Alarm grows after the US inserts itself into Israel's war against Iran. Follow live updates.
UN nuclear agency says significant damage expected at Iranian underground site — 5:09 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Monday that 'very significant damage' is expected at Iran's underground facility at Fordo after a U.S. airstrike there this weekend with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.
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Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the statement in Vienna.
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'Given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme vibration sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,' Grossi said.
UK's Lammy says US not going after Iran's 'civilian leadership' — 4:02 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
Britain's foreign minister says he is confident the US is not seeking to overthrow Iran's government despite a social media post from President Trump suggesting it might be a good idea.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Monday that 'it's clear from Israel and the United States that they're not going after the civilian leadership' in Tehran. He said 'that's not what's under consideration at this time.'
Lammy said he spoke to Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, and the UK is pushing to 'get the Iranians back to serious diplomacy.'
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Lammy told the BBC he has 'not seen an assessment yet' of whether the strikes 'seriously degraded Iran's ability to come up with a nuclear program.'
He added that 'ultimately this has to be dealt with by diplomacy.'
Iran has a 'free hand' to act against US interests, top general says — 3:52 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned the US on Monday that its strikes gave a 'free hand' to Iranian armed forces to 'act against US interests and its army.'
Mousavi stressed Iran would not hesitate to do so after the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
He described the American attack as violating Iran's sovereignty, entering the Israeli war on the country and being tantamount to invading the country.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported Mousavi's remarks.
North Korea condemns US strikes on Iran — 2:55 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
North Korea says it 'strongly condemns' the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, calling it an egregious violation of Iran's territorial integrity and security interests.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that the United States and Israel were escalating tensions in the Middle East through the use of military force, and called on the 'just-minded international community' to raise a unified voice against their 'confrontational behavior.'
During his first term, President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in 2018 and 2019, but their diplomacy collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions against North Korea and the North's steps to wind down its nuclear and missile program.
Kim has since accelerated his arms development while ignoring talk offers by Washington and Seoul.
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He has shifted the priority of his foreign policy to Russia, sending thousands of troops and huge shipments of military equipment to fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.
Pakistan condemns Trump for bombing Iran after recommending him for a Nobel Peace Prize — 1:15 a.m.
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By the Associated Press
Pakistan condemned President Trump for bombing Iran, less than 24 hours after saying he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for defusing a recent crisis with India.
Relations between the two South Asian countries plummeted after a massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April. The nuclear-armed rivals stepped closer to war in the weeks that followed, attacking each other until intense diplomatic efforts, led by the US, resulted in a truce for which Trump took credit.
It was this 'decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership' that Pakistan praised in an effusive message Saturday night on the X platform when it announced its formal recommendation for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Less than 24 hours later, however, it condemned the US for attacking Iran, saying the strikes 'constituted a serious violation of international law' and the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Associated Press
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The Hill
8 minutes ago
- The Hill
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Fox News
12 minutes ago
- Fox News
Pakistan flip flops on Trump Nobel Peace Prize nomination after less than 24 hours
Pakistan condemned President Donald Trump for bombing Iranian nuclear facilities, less than 24 hours after saying he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for defusing a recent crisis with India. The Pakistani government on Saturday credited the "decisive diplomatic intervention" and "pivotal leadership" of Trump in brokering a truce with India, after a massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April,. The nuclear-armed rivals stepped closer to war in the weeks that followed, attacking each other until intense diplomatic efforts, led by the U.S., resulted in a truce. The next day, however, it condemned the U.S. for attacking Iran, saying the strikes "constituted a serious violation of international law" and the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a phone call Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed his concern that the bombings had targeted facilities that were under the safeguards of the IAEA, the Associated Press reported. Pakistan has close ties with Iran and supports its attacks on Israel, saying it has the right to self-defense. Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defense Committee in Pakistan's parliament, suggested to Reuters last week that Pakistan benefited from currying favor with Trump. "Trump is good for Pakistan," he told Reuters. "If this panders to Trump's ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time." There was no immediate comment on Monday from Islamabad about the Trump Nobel recommendation, which also followed a high-profile White House lunch meeting between the president and Pakistan's powerful army chief, Asim Munir. Thursday's meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Representative for Middle Eastern Affairs. According to a Pakistani military statement, a detailed exchange of views took place on the "prevailing tensions between Iran and Israel, with both leaders emphasizing the importance of the resolution of the conflict." Trump, meanwhile, was supposed to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-7 summit in Canada. Trump returned to Washington early for a Situation Room meeting on the Israel-Iran war. A week before Trump announced the U.S. strikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, the president said in a social media post that Israel and Iran should and will make a deal, "just like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!" An Israeli official previously made the distinction to Fox News Digital, however, that the goal of the Ayatollah and the Muslim Brotherhood is not trade with the United States, but rather the "destruction" of America and Israel. The same official advocated for a regime change in Iran – something Trump said is not the objective of the United States. Trump on Friday had lamented on TRUTH Social that he would not get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the war between India and Pakistan, the war between Serbia and Kosovo or for "keeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia." "No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me!" Trump said.
