Iran Fired Ballistic Missiles at Joint US-UK Base in Indian Ocean, a US Bomber Launch Base: Target Missed

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

イラン、インド洋の米英共同基地へ弾道ミサイル発射も命中せず　米爆撃機の出撃拠点

2026.03.21 Sat posted at 16:40 JST

  （CNN） イランが20日午前、インド洋のディエゴガルシア島にある米英の共同軍事基地に向けて中距離弾道ミサイルを発射したことが分かった。米当局者が明らかにした。

当局者によると、イラン沿岸から約3810キロ離れた基地に向けてミサイル2発が発射されたが、いずれも命中しなかったという。

ディエゴガルシア島は米国の重爆撃機にとって重要な航空拠点で、長年にわたり、米本土から遠く離れた地域への作戦に不可欠な米軍の海外出撃拠点の役割を果たしてきた。

CNNはホワイトハウスや米国防総省、英国防省、ディエゴガルシアの基地を管轄地域に収める米インド太平洋軍にコメントを求めている。

ディエゴガルシア島はモーリシャスから北東1609キロあまりに位置する群島、チャゴス諸島の一部。英国は1814年、フランスの皇帝ナポレオンを撃退後、モーリシャスと合わせてチャゴス諸島を取得した。

モーリシャスは1968年に独立したが、チャゴス諸島は今も英国の支配下にある。

米国と英国は71年、この地域におけるソ連の軍事的影響力を抑える目的で、ディエゴガルシア島に大規模な基地を建設した。

ディエゴガルシア島はイラク侵攻に寄与したほか、アジア各地への任務に飛ぶ爆撃機の重要な着陸拠点として機能してきた。米国による身柄引き渡しとの関連も指摘される。

トランプ米大統領は今年、チャゴス諸島の主権をモーリシャスに引き渡す計画を巡り、英国を「愚かだ」と批判した。

英国は条約の条件に基づき、チャゴス諸島の主権をモーリシャスに移譲する方針。ディエゴガルシアにある基地については、英国が毎年1億3600万ドル（約216億円）をモーリシャスに支払って99年間租借する予定で、米英は引き続き施設を使用できる。

Translation

Iran Fired Ballistic Missiles at Joint US-UK Base in Indian Ocean, a US Bomber Launch Base: Target Missed

March 21, 2026 (Sat) Posted at 4:40 PM JST

(CNN) A US official confirmed that Iran had fired medium-range ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean on the morning of March 20.

According to the official, two missiles were fired at the base, located approximately 3,810 kilometers off the Iranian coast, but neither hit its target.

Diego Garcia Island is a crucial air base for US heavy bombers and has long served as an essential overseas launch base for US military operations far from the US mainland.

CNN had reached out for comment to the White House, the US Department of Defense, the UK Ministry of Defense, and also the US Indo-Pacific Command which oversaw the Diego Garcia base.

Diego Garcia was part of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago located approximately 1,609 kilometers northeast of Mauritius. Britain acquired the Chagos Islands, along with Mauritius, in 1814 after repelling Napoleon the French emperor.

Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the Chagos Islands remained under British control.

In 1971, the United States and Britain constructed a large base on Diego Garcia with the aim of countering Soviet military influence in the region.

Diego Garcia played a role in the invasion of Iraq and had served as an important landing base for bombers flying to various parts of Asia. Its connection to the US extradition had also been suggested.

This year, US President Trump criticized Britain as "stupid" over its plan to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Britain intended to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius based on the terms of the treaty. The base in Diego Garcia was to be leased by the UK for 99 years, with the UK paying Mauritius $136 million (approximately 21.6 billion yen) annually, allowing the US and UK to continue using the facilities.

So, Iran has fired two medium-range ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean located approximately 3,810 kilometers from the Iranian coast, but neither hit its target. Apparently, up to this moment, Iran is unable to fire the missiles accurately over such a long distance, and for sure the accuracy will be improved eventually.

Iran in Talks with 8 Countries Regarding Giving Safe Passage of Yuan-Denominated Oil Going Through the Strait of Hormuz, Sources Said

 Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

人民元で取引される石油の安全なホルムズ海峡通過、イランが8カ国と協議　情報筋

2026.03.18 Wed posted at 11:00 JST

（CNN） イラン政府は中東以外の8カ国との間で、中国人民元で取引される石油の安全なホルムズ海峡通過を認めるイランの提案について協議していることが分かった。イランの治安情報筋がCNNに明らかにした。

これらの国は、イランが人民元で石油を取引する国の船舶に海峡通過を認める案を検討しているとの報道を受け、合意の可能性を探るためイラン政府に接触した。

情報筋は8カ国の国名を明らかにしなかった。イランは現在の封鎖措置を維持することに加え、海峡を通る船の交通を管理することを含むより広範な対応も検討しているという。

イランは先日、米国やイスラエル、その同盟国の船舶を攻撃目標にすると表明。世界の石油の約5分の1が通過する航路を事実上封鎖する形となり、エネルギー価格の急騰を招いている。ホルムズ海峡への機雷の敷設も開始しており、海峡再開に向けた今後の取り組みは複雑化しそうだ。

Translation

Iran in Talks with 8 Countries Regarding Giving Safe Passage of Yuan-Denominated Oil Going Through the Strait of Hormuz, Sources Said

March 18, 2026, Wed, posted at 11:00 JST

(CNN) The Iranian government was reportedly in discussions with eight countries outside the Middle East regarding Iran's proposal to allow safe passage of oil traded in Chinese yuan to go through the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian security source told CNN.

These countries contacted the Iranian government to explore the possibility of an agreement following reports that Iran was considering a plan to allow ships from countries trading oil in yuan to pass through the strait.

The source did not name the eight countries. Iran was reportedly considering broader measures, including controlling shipping traffic through the strait, in addition to maintaining its current blockade.

Iran recently declared it would target US, Israeli, and their allied ships. This effectively blocked a shipping lane through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil passes, leading to a surge in energy prices. With the laying of mines in the Strait of Hormuz also beginning, future efforts toward reopening the strait were likely to become more complicated.

So, Iran is reportedly in discussions with some countries outside the Middle East to allow safe passage of oil traded in Chinese yuan to go through the Strait of Hormuz. I am interested to know what are these countries.

消息人士稱，去獲取伊朗的高濃縮鈾需要美國投入大量地面部隊

Recently CNN.com reported the following:

Capturing Iran’s highly enriched uranium would require a large US ground force, sources say

CNN - By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky, Avery Schmitz

10 Mar 2026

Recovering Iran’s remaining highly enriched uranium stockpile believed to be sitting in a storage facility deep underground, an objective the Trump administration has been discussing, would require a significant number of US ground troops beyond a small special operations footprint, seven current and former officials familiar with the military planning told CNN.

The US bombing campaign that struck three Iranian nuclear facilities last June did not destroy all of that country’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, the material needed to create a nuclear weapon. Much of it is believed to be at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site, said three of the sources. President Donald Trump has made complete elimination of Iran’s nuclear capability one of his stated aims of the war.

If the Trump administration went ahead with an operation to retrieve the uranium, it could mark the first major commitment of US ground forces as part of the campaign, an escalation that would put a large number of troops in harm’s way as part of a complex mission to move or render safe tons of highly radioactive material.

The uranium at Isfahan is accessible to the Iranians, who had been working for months after the US military strikes last year to clear the rubble of the facility’s aboveground structures and access the underground tunnels where the uranium was hidden, two of the sources said. UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday that around 200 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is probably still at Isfahan, with some also at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.

Highly enriched uranium is a dual-use material, and Iran has said it produces it only for peaceful energy purposes. But enriching it above a certain threshold — around 90% —means it can be used to create nuclear weapons. Iran’s uranium is currently enriched at around 60%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The White House and Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

Trump has repeatedly said that Iran can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapons program. “One thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” he said last month.

‘The logistics and risk involved would be prohibitive’

US military airstrikes alone can’t penetrate the Isfahan tunnels, primarily because the facility does not have ventilation shaft openings like some of Iran’s other nuclear sites, which serve as weak points for a storage structure. That has led to discussions within the Trump administration about deploying elite units within the US military’s Joint Special Operations Command, potentially in coordination with Israeli commando forces, to physically infiltrate the tunnels and secure or destroy the enriched uranium, the sources said.

A mission like that, however, would require dozens if not hundreds of additional troops on the ground to help support the core special operations team tasked with finding the uranium, the sources said, particularly given the Iranian military’s continued control over the sites and surrounding area. That support could entail not just troops to secure the area, but also logistical support given the challenges of working with nuclear material deep underground.

Delta Force and Seal Team 6 operators receive training in countering weapons of mass destruction, and US Special Operations Command has been the lead group for the Pentagon’s counter-WMD mission for nearly a decade. Several elements of the US government also have teams that are designated “render safe units” that can handle radiological material, one of the sources said. JSOC also has contingency plans to either “render safe” the material underground and/or render the facility unusable.

One retired special forces officer not involved in the planning told CNN that in their experience, a mission like this would probably require a tier one special operations unit; specialized explosive ordnance disposal personnel attached to that team; outer security which could be either the 75th Ranger Regiment or the 82nd Airborne Division depending on how large the area is and how many people are needed; exfiltration and infiltration assets like MC-130J aircraft or MH-47 Chinook helicopters; and consistent air cover overhead throughout the mission.

“The logistics and risk involved would be prohibitive, to say the least,” said one person familiar with the discussions.

In a sign that the US could be keeping its options open, at least six MC-130Js are now flying out of RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, according to flight data and satellite imagery reviewed by CNN, positioning them closer to Iran if called upon.

These variants of the C-130 cargo plane are specially equipped to support covert infiltration and exfiltration of US commandos into hostile environments.

A satellite image captured over the airbase on March 5 appears to show several MC-130Js parked on the tarmac.

Three of the six aircraft identified are newly arrived to RAF Mildenhall, having flown in from across Europe in recent weeks. Three others have been based out of RAF Mildenhall for months.

The same dataset suggests nearly every aircraft has participated in training missions over the United Kingdom and North Sea in recent weeks.

The Iranian regime, meanwhile, is proving resilient in the face of relentless US-Israeli airstrikes. Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been installed as Iran’s new ayatollah — a signal that Iran’s leadership has no intention of folding to American pressure.

Without the outright collapse of the regime, some level of diplomatic engagement rather than just sheer military power will likely be required to eliminate Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, multiple sources said.

Translation

消息人士稱，去獲取伊朗的高濃縮鈾需要美國投入大量地面部隊

根據七位熟悉軍事計劃的現任和前任官員向 CNN 透露，特朗普政府一直在討論獲取相信存放在地下深處的儲存設施中的伊朗剩餘高濃縮鈾庫存，但這需要投入大量美國地面部隊，遠非小型特種作戰部隊所能及。

去年六月，美國對伊朗三處核設施的轟炸並未摧毀該國全部的高濃縮鈾庫存，而這些高濃縮鈾是製造核武所需的材料。三位消息人士稱，據信其中大部分仍存放在伊朗伊斯法罕(Isfahan) 核設施。特朗普總統已將徹底消除伊朗的核能力列為此次戰爭的設定目標之一。

如特朗普政府真的啟動奪取鈾的行動，這可能標誌著美國地面部隊會首次大規模參與這項行動，事態升級意味著大量士兵將身陷險境，執行一項複雜的任務，即轉移或安全處置數噸高放射性物質。 

兩名消息人士稱，伊朗方面可以接觸到伊斯法罕的鈾。在去年美軍空襲之後，伊朗方面已經進行了數月的清理工作，以清除該設施地上建築的廢墟，並進入藏匿鈾的地下隧道。聯合國核子監督機構負責人拉斐爾·格羅西(Rafael Grossi)周一表示，伊朗約有200公斤高濃縮鈾可能仍在伊斯法罕，部分可能也藏在伊朗納坦茲(Natanz)核設施。

高濃縮鈾是一種兩用材料，伊朗方面表示，其生產高濃縮鈾僅用於和平能源用途。但將鈾濃縮至一定門檻以上 - 大約90% - 就意味著它可以用來製造核武。據國際原子能總署稱，伊朗目前的鈾濃縮度約為60%。

白宮和五角大廈在本文發表前未有回應置評請求。

特朗普曾多次表示，絕不允許伊朗計劃去擁有核武。他上個月說：“有一點是肯定的：我絕對不會允許這個世界頭號恐怖主義贊助者 - 無疑他們是 - 擁有核武器。”

“所涉及的後勤和風險將令人望而卻步”

僅靠美軍空襲無法突破伊斯法罕的地道，主要原因是該設施不像伊朗其他一些核設施那樣設有通風井口，而通風井口是儲存結構的弱點。消息人士稱，這引發了特朗普政府內部關於部署美軍聯合特種作戰司令部精銳部隊的討論，可能與以色列特種部隊協調行動，以滲透隧道並獲取或銷毀濃縮鈾。

消息人士還表示，鑑於伊朗軍方持續控制這些地點及其周邊地區，此類任務需要數十甚至數百名地面增援部隊來支援負責搜尋鈾的核心特種作戰小組。這種支援不僅包括確保區域安全的部隊，還包括後勤保護，因為在地下深處處理核子材料極具挑戰性。

三角洲部隊和海豹突擊隊第六分隊的隊員接受過應對大規模殺傷性武器的訓練，而美國特種作戰司令部近十年來一直是五角大廈反大規模殺傷性武器任務的領導單位。其中一位消息人士稱，美國政府的多個部門也設有專門處理放射性物質的「安全處置小組」。聯合特種作戰司令部（JSOC）也制定了應急計劃，以令到藏於地下物質「安全化」，及/或使該設施無法再被使用。

一位未參與計劃制定的退役特種部隊軍官告訴CNN，根據他們的經驗，此類任務可能需要一支一級特種作戰部隊；一支配備專業爆炸物處理人員的隊伍；外圍安保力量，根據區域大小和所需人員數量去出動第75遊騎兵團或第82空降師；撤離和滲透裝備，如 MC-130J 飛機或 MH-47 Chinook直升機；以及在整個任務期間持續的空中掩護。

一位熟悉討論內容的人士稱：“毫不誇張地說，其中涉及的後勤保障和風險是難以承受的。”

CNN查閱的飛行數據和衛星圖像顯示，至少有六架MC-130J運輸機目前正從英國米爾登霍爾 (Mildenhall)皇家空軍基地起飛，在需要部署時可以更能靠近伊朗的位置，這表明美國可能仍在保留各種選項。

這些C-130運輸機的衍生機種都經過特殊改裝，能夠支援美國特種部隊秘密滲透至敵對環境和撤離。

3月5日拍攝的一張空軍基地衛星影像顯示，數架MC-130J飛機停放在停機坪上。

已識別的六架飛機中有三架是最近幾週從歐洲各地飛往米爾登霍爾皇家空軍基地的。另外三架已在米爾登霍爾皇家空軍基地駐紮數月。

同一資料集顯示，幾乎所有飛機最近幾週都參與了在英國和北海上空的訓練任務。

同時，伊朗政權面對美以持續不斷的空襲時，展現了強大的韌性。前最高領袖哈梅內伊的次子穆傑塔巴·哈梅內伊(Mojtaba Khamenei)已被任命為伊朗新任最高領袖 - 這表明伊朗領導層無意屈服於美國的壓力。

多位消息人士稱，在伊朗政權徹底崩潰之前，要摧毀伊朗的濃縮鈾庫存，可能需要採取一定程度的外交手段，而不僅僅是依靠軍事力量。

So, the US bombing campaign that struck three Iranian nuclear facilities last June had not destroyed all the enriched uranium stockpile. That has led to discussions within the Trump administration about deploying US elite units, potentially in coordination with Israeli commando forces, to physically infiltrate the tunnels and secure or destroy the enriched uranium. A mission like that, however, would require dozens if not hundreds of additional troops to operate at a location controlled by the Iranian military. It seems that without a regime change in Iran, diplomatic engagement will likely be required to eliminate Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Apparent, Trump has not yet finished his job and let’s wait and see what Trump will do next.

「六十秒，就這麼簡單」：以色列與美國合作的精準行動刺殺哈梅內伊（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

‘Sixty seconds, that’s all it took’: the clinical Israeli-US operation to kill Ali Khamenei (2/2)

Mission that took just one minute to carry out was decades in making, but experts say it could be major strategic error

 US-Israel war on Iran – live updates

The Guardian - Jason Burke in Jerusalem

Sun 1 Mar 2026 14.27 EST

(continue)

The Mossad, an abbreviation of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations in Hebrew, has been focused on Iran for decades, and has built deep networks of informants, agents and logistics there. This has allowed a series of operations including the assassination with a remote-controlled automatic machine gun of a top Iranian nuclear scientist travelling at speed in a car on a remote road, the infection with malware of computers running key parts of Iran’s nuclear programme and the theft of an archive of nuclear documents. The political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in 2024 with a bomb placed in his favorite room in a government guesthouse in Tehran.

During the 12-day war in June, Israeli agents managed to identify the homes of Iranian nuclear scientists, intelligence officials and military commanders – information that allowed dozens to be killed in a first wave of surprise attacks.

Melman said the Mossad had made a key change of strategy almost 20 years ago, deciding to recruit local agents within Iran who were given state-of-the-art equipment and high levels of training.

David Barnea, who has led the Mossad since 2021, built a special department for a “foreign legion” of agents who have been deployed across the Middle East on sensitive missions.

Such agents were easier to recruit in Iran, where many people were opposed to the ruling regime, than elsewhere, Melman said.

Israel was poised to assassinate Khamenei last year, but Trump was reluctant to risk regional escalation and the reaction of allies concerned by the killing of a head of state. Such reservations appear to have disappeared in the months since the brief conflict last year, which ended shortly after US bombers attacked Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israeli military officials said there had since been “really very enhanced cooperation” between Israel and the US on Iran.

The flow of information from the Mossad’s networks on the ground in Iran would have been merged last week with intelligence gathered through communications intercepted by the US.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they locked on to a variety of means to track [Khamenei],” said Gerecht. “The Iranians are pretty sloppy. They love their phones. So maybe the supreme leader had a stack of burner phones but it’s about people he was calling regularly.”

Finally, information would have been fed through to the US and Israeli militaries to allow precise targeting information to be compiled and the orders to be given for that brief but deadly and destructive minute.

“Sixty seconds. That’s all it took for this operation, but it is the product of years in the making,” said Oded Ailam, a former head of the Mossad’s counter-terrorism division and a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. “The modern battlefield is no longer defined only by tanks and aircraft. It is defined by data, access, trust and timing. One minute can change a region.”

The CIA veteran said they believed the assassination was a mistake: “I think it was the wrong thing to do. Not from an ethical perspective – I have been fine with killing people, a lot of them in fact – but from a long-term strategic perspective.

“I know that when you take out someone’s leader you don’t solve the problem. You just create a new one.”

Translation

「六十秒，就這麼簡單」：以色列與美國合作的精準行動刺殺哈梅內伊（2/2）

這項僅用一分鐘就完成的任務，籌劃了數十年，但專家表示，這可能是個重大的策略失誤。

（繼續）

摩薩德(Mossad) ，即希伯來語「情報與特種作戰研究所」的縮寫，數十年來一直將目光聚焦在伊朗，並在伊朗建立了龐大的線人、特工和後勤網絡。這使得摩薩德得以實施一系列行動，包括用遙控自動機槍暗殺一名在偏僻道路上高速行駛的伊朗頂級核科學家、用惡意軟體感染運行伊朗核計劃關鍵部分的計算機，以及竊取一份核文件檔案。哈馬斯政治領袖伊斯梅爾·哈尼亞(Ismail Haniyeh)於2024年在德黑蘭一家政府招待所內他最喜歡的房間裡被炸彈暗殺。

在6月份為期12天的戰爭中，以色列特工成功鎖定了伊朗核科學家、情報官員和軍事指揮官的住所 - 這項訊息使以色列得以在第一波突襲中殺死數十人。

Melman表示，摩薩德在近20年前做出了關鍵戰略調整，決定在伊朗境內招募本地特工，並為他們配備最先進的裝備和高水準的訓練。

自2021年起擔任摩薩德局長的David Barnea建立了一個專門負責「外籍軍團」特工的部門，這些特工已被部署到中東各地執行敏感任務。

Melman說，在伊朗招募這類特工比在其他地方更容易，因為伊朗國內許多人反對執政政權。

去年，以色列曾準備暗殺哈梅內伊，但特朗普不願冒著地區局勢升級的風險，也不願承受盟友對暗殺國家元首的擔憂。自去年短暫衝突結束以來，這種顧慮似乎已經消失。那場衝突在美國轟炸機攻擊伊朗核設施後不久便結束。

以色列軍方官員表示，此後以色列和美國在伊朗問題上的合作「確實得到了極大的加強」。

上週，來自摩薩德在伊朗地面網路的資訊流與美國截獲的通訊情報進行了整合。

Gerecht說: 「如果他們利用各種手段追蹤[哈梅內伊]，我不會感到驚訝」; 「伊朗人做事相當馬虎。他們很喜歡用手機。所以，最高領袖可能有一堆一次性手機，但關鍵在於他經常聯繫的人」。

最終，相關訊息會傳遞給美國和以色列軍方，以編纂精確的目標資訊，並下達命令，執行那短暫但致命且具毀滅性的一分鐘打擊。

前摩薩德反恐部門負責人、耶路撒冷安全與外交事務中心研究員Oded Ailam說道: 「僅僅60秒。這次行動只花了這麼短的時間，但它卻是多年籌備的結果」;「現代戰場不再僅僅由坦克和飛機定義，它由數據、資訊獲取管道、信任和時機所決定。一分鐘就能改變一個地區」。

這位中情局老兵表示，他認為這次暗殺是個錯誤：「我認為這是錯的。不是從道德角度出發 - 我並不反對殺人，事實上，我殺過很多人 - 而是從長遠的戰略角度來看」。

“我知道，除掉一個領導人並不能解決問題，只會製造新的問題。”

              So, the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the culmination of decades of painstaking intelligence gathering by Israeli secret services. One objective of the attack by Israel and the US is to motivate a regime change in Tehran, another objective is to stop Iran to build its nuclear arsenal. While it is quite likely that when you take out someone’s leader you don’t solve the problem as it may just create a new one, the concrete immediate benefit of this attack is that Iran will need some time to restart its nucleus program. Apparent, this attack shows that the 21^st century battlefield is less defined by tanks and aircraft and more by missiles, drones, and all kinds of intelligence works plus data analysis and good timing. 

「六十秒，就這麼簡單」：以色列與美國合作的精準行動刺殺哈梅內伊（1/2）

Recently the Guardian reported the following:

‘Sixty seconds, that’s all it took’: the clinical Israeli-US operation to kill Ali Khamenei (1/2)

Mission that took just one minute to carry out was decades in making, but experts say it could be major strategic error

 US-Israel war on Iran – live updates

The Guardian - Jason Burke in Jerusalem

Sun 1 Mar 2026 14.27 EST

The assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the culmination of decades of painstaking intelligence gathering by Israeli secret services, with crucial technological resources and manpower provided over the last six months by the CIA and other US intelligence services, which culminated in a single concentrated burst of lethal violence to decapitate the Iranian regime, according to experts, veteran spies and officials in Israel and the US.

Khamenei was killed along with seven “members of the top Iranian security leadership who had gathered at several locations in Tehran” and about a dozen members of his family and close entourage in near-simultaneous strikes within 60 seconds, military officials in Israel said. Forty other senior Iranian leaders also died in the attack.

The killing of Khamenei, 86, opened the air offensive launched this weekend by Israel and the US in an effort to overthrow the radical clerical regime in Tehran, plunging the Middle East into renewed chaos and violence.

Some experts and intelligence veterans, however, described a possible strategic error that could alienate potential supporters or open the way for more radical opponents in the future.

“The problem is that Israel is in love with assassinations … and we never learn that it is not the solution. We have killed all the leaders of Hamas. They are still there. It’s the same with Hezbollah. The leaders are always replaced,” said Yossi Melman, a respected Israeli analyst and author specialising in intelligence.

Israel has a long history of conducting assassinations overseas, but has never before killed a head of state.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israel’s military intelligence service, said the strike was “a tactical surprise, an operational surprise” because the general expectation was that Israel would attack in darkness, replicating the surprise strike which opened the 12-day war in June.

The timing of the assassination was determined by information the CIA gleaned about a meeting of top Iranian officials at a leadership compound in the heart of Tehran scheduled for Saturday morning. Most critically, the CIA was able to tell Israeli counterparts that Khamenei would be at the site and the timing of the meeting, according to the New York Times.

Israeli spies had also been tracking Khamenei for many years, building a minutely detailed file on his daily routine and those of his family members, associates, allies and those charged with keeping him safe.

“It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle. You are putting all these scraps of information together. Where you don’t have [reliable data] you look further into those. It will be everything: how do they get food, what happens to their trash … We all get up and go to bed, we all eat and drink,” said a former CIA veteran with decades of experience in tracking high-profile terrorist targets.

“We are in a world where information and data is so multi-layered that there is no one who doesn’t leave some kind of trail. Everything you do leaves a print.”

Reuel Gerecht, a former CIA targeting officer who worked on Iran and an analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the US would have been able to bring significant technological assets into play, though it was Israel that had built the networks of agents on the ground capable of supplying human intelligence and carrying out covert operations within Iran.

Gerecht said reports in the Israeli media that a photograph of Khamenei’s remains were shown to Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, were plausible.

“The technological capacity of the US is extremely impressive and the tech does matter a lot, but I don’t think that the [CIA] had a lot to bring to the table in terms of [human intelligence] or covert action networks,” he said.

“If you combine the technological capacity with the networks on the ground that would certainly amplify its effectiveness.”

(to be continued)

Translation

「六十秒，就這麼簡單」：以色列與美國合作的精準行動刺殺哈梅內伊（1/2）

這項僅用一分鐘完成的任務，籌劃了數十年，但專家表示，這可能是個重大的戰略失誤。

據以色列和美國的專家、資深間諜和官員稱，刺殺伊朗最高領袖哈梅內伊，是以色列情報機構數十年來艱苦卓絕的情報收集工作的最終成果。在過去六個月裡，美國中央情報局和其他情報機構提供了關鍵的技術資源和人力，最終促成了這次集中而致命的暴力行動，旨在剷除伊朗政權。

以色列軍方官員稱，哈梅內伊與七名「聚集在德黑蘭各處的伊朗高級安全領導人」以及約十幾名他的家人和隨行人員在60秒內幾乎同時遭到空襲身亡。另有四十名伊朗高階領導人也在攻擊中喪生。

86歲的哈梅內伊遇害，拉開了以色列和美國本週末發起的空襲的序幕，這場空襲旨在推翻德黑蘭的激進神權政權，空襲使中東再次陷入混亂和暴力之中。

然而，一些專家和資深情報人員指出，這可能是戰略失誤，可能會疏遠潛在的支持者，或為未來更激進的反對派打開方便之門。

以色列著名情報分析家兼作家Yossi Melman說道。「問題在於以色列熱衷於暗殺……而我們始終不明白，暗殺並非解決之道。我們殺死了哈馬斯的所有領導人，但他們依然存在。真主黨也是如此，領導人總是會被替換」。

以色列在海外進行暗殺行動由來已久，但此前從未暗殺國家元首。

以色列前軍事情報局局長Amos Yadlin表示，此次襲擊是“一次戰術上的突襲，一次行動上的出其不意”，因為人們普遍預期以色列會在夜間發動襲擊，重演6月份那場開啟12天戰爭的突襲行動。

這次暗殺行動的時機是由美國中央情報局根據先前掌握的情報確定的，情報顯示，伊朗高級官員將於週六上午在德黑蘭市中心的一處領導人住所舉行會議。根據《紐約時報》報道，最關鍵的是，中央情報局能夠提前告知以色列方面哈梅內伊將出席會議地點以及會議時間。

以色列間諜多年來一直在追蹤哈梅內伊，建立了一份極其詳盡的檔案，記錄著他及其家人、同僚、盟友以及負責保護他的人的日常生活。

一位在中央情報局工作數十年、擁有追踪資深恐怖分子目標經驗的資深人士說道:「這就像一個巨大的拼圖遊戲。你要把所有這些零碎的信息拼湊起來。對於沒有可靠數據的地方，你要進一步調查。這涵蓋方方面面：他們如何獲取食物，他們的垃圾如何處理……我們每天都要起床睡覺，都要吃飯喝水」。

“我們身處一個資訊和數據那麼大量疊加的世界，令沒有人能不留任何痕跡。你做的每一件事都會留下印記。”

曾任中央情報局（CIA）伊朗問題目標定位官員、現任保衛民主基金會分析師的Reuel Gerecht表示，美國本可以投入大量技術資源，但以色列才是建立起在伊朗境內提供人力情報並開展秘密行動的特工網絡的人。

Gerecht稱，以色列媒體報道稱，特朗普和以色列總理內塔尼亞胡曾看過哈梅內伊遺體的照片的說法是可信的。

他說:「美國的技術能力令人印象深刻，技術的確至關重要，但我認為（CIA）在 [人力情報]或秘密行動網絡方面並沒有太多貢獻」。

“如果將技術能力與實地網絡相結合，無疑會大大提升行動的有效性。”

（待續）

以色列如何利用間諜、走私無人機和人工智能震懾並牽制伊朗（2/2）

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

How Israel used spies, smuggled drones and AI to stun and hobble Iran (2/2)

The Associated Press - Julia Frankel and Sam Mednick

Tue, June 17, 2025 at 5:48 a.m. PDT·6 min read

(continue)

Using AI and human intelligence to select targets

To analyze information gathered from various sources, Israel used the latest artificial-intelligence, or AI, technology, said an intelligence officer involved with selecting individuals and sites to target. He said AI was used to help Israelis quickly sift through troves of data they had obtained. That effort began last October according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media; it was one month before Netanyahu said he had ordered the attack plans.

An investigation by The Associated Press earlier this year uncovered that the Israeli military uses U.S.-made AI models in war to sift through intelligence and intercept communications to learn the movements of its enemies. It's been used in the wars with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The intelligence officer involved in identifying the possible targets said options were first put into various groups, such as leadership, military, civilian and infrastructure. Targets were chosen if they were determined to be a threat to Israel, such as being deeply associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard — a paramilitary force that controls Iran’s ballistic missiles.

The officer was tasked with putting together a list of Iranian generals, including details on where they worked and spent their free time.

Among the high-level military officials killed since Friday's attack were Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and Gen. Mohammed Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.

In addition to AI, the Mossad relied on spies to identify top nuclear scientists and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to one security official. At least eight members of the Guard, including the head of its missile program, were killed in a single Israeli strike on an underground bunker.

Targeting Iranian vehicles

Another facet of the attack was to strike Iranian vehicles used to transport and launch missiles.

Shine said the strategy was similar to a Ukrainian operation earlier this month in Russia. In that operation, nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged with cheaply made drones snuck into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian officials.

In an interview with Iranian state-run television, the country's police chief, Gen. Ahmadreza Radan, said “several vehicles carrying mini-drones and some tactical drones have been discovered.” He added: “a number of traitors are trying to engage the country’s air defense by flying some mini-drones.”

 How far back does this go?

The Mossad is believed to have carried out numerous covert attacks on the Iranian nuclear program over the years, including cyberattacks and the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists. But it rarely acknowledges such operations.

In the 2000s, Iranian centrifuges used for enriching uranium were destroyed by the so-called Stuxnet computer virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation.

In 2018, Israel stole an archive of Iranian nuclear research that included tens of thousands of pages of records, said Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired general and former military intelligence researcher who now directs the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

In July 2024, Israel killed a senior leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, with a bomb in a bedroom of a government guesthouse in Tehran.

Israel's blistering attack last week on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure didn’t come out of nowhere, said retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, who heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum think tank.

It was the result of “Israeli intelligence working extensively for years in Iran and establishing a very strong robust presence,” he said.

Translation

以色列如何利用間諜、走私無人機和人工智能震懾並牽制伊朗（2/2）

（繼續）

利用人工智能和人類智慧選擇目標

一位參與選擇目標人物和地點的情報官員表示，為了分析從各種來源收集的信息，以色列使用了最新的人工智能（AI）技術。他表示，人工智能被用來幫助以色列人快速篩選他們所獲得的大量數據。據這位官員透露，這項工作始於去年10月。由於未獲授權接受媒體採訪，這位官員不願透露姓名，這是內塔尼亞胡宣布下令實施攻擊計劃之前一個月。

美聯社今年稍早的一項調查發現，以色列軍方在戰爭中使用美國製造的人工智能模型來篩選情報並攔截通信，以了解敵人的動向。它曾在與加薩走廊的哈馬斯以及黎巴嫩真主黨的戰爭中被使用過。

參與確定潛在目標的情報官員表示，目標首先被分為不同類別，例如領導層、軍隊、平民和基礎設施。如果目標被確定為對以色列構成威脅，例如與伊朗革命衛隊（一支控制伊朗彈道飛彈的準軍事部隊）關係密切，就會被選中。

該官員的任務是整理一份伊朗將軍名單，包括他們工作地點和空閒時間的詳細資料。

自周五襲擊事件以來，遇難的高級軍官包括伊朗革命衛隊負責人 Hossein Salami 將軍和伊朗武裝部隊總參謀長 Mohammed Bagheri 將軍。

據一位安全官員稱，除了人工智能之外，摩薩德還依靠間諜來識別伊朗革命衛隊的高級核科學家和成員。以色列對一座地下掩體的攻擊中，至少有八名伊朗革命衛隊成員喪生，其中包括其飛彈計劃的負責人。

 

瞄準伊朗車輛

這次攻擊的另一個目的是打擊用於運輸和發射飛彈的伊朗車輛。

Shine 表示，這項策略與本月稍早烏克蘭在俄羅斯的行動類似。據烏克蘭官員稱，在那次行動中，莫斯科近三分之一的戰略轟炸機機隊被偷偷運入俄羅斯領土的廉價無人機摧毀或損壞。

在接受伊朗國家電視台採訪時，伊朗警察局長 Ahmadreza Radan 將軍表示： “已發現數輛載有微型無人機和一些戰術無人機的車輛” 。他還補充道： “一些叛徒正試圖通過驅動一些微型無人機來打擊該國的防空系統。”

這行動要追溯到什麼時候？

一般相信摩薩德多年來對伊朗核計畫發動了多次秘密攻擊，包括網路攻擊和殺害伊朗核科學家。但該組織很少承認此類行動。

進入21世紀，伊朗用於濃縮鈾的離心機被所謂的「震網」（Stuxnet）電腦病毒摧毀，據信該病毒是由以色列和美國共同開發的。

退休將軍、前軍事情報研究員、現任耶路撒冷戰略與安全研究所所長的 Yossi Kuperwasser 表示，2018年，以色列竊取了一份包含數萬頁記錄的伊朗核子研究檔案。

2024年7月，以色列在德黑蘭一家政府賓館的臥室裡用炸彈炸死了哈馬斯高級領導人 Ismail Haniye。

以色列退休準將現在是以色列國防與安全論壇智庫的負責人 Amir Avivi 將軍表示, 以色列上週對伊朗核和軍事核心結構發動的猛烈攻擊並非憑空而來。

這是「以色列情報部門多年來在伊朗廣泛開展工作並建立起堅實的立足點」的結果。

So, Israel shocked Iran when it pulled off an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision. Guided by spies and artificial intelligence, the Israeli military unleashed a nighttime fusillade of warplanes and armed drones smuggled into Iran to quickly incapacitate many of its air defenses and missile systems. With greater freedom to fly over Iran, Israel bombarded key nuclear sites and killed top generals and scientists. By the time Iran mustered a response hours later, its ability to retaliate was greatly diminished. Apparent, Israel’s intelligent network is working very effectively.

以色列如何利用間諜、走私無人機和人工智能震懾並牽制伊朗（1/2）

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

How Israel used spies, smuggled drones and AI to stun and hobble Iran (1/2)

The Associated Press - Julia Frankel and Sam Mednick

Tue, June 17, 2025 at 5:48 a.m. PDT·6 min read

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel stunned and hobbled Iran last week when it pulled off an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision.

Guided by spies and artificial intelligence, the Israeli military unleashed a nighttime fusillade of warplanes and armed drones smuggled into Iran to quickly incapacitate many of its air defenses and missile systems. With greater freedom to fly over Iran, Israel bombarded key nuclear sites and killed top generals and scientists. By the time Iran mustered a response hours later, its ability to retaliate — already weakened by past Israeli strikes — was greatly diminished.

This account is based on conversations with 10 current and former Israeli intelligence and military officials, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss clandestine operations.

It was not possible to independently verify some of their claims. But the former head of research at Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, confirmed the basic contours of the attack, saying she had inside knowledge of how it was planned and executed.

“This attack is the culmination of years of work by the Mossad to target Iran's nuclear program,” said Sima Shine, the former Mossad research director who is now an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies.

Israel’s element of surprise was enhanced by Iranian officials’ apparent assumption that Israel wouldn’t attack while talks over its rapidly advancing nuclear program were ongoing with the U.S.

A sixth round of talks had been planned for last Sunday in Oman, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu activated “Operation Rising Lion” on Friday – after his country first notified President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu has for years said neutralizing Iran’s nuclear program was vital for Israel’s security, and Israel had previously taken steps to set back Iran's ability to enrich uranium to weapons grade. But Netanyahu said a more aggressive attack proved necessary, as Iran kept advancing its enrichment program despite U.S. diplomatic efforts and warnings from U.N. watchdogs.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction. Iran's political leaders say their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, though it was the only country without the bomb to enrich uranium close to weapons-grade levels.

Smuggling drones into Iran

The Mossad and the military worked together for at least three years to lay the operational groundwork, according to a former intelligence officer who said he had knowledge of the attack. This person spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject.

The attack built off knowledge Israel gained during a wave of airstrikes last October, which “highlighted the weakness of Iranian air defenses,” said Naysan Rafati, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.

To further diminish Iranian air defenses and missile systems at the start of last week's attack, Mossad agents had smuggled precision weapons into Iran that were prepositioned to strike from close range, according to two current security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the missions. Those weapons included small, armed drones, which agents snuck into the country in vehicles, according to the former intelligence officer.

Mossad agents stationed weapons close to Iranian surface-to-air missile sites, Shine said. The agency works with a mix of people, both locals and Israelis, she said.

(to be continued)

Translation

以色列如何利用間諜、走私無人機和人工智能震懾並牽制伊朗（1/2）

耶路撒冷（美聯社） - 上週，以色列完成了一項醞釀多年的情報和軍事行動，精確打擊了伊朗高層目標，震懾並牽制了伊朗。

在間諜和人工智能的指導下，以色列軍方在夜間發動了由走私到伊朗的戰機和武裝無人機組成的猛烈攻擊，迅速摧毀了伊朗的許多防空和飛彈系統。憑藉更大的飛行自由，以色列轟炸了伊朗關鍵的核設施，並殺死了高級將領和科學家。幾個小時後，當伊朗做出回應時，其報復能力 - 因已被以色列的襲擊所削弱 - 大大減少。

本報告是基於與10名現任和前任以色列情報和軍事官員的對話，其中一些要求匿名，以討論秘密行動。

部分說法無法獨立核實。但以色列情報機構摩薩德 (Mossad) 前研究主管證實了這次攻擊的基本輪廓，並表示她掌握了攻擊計劃和執行的內部資訊。

前摩薩德研究主管、現任國家安全研究所分析師 Sima Shine 說道: 「這次襲擊是摩薩德多年來針對伊朗核計劃努力的結晶」。

伊朗官員顯然認為，在以色列與美國就其快速推進的核子計劃進行談判期間，以色列不會發動攻擊，這增強了以色列的出其不意。

第六輪談判原定於上週日在阿曼舉行，但以色列總理內塔尼亞胡於週五啟動了 “崛起雄獅行動” - 此前以色列已率先通知了特朗普總統。

多年來，內塔尼亞胡一直表示，消除伊朗核計劃對以色列安全至關重要，以色列先前也曾採取措施，阻止伊朗將鈾濃縮至武器級。但內塔尼亞胡表示，鑑於伊朗不顧美國的外交努力和聯合國監督機構的警告，仍在繼續推進其鈾濃縮計劃，因此有必要採取更具侵略性的打擊。

伊朗最高領袖哈梅內伊曾多次呼籲摧毀以色列。伊朗政治領袖聲稱，他們的核子計劃是用於和平目的，儘管伊朗是唯一一個國家沒有核武而去將鈾濃縮至接近武器級別。

將無人機走私到伊朗

 據一位知情的前情報官員稱，摩薩德和軍方至少合作了三年，為這次襲擊奠定了行動基礎。鑑於事態的敏感性，此人要求匿名。

國際危機組 的伊朗問題分析師 Naysan Rafati 表示，這次襲擊是基於以色列在去年10月空襲浪潮中獲得的訊息，這些空襲「凸顯了伊朗防空系統的薄弱」。

據兩位不願透露姓名的現任安全官員透露，為了在上週襲擊開始時進一步削弱伊朗的防空和導彈系統，摩薩德特工已將精確武器武器走私到伊朗，這些武器預先部署用於近距離打擊。前情報官員透露，這些武器包括小型武裝無人機，由特工用車輛偷偷帶入伊朗。

Shine 說，摩薩德特工在伊朗地對空飛彈發射場附近部署了武器。她還表示，該機構與當地人和以色列人都有合作。

（待續）

以色列使用 F-35I「阿迪爾」隱形戰鬥機打擊伊朗核計劃，其每小時飛行成本高達4.4萬美元 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Israel targeted Iran's nuclear program with F-35I Adir stealth fighter jets that cost $44,000 per hour to fly (2/2)

Business Insider - Talia Lakritz

Fri, June 13, 2025 at 9:04 a.m. PDT·7 min read

(continue)

In November 2023, Israel's F-35I Adir fighter jets took down a missile fired by an Iran-backed group in Yemen, according to the IDF.

It was the first known intercept of a cruise missile by an F-35 plane.

The Israeli Air Force released footage of the encounter on X, writing in Hebrew that its personnel are "preoccupied at every moment with planning and managing the defense response and are prepared for any threat in any area."

Iran appeared to target the Nevatim air base, which houses Israel's fleet of F-35I jets, during an attack in April 2024.

Out of the over 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, launched at Israel by Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, around 99% were intercepted by Israel and its allies. The IDF released photos showing minor damage near a runway at the Nevatim Airbase and to a road in Hermon caused by the few projectiles that landed.

The missiles appeared to target Israel's Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert, which houses its fleet of F-35I stealth fighter jets. The base remained operational throughout the attack, according to the IDF, with the Adir fighter jets aiding the defensive mission.

"Iran thought it would be able to paralyze the base and thus damage our air capabilities, but it failed," IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force launched over 200 fighter jets, including F-35I planes, in a preemptive strike targeting Iran's nuclear program.

An IDF spokesperson said that Israeli fighter jets struck over 100 sites across Iran on Thursday to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, including military targets and its largest uranium enrichment site in Natanz.

The IDF said that Iran's nuclear program has "accelerated significantly" in recent months and called it "clear evidence that the Iranian regime is operating to obtain a nuclear weapon." Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes.

"This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat by an enemy who is intent on destroying us," Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF's Chief of the General Staff, said in a statement.

The IDF released photos showing planes used in the large-scale operation, including F-35I jets.

Iran launched a retaliatory attack with over 100 drones on Friday morning, which were mostly intercepted by Israeli forces, the IDF said.

The ongoing war in Gaza has prompted new scrutiny of US military aid to Israel.

The October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis and captured over 240. Around 53 hostages remain in Gaza, though it is unknown how many are still alive.

Israel's counteroffensive airstrikes and military actions in Gaza have resulted in over 55,000 Palestinian fatalities, according to figures provided to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. The IDF reports that 17,000 of these fatalities were Hamas militants.

According to the United Nationals Relief and Works Agency, over 1.9 million Gazans, around 90% of the population, have been displaced by the war.

The devastating human toll of the war in Gaza with US-funded planes like the F-35I has prompted new scrutiny of US aid to Israel, with some lawmakers in Congress raising the possibility of conditioning military and economic aid.

Translation

以色列使用 F-35I「阿迪爾」隱形戰鬥機打擊伊朗核計劃，其每小時飛行成本高達4.4萬美元 (2/2)

（繼續）

據以色列國防軍 (IDF)稱，2023年11月，以色列的F-35I「阿迪爾」戰鬥機在也門擊落了一枚由伊朗支持的組織發射的飛彈。

這是已知的F-35戰機首次攔截巡航飛彈。

以色列空軍在X頻道發布了這次遭遇戰的錄像，並用希伯來語寫道，其人員「時刻專注於規劃和管理防禦響應，並做好了應對任何地區的任何威脅」。

2024年4月，伊朗似乎將以色列安置 F-35I 戰鬥機機隊的 Nevatim 空軍基地作為攻擊目標。

伊朗及其在伊拉克、葉門和黎巴嫩的代理人向以色列發射了350多枚彈道飛彈、巡航飛彈和無人機，其中約99%被以色列及其盟友攔截。以色列國防軍公佈的照片顯示，有少量落下的發射物體對Nevatim 空軍基地的一條跑道, 以及對在Hermon的一條道路造成了輕微損壞。

這些飛彈似乎瞄準了位於 Negev 沙漠的以色列 Nevatim 空軍基地，該基地駐紮著以色列的F-35I隱形戰鬥機機隊。據以色列國防軍稱，該基地在整個攻擊過程中保持運作，阿迪爾戰鬥機協助執行防禦任務。

以色列國防軍發言人 Daniel Hagari 少將發表聲明稱： “伊朗以為能夠癱瘓該基地，從而削弱我們的空中力量，但最終失敗了。”

週四，以色列空軍出動超過 200 架戰鬥機，包括F-35I戰鬥機，對伊朗核計劃進行先發制人的攻擊。

以色列國防軍發言人表示，以色列戰鬥機週四襲擊了伊朗境內100多個設施，以阻止其發展核武器，其中包括軍事目標和位於 Natanz 的最大鈾濃縮設施。

以色列國防軍表示，伊朗核計劃近幾個月 “顯著加速” ，並稱這是“伊朗政權正為獲取核武而行動的明確證據” 。伊朗堅稱其核子計劃僅用於民用目的。

以色列國防軍總參謀長 Eyal Zamir 中將在一份聲明中表示： “這是一次至關重要的行動，旨在防止敵人對我們造成生存威脅，他們意圖摧毀我們。”

以色列國防軍公佈了此次大規模行動中使用的飛機照片，其中包括 F-35I 戰鬥機。

以色列國防軍表示，伊朗週五上午發動了超過100架無人機的報復性攻擊，大部分被以色列軍隊攔截。

持續不斷的加薩戰爭促使美國對以色列的軍事援助再次受到審查。

10月7日，哈馬斯發動的恐怖攻擊造成約 1,200 名以色列人死亡，240多人被俘。目前約有53名人質仍被扣留在加沙，但尚不清楚有多少人還活著。

根據哈馬斯控制的加薩衛生部向聯合國人道事務協調廳提供的數據，以色列在加薩的反攻空襲和軍事行動已造成超過 5.5 萬名巴勒斯坦人死亡。以色列國防軍報告稱，其中1.7萬名死者是哈馬斯武裝分子。

據聯合國近東巴勒斯坦難民救濟和工程處稱，超過 190 萬加薩人因戰爭而流離失所，約佔加薩總人口的90%。

美國資助的 F-35I 等戰機在加薩地帶作戰造成了毀滅性的人員傷亡，這促使美國重新審視對以色列的援助，一些國會議員提出了對軍事和經濟援助附加條件的可能性。

              So, Israel recently launches a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear program with its fleet of F-35I stealth fighter jets. The Israeli plane is known as "Adir” which means "Mighty One”. It has advanced stealth capabilities. Israel believes that Iran's nuclear program has "accelerated significantly" in recent months and that the Iranian regime is operating to obtain a nuclear weapon although Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes. Apparently, Iran’s intention to obtain weapon-grade uranium is causing tension in the region.

聯合國核監督機構譴責伊朗，伊朗報復性地宣佈建立新的濃縮設施（1/2）

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

UN nuclear watchdog board censures Iran, which retaliates by announcing a new enrichment site (1/2)

The Associated Press - Stephanie Liechtenstein And Jon Gambrell

Thu, June 12, 2025 at 7:05 a.m. PDT·6 min read

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of governors on Thursday formally found that Iran isn’t complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years, a move that could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Tehran later this year.

Iran reacted immediately, saying it will establish a new enrichment facility “in a secure location” and that “other measures are also being planned.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a joint statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump previously warned that Israel or America could carry out airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations failed — and some American personnel and their families have begun leaving the region over the tensions, which come ahead of a new round of Iran-U.S. talks Sunday in Oman. In Israel, the U.S. Embassy ordered American government employees and their families to remain in the Tel Aviv area over security concerns.

Nineteen countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board, which represents the agency’s member nations, voted for the resolution, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-doors vote.

Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, 11 abstained and two did not vote.

In the draft resolution seen by The Associated Press, the board of governors renews a call on Iran to provide answers “without delay” in a long-running investigation into uranium traces found at several locations that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites.

Western officials suspect that the uranium traces could provide further evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003.

The resolution was put forward by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

 

Iran lists steps in retaliation for the IAEA vote

Speaking to Iranian state television after the vote, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that his agency immediately informed the IAEA of “specific and effective” actions Tehran would take.

“One is the launch of a third secure site” for enrichment, spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. He did not elaborate on the location, but the organization's chief Mohammad Eslami later described the site as "already built, prepared, and located in a secure and invulnerable place.”

Iran has two underground sites at Fordo and Natanz and has been building tunnels in the mountains near Natanz since suspected Israeli sabotage attacks targeted that facility.

The other step would be replacing old centrifuges for advanced ones at Fordo. “The implication of this is that our production of enriched materials will significantly increase,” Kamalvandi said.

According to the draft resolution, “Iran’s many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran ... constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement.”

Under those obligations, which are part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally bound to declare all nuclear material and activities and allow IAEA inspectors to verify that none of it is being diverted from peaceful uses.

The draft resolution also finds that the IAEA’s “inability ... to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the United Nations Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

The draft resolution made a direct reference to the U.S.-Iran talks, stressing its “support for a diplomatic solution to the problems posed by the Iranian nuclear program, including the talks between the United States and Iran, leading to an agreement that addresses all international concerns related to Iran’s nuclear activities, encouraging all parties to constructively engage in diplomacy.”

(to be continued)

Translation

聯合國核監督機構理事會譴責伊朗，伊朗報復性地宣佈建立新的鈾濃縮設施（1/2）

維也納（美聯社）—聯合國核監督機構理事會週四正式裁定，伊朗20年來首次未履行其核義務，此舉可能導致緊張局勢進一步加劇，並促使聯合國在今年稍後恢復對伊朗的製裁。

伊朗立即回應，稱將「在安全地點」建立新的鈾濃縮設施，並且「也在計劃其他措施」。

伊朗外交部和伊朗原子能組織在一份聯合聲明中表示： “伊朗伊斯蘭共和國別無選擇，只能對這項政治決議作出回應。”

美國總統特朗普先前曾警告稱，如果談判失敗，以色列或美國可能會對伊朗核設施實施空襲。由於緊張局勢，一些美國人員及其家屬已開始離開該地區。美伊新一輪談判將於週日在阿曼舉行。在以色列，美國大使館出於安全考慮，下令美國政府員工及其家屬留在特拉維夫地區。

據不願透露姓名的外交官透露，代表國際原子能總署成員國的國際原子能總署理事會中有19個國家在閉門投票中支持該決議。

俄羅斯、中國和 Burkina Faso 反對該決議，11個國家棄權，2個國家沒有投票。

在美聯社看到的決議草案中，理事會再次呼籲伊朗「立即」就其長期調查作出答复，該調查針對在德黑蘭被發現有鈾痕跡的多個地點, 並未申報為核設施地點。

西方官員懷疑，這些微量鈾可能進一步證明伊朗在2003年之前一直擁有秘密核武計劃。

該決議由法國、英國、德國和美國提出。

伊朗列舉了針對國際原子能總署投票的報復措施

伊朗原子能組織發言人在投票後對伊朗國家電視台表示，該機構已立即向國際原子能總署通報了德黑蘭將採取的「具體而有效」行動。

發言人Behrouz Kamalvandi 表示，「其中一項措施是啟動第三個用於鈾濃縮的安全地點」。他沒有詳細說明具體位置，但該組織負責人Mohammad Eslami 後來稱該設施「已經建成、準備就緒，並位於一個安全且無法被攻擊的地方」。

伊朗在 Fordo 和 Natanz 擁有兩處地下設施，自從懷疑以色列會襲擊破壞該設施後, 伊朗一直在Natanz 附近的山區建造隧道。

另一步是將 Fordo 的陳舊離心機更換為先進的離心機。 Kamalvandi說: 「這意味著我們的濃縮鈾產量將大幅增加」。

根據決議草案，“伊朗自2019年以來多次未能履行其義務，就關於伊朗多個未申報地點的未申報核物料和活動, 未能全力及時地與該局合作……這構成了其不遵守《保障監督協定》規定的義務。”

根據這些義務，都是《不擴散核武條約》都一部份，伊朗有法律義務申報所有核子物料和核子活動，並允許國際原子能總署的核查人員核實其中任何一項, 均用於和平用途而沒有被轉作其他用途。

該決議草案還認為，國際原子能總署「未能…保證伊朗核計劃完全用於和平目的，這引發了屬於聯合國安全理事會職權範圍的問題，因為安理會是維護國際和平與安全的主要責任機構」。

該決議草案直接提到美伊會談，強調其「支持透過外交途徑解決伊朗核計劃帶來的問題，包括美伊會談，以達成一項解決所有與伊朗核活動有關的國際關切的協議，並鼓勵各方建設性地開展外交活動」。

（待續）

獨家-以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Exclusive-How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah (2/2)

Wed, October 16, 2024 at 6:39 p.m. GMT+8·8 min read

Reuters - By Maya Gebeily, James Pearson and David Gauthier-Villars

(continue)

THE WEAK LINK

From the outside, the pager’s power source looked like a standard lithium-ion battery pack used in thousands of consumer electronics goods.

And yet, the battery, labelled LI-BT783, had a problem: Like the pager, it did not exist on the market.

So Israel's agents created a backstory from scratch.

Hezbollah has serious procurement procedures to check what they buy, a former Israeli intelligence officer, who was not involved in the pager operation, told Reuters.

"You want to make sure that if they look, they find something," the former spy said, requesting not to be named. "Not finding anything is not good.”

Creating backstories, or “legends”, for undercover agents has long been a core skill of spy agencies. What made the pager plot unusual is that those skills appear to have been applied to ubiquitous consumer electronics products.

For the pagers, the agents deceived Hezbollah by selling the custom-created model, AR-924, under an existing, renowned Taiwanese brand, Gold Apollo.

Gold Apollo’s chairman, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters a day after the pager attack that he was approached about three years ago by a former employee, Teresa Wu, and her “big boss, called Tom” to discuss a licence agreement.

Hsu said he had scant information about Wu’s superior, but he granted them the right to design their own products and market them under the widely distributed Gold Apollo brand.

Reuters could not establish the identity of the manager, nor whether the person or Wu knowingly worked with Israeli intelligence.

The chairman said he was not impressed by the AR-924 when he saw it, but still added photos and a description of the product to his company’s website, helping give it both visibility and credibility. There was no way to directly buy the AR-924 from his website.

Hsu said he knew nothing about the pagers’ lethal capabilities or the broader operation to attack Hezbollah. He described his company as a victim of the plot.

Gold Apollo declined to provide further comment. Calls and messages sent to Wu went unanswered. She has not given a statement to the media since the attacks.

"I KNOW THIS PRODUCT"

In September 2023, webpages and images featuring the AR-924 and its battery were added to apollosystemshk.com, a website that said it had a licence to distribute Gold Apollo products, as well as the rugged pager and its bulky power source, according to a Reuters review of internet records and metadata.

The website gave an address in Hong Kong for a company called Apollo Systems HK. No company by that name exists at the address or in Hong Kong Corporate records.

However, the website was listed by Wu, the Taiwanese businesswoman, on her Facebook page as well as in public incorporation records when she registered a company called Apollo Systems in Taipei earlier this year.

A section of the apollosystemshk.com site devoted to the LI-BT783 put emphasis on the battery’s outstanding performance. Unlike the disposable batteries that powered older generation pagers, it boasted 85 days of autonomy and could be recharged via a USB cable, according to the website and a 90-second promotional video on YouTube.

In late 2023, two battery stores came online with the LI-BT783 listed in their catalogues, Reuters found. And in two online forums devoted to batteries, participants discussed the power source, despite its lack of commercial availability: "I know this product," a user with the handle Mikevog wrote in April 2023. "It’s got a great datasheet and a great performance."

Reuters could not establish the identity of Mikevog.

The website, the online stores, and the forum discussions bear the hallmark of a deception effort, the former Israeli intelligence officer and two Western security officers told Reuters. The websites have been scrubbed from the web since the pager bombs wreaked havoc in Lebanon, but archived and cached copies are still viewable.

Ruing the day they bought the pagers, Hezbollah leaders said they had launched internal investigations to understand how the security breach could happen and identify possible moles.

The group had shifted to pagers at the start of the year after realising that cellphone communications were compromised by Israeli eavesdropping, Reuters previously reported.

Hezbollah's investigations have helped uncover how Israeli agents used an aggressive sales tactic to make sure Hezbollah’s procurement manager chose the AR-924, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

The salesperson who conveyed the offer made a very inexpensive proposition for the pagers, “and kept bringing the price down until he was pulled in,” the person said.

Lebanese authorities have condemned the attacks as a serious violation of Lebanon's sovereignty. On Sept. 19, in his last public speech before he was killed by Israel, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the device blasts could amount to a "declaration of war" and vowed to punish Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since Oct. 8, 2023, when the militant group began launching rockets at Israeli military positions in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas.

In the wake of the device attacks, Israel has launched a full-on war on Hezbollah, including a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and airstrikes that have killed most of its top leadership.

Hezbollah's internal investigation into the pager attack, still underway, suffered a setback on Sept. 28: Eleven days after the devices exploded, the senior Hezbollah official tasked with leading the procurement probe, Nabil Kaouk, was himself killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Translation

獨家-以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (2/2)

（繼續）

弱點

從外部看，傳呼機的電源看起來就像數千種消費性電子產品中使用的標準鋰離子電池組。

然而，標示為 LI-BT783 的電池存在一個問題：與傳呼機一樣，市場上它們是不存在的。

因此，以色列特工從零開始編造了一個背景故事。

一名未參與傳呼機行動的前以色列情報官員告訴路透社，真主黨有嚴格的採購程序來檢查他們購買了的物品。

這位要求匿名的前間諜說:「你要確保他們在尋找時能找到一些東西」;「什麼都沒找到就不好的」。

為臥底特工創造背景故事或「傳說」長期以來一直是間諜機構的核心技能。傳呼機陰謀的不同尋常之處在於，這些技能似乎已應用於無處不在的消費性電子產品。

對於傳呼機，特工透過銷售客定製型號 AR-924 來欺騙真主黨，該型號是屬於現有的著名台灣品牌 Gold Apollo。

Gold Apollo 的董事長Hsu Ching-kuang 在傳呼機襲擊事件發生的第二天告訴記者，大約三年前，一名前僱員 Teresa Wu 和她的 “叫亜Tom的大老闆” 找他討論一個牌照協議。

Hsu說，他對Wu的上司所知甚少，但他授予他們設計自己產品的權利，並以廣泛流通的 Gold Apollo 品牌進行銷售。

路透社無法確定該經理人的身份，也無法確定該人或Wu是否在知情的情況下與以色列情報機構合作。

董事長表示，當他看到 AR-924 時，並沒有留下深刻的印象，但仍在公司網站上添加了該產品的照片和描述，有助於提高該產品的知名度和可信度。沒有提供直接從他的網站購買AR-924的辦法。

Hsu說，他對傳呼機的殺傷力或更廣泛的攻擊真主黨的行動一無所知。他稱他的公司是該陰謀的受害者。

Gold Apollo 拒絕提供進一步評論。給Wu的電話和簡訊均無人接聽。自從襲擊事件發生以來，她尚未向媒體發表聲明。

“我知道這個產品”

據Reuters對網路記錄和元資料的檢視，2023 年 9 月，apollosystemshk.com 上添加了 顯示AR-924 及其電池的網頁和圖片，該網站稱其擁有分銷 Gold Apollo 產品以及堅固型傳呼機及其龐大電源的許可證。

該網站提供了一家名為 Apollo Systems HK 的公司在香港的地址。在該地址或香港公司名册中沒有這公司。

然而，台灣Wu姓女商人今年稍早在台北註冊了一家名為Apollo Systems 的公司時，在她的 Facebook 頁面以及公開公司註冊記錄中列出了該網站。

在apollosystemshk.com 網站上專門介紹 LI-BT783 的部分裡, 它強調了電池的出色性能。根據該網站和 YouTube 上一段 90 秒的宣傳短片，與為老一代傳呼機供電的一次性電池不同，它擁有 85 天的續航時間，並且可以通過 USB 線充電。

路透社發現，2023 年末，兩家電池線上商店，在目錄中列出了 LI-BT783。在兩個專門討論電池的線上論壇中，參與者討論了這種電源，儘管它缺乏商業上的買賣：「我知道這個產品」; 一位名為Mikevog 的用戶在2023 年4 月寫道。「它有很棒的數據表和出色的性能」。

路透社無法確定Mikevog的身份。

前以色列情報官員和兩名西方安全官員告訴路透社，該網站、線上商店和論壇討論帶有欺騙行為的特徵帶。自從傳呼機炸彈在黎巴嫩造成嚴重破壞以來，這些網站已從網路上刪除，但從存檔和快取副本仍可以查看到。

真主黨領導人後悔那天購買了傳呼機，他們表示已啟動內部調查，以了解安全漏洞如何發生並找出可能的內奸。

根據路透社先前報道，在意識到手機通訊受到以色列竊聽的影響後，該組織於今年年初轉向傳呼機。

一位知情人士表示，真主黨的調查幫助揭露了以色列特工如何使用進取的銷售策略來確保真主黨的採購經理選擇 AR-924。

該人士表示，傳送報價的推銷員為傳呼機提出了非常便宜的建議，「並不斷降低價格，直到他被拉進來」。

黎巴嫩當局譴責這起攻擊事件嚴重侵害黎巴嫩主權。 9月19日，真主黨領袖哈桑·納斯魯拉在他被殺前的最後一次公開演講表示，這次裝置爆炸可能相當於 “宣戰” ，並誓言要懲罰以色列。

自 2023 年 10 月 8 日以來，真主黨和以色列一直在交火，當時武裝組織開始向以色列軍事陣地發射火箭，以聲援巴勒斯坦盟友哈馬斯。

裝備襲擊事件發生後，以色列對真主黨發動了全面戰爭，包括對黎巴嫩南部的地面入侵以及導致其大部分高層領導死亡的空襲。

真主黨對傳呼機襲擊事件的內部調查仍在進行中，但在9 月28 日遭遇挫折：裝備爆炸11 天後，負責領導調查採購的真主黨高級官員Nabil Kaouk在以色列空襲中身亡。

              So, the batteries inside the weaponized pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year was part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles' heel. The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray. To overcome the weakness of this plot, that would be the absence of a plausible backstory for this bulky new product, the agents created fake online stores, pages and posts that could deceive Hezbollah due diligence. I think from the espionage point of view, it is a successful operation.