The Guardian

Trump’s coalition is self-destructing over the Iran war question | Moustafa Bayoumi

You don’t have to be a fan of Tucker Carlson to enjoy the spectacle of a Republican civil war
You have to admit that there’s something delicious about watching Ted Cruz get served his just deserts by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In a nearly two-hour long interview on Carlson’s own channel and in Cruz’s Washington office, Carlson repeatedly grilled, roasted, and fried the Texas senator, exposing a deepening rift within the Maga movement and showing us the hollowness of our so-called leaders along the way.
You don’t have to be a fan of Carlson to enjoy the spectacle of a Republican civil war. Carlson, who once hosted a show on CNN, established his reputation on Fox News and then became “a racist demagogue and promoter of far-right disinformation and dangerous conspiracy theories”, as a 2023 profile in Mother Jones described him. While at Fox, he was for a time the highest rated personality on cable TV and was deeply influential in setting the conservative agenda. On air at Fox – ..

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Israel-Iran war live: Iran president says US must ‘receive a response’ to attack on nuclear sites as Israel renews bombing

US defense secretary Pete Hegseth says attacks have devastated Iran’s nuclear programme
Hegseth claims US ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites
We’re also still awaiting reactions from the Democratic leadership in the US.
Trump’s closest supporters have posted their support for the attack on social media.
South Carolina senator Lindsay Graham says:
Good. This was the right call. The regime deserves it. Well done, President @realDonaldTrump
To my fellow citizens: We have the best Air Force in the world. It makes me so proud. Fly, Fight, Win.
The prospect of an Iranian regime acquiring nuclear weapons represents the most acute immediate threat to America and our allies.
President Trump has persistently and unequivocally stated that those threats cannot be countered without dismantling the Iranian regime’s enrichment capacity.
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How effective was the US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites? A visual guide

Trump claims the assault ‘totally obliterated’ the key facilities, but what do we know about its impact?
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump was quick to claim that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had “completely and totally obliterated” them. Still, it remains unclear how much physical damage has been done or what the longer-term impact might be on Iran’s nuclear programme.
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Trump’s military attack on Iran reveals split among Maga diehards

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon lead voices on right seeing airstrikes as break with ‘America first’ doctrine
Middle East war –live updates
Saturday’s US strikes on Iran provoked conflicting reactions from isolationist Republicans who support Donald Trump’s Make America great again (Maga) movement, catching them – like many Democrats – between supporting efforts against nuclear proliferation and opposing American intervention in foreign conflicts.
The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – a loyalist to the president – reacted to the strikes by urging those in the US to pray that terrorists do not attack “our homeland” in retaliation.
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US attacks on Iran inflicted major destruction, Pentagon officials say

Defence secretary denies US is pursuing policy of regime change after strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
Middle East crisis – latest updates
The surprise overnight US attack on Iran inflicted major damage and destruction on three of its key nuclear sites, senior Pentagon officials said, as the US defence secretary denied that the Trump administration was pursuing a policy of regime change in the Middle East.
In a press conference in Washington, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven B-2 Spirit bombers flew 18 hours from the US to sites in Iran to drop 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in strikes that were said to have caused “extremely severe damage” to Iranian uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
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Democrats say they were left in dark about plans for US strikes on Iran

Leading figures on Senate and House intelligence committees not briefed in advance in break with custom
Middle East war – live updates
Senior Democrats have claimed they were left in the dark about operation Midnight Hammer, the US’s highly coordinated strike on Saturday on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
Neither Mark Warner, a US senator of Virginia, nor Jim Himes, a representative of Connecticut, both top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence panels, were briefed before the attack, according to reports.
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Blasts heard in Isfahan as US strikes Iranian nuclear sites – video

Blasts were heard in Isfahan after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. Explosions from the direction of the Isfahan nuclear site could be heard in a video posted on social media, and at least one fiery ball illuminated the night sky
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and ‘totally obliterated’ them
Keir Starmer backs US strike on Iran and calls for Tehran to return to talks
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US defence secretary says strikes on Iran nuclear sites were ‘overwhelming success’ – video

Pete Hegseth said overnight airstrikes targeting the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities ‘devastated’ Iran’s nuclear programme. At a press conference at the Pentagon, he said the strikes, which followed a ‘focused, powerful and clear’ order from the US president, Donald Trump, did not target Iranian troops or civilians
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump says US strikes ‘totally obliterated’ three Iranian nuclear sites
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Donald Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and ‘totally obliterated’ them

Strikes hit uranium enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan; Iran says US has ‘blown up diplomacy’
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Explainer: What is Iran’s Fordow nuclear site and why was a US strike needed?
Donald Trump has announced that the US has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s effort to destroy the country’s nuclear programme, in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror,” Trump said in a speech from the White House.
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