On the brink of World War 3 and nuclear Armageddon
What is happening in the Middle East? Is the war between Israel and Iran going to escalate to World War 3 and nuclear Armageddon?
What you see above is what US President Donald J. Trump wrote earlier today on his Truth Social, despite calls by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and other lawmakers to stop the war (see these two Al Mayadeen articles, 1 and 2, or her post on X) and the initiative of Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia to introduce a war powers resolution to ensure that any US military engagement with Iran is first approved and authorized by the Congress, as reported in this other Al Mayadeen article. Not a good sign… at all!
At cost of being unpopular with some of my readers, I want to say that, in my humble opinion, we have never been so close to World War 3 and nuclear Armageddon, due to the current situation in the Middle East and, in particular, the war between Little Satan (a.k.a. Israel), backed by Great Satan (a.k.a. the Outlaw US Empire) and its NATO/EU vassals, and Iran, supported (at the very least) by China and Pakistan1… and possibly Russia (though there is a huge question mark, which I do not want to deal with here and now)2. Regardless of Russian position in the matter (we should not forget that it is still involved in a war against NATO in Ukraine!), you can clearly see how things could escalate easily out of control, considering that all nuclear powers are involved and, above all, the “Samson option” that the Zionist government in Israel may trigger if cornered and facing defeat. If you do not know what I am talking about, please read this excellent article by Kit Klarenberg on Al Mayadeen. Here is the critical snippet (emphasis mine):
The longtime Israeli leader’s anxieties [regarding Iranian nuclear] are sickly ironic, given Tel Aviv’s own nuclear weapons program is the worst kept “secret” in international affairs. Over decades, multiple [Israeli/Zionist] entity officials and prominent figures have effectively - or even directly - admitted this monstrous capacity. Moreover, “Israel” is avowedly committed to the “Samson Option”.
Under its horrifying auspices, if the entity feels sufficiently threatened, it reserves the right to carry out preemptive nuclear strikes not merely on regional adversaries, but on its Western sponsors into the bargain. As Dutch-born Israeli military theorist Martin van Creveld boasted in September 2003:
“We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets…We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under”.
Please mind that I am not the only one who is bringing this up. Even Jeffrey D. Sachs has written this article exactly on the same topic, though he did not mention the “Samson Option” and he did not propose any solution. So, here is mine: it is high time we do something to stop this madness before it goes out of control - my idea would be to stop EVERYTHING until this madness comes to an end. Organized people have been successful in stopping shipment of weapons and ammunition to Israeli: this has already happened in Spain, Morocco and, more recently, France. So, it is possible! We have numbers from our side, we are not powerless. They cannot arrest all of us! Let’s share the idea and try to stop this madness! Feel free to share your ideas in the comments. I hope that people with larger audience pick up our ideas and propose similar ones to stop what’s going on.
Let’s now see what’s happened in the last couple of days, since my last update.
Iran counter-intelligence has been very active lately with discovery of clandestine workshops used for manufacturing small drones and time bombs for internal attacks, most likely set up by Mossad agents under cover. At least four have been discovered and arrested in Ray, south of Tehran, and two in Kerman, as reported yesterday by Al Mayadeen.
In the night of Sunday 15th June 2025, just before a new wave of Iranian strike against the Zionist entity, Colonel Reza Sayyad, spokesperson for the Armed Forces issued a warning to all Israeli citizens, asking them to stay away from legitimate targets, such as “military and security sites, decision-making centers, and the residences of Israeli commanders and military scientists”, or - even better - leave the country, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked it (sources: IRNA, Tasnim - all emphasis mine):
Warnings for you in the coming days: Leave the occupied territories, because, certainly, they won’t be inhabitable in the future!
The scope of the devastating response by Iran’s brave warriors will encompass all areas of the occupied territories.
Therefore, we would like to emphasize: do not let the criminal regime use you as human shields.
Criminal prime minister of the Zionist regime, in pursuit of his personal and family interests, has endangered the lives and security of the occupied territories’ residents, initiating crimes that will only end in defeat and regret for that regime. Ignoring these warnings will bring even harsher days upon you.
In the same night, Mohsen Rezaee, senior Iranian official and former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and member of the Expediency Discernment Council, went as far to say that… (emphasis mine)
Major surprises have not yet been revealed.
The war will continue until the complete defeat of the occupying entity.
We have not yet used stronger warheads.
This is a decisive war… and Iran will be the one to determine its conclusion.
Trump thought Iran was on the verge of collapse and that Israel could bring it to its knees with a single blow. The wisdom of Iran’s leadership exposed their intentions.
This is a fateful war. If Iran holds firm, its national security will be guaranteed for the next 50 years.
If the United States and Europe do not stop their direct support for Israel, the warfront will expand and we will be forced into the next phase of confrontation. We have tactics that haven’t even been used yet.
…as quoted by Al Mayadeen, which also reported that Iranian armed forces had managed to foil a second wave of assassinations.
As aforementioned, soon after the warning issued by the Iranian armed forces, a new wave of Iranian missiles rained in Israel, targeting Tel Aviv, Haifa, Bnei Brak, and Petah Tikva, triggering panic and power outages across the country, following direct hits and loud explosions (as in the video below - source: Al Mayadeen). Clearly the “mighty” air defences of the Zionist entity and the combined West cannot cope with the heavy missile barrage from Iran… and we are only just a few days in the war!
Yesterday, Monday 16th June 2025, Tasnim News Agency reported that the missile volley launched by IRGC the night before was the heaviest until then and that Fattah hypersonic ballistic missiles had been used. The warhead of the Fattah missile “has a spherical engine running on solid fuel with a movable nozzle that allows the missile to move in all directions. It can maneuver below and above the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of Mach 13 to 15”, thus making it essentially impossibile to intercept… and deadly! In fact, IRNA reported that shelters in Israel are becoming ineffective against such powerful missiles (of course, they are intended to destroy hardened military infrastructure). Al Mayadeen quoted Israeli Army Radio’s report on two Israeli settlers killed despite taking refuge in a reinforced shelter:
The report confirmed that a ballistic missile from Iran struck directly between two fortified bunkers, rendering the so-called “protected space” ineffective under the concentrated impact of the warhead. The blast penetrated the structure with lethal force.
I think it is safe to assume that casualty numbers provided by Israeli officials are very underestimated, as the most likely they report only civilian casualties, most of which are probably of victim of failed Israeli and Western interceptors or fragments of intercepted missiles. It is not coincidence that Israel Hayom, cited by Tasnim, reported on a cracks down on settlers filming Iranian missile strikes, now treated as an act of espionage to aid Iran, while Israel is banning foreign journalists from covering the situation at the Haifa oil refinery, also hit yesterday, as per Al Mayadeen. The Haifa oil refinery, now shut down, is a vital pillar of Israeli economy, “where any disruption could trigger an internal energy crisis, particularly across aviation, industry, and transportation”.
The missile barrage was so intense that, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said (source: Al Mayadeen):
This is not a battle that over the long term will be able to bring an end to the Iranian threat.
…thus indicating a waning confidence in Israeli and Western missile defenses and also acknowledging that Iran possesses “thousands of ballistic missiles”, probably a more than what previous estimates indicated, i.e. between 1,500 and 2,000.
It is not surprising then that a “growing number of Israeli settlers are fleeing the occupied Palestinian territories by yacht”, paying large sums of money just to get out from Israel, as reported by Haaretz (paywalled) and Al Mayadeen.
On the other hand, his Foreign Minister, Israel Katz threatened Iranian civilians with the following statements on X:
Curiously, Israeli citizens themselves criticised their Foreign Minister's words, with some comments urging the minister to delete the tweets (they are still online!), reminding him that Israel's enemy is the Islamic Republic and not the Iranian civilian population, probably fearing that Iran could retaliate by targeting civilian targets rather than military ones… but Iran has moral superiority to the Zionists.
Unfortunately, Little Satan followed up on its threats, as you can see from the photo above, showing the destruction resulting from an Israeli strike on the Al-Farabi Hospital in the western city of Kermanshah, as reported by Al Mayadeen and Tasnim.
As if targeting hospitals was not enough and “a grave violation of international law and war crime”, as Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X, yesterday afternoon the Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed also the headquarters of the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIB), as shown in the photo below (source: Al Mayadeen). Unfortunately, there is nothing to be surprised of. That’s the modus operandi of Little Satan, as we know from Gaza and Lebanon: killing doctors, nurses, journalists, bombing civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, mosques, etc.
Of course, the above are only two of the targets of the Israeli bombing in Iran yesterday afternoon, which resulted in more 1,800 injuries, as per Al Mayadeen, which quoted Iranian Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi as saying:
At least 1,800 people were injured as a result of Israeli attacks, most of whom were civilians. As a result of the explosion in Quds Square, a total of 59 civilians were injured, and 12 of them died. One of them was a pregnant woman.
Of course, Iran could not leave this crime unpunished and an informed Iranian source quoted by Nour News and Al Mayadeen stated that, if Israel targeted residential building once more, no place within Israel would remain safe, adding:
The foolishness of Netanyahu and the Israeli entity will result in a lesson the entity will never forget.
…and that the “continued aggression against Iran will undoubtedly mark the beginning of the end for the Israeli entity”.
An IRGC statement cited by Tasnim this morning said (all emphasis mine):
This cowardly and terrorist act was not merely an attack on a media building but a blatant assault on the people’s right to know, the free flow of information, and truth-telling media. This is a media outlet that stands on the frontlines of the cognitive battle, narrating the oppression of the Palestinian people, exposing the relentless crimes of the usurping Zionist regime, and revealing the lies propagated by the Zionist-Western media empire.
We strongly condemn this criminal and inhumane terrorist act, seeing it as a clear sign of the enemy’s media strategy failing against the awareness-raising and awakening efforts of our national media in recent days, as well as their frustration over the dominance of the resistance narrative in shaping public opinion across the region and the world.
The enemies of the Iranian nation and the resistance front will never be able to bomb the truth by attacking buildings. Salutations and honor to the … steadfast and dedicated journalists and staff of the IRIB News Network—especially the brave and resolute anchor, Ms. (Sahar) Emami—who stood firm in the face of danger, continuing live broadcasts and conveying realities, thus upholding the mission of a media befitting the Islamic Revolution and the proud Iranian nation during the heroic and anti-Zionist operation True Promise III (Iran’s missile and drone strikes against Israel in retaliation for the Israeli aggression).
Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi was quoted by Tasnim as saying that Iran is “ready for full-blown, drawn-out war”, adding:
We will bring our modern equipment into operation whenever we deem appropriate. The new generation of missiles are only a portion of them.
Our conditions will get better in all aspects of the war day by day. We might employ our other capacities as well.
Following the umpteenth warning, last night the IRGC launched the 9th wave of “Operation True Promise 3”, as per Al Mayadeen and IRNA, the latter of which reported on the hacking of the Israeli “Iron Dome” air defense system, whose “missiles were being fired at Israeli locations in a mix of confusion and incompetence”, while footage “captured by cellphone cameras from inside the Israeli-occupied territories also showed large numbers of Iranian missiles passing through Israeli air defenses uninterrupted and making impact on targets on the ground”. Little Satan responded this morning targeting civilians as usual (source: Al Mayadeen and IRNA), including 3 Red Crescent workers in Tehran (source: Al Mayadeen), though Iran reportedly downed the 4th F-35 in Tabriz, as per IRNA.
In a new missile wave this morning, the IRGC Aerospace Force managed to hit the logistics warehouse of the Mossad (Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate) headquarters, also known as AMAN, in Tel Aviv, as reported by Tasnim and Al Mayadeen. Here is a video showing the entire building engulfed by flames:
Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, senior advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), was quoted this morning by Al Mayadeen as saying:
The idea of a depleted missile stockpile is laughable; we haven’t even begun to use our missile capabilities strategically.
…while Iranian Army's Ground Force Commander, Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari said that they would soon launch “hundreds of drones” towards Israel, adding:
Our drones are long-range, highly accurate, and immensely destructive.
Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Defense, was quoted by IRNA and Tasnim as saying that…
In today’s attack, we deployed missiles that could not be tracked or intercepted.
Based on 75 years of experience and a range of military and non-military factors and other strategic considerations, the Zionist regime cannot withstand a long war.
The Zionist enemy is strategically unable to continue a strategic war and its back will break as time goes by.
Many of our advanced systems have not yet even been deployed.
Iran is thus demonstrating that Israeli missile defenses are crumbling faster than analysts expected: in fact, according to Al Mayadeen, the vaunted Western and Israeli air defense was supposed to last ~18 days, with strain starting appearing after 10-15 days, but Iran is already straining after just ~3-4 days. Ouch!
That’s probably why Trump may have decided to intervene directly in the war between Israel and Iran. It all started this morning, when Trump abruptly left the G7 meeting in Canada, without signing the joint communique siding with the aggressor (i.e. Israel - see this Al Mayadeen article), and saying to reporters:
As soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here.
…and writing on his Truth Social the following warning:
Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!
…causing panic in Tehran with long car queues and traffic jam, though his post was later deleted, while US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment of additional forces (including F-16, F-22, and F-35) in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, stating:
Additional deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.
…as reported in this article by Al Mayadeen (see also this other one), which in another one reported on the admission by US officials that US assets are used to intercept Iranian missiles.
Trump later wrote the following on his Truth Social:
…and again:
…while dismissing assessments on Iranian nuclear from the US intelligence community and US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who in March 2025 said that Iran was NOT building nuclear weapons (source: Al Mayadeen).
We thus arrive to the opening of this article, but, before closing, it is worth reporting that Iran has launched new waves of missiles towards Iran tonight, as per Al Mayadeen and IRNA, and the following disgusting admission by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz:
This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us. We are also victims of this regime.
Speak for yourself, Merz! You do not represent the majority of Germans and Europeans, who are not victims of the Iranian “regime”, as you call it, but victims of your predatory capitalism! Your time most come… and hopefully it will come!
P.S.: I recommend the following additional reading, if you have time:
Iran's letter to UN Security Council on right of self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter (IRNA - 16/06/2025)
Iranian nation’s will to defend homeland will not weaken: Envoy (IRNA - 16/06/2025) - full text of speech Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N. Amir Sa’eed Iravani to the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly)
Iran’s U.N. envoy says Israel ‘crossed all red lines’ (IRNA - 17/06/2025) - transcript of Sa’eed Iravani’s remarks to reporters
Check out this Al Mayadeen article for new statements issued on X yesterday by Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif:
World should be wary and apprehensive about Israel’s nuclear prowess, a country not bound by any international nuclear discipline not signatory to NPT or any other binding arrangement. Pakistan is signatory to all international nuclear disciplines, our nuclear capability is for the benefit of our people and defence of our country against hostile designs of our enemies. We do not pursue hegemonic policies against our neighbours which are being amply demonstrated by Israel these days. Western world must worry about conflicts being generated by Israel, it will engulf the whole region and beyond, their patronage of Israel a rogue state can have catastrophic consequences.
On this topic, I suggest you the following readings (in chronological order):
Russia offers mediation amid escalating Iran-'Israel' tensions (Al Mayadeen - 16/06/2025)
Russia, Turkey decry Israeli aggression on Iran, offer mediation (Al Mayadeen - 16/06/2025)
TRUMP IS ABOUT TO PLAY STALIN’S CARD IN IRAN – THREE MAPS AND ONE TWEET TO EXPLAIN (John Helmer - 17/06/2025)
Kremlin says 'Israel' uninterested in mediation amid war on Iran (Al Mayadeen - 17/06/2025)
Russia alarmed by Israeli aggression on Iran, sees limits: Bloomberg (Al Mayadeen - 17/06/2025)
Thank you for your tireless journalistic work. No, this Merz stands for himself. Not for the German people.
An editor's catch: I think you meant to include an "it" here: "but Iran is already straining it after just ~3-4 days."