The first six days of the conflict in the Middle East have cost Washington at least $11.3 billion, estimates show The US is rapidly depleting its weapons stockpiles and has “burned through years” of some critical munitions since starting its war against Iran, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. In a closed‑door briefing on Tuesday, Pentagon officials estimated that the first six days of the US war with Iran have already cost at least $11.3 billion, according to the outlet. The rapid munitions drain has stoked fears over the soaring cost of the war and Washington’s capacity to restock key weapons, including advanced long-range Tomahawk missiles, the FT said. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that US forces fired 168 Tomahawk cruise missile during the first 100 hours of the operation against Iran. “That’s a huge Tomahawk expenditure. The Navy will feel that for several years,” one source told t...
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The deaths follow an attack on girls’ elementary school in Minab, in which more than 160 lost their lives A strike on a residential area in the Qods suburb of Tehran has killed least two children, local officials have said. An attack on girls’ elementary school in Minab on the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran led to more than 160 losing their lives. The bombing in Qods also left some 17 people wounded, a Tehran Province emergency services statement on Friday. The injured, ten of whom were women, have been rushed to hospital, it added. The emergency services have condemned the strike as an “inhumane act” and “crime against civilians,” but did not name the party responsible for it. Iranian state TV reported several explosions across the capital on Friday, adding that missiles also struck not far from an area in the city center where a major pro-government rally had been taking place. Read more Who bombed Iran’s Minab elementary school? High-ranking Iranian officials, in...
The bloc has a “big problem” as global powers ignore Brussels on major international issues, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said The EU should consider replacing its top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who has become an insignificant figure on the global stage, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said. Speaking at a meeting with students on Thursday, Fico reiterated his opposition to the former Estonian prime minister serving as the bloc’s foreign policy chief, saying the EU has “a big problem because no one takes us seriously.” European leaders are not receiving phone calls on important international matters, he added. “Do you think anyone called [European Commission President] Ursula [von der Leyen] or Kaja Kallas, or [President of the European Council Antonio] Costa about the Iran-Israel conflict? We had no idea,” Fico stated. No one consulted the EU during events in Venezuela either, when US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro, the Slovak leader added. “We should be think...
America tried to break Tehran; instead, it exposed its own miscalculation For almost two weeks now, the US and Israel have been waging war on Iran. What Washington initially presented as a military campaign that would swiftly alter the strategic balance and put Tehran in a vulnerable position has proven to be far more complex. Over the past months, the White House has maintained that Iran could be on the brink of total defeat by the end of the first, or at most, the second day of a conflict. Apparently, the American side expected a rapid dismantling of Iran’s capabilities and a serious destabilization of its government. However, recent developments tell a different story. How Iran is holding up Despite immense pressure, Iran did not show signs of systemic collapse and managed to maintain the operation of key state institutions, military infrastructure, and governance mechanisms. Moreover, the current situation indicates that Washington’s initial calculations were overly optimistic a...
Washington, like many times before, projects its own assumptions onto a political culture it only half understands It is still far too early to say with confidence when the present phase of the US-Israeli war against Iran will end. Even a deep familiarity with the region does not solve the problem of uncertainty. Too many decisive variables lie outside any tidy regional model. Decisions in Washington matter. China’s posture matters. The calculations of global financial and political elites matter. The private thresholds of risk among Gulf monarchies matter. No serious analyst can fold all of that into a neat formula. Yet if one looks at the visible trajectory of the last two days, and if no strategic shock overturns the pattern, the most plausible expectation is that this acute phase will continue for roughly another ten days, perhaps somewhat longer. That would be the most disciplined reading of momentum. What matters first is to reject the lazy language of victory and defeat. Iran...
A retired Ukrainian general warned that the prime minister should be worried for his children and grandchildren Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has responded to threats against his family made by a retired Ukrainian general. In a video released on Wednesday, Orban is seen speaking by phone with one of his daughters, urging her to remain calm and cautious and to call him if anything feels wrong. The prime minister was reacting to Hungarian media reports about remarks made by Ukrainian politician Grigory Omelchenko earlier this week. Omelchenko cited the US-Israeli assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in which his wife and other family members were also killed, and warned that Orban must change his “anti-Ukrainian” position if he cares about his five children and six grandchildren. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky recently suggested he would consider sharing Orban’s address with the Ukrainian military so they could “speak to him in their own language.” R...