US fails to destroy Iran nuke labs; NATO nations up defense budget to 5% of GDP
By TONY LOPEZ
Was it all drama and deception?
The world might have just witnessed the shortest global war on record—12 days, from June 13, 2025 to June 25, 2025. World War I lasted four years, 1914-1918. World War II lasted six years, 1939 to 1945.
The shape of World War III? It just took place, in 12 days, in two countries, Israel and Iran, with the United States in between.
Israel started the war
Israel started the war on June 13 by bombing Iran’s military and nuclear facilities. Israel killed the members of the inner circle of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top figures in Iran’s nuclear brain trust, with bomb-carrying drones that also damaged high rises and other structures in Tehran. Believed killed: Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps; Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iran armed forces; and Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, a nuclear physicist. Israel’s attack killed at least 400 in Iran, and injured 3,000. The death toll in Israel from Iran’s retaliatory strikes: 24.
Early June 22 Sunday morning, Manila time, US President Donald Trump finished what Israel forces could not—deliver the coup de grace on Iran’s three major nuclear processing facilities—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, south of Tehran, the capital, with missiles and bunker buster bombs. Six bunker buster bombs were dropped on Fordo, located 300 feet under a mountain.
“Completely, totally obliterated”
Trump said Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated.” Pentagon said the three sites suffered “extremely severe damage and destruction”.
Only the US has the 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs needed to damage Fordow. The Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities “were wiped out with 30 Tomahawk missiles launched by American submarines some 400 miles away.”
Bombing of the three nuclear facilities raised the possibility of Iran retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water where a fifth of the world’s energy trade passes thru. That grim spectre initially raised crude oil price to a five-month high, to $79 for Brent and $75 for West Texas Intermediate.
Iran attacks Qatar US bases
Tuesday morning, June 24, Manila time, Iran launched 14 missiles at US military bases outside Doha, Qatar’s capital. Only one of the 14 landed. Qatar closed its airspace for a day, stranding 31 Filipinos being repatriated to safety in Manila, at the Doha Hamad International Airport. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also shut its airspace.
“Very weak” Iran attack
Trump declared the Iran attack on Qatar “very weak”. The US president confirmed Iran informed him on its impending attack on Qatar. “I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Iran’s early warning seemed to give the US a chance to minimize the damage and avoid an escalation.
Sensing an opening Tuesday afternoon Manila time, Trump declared a ceasefire. Initially, Israel and Iran did not comply, prompting Trump to scold the leaders of the two warring countries. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” Trump told reporters.
Trump scolds Israel
Trump singled out Israel for carrying out a wave of airstrikes before the ceasefire went into effect, saying, “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out, and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel.”
US failed to destroy Iran nuke facilities
Then came the real bombshell. An early US Defense Intelligence Agency secret report leaked to CNN and the New York Times late Tuesday, our time, indicated US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities Sunday, June 22, likely only set the country’s nuclear program back by months and did not destroy core components of its nuclear program.
If before the bombing, Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in three months, now, after the bombing, it would take six months.
Trump, in the Netherlands attending last week’s NATO summit, angrily disputed the CNN report. He called the US bombing “ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY,” adding “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” He slammed the the CNN and NYT report as “AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN” the strikes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged the existence of the DIA report but called CNN’s report “flat-out wrong.”
Putin offered to help on Iran
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on his flight to Europe, Trump revealed Russian President Vladimir Putin called to offer help with the situation in Iran.
CNN said oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before the Iran-Israel conflict, as investors cheered news of a ceasefire, albeit fragile, between the two countries. Philippine stocks gained marginally, by .52%, reflecting pessimism.
Crude prices down
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 15%, from $79, to $67.14 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US oil benchmark, fell 14%, from $75, to $64.37 a barrel, normal levels.
With the ceasefire holding precariously at this writing, Trump is in Europe partying with Holland’s royalty and NATO leaders, at The Hague’s Paleis huis Ten Bosch of King Willem Alexander. Trump will sleep in the palace.
“You are flying into another big success,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte texted Trump as the US President was flying Tuesday to The Hague. “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do,” Rutte gushed.
The 32-nation NATO, which includes the US, is increasing each member’s defense spending to 5% of GDP, as Trump had ordered.
The idea? To prepare for the next global war.