The Latest: US inserts itself into Israel-Iran war and strikes 3 Iranian nuclear sites
The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel’s effort to decapitating Iran’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.
President Donald Trump announced the strikes. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that attacks targeted the country’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. The agency did not elaborate. Iran’s foreign minister said Iran reserves the right to retaliate.
Here is the latest:
Iran’s top diplomat says he’ll meet Putin in Moscow on Sunday
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, responding to a question from a Russian outlet, said he’ll travel to Moscow later on Sunday to meet with President Vladimir Putin, after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites.
“We enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said, referring to Russia.
Iran’s foreign minister says diplomacy not an option after US strikes
“The warmongering, a lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a news briefing at a conference in Turkey.
Araghchi said while the “door to diplomacy” should always be open, “this is not the case right now.
Araghchi said that there is “no red line” that the U.S. has not crossed in its recent actions against the Islamic Republic.
“And the last one and the most dangerous one was what happened only last night when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities only,” he said.
Head of the Red Cross says ‘the world cannot absorb limitless war’
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that the escalation in the Middle East risks “engulfing the region — and the world — in a war with irreversible consequences.”
“The world cannot absorb limitless war. Upholding international humanitarian law is not a choice — it is an obligation,” Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.
Images show damage on the mountainside at Iran’s underground nuclear site at Fordo
Satellite images taken Sunday analyzed by The Associated Press show damage on the mountainside at Iran’s underground nuclear site at Fordo after U.S. airstrikes targeted the facility.
The images by Planet Labs PBC show the once-brown mountain had parts turned gray and its contours appeared slightly different than in previous images, suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site. That suggests the use of specialized American bunker buster bombs on the facility. Light gray smoke also hung in the air.
Iran has yet to offer a damage assessment of the site.
Other satellite images suggest Iran before the strike sealed up its tunnel entrances at Fordo.
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This entry has been corrected to show Iran likely sealed up the tunnel entries to Fordo before the Sunday strike by the U.S.
Iran’s top diplomat throws cold water on calls to return to diplomacy with the US
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the U.S. strikes overnight have blown up any possibility of diplomacy with the Americans or Europeans.
“Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy. This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What conclusion would you draw?”
He added that British and European Union comments for Iran to “return” to the negotiating table is unfeasible now. “But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?” he said.
Britain was notified in advance of US strikes on Iran
Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News that Britain was notified as a key ally, though he didn’t know the actual timing. He said the U.S. did not ask for support and Britain was not involved.
“Whilst the British government, the U.K., has not been involved in these attacks, we have been making extensive preparations for all eventualities,” Reynolds said.
He said the government was working on how to look after British nationals as well as its military bases, personnel and infrastructure in the region.
Bahrain warns drivers to stay off main roads after US strikes in Iran
Showing the growing concern in the Gulf Arab states, the island kingdom of Bahrain issued a notice Sunday to drivers to stay off main roads if possible.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry wrote on X: “In light of recent developments in the regional security situation, we urge citizens and residents to use main roads only when necessary, to maintain public safety and to allow the relevant authorities to use the roads efficiently.”
Authorities also said they activated work-from-home protocols for some 70% of the country’s government workers.
Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and long been a threatened target of Iran.
Israel says it took out 2 of Iran’s F-5 fighter jets
Israel says it hit the aircraft at Iran’s Dezful airport. The F-5s are part of Iran’s aging fleet of fighter jets from the era of the shah. Israel released black-and-white footage showing one of the aircrafts being destroyed.
Israel previously hit F-14 Tomcats flown by the Iranian military in the war. However, it isn’t clear if these aircraft were airworthy as many have been grounded over the years due to a lack of parts.
Israel also said it struck other sites, including around Isfahan’s airport. Iran has not acknowledged losses of aircraft or other materiel in the war so far.
Meanwhile, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched 40 missiles, including its Khorramshahr-4, during the attack on Israel on Sunday morning. Iran has said the Khorramshahr-4 can carry multiple warheads.
Israel gives latest number of its injured
The Israeli Health Ministry says Iranian attacks overnight and into Sunday have wounded more than 80 people.
The vast majority, more than 70, were lightly wounded, it said.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 4, health officials say
A hospital in central Gaza says it received the bodies of four people who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Awda hospital said it also received 22 people wounded in an Israeli attack on a gathering waiting for aid trucks south of Wadi Gaza area.
Meanwhile, aid group World Central Kitchen said it resumed cooking and distribution of hot meals in Gaza on Saturday, the first time after six weeks of a forced hiatus.
The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog says he’ll convene an emergency meeting on Monday
The head of U.N.’s nuclear watchdog posted on X that given the U.S. intervention in the Israel-Iran war, he will be convening an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors on Monday.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been the target of much Iranian criticism in recent days for what they describe as conflicting statements that incited Israel’s initial attack.
Iran says it fired one of its biggest ballistic missiles targeting Israel after US strikes
Iranian state TV showed what appeared to be previous test-firing footage of the Khorramshahr-4 missile, with an on-screen caption saying it was used on Sunday in a barrage on Israel.
The Khorramshahr-4 has the heaviest payload of Iran’s ballistic missile fleet, which analysts say may be designed to keep the weapon under a 2,000-kilometer range limit imposed by the country’s supreme leader.
Iranian says the missile has a 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range with a 1,500-kilogram (3,300-pound) warhead.
The missile is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The missile also is called Kheibar, after a Jewish fortress conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century — in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the US has ‘launched a dangerous war against Iran’
The ministry statement says the U.S. strikes came “during an ongoing diplomatic process” and thereby “betrayed diplomacy by supporting the aggressive actions of the genocidal and lawless Israeli regime.”
“Now, by completing the chain of violations and crimes committed by the Zionist regime, the U.S. has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran,” it added.
The ministry also said Iran “reserves its right to resist with full force against U.S. military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend Iran’s security and national interests.”
Iranian missiles wound 16 in Israel as new Israeli strikes on Iran are reported
The Magen David Adom rescue service says one of those wounded was a 30-year-old man in moderate condition and the other 10 were lightly wounded.
Shortly after the Iranian missile barrage, Israel announced its warplanes were conducting strikes on “military targets” in western Iran, without immediately elaborating.
Iran executes a man accused of spying for Israel
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the man as Majid Mosayebi and said he was hanged on Sunday after charges of spying in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. The case wasn’t previously reported.
The development raises fears of Tehran stepping up executions in the country in retaliation for the U.S. attacks. Iran is one of the world’s top executioners.
The UN nuclear watchdog says no increase in radiation levels off sites hit by the US
The International Atomic Energy Agency says in a message on X that there has been “no increase in off-site radiation levels” after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“The IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time,” it said. The “IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available.”
Iranian missiles hit areas in northern and central Israel after US strikes on Iran
The Israeli rescue service United Hatzalah said it was dispatching first responders. There was no immediate word on casualties or damage.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel since Israel launched a surprise attack on its military and nuclear facilities last week. Israel’s sophisticated air defenses are able to shoot down most but not all of the missiles and drones.
At least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded.
Democratic lawmaker: Last intel briefing showed ‘Iran posed no immediate threat’
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy posted on X that he and other senators received a classified briefing last week from intelligence officials who indicated that Iran did not pose an immediate threat through its nuclear program.
“Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon,” Murphy said. “The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success.”
Iran’s ally Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels condemn US strikes
The Houthi rebels in Yemen are vowing to support Iran in its fight against “the Zionist and American aggression.”
Their statement called for the Muslim nations to join the holy war and act as “one front against the Zionist-American arrogance.”
The militant Palestinian group Hamas says the U.S. aid strikers on Iran are a “direct threat to international peace and security” and “a blind pursuit of the rogue Zionist occupation’s agenda.”
Iran asks for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over US strikes
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations called on Sunday for an emergency Security Council meeting for what he described as America’s “heinous attacks and illegal use of force” against Iran.
In a letter, obtained by the AP, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, said that the U.N.’s most powerful body must “take all necessary measures” to hold the U.S. accountable under international law and the U.N. charter.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns and denounces in the strongest possible terms these unprovoked and premeditated acts of aggression, which have followed the large-scale military attack conducted by the Israeli regime on 13 June against Iran’s peaceful nuclear sites and facilities,” the letter continued.
Israel’s army says Iranian missiles are incoming, asks people to go to shelters
The Israeli military says it’s identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of Israel and says its defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat.
The public has been asked to go to shelters and protected areas and remain there until further notice.
Iran’s top diplomat warns US attacks on its nuclear sites ‘will have everlasting consequences’
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said on X that Tehran “reserves all options” to retaliate. He’s the first ranking official to comment on the strikes on Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz by the Americans.
“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” Araghchi wrote.
He added: “In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
Flames seen at Fordo nuclear site in Iran after US strike, report says
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency has published an account by one of its reporters, saying flames could be seen after the bombs hit the Fordo facility.
Fars, which is believed close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said its reporter heard anti-aircraft fire around 2:05 a.m. local time and explosions two minutes later.
“When I reached the vicinity … the air defense system was operating intensely, and its activity was clearly visible in the sky,” the reporter said. Later on, the reporter said, “flames suddenly erupted from the direction of Fordo.”
Simultaneously with the flames, a faint trail of smoke and a significant amount of dust rose in the area, Fars quoted the reporter. It offered no photos or video showing the attack
Israeli officials lauded the strikes
Israeli officials lauded the strikes in sweeping and dramatic language. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, thanked Trump and said the strikes marked a “decisive moment between the axis of terror and evil and the axis of hope.”
Israel’s defense minister congratulated Trump on what he described as a “historic decision.”