‼️🇺🇸🏴‍☠️🇮🇱💥🇮🇷 The USA and Israel attacked a 💥 uranium concentrate production plant in Iran, no release of radioactive elements was detected, reports the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran

🇮🇷⚔️🇮🇱🇺🇸 Nearly one month into the 3rd Gulf War and Iran hasn't used its most sophisticated missiles and the eastern missile bases

Iran’s defence ministry unveiled its newest missile, the Qassem Basir, in May last year, with the fiery claim that it would allow Iran to strike enemies “wherever they are and whenever necessary”.

With a manoeuvrable 500kg warhead, fitted with an optically guided “terminal seeker” which cannot be electronically jammed, it is one of the most advanced missiles in Iran’s arsenal.

Yet nearly a month into Iran’s war with Israel and the US in the Gulf, it has not seen combat.

Analysts say it is among a handful of very advanced missiles that have largely sat out the war this far because Iran is waiting for the right opportunity to use them.

Tehran’s strike last week on the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar has underlined the risks for many Gulf states. The attack used several missiles equipped with manoeuvrable warheads, according to a person briefed on the attack.

“Tehran may be holding some of its most capable systems in reserve, though inventories of these newer missiles are likely limited,” said Jim Lamson, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and a former CIA analyst.

Lamson said the advanced missiles that have yet to see action include the Qassem Basir, the Etemad — another manoeuvrable missile based on the older Emad missile — and the Fattah-2, based on the earlier Fattah-1. According to Iranian claims, the Fattah-2 boasts a hypersonic glide vehicle, which would be very difficult to intercept.

The Raad-500, a manoeuvrable short-range missile, has so far not been used in the Gulf, Lamson said, based on publicly available data.

🔗 https://archive.ph/O1pPh

🇺🇸❌🇨🇭 The US is bypassing Switzerland’s Patriot payment freeze by redirecting F-35 funds through a shared military sales fund, making the move effectively “useless.”

Over “a low three-digit million” CHF (100M+) has already been shifted, forcing Switzerland to cover new gaps in its F-35 budget.

Swiss officials say the situation is “very unsatisfactory” and warn it is “damaging trust” in US arms agreements.

So, when Switzerland stopped paying for Patriot, the U.S. just took money from another Swiss project (F-35) instead.

Switzerland said: “We won’t pay.”

The U.S. said: “We’ll take the money anyway, from another account.”

🔗 https://clashreport.com/defense/articles/patriot-crisis-us-seizes-switzerlands-fighter-jet-funds-07crgkch8ihr

🛢📉 France says that oil output will not return to pre-3rd Gulf War levels before 2030

France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure revealed on Wednesday that between 30 and 40 per cent of Gulf refining capacity has been damaged or destroyed by Iran's retaliatory strikes, leaving a shortage of 11 million barrels a day on global oil markets.

Lescure warned it could take up to three years to restore damaged facilities, and several months to restart those that were urgently shut down.

With fossil fuel supplies under severe strain, both the UK and Germany signalled on Wednesday that the energy crisis is accelerating their green transitions.

This comes as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde assured the continent that the ECB has several options for dealing with the inflation shock triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, and vowed that policymakers would not be "paralysed by hesitation".

🔗 https://www.france24.com/en/france-confirms-oil-crisis-says-30-40-gulf-energy-infrastructure-destroyed