A deeper hole
Israel, Iran, Azerbaijan, the US, the G7, and Greenland.
The five things you need to know today:
ISRAEL. IRAN. Trump won’t send his bunker-busters to Fordow, yet.
AZERBAIJAN. Aliyev is caught between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
UNITED STATES. A mixed birthday for the president.
GROUP OF SEVEN. 50 years after Rambouillet, the G7 looks out of puff.
GREENLAND. Macron visits as the US eyes a loan to a Lutnick-linked mine.
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ISRAEL. IRAN. Keep digging
Trump won’t send his bunker-busters to Fordow, yet.
At least 20 were killed in Israel and 200 in Iran as tit-for-tat strikes continued into a fourth day. Benjamin Netanyahu said regime change could "certainly be the result", as above-ground structures at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility were hit.
INTELLIGENCE. The narrative has shifted from destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities to removing the mullahs. Donald Trump has sent mixed messages on both, saying he "could get involved" but would prefer peace, including via talks brokered by Vladimir Putin. Israel has allegedly urged the US to use its 10-tonne Massive Ordnance Air Blast to reach Fordow’s deeply buried centrifuges. As with an alleged plot to assassinate Ali Khamenei, the US has so far refused.
FOR BUSINESS. Judging from his social media, Trump wants to both get involved ("I do a lot, and never get credit") and stay away. Attacks have so far been relatively restrained, but an Israeli strike on the South Pars gas field and Iran's claimed (but unproven) interdictions of ships in the Strait of Hormuz signal the potential for a regional conflict with global impact. As well as vowing to end the Middle East’s forever wars, Trump campaigned on lower oil prices.
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AZERBAIJAN. Didn’t Baku in the night
Aliyev is caught between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
Azerbaijan said Saturday it would never let its territory be used to attack Iran. Online analysts claimed drones had been launched from Baku. Airspace closures over Iran and the Middle East saw a surge in flights diverted over the region.
INTELLIGENCE. Though close to Turkey and Pakistan (recently to the chagrin of
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