Advertisement

Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Iran is keeping its nuclear ambitions more closely guarded than ever after last month's attacks by Israel and the U.S., introducing additional ambiguity to the Islamic Republic's diplomatic showdown with Washington.

More

Alternate links: Google News | Twitter

"Following American airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities last week, and then the imposition of a ceasefire, it's time to step back and assess what has changed in the Middle East, and the chances of translating military success into lasting strategic gains," writes Brett McGurk. | Analysis

[image or embed]

-- CNN (@cnn.com) Jun 30, 2025 at 5:34 PM

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

More from the article ...

... After formally cutting off International Atomic Energy Agency inspections last week, Iranian nuclear-safety regulators have stopped taking calls from the United Nations watchdog, according to two officials who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information. The IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre was activated June 13 and had been in continuous contact with counterparts in Iran, but that information sharing has tailed off, they said.

The communication blackout underscores the degree to which Iran is using silence as a way to obscure international understanding over the status of its nuclear program. Tehran had previously allowed an average of more than one IAEA inspection a day and took part in five rounds of talks with the U.S. about a deal to curb its atomic activities, but the Israeli assault has changed the equation.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Iran's nuclear facilities have been "obliterated" by 12 days of airstrikes, which -- if true -- would render the conversation moot. Yet the view of the IAEA is that, while sites at Natanz and Fordow have suffered some damage, uranium-enrichment activity could resume in a "matter of months," Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told CBS News over the weekend.

The whereabouts of Iran's 409-kilogram (902 pound) inventory of near-bomb-grade uranium is also unknown. Given the fuel can be stored in 16 cylinders each the size of a large scuba-diving tank, there's at least a possibility it's been transported to an undeclared location.

With no near-term resumption of IAEA monitoring in prospect, policymakers on both sides of the conflict are reacquainting themselves with so-called strategic ambiguity -- a key element to nuclear brinkmanship during the Cold War. By introducing a level of uncertainty about their intentions, goes the theory developed by Nobel Laureate Thomas Schelling among others, adversaries may be able to prevent a slide into total war. ...



#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-07-01 06:50 PM | Reply

Didn't Pres Trump say last week that he was going to have talks with Iran this week?


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-07-01 06:51 PM | Reply

Who cares.

Not just to be flippant or troll.

But why is it our concern what Iran does?

We're rife with corruption and fascism.

It use to be something when America had moral high ground and the respect of the world. (Probably the 1990s or 80s depending who you ask.)

But, endless wars and a buffoon in the White House has ended that, those days are long gone and the world is moving on.

As far as Iran.

If Israel wants war, let them have fun.

Leave us to deal with America.

It's floundering.

#3 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-07-01 07:08 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Another TACO event?

Trump Denies Making Iran Offer, Talks (June 30, 2025)
www.newsweek.com

... President Donald Trump denied making any offers to Iran or engaging in talks following U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. ...

What To Know

Trump said previously that he expected U.S.-Iran talks on the nuclear issue to restart this week ...


#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-07-01 07:09 PM | Reply

@#3 ... But why is it our concern what Iran does? ...

Quite simple.

The wars (notice the plural) currently taking place are not occurring only in the geographic realm.

Iranian Hackers' Preferred ICS Targets Left Open Amid Fresh US Attack Warning
www.securityweek.com

... The US government is again warning about potential Iranian cyberattacks as researchers find that hackers' favorite ICS targets remain exposed. ...


Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
www.reuters.com

... Iran-linked hackers have threatened to disclose more emails stolen from U.S. President Donald Trump's circle, after distributing a prior batch to the media ahead of the 2024 U.S. election.
In online chats with Reuters on Sunday and Monday, the hackers, who go by the pseudonym Robert, said they had roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone and porn star-turned-Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels. ...

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-07-01 07:16 PM | Reply

Once again, everything taco touches he ----- up.

#6 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-07-02 09:22 AM | Reply

Trump is doing everything in his power to make sure that Iran gets nukes.

#7 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2025-07-02 09:51 AM | Reply

The norks and orcs will be working at warp speed to see Iran get nukes.

#8 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-07-02 12:13 PM | Reply

Can a Nobel prize be far behind?

#9 | Posted by e1g1 at 2025-07-02 01:32 PM | Reply

If the Mullahs get Nukes...

Israel will Stand Down.

Peace in Our Time?

#10 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2025-07-02 05:11 PM | Reply

The following HTML tags are allowed in comments: a href, b, i, p, br, ul, ol, li and blockquote. Others will be stripped out. Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Anyone can join this site and make comments. To post this comment, you must sign it with your Drudge Retort username. If you can't remember your username or password, use the lost password form to request it.
Username:
Password:

Home | Breaking News | Comments | User Blogs | Stats | Back Page | RSS Feed | RSS Spec | DMCA Compliance | Privacy

Drudge Retort