Al Jazeera June 22, 2025 [source], 3-minute video,
also World News, Virtual Jerusalem, Israel Insider, Ticker:
Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, says the suggestion that Iran posed any kind of threat to the US is “totally nonsense”. “Iran has no capabilities of reaching the United States with its missiles or other kinds of weaponry… And if the concern was about their nuclear programme eventually being militarised to make nuclear weapons, Trump would not have destroyed” the 2015 nuclear deal, Zunes added.

He argued the attacks were not about any kind of Iranian threats “other than that threat of having a major power that could challenge US interests in the region”. Asked why he thought Trump decided to attack Iran now, Zunes replied: “I have a feeling he’s been wanting to launch war on Iran for some time, frankly.” He added that this was “obviously” contrary to what Trump had campaigned on, but added that “it should not be that big of a surprise” because the Republican president “has broken any number of campaign promises” on both foreign and domestic issues.

How could Iran respond to US attacks?

We have spoken to Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, and here’s how he sees the Iranian response to the US attacks playing out:
“They have a number of options… They can attack US forces directly. There are up to 40,000 Americans within the range, not just of Iranian missiles but of drones and other weaponry… You have the fleet in the Persian Gulf, just off the Iranian coast. They can be vulnerable as well if they attack… it could impact global shipping, impacting oil prices and indeed the entire global economy… You also have proxy militias in Iraq who could target American bases there… So there are a number of ways that American forces could be vulnerable, and I would be surprised if the Iranians don’t target at least some of these.”