Iran weighs retaliation for US strikes as Trump raises idea of regime change
Iran said on Monday that the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called U.S. President Donald Trump a “gambler” for joining Israel’s military campaign against the Islamic Republic.
Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, said the U.S. should expect heavy consequences for its actions.
“Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,” Zolfaqari said in English at the end of a recorded video statement.
Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced for Tehran’s response to the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites over the weekend, which Trump suggested could lead to the overthrow of the Iranian government.
Commercial satellite imagery indicatedSaturday’s attack on Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant far underground had severely damaged or destroyed the site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but its status remained unconfirmed, experts said.
In his latest social media comments on the U.S. strikes, Trump said: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran.”
“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government “must now make peace” or future attacks would be “far greater and a lot easier”, fuelling global concern about further escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
The U.S. launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters.
Airlines that have cancelled their flights to and from the region
AIRBALTIC
Latvia’s airBaltic said that all flights to and from Tel Aviv until September 30 had been cancelled.
AEROFLOT AFLT.MM
Russia’s Aeroflot said that it had cancelled flights between Moscow and Tehran, and made changes to other routes in the Middle East.
AIR EUROPA
The Spanish airline said that it has cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv until July 31.
AIR FRANCE-KLM AIRF.PA
Air France said that it had suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
Air France KLM cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh on June 22 and June 23.
KLM said that it had cancelled all its flights to and from Tel Aviv until at least July 1 and added that some flights to, from or via Beirut until June 29 may be disrupted.
DELTA AIR LINES DAL.N
The U.S. carrier said that travel to, from, or through Tel Aviv may be impacted between June 12 and August 31.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES ELAL.TA
The carrier said that it had cancelled its regular flight schedule for EL AL and Sundor through June 23. Additionally, flights scheduled to depart through July 15 have been closed for new bookings until security situation becomes clearer.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS
It said that it had cancelled flights between Abu Dhabi and Amman until June 20 and between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv until June 30.
EMIRATES
Emirates said that it had temporarily suspended flights to and from Jordan (Amman) and Lebanon (Beirut) until and including June 22, and Iran (Teheran) and Iraq (Baghdad and Basra) until and including June 30.
FLYDUBAI
Flydubai said that it had temporarily suspended flights to and from Iran, Iraq, Israel and Syria until June 30.
IAG ICAG.L
IAG-owned British Airways said that its flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended until July 31 and flights to Amman and Bahrain are suspended up to and including June 30.
The British carrier was set to resume Dubai and Doha flights on June 23 after cancelling routes to and from those airports the day before.
IAG’s low-cost airline, Iberia Express, had previously said that it had cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv until June 30.
ISRAIR
The Israeli airline said that it had cancelled all its flights from and to Israel until June 30.
ITA AIRWAYS
The Italian Airline said that it would extend the suspension of Tel Aviv flights until July 31, including two flights scheduled on August 1.
LUFTHANSA GROUP LHAG.DE
Lufthansa said that it had suspended all flights to and from Beirut until and including June 30 and to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran until and including July 31. Flights to and from Amman and Erbil are cancelled until and including July 11. The German airline added that it would also refrain from using airspace of the countries concerned until further notice.
PEGASUS PGSUS.IS
The Turkish airline said that it had cancelled flights to Iran until June 30 and flights to Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan until June 23.
QATAR AIRWAYS
Qatar Airways said that it had temporarily cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Iran and Syria.
RYANAIR RYA.I
Ryanair said that it had cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until September 30.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES SIAL.SI
The Asian carrier on June 22 cancelled flying from Singapore to Dubai following a security assessment. The flight was set to resume on June 23.
TAROM
Romania’s flag carrier said that it had suspended all commercial flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until June 24.
TUS AIRWAYS
The Cypriot airline cancelled all its flights to and from Israel scheduled until June 24 (inclusive). Flights scheduled for departure between June 25 and June 30 are currently closed for sale, pending further developments, it said.
UNITED AIRLINES UAL.O
The U.S. carrier said that travel to and from Tel Aviv may be affected between June 13 and August 1. Flights to Dubai between June 18 and 25 may also be affected.
WIZZ AIR WIZZ.L
Wizz Air said it had suspended its operations to and from Tel Aviv and Amman until September 15. The Hungarian airline will also avoid overflying Israeli, Iraqi, Irani and Syrian airspace until further notice.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the U.S. strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency’s director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim.
Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, launched a volley of missiles towards Israel in the aftermath of the U.S. attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv.
But it has not acted on its main options for retaliation, to attack U.S. bases or choke off the 20% of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the U.S. Navy’s massive Fifth Fleet based in nearby Bahrain.
Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up $1.11 or 1.44% to $78.12 a barrel as of 0653 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 advanced $1.08 or 1.45% to $74.87.