Gulf states harden positions against Iran as economic toll of war mounts

As Trump negotiates, Arab states seem to be pushing for war to continue until certain demands are met, driven by the damage wreaked by Hormuz's closure and attacks on energy sites

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Israel shifts to hitting Iran's economy, as it enters 'completion phase' of war

Leaders order IDF to cause economic damage to Iranian regime, after nearly finishing bombing all military targets outlined at start of campaign

Read more: https://toi.li/hdt0P5

AP report: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain are pressuring Trump to continue the war on Iran, claiming that it has not weakened enough in the war so far. According to the report, some Gulf countries conveyed to the White House the message that there is a "historic opportunity" to remove the regime in Iran once and for all. These four countries told Trump that they do not want the war to end before there is a significant change in the leadership in Iran or a dramatic change in its behavior. In Saudi Arabia, they told Trump that ending the war now would not lead to a good deal

Massive explosions seen tonight in the Central Iranian city of Isfahan, following airstrikes by Israel and/or the United States.

Several large explosions and a significant fire, likely from munition cook-offs, observed during a wave of strikes earlier tonight on Badr Military Airport near Isfahan in Central Iran.

Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed in an interview with the American Newsmax network that 4 nuclear scientists were eliminated - and shared that the possibility of diverting gas and oil pipelines from the Arabian Peninsula westward is being considered as a solution to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz

Report in The Wall Street Journal: The US military attacked an ammunition depot in Isfahan using 900-kilogram bombs, Trump shared footage of the explosions.

They are lying to their daft followers.

It’s easy to see this as a straightforward issue, but they make it seem complicated and difficult. It’s a shame that democracy has created this situation.

Report in The New York Times: The leadership in Iran is divided and dispersed and struggles to make decisions and coordinate broad attacks and responses, according to intelligence assessments in the U.S. and other Western countries. Israeli sources said that communication problems in Iran are somewhat similar to the problems recorded in the negotiations for the release of hostages in Gaza, where proposals went through Hamas leaders in Qatar and were transmitted in writing to Gaza in a slow and cumbersome process

Baruch Dayan HaEmet 🇮🇱🥺🥲

Staff Sergeant Maxsim Enti, Captain Noam Madmoni, and Staff Sergeant Ben Cohen tragically fell in battle against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. May their memories forever be a blessing. 🕯️

Satellite photo from the Institute for Science and International Security: The heavy water plant in Arak, which Israel attacked on Friday and where the research reactor is also located, was destroyed. In the June attack, one production stage was destroyed, but in the weekend attack, all three production stages and additional support buildings were destroyed.

Channel 14 says it obtained an exchange among Iranian leaders:

President Pezeshkian: “I want to be involved in the negotiations with the U.S. Without a quick deal, our entire economy will collapse in 3 weeks.”

IRGC chief Vahidi: “That’s exactly why you can’t be involved. You’ll give up everything for a deal.”

After the call ended, the report says the Iranian president told his companions he feels like a ‘hostage’, “I’m unable to resign, I cannot make my own decisions, all I can do is read from a script I’m given”

Channel 14 concludes its report by saying that the IRGC is effectively running the country now.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran:

"They tried to kill Trump twice - and they are still trying to kill him. I don’t hear North Korea shouting ‘Death to America,’ nor China or Russia. All these are hostile countries, but they are not driven by jealousy - Iran is."

"Many European countries have shown exceptional weakness in front of a regime that calls America ‘the great Satan,’ Israel ‘the little Satan,’ and sees Europe as something in between - a civilization that must also be crushed."

"There are military solutions to the Strait of Hormuz issue, led by the United States. I hear interesting ideas from Arab countries and also from the U.S. - to divert energy, oil, and gas pipelines from the Gulf, where the Iranians have a geographical choke point, westward through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and from there to Mediterranean ports - to our ports in Israel. This bypasses the choke point. The Gulf countries are effectively encouraging the United States to accelerate action against Iran."

"We destroyed about 70% of Iran’s steel production capacity."

"People don’t know history - there was a Nazi regime, with the German army, the Wehrmacht, and alongside it elite forces, the SS. The elite units of that regime are the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij.”

The IRGC has hijacked Iran 🇮🇷

Baruch Dayan HaEmet 🇮🇱🙏

Released for publication: Gilad Harel, 21, from Modiin, is the fourth fighter killed in the incident in Lebanon

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom in a joint statement on the death penalty law for terrorists: "We express our deep concern regarding the proposed law that would greatly expand the possibilities of imposing the death penalty in Israel. The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment with no deterrent effect. That is why we oppose it"

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There is deterrent effect.

Report on Iran International: At least 4,770 members of the Revolutionary Guards, Basij, and police in Iran have been killed since the start of the war, and another 20,880 have been injured

Amit Segal

Netanyahu: We are creating alliances with Arab countries that talk about joint fighting alongside us. In the past, I had secret conversations with Arab leaders. I told them that the moment Iran can, it will conquer you and topple your kingdoms. So they didn’t really internalize these things - today they understand