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Researcher & writer based in Hong Kong. Former academic. Longform articles archived at https://lauraruggeri.substack.com and https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com. Email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
Iran launched a massive missile barrage early Thursday targeting Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Haifa, and al-Naqab, in one of the most significant retaliatory attacks to date.
According to Israeli media, over 20 missiles struck areas across the occupied territories, with several direct hits reported in central Tel Aviv and its northern district, Ramat Gan.
Iran’s state media, IRNA, stated the main target was the Israeli occupation military’s C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) headquarters located in the Gav-Yam tech park. The base houses thousands of military personnel, digital command systems, cyber operations units, and the Zionist army’s C4ISR systems.
While Soroka Hospital was affected by blast waves, it remained operational. Nearby, a sensitive biological research facility reportedly sustained damage, according to Israeli emergency services.
Il ministro degli Esteri iraniano Araghchi: “Netanyahu ha scatenato questa guerra per distruggere la diplomazia”.
E' necessario tenere a mente queste parole. Ed è per questo che vorrei sottolineare che è inutile e anzi controproducente discettare di forniture di armi da parte di Cina e Russia all'Iran quando questi paesi stanno compiendo sforzi diplomatici per evitare un'estensione del conflitto. Ieri, in occasione del Forum economico internazionale di San Pietroburgo (SPIEF), Vladimir Putin ha dichiarato: "L'Iran non sta chiedendo assistenza militare alla Russia. Ci sono state alcune forniture in passato, ma non legate alla crisi attuale".
▪️Sia la Cina che la Russia hanno condannato con forza l'aggressione israeliana denunciandola come una violazione della sovranità e dell'integrità territoriale della Repubblica islamica ai sensi del diritto internazionale. Hanno inoltre espresso la volontà di svolgere un ruolo costruttivo nella mediazione di un cessate il fuoco e nella ricerca di una soluzione diplomatica. I sionisti, e uso il termine in senso ampio, vogliono un'estensione del conflitto, ma questa escalation non è nell'interesse di nessun altro, e dovrebbe essere evitata con ogni mezzo.
▪️ Il Ministro degli Esteri iraniano Abbas Araghchi ha dichiarato in un post su X che ormai tutto il mondo dovrebbe sapere che "l'Iran si sta semplicemente difendendo. Anche di fronte all'aggressione più oltraggiosa contro il nostro popolo, l'Iran ha finora reagito solo contro il regime israeliano e non contro coloro che lo stanno aiutando e favorendo. Proprio come Netanyahu ha scatenato questa guerra per distruggere la diplomazia, il mondo dovrebbe essere molto allarmato per i crescenti tentativi del regime israeliano, che è in difficoltà, di farsi aiutare da altri e di coinvolgere nel conflitto l'intera regione e non solo", ha spiegato Araghchi. @LauraRuHK
I would like to stress that it's pointless and actually counterproductive to speculate about arms deliveries from China and Russia to Iran when efforts are being made to de-escalate the conflict. Yesterday at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg (SPIEF) Vladimir Putin stated "Iran is not asking Russia for military assistance. There were some deliveries in the past, but not related to the current crisis." Both China and Russia have strongly condemned the Israeli aggression as unprovoked and a violation of the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under international law. They have also expressed a willingness to play a constructive role in brokering a ceasefire and seeking a diplomatic solution. The Zionists are seeking an extension of the conflict, but that escalation is in no one else's interest and should be avoided by any means. @LauraRuHK
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OpenAI is now officially part of the US military-industrial complex - ChatGPT developer OpenAI launched a new division, “OpenAI for Government,” to further integrate its artificial intelligence tools into U.S. government operations. And it’s starting with.... a $200 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense!▪️Remember when OpenAI pledged "not to use its tools for warfare"? 🤡 This contract follows OpenAI’s collaboration with Anduril Industries, a defense-tech company known for developing AI-powered military hardware, including anti-drone systems.
@LauraRuHK
Mossad headquarters on fire following Iranian strikes: Reports
@PressTV
Washington imposed and then suspended punitive tariffs on EU countries. As the 90-day suspension is soon coming to an end, Brussels Eunuchs bend over backwards to dance to Washington’s tune. “When we focus our attention on tariffs between partners, it diverts our energy from the real challenge — one that threatens us all,” von der Leyen said in a pointed comment aimed squarely at Trump, who sat near her at the G7 roundtable.
“On this point, Donald is right — there is a serious problem,” von der Leyen added, encouraging the U.S. president to join forces with his allies to address China’s trade imbalances, rather than impose tariffs on his allies. @LauraRuHK
"According to information received by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation, the Zelensky regime, faced with growing problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front and the moral exhaustion of Ukrainian society in the rear, intends to increase sabotage and terrorist activity against Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR MO) of Ukraine have been tasked, in cooperation with European special services, to intensify the preparation of a series of new bloody provocations." (Source: TASS) ▪️The front of the Ukrainian Army collapsed along 40 km in the Donetsk direction - Russian troops advanced throughout the area, the deputy commander of the assault company of the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade with the call sign "Lek" told RIA Novosti against the backdrop of the liberation of Ulyanovka. @LauraRuHK
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The Israeli Mossad conducted a large-scale operation to prepare airstrikes against Iran, having previously deployed hundreds of drones with explosives disguised as commercial cargo into the country, The Washington Post reports.
For several months, drone parts were secretly delivered in suitcases and containers, after which agents assembled them in key regions. When the attack began, these drones hit Iranian air defense systems and missile launchers, destroying dozens of targets even before they were activated, which explains Tehran's delayed response. Experts point out that such tactics as using cheap drones against sophisticated air defense systems are changing the rules of modern warfare. (Source: Zvezda) @LauraRuHK /channel/zvezda_analytics/18685
Israel shuts down parts of its largest refinery after Iran attack
🔹Israel’s largest oil refinery has been forced to shut down parts of its operations following a major missile attack by Iran.
@PressTV
Blaise Metreweli, the first woman to lead UK intelligence service MI6, grew up in Hong Kong where her father Constantine was Chair of Diagnostic Radiology at CUHK. He trained as a radiologist in the British army and lived in Ryadh in 1982-85 before moving to the British colony. He left the city in 2003, a few years after the handover. No mention of her family history in the media, but Hong Kong is a small place 😉 @LauraRuHK
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The US and Israel are perfectly aligned in their objective to destroy Iran. Washington tried, and failed, to destroy Iran's oil trade and economy through sanctions - 90% of its crude shipments are directed to China. The bipartisan consensus in Washington is that China represents "a geopolitical adversary and the most significant long-term strategic challenge to U.S. interests." In February, "the White House announced its maximum pressure campaign on Iran designed to collapse its economy, targeting all stages of Iran's oil supply chain [...] We have predetermined benchmarks and timelines. Making Iran Broke Again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy. Watch this space. If economic security is national security, the regime in Tehran will have neither." (US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked at the Economic Club of New York, on March 6.) US sanctions didn't break Iran, and neither will Israel's unprovoked military aggression. @LauraRuHK
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Iran's retaliatory strikes against Israel. It is reported that Israeli Defense Ministry facilities have been hit, but there is no confirmation of this information yet.
Israel's air defenses are obviously overwhelmed. /channel/vzglyad_ru/122375
According to Israeli media, Mossad agents set up a covert drone base on Iranian soil near Tehran, though there could be more than one.
The Times of Israel et al. write that weapons systems were smuggled into the country to take out Iran’s air defenses and give Israeli planes air supremacy and freedom of action over Iran.
▪️When i pointed out /channel/LauraRuHK/10144 that the Pentagon had envisaged a similar scenario long before Ukraine struck Russian airfields with drones that were concealed in wooden cabins installed on trucks, I thought that there wasn't enough evidence to blame the Trump administration since this scenario predated the presidential elections. After last night's attack on Iran, all doubts have vanished. ▪️Trump is a pathological liar, his contradictory statements, seemingly irrational and volatile behaviour make him an ideal conveyor of a U.S. policy based on strategic ambiguity. By targeting Iran, Washington is trying to disrupt cooperation between Iran, Russia and China, and by extension, the consolidation of a multipolar world order. @LauraRuHK
🔴 Report: Lawmaker Fereydoun Abbasi, Azad University Chief Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi also among targets
🔴 Reports: General Gholamali Rashid, Commander of Khatam Al-Anbiya HQ of IRGC also targeted in attacks
🔴 Iran's Tasnim News Agency says IRGC Chief Major General Hossein Salami martyred in Israeli strikes
@PressTV
Tel Aviv stock market drops 3%, total losses estimated at $475 billion.
▶️ Video shows Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building which was one of the targets of Iranian missiles this morning.
@PressTV
China has attracted a growing influx of capital from Middle Eastern investors seeking to diversify their US-heavy portfolios.
Beijing announced on Tuesday that China had recorded a US$33 billion net capital inflow from non-banking sectors and higher foreign holdings of Chinese equities in May – an acceleration from April’s US$17.3 billion inflow.
The department did not break down the figures by country, but analysts noted a growing trend for global investors – including large Gulf sovereign wealth funds – to pivot towards stable, high-growth markets in Asia amid rising global instability.
“It is possible that some funds have been withdrawn from the US market for safe-haven purposes and redirected towards major trading nations and countries with substantial overseas net assets, such as China,” said Sun Lijian, director of Fudan University’s Financial Research Center in Shanghai.
Washington’s support for Israel amid an escalating regional conflict had left Gulf investors reluctant to put “all their eggs in one basket”, according to Sun.
The growing capital inflows into China also reflected the Gulf states’ increasing confidence in China’s opening-up policies and efforts to internationalise the yuan, he noted.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) were among the top 10 shareholders of 51 companies listed on China’s A-share markets as of the end of the first quarter, with their total holdings exceeding 16 billion yuan (US$2.23 billion), according to the state-run newspaper Securities Times. (Source: SCMP) @LauraRuHK https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3314922/china-records-bumper-capital-inflow-gulf-investors-hedge-against-us?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage
In a loop - The lie Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling for 30 years (1995-2025): "Iran is about to get nuclear weapons." Time to shut him up. @LauraRuHK /channel/olegtsarov/29809
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China and Central Asian countries have formed the China-Central Asia Spirit at the second China-Central Asia Summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
China wrapped up its latest engagement effort in Central Asia with a 1.5 billion (US$209 million) yuan pledge towards livelihood and development projects in the region.
The six countries also signed a Treaty of Permanent Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.
Xi stressed the need for cooperation in a world “entering a period of upheaval and transformation”. The region is a critical part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and China has invested heavily in energy, infrastructure and mining projects in Central Asia and enhancing their security through deeper ties is a priority. All countries, except Turkmenistan, are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). @LauraRuHK
UPDATE | Online users geolocated the impact sites in the Glilot area using satellite imagery and visual markers from footage taken shortly after the strikes. The coordinates indicate that multiple missiles landed in close proximity to the Mossad and 8200 facilities but not directly on them.
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Blaise Metreweli - Another piece of the puzzle, courtesy of team work on X. The new MI6 chief's father, whose real name was Constantine Dobrowolski, was born in what was then the Ukrainian SSR and officially became a British citizen in 1966. /channel/LauraRuHK/10179
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After mentioning the new MI6 chief's Hong Kong connection /channel/LauraRuHK/10179, I have received a lot of media inquiries, mostly from the UK. Sorry, guys but I won't do your job.
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Russia has transferred 6,060 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, as agreed in Istanbul. 78 bodies of Russian soldiers have been received from Kiev on June 16.
Russia is ready to transfer another 2,239 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine at this stage, the Russian Ministry of Defence says. (Source: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK
Israel’s largest oil refinery has been forced to shut down part of its operations following a major missile attack by Iran.
The company in charge of the Bazan complex, a refinery located near the Haifa Port in the north of the Israeli-occupied territories, said on Sunday that overnight attacks by Iran had damaged pipelines and transmission lines between facilities inside the complex.
“... some of the downstream facilities in the complex have been shut down,” said the company in a note to investors.
The Bazan complex is responsible for a significant part of the fuel demand in the Israeli-occupied territories. It has a refining capacity of nearly 0.2 million barrels per day.
Experts say Iran's attack on the refinery would severely disrupt Israel’s fuel supply chains as the regime relies on imported oil for nearly 40% of its energy needs.
Iran started to rain down missiles on Haifa Port late on Saturday as part of a broader operation to avenge Israel’s unprovoked attacks on civilians and military targets in Iran.
Several people were killed and dozens more were injured in the attacks on the city, which is an economic lifeline for the Israeli regime.
The attack came just hours after Israeli projectiles hit two natural gas processing refineries in southern Iran, cutting off a small part of the nationwide gas supplies.
The attacks were the first from Israel to target Iran’s energy infrastructure since the regime began its assaults early on Friday.
Iranian authorities said right after the attacks that the country would change its revenge strategy against Israel while insisting that Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks on the regime would expand to cover economic targets. (Source: PressTV) @LauraRuHK
Tasnim news agency has confirmed the death of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi and his deputy Hassan Mohaqiq. It added that a third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed in the strike on Sunday. Unfortunately these deaths corroborate fears about the vulnerability of Iran's counterintelligence. Remember former president Ahmadinejad's words: "We created a secret unit to fight Israel, and its head turned out to be a Mossad agent." The head of the counterintelligence unit was revealed as a double agent in 2021. Other agents in the Iranian counterintelligence team tasked with monitoring Israeli spying activities also turned out to be working for the enemy. @LauraRuHK
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The US and Israel are perfectly aligned in their objective to destroy Iran.
Washington tried, and failed, to destroy Iran's oil trade and economy through sanctions.
Guess where an estimated 90% of its crude shipments are directed to? China.
The US places its rivalry with China at the core of its geopolitical strategy. The bipartisan consensus in Washington is that China represents "a geopolitical adversary, the most significant long-term strategic challenge to U.S. interests."
For years Washington has been trying to undermine China's growth, to no avail.
For China, a net oil importer, affordable energy is crucial to fuel its economy and maintain competitive manufacturing costs for exports like electronics, machinery, textiles, and chemicals.
What do you do when sanctions and tariffs fail? You try to disrupt energy supplies by leveraging on your proxy, Israel.
In 2024, Israel intensified its efforts to provoke Iran (Gaza, Lebanon and Syria). Iran, however, refrained from escalating, carefully managing tensions without raising the stakes.
The latest unprovoked aggression was a declaration of war.
Yesterday the New York Times reported with glee that Israel had hit Iran’s largest natural gas field—the South Pars—which also happens to be the largest in the world:
“Israel is bombing Iran's ability to export oil and natural gas. This will remove Iran's ability to export about 2 million bpd, most of which goes to China. Iran's South Pars natural gas field is shut down, Shahran oil field is on fire. Multiple oil refineries in Iran are reportedly on fire. This will cause gasoline and diesel shortages in Iran. Oil and natural gas prices will skyrocket when markets open on Monday.”
Regardless as to whether the damage is as significant as Western and Israeli media claim, it is reasonable to expect that Israel will continue to target Iranian gas and oil fields.
These strikes and the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that handles roughly 20% of global oil supply, could send prices through the roof and deal a very serious blow to the global economy.
Although the beneficiaries of high prices are those oil-rich countries that can ship or pipe their oil and gas bypassing the Persian Gulf, the impact on inflation would spare no one.
China sources its crude oil from a wide range of countries besides Middle Eastern ones, and thanks to this strategic diversification Russia, Brazil and Venezuela feature among its suppliers. As of 2024, the top suppliers of crude oil to China were Russia, Malaysia (though some of this oil may be relabeled Iranian crude to bypass sanctions) Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates.
Middle Eastern countries collectively supply around a third of China’s crude oil, but they also supply US allies Washington relies on for military projection in the Asia-Pacific, such as Japan and South Korea. if they suffer a serious blow to their economy due to high energy costs and shortages, forget about meeting the military spending targets imposed by Washington on its vassals.
And the same applies to a vassal bloc that prides itself on "successfully decoupling from Russian oil and gas."
@LauraRuHK
Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani:
Israel’s strikes against Iran resulted in the death of at least 78 people, including senior military officials;
More than 320 people were injured, an overwhelming majority of them civilians, including women and children;
Israel’s strikes constitute clear acts of state terrorism and flagrant violations of international law;
Damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities risks “catastrophic radiological consequences that would not be confined to Iran, but could spread across the region and beyond”;
Israel's attacks against Iran were carried out with intelligence and political support from the United States;
Iran will not forget that its people lost their lives in Israeli attacks with American weapons. These actions amount to a declaration of war. @LauraRuHK
Israel is a malignant tumor and its metastases are everywhere. In last night's attack, in addition to other victims, Commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hussein Salami, General Gholamali Rashid, Commander of Khatam Al-Anbiya HQ of IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief-of-Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, physicist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Fereydoon Abbasi, have been killed. Which means the Zionist terrorists relied on up-to-date intelligence to target Iran's nuclear program and military commanders. This is what worries me. @LauraRuHK.
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▶️ Footage shows the aftermath of the aerial attacks on residential neighborhoods across Tehran.
@PressTV