During a live broadcast, Israel targeted the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network. An anchor was forced to evacuate in the middle of her news bulletin. Israel tried to justify the strike by saying that IRINN was collaborating with the Iranian regime. Israel also bombed the Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Iran on Friday, June 13, with the stated aim of dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme. But, what started out as a supposed “pre-emptive” attack, to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, has now expanded to everything linked to the Iranian state. On Saturday, hours after Iran exercised its right to defend itself, under article 51 of the United Nations charter, Israel went for Tehran’s energy infrastructure.
Israeli jets destroyed a fuel depot and an oil refinery in Tehran. They also hit natural-gas processing plants in Southern Iran. This includes a refinery linked to the South Pars gas field. It’s the world’s largest gas field, and it’s shared between Iran and Qatar. Iran doesn’t export significant amounts of natural gas. International sanctions have meant that Iran hasn’t been able to secure investments to set up a liquified natural gas export facility. So, the gas Israel targeted is mostly for domestic consumption. For ordinary Iranians.
The attacks on the energy infrastructure have caused panic in Iran. People are queuing to fill up their cars. They’re expecting a fuel shortage after the Israeli attacks. They are also bracing for even more frequent blackouts, which are already a problem in Iran. Despite the fact that it’s an energy rich country.
Now, amid all this Netanyahu engineered chaos, US President Donald Trump put up a post on social media saying, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Tehran is a city of about 10 million people. Where are they supposed to go? How much time do they have? What awaits them if they can’t leave?
Israel allegedly started the war to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran was already in talks with the US over this. A fresh round of discussions was scheduled for Sunday in Oman. Iran’s delegation was being overseen by Ali Shamkhani. He was one of the first people Israel targeted on June 13.
Why would Netanyahu want to kill the person who was overseeing the nuclear talks? It’s almost as strange as killing the head of Hamas while in the middle of ceasefire and hostage negotiations. Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31, 2024. A temporary ceasefire and hostage deal was finally concluded on January 15, 2025. Almost 6 months later. Shamkhani’s death is likewise expected to delay, or perhaps outright derail, any Iran nuclear deal. The killing of negotiators, the bombing of hospitals, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and of course, the loss of civilian lives. The echoes of Gaza are already starting to sound in Iran.
