Nuclear Iran

[Otto Harkaman]

European Red Sea Naval Task Force Set To Launch Monday

Operation Aspides is a defensive task force created by the European Union to counter Houthi attacks on shipping.

As the Iranian-backed Houthi militia continues attacking ships in the Red Sea region, another international protective task force is set to begin operations on Monday.

Created by the European Union, Operation Aspides (Greek for shield) will be commanded by Italy and headquartered in Greece. It is unclear at the moment how many nations will provide assets, but the German Navy’s Type 124 Sachsen class air-defense frigate FGS Hessen set sail Feb. 8 from Wilhelmshaven to join Aspides, according to Janes. Greece, France and Italy have also agreed to participate, according to EU News, but it is unclear whether that means providing ships, aircraft or both.



https://www.twz.com/news-features/eu...-launch-monday

[Jimbuna]

Italy and France eh?

Best of luck to all involved.

[Reece]

They'll have plenty of stocks of food and wine though!

[Jeff-Groves]

For some reason I think the white flags are not gonna stop the missles.

[Jimbuna]

'Catastrophic' attack on British ship leaves it at risk of sinking, Houthis claim

The Rubymar sustained "catastrophic" damage after being hit by a missile on Sunday, military spokesperson brigadier general Yahya Saree claimed.

In a statement posted on X on Monday, he said the ship "came to a complete halt" after the attack and its crew were forced to abandon the vessel.

It had been travelling through the Bab al Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The spokesman said: "During the operation, we made sure the ship's crew exited safely.

"As a result of the extensive damage the ship suffered, it is now at risk of potential sinking."
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency also said a vessel was damaged by an explosion 35 nautical miles south of Yemen, forcing its crew to abandon ship.

While it did not identify the ship, the agency said it was damaged following "an explosion in close proximity to the vessel".

A spokesperson said authorities were investigating and added: "Military authorities report crew have abandoned the vessel. [The] vessel [is] at anchor and all crew are safe."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said: "Clearly we condemn any attacks by the Houthis against commercial civilian ships.

"HMS Diamond and HMS Richmond continue to patrol the Red Sea to help protect commercial shipping and, as the PM has said, we will not hesitate to act to protect freedom of navigation and lives at sea."

British maritime security firm Ambrey confirmed the Rubymar is a UK-registered, Belize-flagged and Lebanese-operated cargo ship, and said it had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates.

It is the latest in a string of attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea, which has caused widespread disruption to trade routes, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...18ae6c62&ei=19

[mapuc]

In a livestream yesterday on YT which was mainly about Cruising I asked if the will be any changes in cruise lines sailing through Suez and the Red Sea due to the problem there.

Every cruise lines has change and are avoiding this area.The Red Sea.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

^ Quite understandable but a real shame. I've sailed through Suez and Red Sea on a few occasions and it really is a beautiful experience.

[Jimbuna]

US and UK carry out fresh strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

The Pentagon says US and UK fighter planes have carried out strikes on 18 Houthi sites in Yemen - the fourth such joint operation by the allies.

The US says Saturday's strikes were directed against storage facilities, drones, air defence systems, radars and a helicopter of the militant movement.

The UK says the allies acted to "further degrade" Houthi capabilities.

There have been sustained attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping in the important Red Sea trade route.

The Houthis - who control large swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa - have been targeting vessels they say are linked to Israel and the West in response to the continuing Israel-Gaza war.

Global supply chains are now facing severe disruption and rising costs as a result of some of the biggest shipping companies diverting journeys away from the Red Sea - one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

In a joint statement, the Pentagon said that Saturday's "necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen associated with Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defence systems, radars, and a helicopter.

"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, naval vessels, and the lives of innocent mariners in one of the world's most critical waterways."

The statement said "the Houthis' now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response".

The strikes were carried out "with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand", the statement added.

Shortly afterwards, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that America "will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways".

Separately, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said "it is our duty to protect lives at sea and preserve freedom of navigation".

"That is why the Royal Air Force engaged in a fourth wave of precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen".

The US military said earlier in the day that it had destroyed seven Houthi mobile anti-ship missiles that were being prepared for strikes.

Earlier this week, the crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel abandoned ship off Yemen after it was hit by missiles fired by the Houthis.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68395173

[Otto Harkaman]

Iran Production of Near Bomb-Grade Uranium Falls for First Time

Iran reduced its stockpile of near bomb-grade uranium over the past three months, a move that could ease some fear over a wider Middle East conflict as Tehran’s allies trade fire with US forces. Nuclear inspectors from the United Nations watchdog told diplomats Monday that Iran’s level of highly-enriched uranium has dropped 5% since November, compared with a 5% increase during the previous quarter.

https://ground.news/article/iran-pro...st-time_d367f9

[Jimbuna]

Iran calls for nuclear disarmament of Israel

“The international community must take this threat seriously and make a decisive decision to confront the unprecedented threat posed by this occupying, apartheid, and discriminatory regime to global peace. This occupying regime has become so emboldened by the support of the United States and some Western countries that it shamelessly threatens both the oppressed people of Gaza and the countries of the region with nuclear weapons,” warned Iran’s Foreign Minister while addressing a high-level disarmament conference at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Israeli cabinet has suggested the use of nuclear weapons against Palestinians in Gaza multiple times during the past months. That’s while since October 7, the regime has carpet-bombed the entirety of Gaza, leveling at least 70% of the strip’s infrastructure and buildings. Its deadly military campaign has also left behind a vast carnage of over 30,000 Palestinian civilians, with the rest of the population now grappling with famine and disease.

“The world must acknowledge that nuclear weapons in the hands of such a regime constitute the most serious and urgent threat to humanity. It is necessary to dismantle all the nuclear arsenals of this regime and subject all its nuclear installations to the inspections and mechanisms of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian added.

The top Iranian diplomat also criticized Washington’s untrammeled support for the regime, saying the U.S. has been scuppering regional countries’ efforts aimed at making West Asia a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

Israel is estimated to have at least 90 nuclear warheads, with fissile material stockpiles of over 200. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never inspected any of the regime’s nuclear sites despite repeated calls from countries in West Asia.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/495...ment-of-Israel

[Reece]

Iran can blow it out of their pants!!

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Reece

Iran can blow it out of their pants!!

If pushed hard enough Israel might just push it out of Irans pants

[Reece]

Go Israel go!!

[Jimbuna]

Iran 'gives Hezbollah the green light to escalate attacks along Israel's northern border' and launch 'large-scale assault' amid warnings of an 'October 7, part two'

Iran has reportedly given Hezbollah the green light to escalate attacks along Israel's northern border.

The country allegedly ordered the terror group to launch a 'large-scale assault' on Israel in a new wave of terror described in Israeli media as 'October 7, part two'.

Iran's order was made after it became aware of Israeli plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The regime under leader Ali Khamenei fears that southern Lebanon 'will be next', mirroring US warnings that the Israeli military is planning to launch a ground operation in Lebanon in late spring or early summer.

Thus far Israel exchanged near-daily missile fire with Hezbollah, hitting locations in Lebanon - but the IDF has refrained from a full-out ground invasion.

US administration and intelligence officials fear a ground incursion could be next if diplomatic efforts to push Hezbollah back from Israel's northern border fail.

'We are operating in the assumption that an Israeli military operation is in the coming months,' a senior official in Biden's government told CNN.

Hezbollah allegedly called for the meeting with Iran after 'information was obtained' that Israel was due to launch a ground assault and the secretary-general of the terror group, Hassan Nasrallah, asked for 'complete freedom in how he intends to attack'.

Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Tuesday that Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas could use the upcoming Muslim holiday month of Ramadan to provoke Palestinians in the West Bank and Muslims across the region to escalate tensions and attack Israel.

Hamas-ally Hezbollah has been fighting with the Israeli army since war erupted between Israel and Hamas in October, displacing tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents from their homes.

Just last night Israeli strikes killed two people in Lebanon's south, according to Lebanon's state-run national news agency.

There was also fire in the other direction, as Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it targeted two Israeli military sites with two barrages of 'Grad rockets'.

The attack from south Lebanon came in 'response to Zionist massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip and the assassination of martyred leaders and their brothers in the southern suburbs' of Beirut, the statement by the agency added.

The Israeli military said in a statement that 'approximately 10 launches which crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel were identified', adding that sirens had sounded in north Israel's Kiryat Shmona area.

Air defences 'successfully intercepted a number of the launches,' the statement said, adding that the army 'struck the sources of the fire in Lebanon'.

Israeli police reported property damage in the Kiryat Shmona area but no wounded.

A strike in January, which a United States defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas's deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six terrorist group members in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold - the most high-profile Hamas figure to be killed during the war.

This month, security sources said a senior Hamas officer had survived an assassination attempt south of Beirut.

The escalating cross-border exchanges since October 8, the day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted, have stoked fears of all-out war on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

The exchanges have killed at least 286 people on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also at least 44 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

At least 24 fighters from Palestinian groups including 10 from Hamas are also among the dead.

On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...october-7.html

[Jimbuna]

UK ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea

A UK-registered cargo ship has sunk in the Red Sea after it was hit in an attack by Yemen’s Houthis.

The Rubymar was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water, officials said Saturday.

The ship had been drifting after the attack in February. It marks the first ship sunk by the Houthis amid their monthslong attacks on shipping in the vital waterway.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship sank. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the information had not been cleared for publication.

The Rubymar’s Beirut-based manager could not be reached for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f5afd0d1&ei=18