Iran threatens attack on US bases in response to nuclear site strikes
[Editor's Note: Follow our live blog for real-time updates on the latest developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.]
Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear.
With aerial assaults between Iran and Israel raging — including fresh strikes by Israel on what it said were military targets in Iran — the US State Department issued a worldwide caution alert for its citizens traveling or living abroad.
International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month.
Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
"Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces," he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency.
"America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences."
In a sign of possible nervousness about a wider war, oil prices jumped by more than four per cent at one point in early trading in Asia.
President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment sit e at Fordow, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
"We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)" he said on social media.
And while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea — even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention.
"It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!"
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing earlier that Iran's nuclear program had been "devastated", adding the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people".
Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that while it would be "way too early" for him to determine the level of destruction, "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said his country's military strikes will "finish" once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved.
"We are very, very close to completing them," he told reporters.
Tehran protests
As Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would "receive a response" to the attacks.
People gathered Sunday in central Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans.
In the province of Semnan east of the capital, 46-year-old housewife Samireh told AFP she was "truly shocked" by the strikes.
"Semnan province is very far from the nuclear facilities targeted, but I'm very concerned for the people who live near," she said.
In an address to the nation hours after the attack, Trump claimed success for the operation, and Vice President JD Vance followed up Sunday morning.
"We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night," Vance told ABC.
But he also suggested Iran still had its highly enriched uranium.
"We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel," he said. "They no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium."
Another Khamenei advisor, Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that "even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain."
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordow facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground damage.
Retaliation risk
The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers that flew 18 hours from the American mainland to Iran.
In response to the attack, which used over a dozen massive "bunker buster" bombs, Iran's armed forces targeted sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, with at least 23 people wounded.
Nine members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed Sunday in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported, while three people were killed after an ambulance was also struck.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people so far, Iran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US strikes and called for de-escalation, while France, Germany and Britain called on Tehran "not to take any further action that could destabilise the region".
Late Sunday the US State Department issued a "worldwide caution" for Americans, saying the conflict in the Middle East could put those traveling or living abroad at an increased security risk.
"There is the potential for demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad," the security alert said. "The Department of State advises US citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
UAE's Gargash slams Israeli minister's call for Gulf to fund war on Iran
Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, on Monday slammed a call from the ultra-right Israeli Finance Minister for Gulf funding for Israel's war on Iran. "The audacity of Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has reached the point of calling for Gulf (and German, French, and British) funding for Israel's war on Iran," he said in a post on X. The UAE, as well as other Gulf states, have condemned Israeli strikes on Iran that began last week. "Such a proposal is nothing but moral bankruptcy from an extremist who fails to grasp the consequences of escalation," Mr Gargash said.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Crater in the church and burnt bodies: survivors' harrowing testimonies of Damascus terrorist attack
The interior of Mar Elias Church in Dweila, a poor Christian neighbourhood of Damascus, lies in ruins. Religious icons have been knocked to the ground, a mix of blood and ash covers the floor, and prayer benches are shattered. At the entrance, a small but deep crater marks the site of a powerful explosion. Moments earlier, about 6.40pm, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest during Sunday Mass, after opening fire on worshippers gathered outside in the first major terrorist attack since the removal of Bashar Al Assad in December. The terrorist attack killed at least 20 people and wounded 52. Blood is everywhere, on the walls, on survivors' shirts, pooled on the ground, seeping down the steps leading to the church. Even the air is thick with its overwhelming smell. Chaos and panic gripped the area for hours after the attack, as ambulances rushed to the scene and civil defence teams searched for human remains inside the church. We brought five people to the hospital. They were burnt, completely burnt. The explosion was strong. It opened a crater in the church Nicolas Tadros, church bombing survivor Doctors at Mujtahed Hospital, Damascus's largest medical centre, told The National that ambulances brought in two bags of unidentified remains. Witnesses told The National at the scene of the blast that at least one suicide bomber opened fire outside the church before detonating an explosive vest inside, and that there was a second gunman who did not blow himself up. 'One of them ran away, the other didn't. There were two gunmen,' Nicolas Tadros, a survivor, said a few moments after the attack at the scene. 'We brought five people to the hospital. They were burnt, completely burnt. The explosion was strong. It opened a crater in the church. The explosion … it wasn't normal. But may God be with us,' he added. Malatios Shtayeh, a priest who was at the Mass, said he first heard gunfire outside the church and had a different version of events. 'After the gunfire outside stopped, we started hearing gunfire inside the church about two minutes later,' he told The National. 'Then two people entered with explosive vests strapped to their chests, and blew themselves up.' Death toll rises The Ministry of Health told state media that at least 20 people were killed and 52 wounded in an updated toll. 'A suicide bomber affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS entered Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of the capital, Damascus, where he opened fire before detonating himself with an explosive vest,' state media reported. There was swift condemnation from outside Syria. The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered condolences and expressed 'strong condemnation of these criminal acts', state news agency Wam reported. The UN's special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, expressed outrage at what he called a 'heinous crime'. Tom Barrack, a Syria envoy for US President Donald Trump, said 'these terrible acts of cowardice have no place in the new tapestry of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians are weaving. The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in years and comes as Damascus is trying to win the support of minorities. As President Ahmad Al Shara tries to exert authority, his government has been carrying out anti-ISIS raids throughout the country since taking power. Still, many among minority groups have expressed distrust towards the new Syrian government, led by former members of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, due to its extremist roots. In a country fractured by 14 years of civil war and haunted by simmering sectarian tension, the church attack has ignited fear and anger in the Christian community. 'Our state didn't protect us' 'We've never been used to asking for protection from anyone. We've always lived under the protection of God. But we are citizens of this country, and it is the duty of the state to protect us. This is not a privilege the state grants us: it is its responsibility,' Father Shtayeh said. 'But unfortunately, in the face of these so-called individual acts, our state didn't protect us. It didn't protect our country,' he added. The anger was further fuelled as some suggestions at the scene that the attack may have been carried out by remnants of the Assad regime, who launched an insurgency in March. Damascus Governor Maher Marwan, speaking at the site of the blast, denounced 'remnants of the regime' and their 'destructive hand in the region'. 'It's an attack against Christian," said Bassem, an employee at the church. "You see it with your own eyes, it's an suicide attack, it's clear. Since the beginning we were afraid that this might happen." Many say they no longer feel safe. But they cannot afford to go anywhere else. Dweila is a marginalised neighbourhood in Damascus. 'I was born here in Dweila, I will never feel safe again, but where could I go?' asked Hanna Naqoula, waiting at the hospital for his 15-year-old son who was badly injured in the attack.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Iran will consult with Russia on next steps, Araghchi says
'Punishment will continue': Iran's Khamenei delivers first remarks since US bombings Trump says damage to Iran nuclear sites 'monumental' US urges China to deter Iran closing Strait of Hormuz UN Secretary General warns against 'rat hole of retaliation' US State Department issues 'worldwide caution' travel alert
