Over the course of the last seven hours, we witnessed initially Israeli and U.S. strikes in Iran, which, as we understand it, are very much still ongoing. And that was quickly followed by Iranian retaliation. Within two hours of Israel announcing that it was carrying out strikes in Iraq, Iran fired its first volley of ballistic missiles towards Israel, sending millions of people in this country rushing to bomb shelters.
Al Busaidi, a key mediator in ongoing talks between the US and Iran, met with Vance in Washington, DC on Friday. He said the nuclear negotiations have so far achieved significant, important, and unprecedented progress, according to the Oman News Agency.
The Hyunmoo-5 is a ballistic missile weighing about 36 tonnes that can reportedly carry an eight-tonne warhead. It carries a bunker buster warhead, potentially able to reach deep underground to destroy heavily fortified bunkers where North Korean leaders might shelter in a conflict. It is understood to be about 16 metres long, and is designed as a surface-to-surface missile, capable of being launched from a mobile platform.
The air raid sirens screamed first, their wail cutting through the nighttime hush, keening danger. Then came the low whine of drones. Over cities of sleeping people, the Iranian-designed Shahed drones swarmed, their dark bellies crammed with explosives. At their approach, Ukraine's air defenses fired up, a stream of bullets disappearing into the stars, rat-tat-tat, followed by the bang of explosions. But still the drones came, too many to shoot down.