“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Alex P. Vidal
I’M not paranoid, but while writing this article inside the McDonalds branch at Manhattan’s glitzy Chelsea district June 23 evening, I nervously observed what was going on in the streets amid the scorching 92 degrees Fahrenheit, start of the week-long heat wave.
Leery of a possible ugly episode, I also peered at the skies like a seasoned astrologer from time to time.
There were fears Iran would retaliate after US launched an operation codenamed Midnight Hammer, which involved 125 US military aircraft and targeted three nuclear facilities: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan June 21 night. They were reportedly hit between 22:40 GMT and 23:05 GMT on Saturday (02:40-03:05 on Sunday Tehran time).
But wherever my naughty imagination had brought me in those fleeting moments, it defied reality. It was weird and eristic.
There was no way a wayward or time-controlled missile would fall from the New York skies like what the people in Tehran, Iran and in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ashdod, Israel experienced these past 72 hours.
New York, or the entire United States for that matter, is, of course, “safe” from any air assault
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Even if it is touted as the “terror of the Middle East”, Iran is not yet capable of launching a missile that can reach the continental United States (I can see in the map Atlantic Ocean is too wide and long for any Middle East missile to cross and blast at the Big Apple's skyscrapers).
But we learned that Iran’s longest-range missiles are currently capable of reaching distances of up to about 1,240 miles, which covers the Middle East and parts of Europe, but not the United States. Thank God.
But we can’t lower our guards. At least not yet. There is still a possibility that Iran could develop this capability:
It was learned that potential ICBM development: Iran is believed to be seeking longer-range missiles and satellite launch vehicles. If they were to acquire technology from other nations, particularly related to the Taepo Dong-2 missile, they could potentially develop such a capability in the future.
Technological challenges: To develop an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the US, Iran would need to overcome significant technological hurdles, including stage separation, powerful propulsion systems, advanced re-entry vehicles, and precise guidance systems.
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Meanwhile, several hours latter, we learned that U.S. President Donald Trump had announced on social media that “Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire” after more than a week of missile strikes on each other and a weekend attack on Iranian nuclear facilities by American bombers.
There was no immediate confirmation of a deal by Israel or Iran but Mr. Trump’s assertion came hours after Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American military base in the Middle East, retaliating for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites while taking steps to limit the damage, reported the New York Times.
Only hours after Iran unsuccessfully fired missiles at the U.S. base in Qatar, President Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that “a cease-fire has been reached between Israel and Iran, and that the war will be over.”
We are still trying to verify this from both the Iranian and Israeli sides and have no further details yet. This all comes one day after Mr. Trump called for regime change and two days after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites. So this is all a fluid and unclear situation, Jonathan Swan reported from Washington.
According to Eric Schmitt, a Defense Department official had claimed that American air defenses in Qatar intercepted the 13 Iranian missiles that President Trump said were knocked down in Monday’s (June 23) attack.
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One other missile was allowed to land harmlessly. A U.S. official said that American troops in Iraq and Syria remained on alert for attacks by Iran-backed militias there.
Swan added that President Trump’s first public comments since Iran’s missile attack on a U.S. base in Qatar indicated that he does not plan to retaliate.
Instead, in a series of posts on Truth Social, the president framed the Iranian barrage as “a very weak response” and a gesture toward peace. In all-caps he posted “CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT’S TIME FOR PEACE!” He minimized the damage done and even thanked the Iranians for “giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured.”
“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” he added. Taken together, his posts suggest that Mr. Trump currently has no interest in a more protracted war to topple Iran’s leadership, despite some of his recent statements.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)
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