Three big questions remain after US President Donald Trump’s Iran airstrikes | Samantha Maiden
The US president was mindblowingly blunt in his views on an Israel-Iran ceasefire, but not all the fallout from this week’s airstrikes is as clear, writes Samantha Maiden.
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President Donald Trump dropped the United States’ bunker buster bombs in Iran and the f-bomb at the White House this week.
As he fought to ensure a fragile ceasefire remained intact, his R-rated rant as he boarded the Marine One helicopter was mind-blowingly blunt.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing, do you understand?,’’ he thundered.
After boarding a helicopter en route to the presidential plane headed to NATO, the US President then tapped out an all-caps warning to Israel: “DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
After a call with the Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, he promptly announced the Israeli warplanes were turning around.
“Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” he posted on social media.
Three questions flow however from this week’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities: how much damage did the bombings do to Iran’s nuclear program, will the ceasefire hold and will Iran fight back by attacking the US overseas or on home soil.
The first question is did the bombings “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear capabilities?
A leaked Pentagon intelligence assessment of the attack on Iran has raised questions.
Several US newspaper outlets have reported that the assessment says Iran’s centrifuges are largely “intact” and the impact was limited to aboveground structures.
If true, this is the outcome that MAGA enthusiast and podcaster Steve Bannon hinted at when he lunched with the President before Iran was bombed on Sunday morning Australian time.
Sources have told US media outlets that he arrived at the White House armed with specific talking points, including that the bunker-buster bomb might not work as planned, that Israeli intelligence was unreliable and the risk of future attacks on US military stationed in the region.
Some outlets including CBS have reported that some of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was moved before the strikes protecting it from the impact.
Unsurprisingly, the White House has denied this. “This alleged “assessment” is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” President Trump’s press secretary posted on X.
“The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program,” she continued.
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Time will tell.
In the meantime, what we do know is that even before the bombs dropped, Iran threatened US President Donald Trump that it would activate sleeper cell terror attacks across the United States if he dropped a bomb on nuclear targets.
The reports stated he learned of this news via an intermediary at the G7 talks, raising questions over whether this was the real reason that the US President left in a hurry cancelling talks with a string of world leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
US officials remain on high alert for any potential retaliation inside the United States with the Department of Homeland Security warning in a statement today that the “Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States.”
The statement said there could be an increased possibility of terrorist attacks “if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland.”
There are also warnings over the risk of cyberattacks on U.S. networks that could seek to target current and former U.S. government officials.
Speaking in Canberra, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded directly to the sleeper threat and the risk of terror attacks on Americans and here in Australia.
“Precisely why we’re calling for a de-escalation,’’ he replied.
“Obviously we’re opposed to any action against Australians or indeed against anyone else.
“What we want to see as President Trump has said is peace going forward. There’s an opportunity for that to occur.”
Will the ceasefire hold? The danger of course remains that Iran’s weakened leadership learns a different lesson from the bombing than the one intended.
That is that rather than being a disincentive to build a nuclear bomb that it needs one more than ever.
If that was to occur there is no doubt that the US and Israel will strike again.
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Originally published as Three big questions remain after US President Donald Trump’s Iran airstrikes | Samantha Maiden
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