the fighting for it. Rather, they’re suggesting that no one challenge Iran militarily just now. And many in Israel, including in Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition, say that will not fly. Iran has said its mission is over after seeking to avenge an attack on its diplomatic compound in Syria. Israel claimed success after repelling the barrage with virtually no damage or deaths. Yet the urgent question remains whether the two plunge into a deeper direct conflict with repercussions beyond the Middle East, and how much of the answer comes down to Israeli politics — and Netanyahu’s survival instincts. “We can’t absorb this quietly,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Israel’s Army Radio on Wednesday. “We are at a crossroads regarding our place in the Middle East, as well as that of our children. Our deterrence is in a problematic spot, and a weak response is dangerous.” US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have told Netanyahu all week to “take the win,” referring to the fact that — with their help and that of neighboring Arab states — Israel stopped 99% of the projectiles aimed at it. “One thing Israel realized on October 7 is that what we think of as ‘deterred’ is not necessarily so,” said Menahem Merhavy, a researcher on Iran at Hebrew University’s Truman Institute. “Hamas was not deterred; Hezbollah is not deterred. We still have Gaza on our plate and the hostages and the north. That’s where we need to put our focus now.” Jonathan Conricus, a former military spokesman for Israel, now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says that no matter what Israel will directly hit Iranian soil. “The minimum would be to strike Iran hard enough to cause them to pause and think many times again before doing this again,” he said.
Iran says it could destroy Israel’s nuclear facilities
The head of the Iranian Nuclear Protection and Security Corps Ahmad Haqtalab said on Thursday that Iran has identified Israeli nuclear facilities and has its “hand on the trigger” to target them if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear centers, according to the Iranian state news agency Tasnim. He said Iran could “revise and deviate from the declared nuclear policies and considerations” if threatened. Haqtalab assured that Iran is “ready to face any threat” from Israel “by using passive defense plans as well as highly advanced facilities and equipment, and due to the dispersion of our country’s nuclear complexes and facilities.”
UK reportedly expects Israel, Iran ‘back and forth’ attacks………Israel allegedly won’t strike Iran until after Passover
The United Kingdom government expects Israel and Iran to constantly engage in “back and forth” attacks, according to an anonymous source from the Defense Ministry cited by Politico on Thursday. According to the media, the UK is deeply concerned about how the two nations seem to be entering into a possible long-lasting and more frequent confrontation, leaving behind previous proxy clashes and passing into a situation never seen before. The report comes a day after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and other EU leaders met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who stated his government will make its “own decisions and will do everything necessary to defend itself,” from Iran.
Israel allegedly won’t strike Iran until after Passover
Israel is supposedly not likely to retaliate against Iran until after the Jewish holiday of Passover, ABC News reported, citing a United States official. The holiday begins on April 22 and ends after nightfall on April 30. The source cited by the news agency added that Iran is on high alert, with some members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other leadership sheltering in safe houses and underground facilities.
NN BlackMask Pod Cast
AI BOTS AT IT AGAIN