In the headlines

Donald Trump has raised the possibility of regime change in Iran unless its current leadership can "Make Iran Great Again". The US president also doubled down on his claim that America had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend amid speculation over the true extent of the damage. Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for global trade. Weight-loss injections can be prescribed by NHS GPs from today, having previously only been available through private prescriptions and specialist weight-loss clinics. Around 220,000 severely obese people will receive Mounjaro from their doctor over the next three years. A new space telescope in Chile has released its first images, including a shot of gas and dust clouds in a star-forming region 9,000 light-years from Earth (pictured). The Vera Rubin Observatory, home to the world's most powerful camera, should be able to detect killer asteroids in striking distance of our planet and could significantly increase the number of known objects in our solar system.

Comment

An American "bunker-buster" bomb, 14 of which were dropped in Sunday's attack. US Air Force

Was Trump wise to bomb Iran?

Donald Trump's attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was a "rash, reckless gamble", says Simon Tisdall in The Guardian. He claims it wasn't a declaration of war, but "that's not how Iran's politicians and people will see it". And the mullahs have plenty of options for retaliation. They could hit American bases in the region, where about 40,000 US troops are stationed. They could lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a quarter of the world's oil passes, potentially triggering a global oil shock. Trump has walked "slap bang" into Benjamin Netanyahu's trap. The Israeli prime minister has been exaggerating Iran's nuclear threat for 30 years, claiming he knew something that UN nuclear inspectors, Western intelligence agencies and even some of his own spy chiefs did not. And unlike his "less easily led" predecessors, Trump fell for it. Once again, as with Iraq, the US has gone to war in the Middle East "on the back of a lie".

I'm no fan of Trump, says Eliot A Cohen in The Atlantic, but he got this one right. The idea that it will spark a wider war engulfing the Middle East is far-fetched. Iran is in no state to respond with any real force: its air defences "no longer exist", its security apparatus has been comprehensively penetrated by Western spies, and its finances are a mess. Yes, as Trump's critics like to point out, Sunday's strikes won't destroy Iran's nuclear programme for good. But that argument is "pseudo-sophistication" – no strategic problem is solved permanently, short of levelling an entire country. What this attack hopefully does is deny Tehran the nuclear option for at least another five or 10 years. Given this is a "deeply hostile" regime that has committed and abetted terror for an entire generation – and which remains committed to wiping out Israel – that's cause for celebration.

💪🇺🇸 Whatever happens next, says David Ignatius in The Washington Post, Trump has gained some of the "intangible leverage" you get from using military force. His willingness to intervene militarily despite the risk of escalation will be noted not only in Beijing and Moscow, but also among allies in places like Tokyo, Taipei and Abu Dhabi, who "worry about America's staying power".

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Photography

The Grand Prize in this year's BigPicture photography competition went to a snap of a lemur leaping from one cliffside to another with a baby on her back in Madagascar. Other winners included: an octopus tending to her eggs in Florida; a ghost goby fish camouflaged against coral in Egypt; a Pallas's cat whose eyes are completely covered by snow; a fungus erupting from the head of a beetle larva in California; and a baby elephant playing in a river after a long day of walking. Click on the image to see the rest.

The rest of today's email contains a look at Mark Carney's rather surprising turn from championing net zero to "drill, baby, drill", as well as shorter pieces including:

🌳 Why TikTok is suddenly full of AI-generated Bible scenes
🙉 Why Spotify is suddenly full of smut
🍜 The 50 best restaurants in the world
👀 America's crafty deception before bombing Iran
🤰 JK Rowling's new favourite newsreader

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