RSS
IDF says it’s completing preparations to strike Gaza ‘from air, sea and land’
RSS
Russia Tells US Not to Strike Iran, Warns of Nuclear Catastrophe
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Photo: Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS
Russia is telling the United States not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilize the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, and Moscow said Israeli strikes risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.
Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although it has been strained by Moscow’s war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict has not been taken up.
Ryabkov, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, told Interfax news agency Moscow was urging Washington to refrain from direct involvement.
“This would be a step that would radically destabilize the entire situation,” Interfax cited Ryabkov as saying, and criticizing such “speculative, conjectural options.”
The head of Russia‘s SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, has said the situation between Iran and Israel is now critical and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was “millimeters” from catastrophe.
“Nuclear facilities are being struck,” she told Reuters, adding that the UN nuclear safety watchdog had already noted specific damage.
“Where is the [concern from the] entire world community? Where are all the environmentalists? I don’t know if they think they are far away and that this [radiation] wave won’t reach them. Well, let them read what happened at Fukushima,” she said, referring to the 2011 accident at the Japanese nuclear plant.
Israel says it has struck Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran developing an atomic weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear arms.
RUSSIAN OFFER TO MEDIATE
In a 20-year strategic partnership pact signed in January by President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russia did not undertake to help Tehran militarily and is under no obligation to do so despite the countries’ close military ties.
Putin, who has already lost an important partner in the Middle East with the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad last December, spoke to US President Donald Trump by phone on Saturday. He offered Moscow’s services as a mediator, which Trump said he was open to before demanding Iran‘s “unconditional surrender.”
A source familiar with US internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options including joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, has said the conflict – though opposed by Russia – could yield some benefits to Moscow including higher oil prices, more appetite from China for Russian oil because of difficulties sourcing Iranian oil and a reallocation of US military resources away from Ukraine.
The post Russia Tells US Not to Strike Iran, Warns of Nuclear Catastrophe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Debunking Nine Myths of the Israel-Iran War
Smoke billows following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gideon Markowicz ISRAEL
If you are using social media, you have likely encountered many false narratives surrounding the Israel-Iran war. Here is what you need to know:
Myth 1: Israel is trying to drag America into a war where its soldiers will die
Reality: Israel does not desire a protracted action and seeks no ground invasion. At most, it would ask America to give it a bunker-buster bomb to hit the Fordow nuclear facility, which is the best protected and underground nuclear facility in Iran. America could also choose to bomb Fordow itself — not at Israel’s behest. Israel has already attacked the Natanz nuclear facility.
Myth 2: Israel launched this war due to its aggressive and violent nature
Reality: Iran has been attacking Israel for almost 40 years, and has been using its proxies of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and others in order to create a ring of fire around Israel. Iran was responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre through its support of Hamas, as well as every Hezbollah atrocity against Israel. And it was Iran itself that started the direct war between the two countries. In April, Iran launched 300 projectiles, including 170 drones and 120 ballistic missiles at Israel. Last October, it launched 200 ballistic missiles.
Myth 3: The Iranian people are against Israel
Reality: The majority of the Iranian population hates the repressive regime in Iran. In September 2022, 22 year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab. Witnesses reported she was beaten in custody. Protests ensued, and human rights groups reported that Iran’s security forces killed more than 400 protesters. These follow many protests and uprising in the past against the mullahs.
Iranian civilians obviously don’t want to be hit by Israeli fire, but Israel has chiefly targeted military locations. If a certain number of Iranian civilians were killed, that attitude could potentially change.
Myth 4: Prime Minister Netanyahu has been saying Iran would have nuclear weapons for many years, so he cannot be trusted on this point
Reality: The first part is true, as Iran has been working on its nuclear program for decades. It has lied, and been caught lying, numerous times in the past. The only reason to enrich uranium past 60 percent is for military purposes.
In addition, things on the ground have changed. Iran has seen its proxies weakened and has become more desperate. Iran never before fired hundreds of missiles at Israel, as it did in 2024 and 2025, and may have been surprised at Israel’s ease in repelling the attack, and also disabling Iran’s air defenses. President Trump has also confirmed that he believes Iran was truly coming close to building a nuclear weapon.
Myth 5: Iran and President Trump were about to make a deal, so Israel sabotaged it by attacking the Islamic Republic
Reality: President Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate, and Trump has now said the Iranians didn’t negotiate seriously or in good faith. That’s why he allowed the Israeli attack to go forward on day 61.
Myth 6: Because some Iranian missiles got through Israel’s defense systems, those systems are a failure
Reality: No matter how advanced any system of intercepting projectiles is, there is no such thing as 100 percent accuracy in war. Drones, which are slow and take many hours to get to Israel are easier to shoot down. Ballistic missiles fired from Iran can reach Israel in 10-15 minutes, and pack a good amount of explosives that can do tremendous damage, even wiping out a block.
Myth 7: This is only about Iran’s nuclear program
Reality: Iran’s ballistic missiles also pose a huge threat, as we have seen in recent days, and Israeli attacks have knocked out some of the rocket launchers. Israeli officials report that Iran wanted to expand its ballistic missile arsenal from 2,000 to 8,000.
Myth 8: Israel’s attack certainly brings the world closer to World War III
Reality: While anything is possible, it does not appear that Russia and China would get involved. Hezbollah has stated it will not get involved.
Myth 9: Israel is believed to have a nuclear bomb, so it’s only fair that Iran has one as well
Reality: Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. Israel has never threatened the same to Iran. Israel does not foment terrorism around the world, and Israel would not use a nuclear weapon to stop Western states from confronting its use of terrorism. That’s why countries like Germany and France say Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon, but Israel can. Iran getting a nuclear weapon could also trigger a nuclear arms race with countries like Saudi Arabia.
The author is a writer based in New York.
The post Debunking Nine Myths of the Israel-Iran War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
What Choice Do We Really Have? A Diaspora Jew From Canada and Australia Confronts Betrayal
Illustrative: Supporters of Hamas gather for a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Reuters/Joel Carrett
I was born in Canada. I’ve lived in Australia for more than 30 years. I have always considered myself blessed to live in these two liberal democracies — places that once proudly upheld human rights, justice, and moral clarity. I believed, maybe naively, that as a Jew and a Zionist, I was safe here. That I belonged.
But over the past two years, something fundamental has broken. The moral compass I thought guided the nations I’ve called home has been shattered — and with it, the sense of security I once took for granted.
Australia — my home — has formally sanctioned two Israeli ministers, a move cloaked in diplomatic language but dripping with moral confusion. Our government draws false equivalencies between Israel, a sovereign democracy defending itself — and Hamas, a terrorist organization that burned babies alive, raped women, and dragged Holocaust survivors into captivity. It’s not just offensive — it’s betrayal. And, where is the public recognition that Israel is taking remarkable, unilateral steps that keep not just Israel, but the world, safer from Iran’s global nuclear intentions?
Canada, where I was raised, no longer feels like the Canada I knew. Jews are hounded on university campuses. Holocaust memorials are vandalized. Anti-Israel encampments fly swastikas with impunity. Protesters shout genocidal slogans and call it “free speech.” And through it all, governments and institutions equivocate, hedge, and hide.
To be a Jew in the Diaspora today is to be confronted, constantly, with a sense of isolation. The antisemitism we were told would “never again” return has not only returned — but is thriving. It’s bold. It’s loud. It’s mainstream.
We’re not imagining it. We’re living it.
We’re walking past graffiti accusing Jews of genocide. We’re watching Jewish students silenced by mob intimidation while university administrators look away. We’re seeing celebrities, influencers, and elected officials amplify the propaganda of those who openly call for Israel’s destruction. We’re standing at vigils for hostages and hearing the jeers of counter-protesters who deny October 7, 2023, even happened.
And the worst part? The silence.
The silence from those who once said they were our allies. The silence of political leaders too afraid to speak with moral clarity. The silence of institutions terrified of being labelled “controversial” for standing with Jews.
How did we get here?
How did it become controversial to say that Jews deserve safety? That Israel has a right to exist? That mass rape and child murder are not acts of resistance?
This isn’t about left or right. This is about right and wrong. And too many governments, too many media outlets, and too many public voices have lost the courage — or the will — to tell the difference.
As a Jew in the Diaspora, I’m tired. Tired of the doublespeak. Tired of the gaslighting. Tired of being told we’re imagining things. We’re not. We’re awake. And we know exactly what we’re seeing.
So what choice do we have?
To stay silent is to abandon our future. To apologize for our identity is to dishonor our past. And to give up on Israel — the one place where Jewish safety is not theoretical — is to betray everything we’ve learned from history.
We cannot outsource our safety. We cannot rely on others to defend us. We must stand up — clearly, unapologetically, and proudly.
This is why I do the work I do. Because we need to educate. We need to empower. And we need to fight back — against hatred, against lies, and against the slow, steady erosion of truth.
What choice do we really have?
We choose to fight. Because the alternative is unthinkable.
Michael Gencher is Executive Director, StandWithUs Australia, a 24 year-old international education organisation that supports Israel and fights antisemitism.
The post What Choice Do We Really Have? A Diaspora Jew From Canada and Australia Confronts Betrayal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.