Putin ‘very nicely’ wishes Trump a happy birthday, discusses Israel-Iran conflict during phone call

 "President Trump spoke by phone Saturday with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who wished him a happy 79th birthday and slammed Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Iran, the Kremlin said.

The two spoke on the phone for about 50 minutes about the possibility of reviving negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program,

which was the impetus for Israel’s strikes on Tehran this week, Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said in a readout.
“President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well,” Trump later confirmed. “We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. He is doing the planned prisoner swaps – large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides,” he continued.
“He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.” 

NYP

98 attacks on Ukraine’s defense positions

"Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian Defense Forces’ positions 98 times. Battles are still ongoing in six frontline sectors, with the most intense fighting reported in the Lyman, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka, and Kursk sectors.
In the Kharkiv sector, Russian troops attempted to advance toward Ukrainian positions near Kamianka, and toward Lyptsi and Krasne Pershe. Two attacks have been repelled, while one clash is ongoing.

In the Kupiansk sector, Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to advance toward Holubivka.
In the Lyman sector, the Ukrainian defenders repelled five enemy attacks near Yampolivka and the Serebrianskyi Forest, toward Olhivka, Novyi Mir, Torske, and Shandryholove. Five attacks are still ongoing.
In the Siversk sector, Russian troops attempted to push toward Hryhorivka. The attack was repelled by Ukrainian forces.
In the Kramatorsk sector, Russian forces launched five assaults toward Stupochky and Bila Hora.
In the Toretsk sector, the enemy carried out eight assault actions against Ukrainian positions near Dyliivka and Toretsk, and toward Pleshchiivka and Yablunivka. Five attacks were repelled; three engagements are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsk sector, the Russian invaders launched 35 attacks against Ukrainian positions near Malynivka, Myroliubivka, Promin, Lysivka, Novoserhiivka, Udachne, and Orikhove, advancing toward Myrne, Novoukrainka, Muravka, and Oleksiivka. Ukrainian forces repelled 27 of these attacks.
An airstrike was also recorded in the Krynycha area.
In the Novopavlivka sector, Russians launched 14 attacks near Rozlyv, Bahatyr, and Novosilka, as well as toward Shevchenko and Vilne Pole. Eleven of these were repelled; battles continue.
In the Huliaipole sector, Russian airstrikes targeted the areas of Huliaipole and Poltavka.
In the Orikhiv sector, an airstrike was carried out in the area of Kamianske.
In the Prydniprovske sector, Russian forces attempted to advance near the Antonivskyi Bridge. The Ukrainian defenders repelled the attack.
In the Kursk sector, the Ukrainian defenders repelled 18 enemy attacks, with two engagements ongoing. Russian forces in this sector used nine guided aerial bombs and conducted 143 artillery strikes, one of which involved multiple launch rocket systems." Ukrin

Pre-Strike Poll Finds Most Voters Back U.S. Supporting ‘Israeli Effort’ to Dismantle Iran Nuclear Program

"Most U.S. voters said the Trump administration should support “an Israeli effort” to go after Iran’s nuclear program in a poll conducted before Israel launched strikes on Iran Friday morning.

The Harvard-Harris poll, taken June 11 and 12, asked 2,097 registered voters, “If no acceptable deal with Iran is reached over its nuclear weapons, should the administration support or oppose an Israeli effort to take out Iran’s nuclear weapons program?”
Sixty percent said the administration should back an Israeli effort to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, while forty percent were opposed.
Democrats were fairly evenly split, with 53 percent saying the administration should oppose the effort versus 47 percent who said it should support an Israeli effort.
Of the Republicans polled, 78 percent think America should back an Israeli effort, while 22 percent think it should oppose one. A majority of 54 percent of independents are in favor of the administration backing such an effort, while 46 percent think the administration should not back one." Breitbart

The Iranian Military Chiefs, Nuclear Scientists, and Terror Heads Targeted by Israel

"Israel’s first round of airstrikes, in what the Israeli government is describing as an extended campaign to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, killed several top Iranian military officers and nuclear scientists.
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Salami was the most important target eliminated by Israel’s attack. Iranian state media reported he was “martyred in the Israeli regime’s attack on the IRGC headquarters” in Tehran.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces. Somewhere between 65 and 68 years old according to various sources, Bagheri became the highest-ranking officer in the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2016.
Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, head of IRGC Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters and deputy chief of staff for the armed forces.
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of IRGC aerospace forces. According to Israeli officials, Hajizadeh was killed along with other top leaders of the IRGC air force while meeting in an underground command center to plan attacks on Israel.
Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, key Iranian nuclear scientist and politician. Abbasi is a former IRGC officer who joined its research center for missiles and nuclear weapons in 1984. He was the vice president of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013.
Mohamed Mehdi Tehranchi, physicist and president of Islamic Azad University. Tehranchi was the other big name among the six nuclear scientists killed on Thursday. Islamic Azad University is Iran’s largest institution of higher learning.
Ali Shamkhani, former IRGC commander and adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei. Shamkhani was either killed or critically injured in Thursday night’s attack, according to various Iranian sources. His residence atop an apartment building in Tehran was apparently destroyed by an Israeli missile.
Esmail Qaani, head of the IRGC Quds Force, successor to the late Qassem Soleimani. Qaani’s fate was one of the most intriguing question marks hanging over the first stage of the Israeli operation. He was the deputy commander of the Quds Force until Soleimani was eliminated, after which he was named the new chief of the terrorist unit by Ayatollah Khamenei." Breitbart

Trump: I Gave Iran Leaders Chance to Make a Deal, Now They Are All Dead

"President Donald Trump has urged Iran’s remaining leadership to come to the negotiating

table and make a deal because Israel has “the most lethal” American military equipment and more is on the way.
President Trump related that “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it'”, but said they “just couldn’t get it done”. This is a serious matter, the President said, because “the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, [by far], and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come”.
Iranian hardliners had been brave in negotiations but they are “all [dead] now, and it will only get worse”, he said." Breitbart

Ukrainian attacks on Russian planes ‘Western’ intel op – Jeffrey Sachs

"Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian military airfields earlier this month were a “Western

intelligence operation” orchestrated by the CIA and MI6, American public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs has claimed.
Sachs was also asked whether US President Donald Trump, who has been actively mediating peace efforts, could have been unaware. He replied that the CIA is “self-operating” and “out of control,” and has not been held accountable by Trump or previous presidents for over 50 years. He believes the agency answers to the “deep state” and military companies that fund its operations." RT