Netanyahu knew he’d have Biden’s backing to strike Iranian consulate and turn Gaza crisis into regional war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s potentially “suicidal” calculated decision to strike the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria on April 1 was done to try to save his government from ouster, but may culminate in a regional crisis that dwarfs the Gaza war in both scale and intensity, former senior DoD security policy analyst Michael Maloof has told Sputnik.
“Netanyahu clearly calculated he had a limited window to act with the ultimate goal to bring Iran directly into the conflict, having the US military to back his efforts. It also was a response to calls by his more radical, rabid ministers to ‘cut off the head of the snake’ - Iran - or they'd bring down his government, making Netanyahu lose power and expose him to legal criminal charges at home,” he added.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s potentially “suicidal” calculated decision to strike the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria on April 1 was done to try to save his government from ouster, but may culminate in a regional crisis that dwarfs the Gaza war in both scale and intensity, former senior DoD security policy analyst Michael Maloof has told Sputnik.
“It's clear that Israel bombed the consulate while Biden was in office, I think knowing it would cause a direct kinetic Iranian reaction that could escalate the war with Gaza into a regional war, and perhaps beyond. This is underscored by the fact the Biden administration said it would support Israel should Iran escalates,” Maloof said.
“Netanyahu clearly calculated he had a limited window to act with the ultimate goal to bring Iran directly into the conflict, having the US military to back his efforts. It also was a response to calls by his more radical, rabid ministers to ‘cut off the head of the snake’ - Iran - or they'd bring down his government, making Netanyahu lose power and expose him to legal criminal charges at home,” he added.
“This amounts to political suicide not just for Netanyahu knowing he has support of a majority of the Israeli people in his war effort, but Israel itself,” the analyst warned.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍27💩15❤3🤬3🥴1
⚛️ Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant's Power unit No. 4 is being prepared for the “cold shutdown” mode
The facility's management has made the decision due to the end of the heating season in the city of Energodar, where the power plant is located, the plant's press service reported.
On April 7, the facility faced an unprecedented series of drone attacks from Ukraine, significantly increasing the risk of a nuclear accident, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
The facility's management has made the decision due to the end of the heating season in the city of Energodar, where the power plant is located, the plant's press service reported.
"In this state, the reactor unit does not produce thermal energy," the statement read.
On April 7, the facility faced an unprecedented series of drone attacks from Ukraine, significantly increasing the risk of a nuclear accident, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍37❤3
The US is moving additional assets to the Middle East to bolster deterrence and force protection in anticipation of Iranian retaliation, a Pentagon official told Sputnik.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
💩42👎11🤬2🥴1
This media is not supported in your browser
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
💰 ‘They've got beach houses all over the world’: US senator on money sent to Ukraine
The US has already spent $300 billion on Ukraine since 2014, according to previous statements by Tuberville.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
"We are printing $80,000 a second, borrowing 4.6 million dollars a minute! And we are thinking about giving Ukraine more money to waste it. These people [in the Ukrainian government] can't buy any more houses than what they've bought. They've got beach houses all over the world. Let’s start thinking about our country," Tommy Tuberville said in an appearance on Newsmax this week.
The US has already spent $300 billion on Ukraine since 2014, according to previous statements by Tuberville.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
😁51👌7❤3👍2🥴2🔥1
Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
The Russian Defence Ministry has released footage of the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Kapustin Yar testing site.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
❤39🔥17👍7
Sputnik International
The Lebanese Hezbollah movement has confirmed that it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli artillery positions. IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, referring to the latest launches from Lebanon towards the settlements of the Upper Galilee, said that…
🇮🇱 After over 40 rocket launches from Lebanon crossed into Israeli territory on Friday, the IDF responded by striking the sources of fire, the military stated.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🔥24👎3🥴2👍1
🔺Scott Ritter: There will be no 'Ukrainian counteroffensive,’ as Ukraine teeters on brink of collapse
🔺5 fearsome drones Iran could use to strike back at Israel amid current escalation
🔺Donetsk journalist and Sputnik contributor Russell Bentley missing: What you need to know
🔺An exclusive video of a Ukrainian tank being destroyed by an Izdeliye-51 (Product-51) guided munition near Avdeyevka has been published by the Russian MoD
🔺Cosmonautics Day is celebrated annually on April 12, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin traveled to space. But modern Russia still has huge space ambitions
🔺A test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a mobile ground-based missile system was conducted from the Kapustin Yar testing site — Russian MoD
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🔺5 fearsome drones Iran could use to strike back at Israel amid current escalation
🔺Donetsk journalist and Sputnik contributor Russell Bentley missing: What you need to know
🔺An exclusive video of a Ukrainian tank being destroyed by an Izdeliye-51 (Product-51) guided munition near Avdeyevka has been published by the Russian MoD
🔺Cosmonautics Day is celebrated annually on April 12, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin traveled to space. But modern Russia still has huge space ambitions
🔺A test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a mobile ground-based missile system was conducted from the Kapustin Yar testing site — Russian MoD
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍21👌1
Sputnik International
🗣 "Don't worry. He's alive, he's doing fine. He will continue working," Vasily Prozorov's assistant told Sputnik, commenting on the fact that the ex-SBU officer's car was blown up. Subscribe to @SputnikInt
After his car was blown up in Moscow, an ex-employee of the SBU Prozorov said that this was another attempt at a terrorist attack by the Kiev regime and its special services.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍32🤬6
This media is not supported in your browser
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
❗️ Just in — Biden’s message to Iran: “Don’t”
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he expects Iran to attack Israel in response to the strike on its consulate in Damascus "sooner than later."
"My expectation is sooner than later," Biden said when asked how imminent an attack by Iran on Israel was.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he expects Iran to attack Israel in response to the strike on its consulate in Damascus "sooner than later."
"My expectation is sooner than later," Biden said when asked how imminent an attack by Iran on Israel was.
"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel, we will defend--help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he also said.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
💩61😁16🥴4👍2👎2❤1👌1
Philippine former president Rodrigo Duterte has called for his country to reverse its antagonistic course with China in an interview with Global Times. What else did he say?
🔺Warned that current President Marcos Jr. is following antagonistic and hostile instructions from Washington, with the latter assuring, “Okay, you fight. Do not be afraid because we are here.”
🔺Stated that US is provoking a war between China and the Philippines but that “US will not die for us.”
🔺Called for peaceful resolutions to the South China Sea conflicts and stressed the need for neutrality.
🔺Recalled how China has cultivated neighborly relations with the Belt and Road Initiative and how he snubbed America’s “bait for us” not to join the venture. By contrast, his successor, Philippine President Marcos Jr. has abandoned BRI projects.
🔺Likened China’s welcome of Philippine agricultural products to that of a brotherly gesture and endorsed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.
🔺Binned earlier America’s talk as “nonsense” when the latter claimed they were in the Philippines to educate them.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Please open Telegram to view this post
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
👍90❤13🫡6🥴1
Russian military specialists have arrived in Niger to provide counter-terror training and teach Nigeriens how to operate an air defense system, Nigerian state broadcaster RTN reported.
"What all the external players and Niger have to deal with is the entrance and role of Russia in the wider scheme of things," Akinyinka Akinyoade, political analyst and senior researcher at the African Studies Center Leiden, the Netherlands, told Sputnik.
It is unsurprising that Russia agreed to lend a helping hand to Niamey against the backdrop of Moscow's increasing influence in Sahel, according to Akinyoade.
"Russia had relatively recently been supporting the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso, in near-similar political, military and economic context. Thus in the emerging situation in Niger, it was natural that Russian involvement would happen," the expert said.
In the aftermath of a military takeover of July 26, 2023, which was supported by the majority of the Nigerien population, the Tchiani government demanded that the French and US military pull out from the region. While Paris withdrew its troops in December 2023, the US is still hesitating after Niamey announced the end of the status of forces agreement between Niger and the US on March 16.
Niger's message to Paris and Washington was clear: "Either we will cooperate on some kind of understandable, mutually beneficial basis, or you are simply not welcome here anymore," Sergey Eledinov, a Russian expert on African security issues and founder of Convoy Africa, told Sputnik.
While France, the US and Russia have interests in the Sahel region, it is African countries who have the final word, the Russian expert concluded.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Please open Telegram to view this post
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
👍75❤22
❗️ Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, announced a rocket attack on Israel's Sderot.
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said that it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli artillery positions on the border with Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces said that about 40 rocket launches were recorded from Lebanon into northern Israeli population centers. No casualties were reported. The massive rocket fire came amid reports that Tehran may retaliate to a recent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed several officers of elite units of the Iranian military.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
“Al-Quds Brigades: Together with the forces of Omar al-Qassem, we carried out rocket attacks on Sderot and the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip in response to the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our people,” the military wing of Islamic Jihad said in a statement on Telegram.
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said that it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli artillery positions on the border with Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces said that about 40 rocket launches were recorded from Lebanon into northern Israeli population centers. No casualties were reported. The massive rocket fire came amid reports that Tehran may retaliate to a recent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed several officers of elite units of the Iranian military.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍35🔥8❤4🤬2👌2
US enemies can exploit Baltimore bridge collapse, supply chain disruptions
Foreign adversaries of the US could exploit the recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and ensuing supply chain disruptions, according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News.
The intelligence report notes that in the aftermath of the bridge collapse in the port of Baltimore, any further supply chain disruptions will be unsurmountable.
At the same time, the document said that there have been so far no indications that adversaries have made any attempts to exploit the situation.
In the early hours of March 26, a commercial Singapore-flagged cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore soon after it departed the port for Sri Lanka's Colombo. The bridge collapsed, sending at least eight people from a construction crew working on the bridge into the water. Ship traffic in the port of Baltimore was suspended until further notice following the bridge's collapse.
US officials have yet to provide a timeline for the complete restoration of the bridge, which took five years to build in the 1970s.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Foreign adversaries of the US could exploit the recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and ensuing supply chain disruptions, according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News.
The bridge collapse has "reduced the resiliency of US port and shipping operations" and created "opportunities for foreign adversary exploitation," the report quoted the document as saying.
The intelligence report notes that in the aftermath of the bridge collapse in the port of Baltimore, any further supply chain disruptions will be unsurmountable.
"Additional supply chain disruptions will be more difficult to overcome since the standard procedure of partially rerouting ad hoc cargo through the Port of Baltimore is no longer feasible," the document said.
At the same time, the document said that there have been so far no indications that adversaries have made any attempts to exploit the situation.
In the early hours of March 26, a commercial Singapore-flagged cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore soon after it departed the port for Sri Lanka's Colombo. The bridge collapsed, sending at least eight people from a construction crew working on the bridge into the water. Ship traffic in the port of Baltimore was suspended until further notice following the bridge's collapse.
US officials have yet to provide a timeline for the complete restoration of the bridge, which took five years to build in the 1970s.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
😁41👍14🤬1
❗️ Six people, including a child, were killed as a result of the Ukraininan army's shelling of the apartment sector of the Zaporozhye Region Tokmak town, the governor of Zaporozhye Region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said.
The head of the Zaporozhye public movement "We are together with Russia", Vladimir Rogov, specified that there might still be people under the rubble.
The removal of the rubble at the site where shells hit residential buildings continues, Rogov added.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
The head of the Zaporozhye public movement "We are together with Russia", Vladimir Rogov, specified that there might still be people under the rubble.
The removal of the rubble at the site where shells hit residential buildings continues, Rogov added.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🤬70👍2❤1
US Republicans introducing bill to require proof of citizenship to vote
US House Republicans will introduce legislation to require proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections in the United States, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced.
Democrats want to use an open border to turn immigrants into their voters, Johnson added.
US Congressman Chip Roy said earlier that he authored the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to require proof of citizenship to vote in elections for federal office.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
US House Republicans will introduce legislation to require proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections in the United States, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced.
"House Republicans are introducing a bill that will require proof of citizenship to vote," Johnson said during a press conference on Friday. "It seems like common sense."
Democrats want to use an open border to turn immigrants into their voters, Johnson added.
US Congressman Chip Roy said earlier that he authored the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to require proof of citizenship to vote in elections for federal office.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍43👌7
Sputnik International
❗️ Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, announced a rocket attack on Israel's Sderot. “Al-Quds Brigades: Together with the forces of Omar al-Qassem, we carried out rocket attacks on Sderot and the settlements surrounding…
Iranian authorities have not yet decided whether to attack Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
While plans to attack Israel are being discussed, no final decision has been made, the publication said, citing a person in contact with Iran's leadership.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍27🤔8💩3😁2
Ukraine prompting Poland, Romania, Spain to send Patriot systems
Ukraine is encouraging Poland, Romania and Spain to supply it with their own Patriot air defense systems, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, European leaders are reportedly unwilling to provide Ukraine with more Patriot batteries, as they need to maintain their own defense capabilities, the Financial Times reported.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, in particular, ruled out further Patriot deliveries to Ukraine, saying that Warsaw could supply more of its Soviet-era missiles, but without specifying any details, the report said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba had recently asked him for seven Patriot systems to deliver to Kiev. The latter told The Washington Post that his "nice and quiet diplomacy didn't work," and now he planned to harshly demand the Patriot air defense system from Ukraine's Western allies.
Last week, German FM Annalena Baerbock said that Germany's reserves of air defense systems had been exhausted and that Berlin, together with its partners, was looking for opportunities to purchase these systems for Ukraine from third countries.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Ukraine is encouraging Poland, Romania and Spain to supply it with their own Patriot air defense systems, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
"They [the Ukrainian authorities] need seven [Patriot systems] ... But it's complicated," an unnamed source told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, European leaders are reportedly unwilling to provide Ukraine with more Patriot batteries, as they need to maintain their own defense capabilities, the Financial Times reported.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, in particular, ruled out further Patriot deliveries to Ukraine, saying that Warsaw could supply more of its Soviet-era missiles, but without specifying any details, the report said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba had recently asked him for seven Patriot systems to deliver to Kiev. The latter told The Washington Post that his "nice and quiet diplomacy didn't work," and now he planned to harshly demand the Patriot air defense system from Ukraine's Western allies.
Last week, German FM Annalena Baerbock said that Germany's reserves of air defense systems had been exhausted and that Berlin, together with its partners, was looking for opportunities to purchase these systems for Ukraine from third countries.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🤬26😁13💩6👍5
Zelensky could end Ukraine’s viability as a country with mobilization law
“Figures within the Kiev regime are once again talking about mobilizing women in a separate bill, so that’s come up again,” Sleboda explained, adding that the medical exceptions, including for injuries in combat, have been lowered. “For instance, if you already fought and lost a leg, you’re not exempt anymore. You can still pilot a drone, right? That’s the mentality of the new bill.”
Still, Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky has kept his grip on power, preventing any kind of resistance from the Ukrainian people.
Follow the link to learn more
“There are a lot more people in the 35-plus age bracket and a much smaller group of people in the younger bracket,” Mark Sleboda, a security and international relations expert told Sputnik’s Fault Lines. “They’re seriously at such a demographic crisis,” that it has put at risk “the future, the viability of Ukraine as a country.”
“Figures within the Kiev regime are once again talking about mobilizing women in a separate bill, so that’s come up again,” Sleboda explained, adding that the medical exceptions, including for injuries in combat, have been lowered. “For instance, if you already fought and lost a leg, you’re not exempt anymore. You can still pilot a drone, right? That’s the mentality of the new bill.”
Still, Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky has kept his grip on power, preventing any kind of resistance from the Ukrainian people.
“You can’t really have protests in the country except for wives and mothers, because any men who show their face in public are instantly sent to the trenches in Kupyansk.”
Follow the link to learn more
👍24🤬9💩4😢2❤1😁1
This media is not supported in your browser
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
A video, showing a Ukrainian army's officer beating a soldier and shooting in his direction, was found on the phone of a Ukrainian soldier who died near Kherson, Russian security agencies told Sputnik and provided the footage
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🤬48👍6🤔4❤2🌚1
This media is not supported in your browser
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Watch Russian Su-25 crews striking Ukrainian troops' strongholds and manpower in the vicinity of Avdeyevka with unguided aerial missiles
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
👍43🔥13❤4
Sputnik International
Germany's Lufthansa suspends flights to Tehran until Thursday German flag air carrier Lufthansa has suspended flights to and from Tehran until Thursday, a spokesperson for the company has said, citing security threats as the reason. "[Lufthansa], after…
The German airline Lufthansa has extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran until April, 18, the company's spokesperson said.
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and speculation that Iran may carry out a retaliatory strike against Israel, the airline said that it will no longer use Iranian airspace.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and speculation that Iran may carry out a retaliatory strike against Israel, the airline said that it will no longer use Iranian airspace.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
😁34💩2👍1