US-Iran latest: Trump says Iranian nuclear facilities were ‘completely and totally obliterated' in bombing as he speaks after strikes
President Donald Trump announced that U.S. warplanes struck three nuclear facility sites in Iran, hours after it was revealed that bunker-busting bomber planes had been flown across the Pacific as Israel and Iran exchanged strikes throughout Saturday.
At about 8 p.m. ET, Trump put out a message on his Truth Social website saying that 'very successful' strikes had been carried out on the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.
'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,' Trump said in a brief address on Saturday evening.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would announce whether the U.S. would join Israel 's campaign against Iran 'within two weeks'. The issue has caused deep ruptures in his MAGA movement, with some urging him to knock out Tehran 's nuclear program, and others campaigning to keep the U.S. out of another Middle East conflict.
Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, saying it was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is only for peaceful purposes.
Since then, at least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, in the worst conflict in history between the two nations.
Iran says it has right to resist US with full force
Iran's foreign ministry has said it has the 'right to resist with all its might' against the US.
'Silence in the face of this blatant aggression exposes the world to an unprecedented and pervasive danger,' the ministry said.
It added that the world 'must not forget US started war against Iran in the midst of diplomatic process,' referring to talks regarding Iran's nuclear programme.
Last week, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with his British counterpart David Lammy, along with European foreign ministers from France, Germany, and the EU in Geneva.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 07:22
11 injured after Iranian missile strikes in Israel
Eleven people in Israel have been injured following a series of missile attacks launched by Iran, according to emergency services.
One victim suffered shrapnel wounds, while the other 10 were 'lightly hurt,' Al Jazeera reported, citing the Magen David Adom national emergency service.
The strikes caused severe damage in Tel Aviv, with several two-story residential buildings heavily damaged or collapsing, emergency responders said.
'This is a large-scale destruction site. Several two-story residential buildings were severely damaged, and some collapsed,' Magen David Adom is quoted as having said by CNN.
Emergency crews, police, and bomb disposal units are actively responding to multiple impact sites across the country, including in the northern city of Haifa.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that search and rescue operations are ongoing at various locations after at least 10 missile impacts were reported.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 07:00
Airlines reroute flights as Middle East airspace remains restricted
Airlines continued to reroute flights on Sunday to avoid large parts of Middle Eastern airspace following US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
According to flight tracking service FlightRadar24, commercial traffic is operating under restrictions implemented last week, with no flights over Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Israel. Airlines are instead choosing longer routes via the Caspian Sea or through Egypt and Saudi Arabia, despite higher costs and extended travel times.
Israel's airspace remains closed, and its two main carriers, El Al and Arkia, suspended rescue and scheduled flights on Sunday.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 06:50
At least 39 missiles fired at Israel in two waves
Israeli teams were on the site of at least one strike in Tel Aviv. It is not clear whether it was caused by debris from a downed missile or from a missile strike itself.
At least 39 missiles were fired at Israel, understood to have come in two waves.
Sam Kiley22 June 2025 06:40
IAEA reports no radiation spike after US strikes
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that there was 'no increase in off-site radiation levels' following US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 06:30
Israeli media report multiple hits from Iranian missile barrage
Israeli media are reporting several impacts across the country following the latest missile barrage launched from Iran.
According to Israel's state broadcaster Kan, at least 10 missiles struck locations inside Israel.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 06:21
Iran calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations has requested an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday in response to what he described as 'heinous attacks and illegal use of force' by the US.
Amir Saeid Iravani said the Council must 'take all necessary measures' to hold the US accountable under international law and the UN Charter, in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.
'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,' he wrote.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 06:10
Sirens and blasts heard in Tel Aviv
There are sirens in Tel Aviv and at least five audible blasts as Iran retaliated for the US bombardment of its nuclear facilities over night.
The US attacks came as a relief for many Israelis who feared 'we are in danger of getting stuck in a war without end,' as one senior officer in the IDF put it.
But a wider retaliation against US forces around the Middle East is also anticipated. Military experts in the IDF have assessed that Iran has the capacity to fire at least 29 ballistic missiles a day indefinitely, which could trap Israel and America in a ' forever war'.
Sam Kiley22 June 2025 05:55
Trump bombs Iranian nuclear facilities in major escalation. What happens next?
President Donald Trump has claimed to have 'completely, totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear program in a series of missile strikes and bombings, marking explicit US intervention into Israel's war that risks a wider international crisis.
The world braces for retaliatory strikes while the US risks the prospect of serious blowback, writes Alex Woodward.
What happens now that Trump has bombed Iran?
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 05:50
Iran warns of consequences after US strike on nuclear sites
Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi condemned the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as 'outrageous ' and warned of 'everlasting consequences'.
In a post on X, he wrote: 'The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations.
'The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.'
Citing the UN Charter's provisions on self-defence, he added that Iran 'reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people'.
Shahana Yasmin22 June 2025 05:40
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Netanyahu sees lifelong dream coming true as Iranian beast reels
For Benjamin Netanyahu the bombing of Fordow and the destruction of Iran's nuclear programme marks the best part of a life's work – and a promise kept to Israel. That it was US bombers that finished the job will make not a jot of difference. Iran's theocratic regime has been Bibi's obsession for the best part of four decades and few will see the destruction of its nuclear sites as anyone else's victory but his own. A week last Friday, he took care to remind people of this when Israel launched its first strikes against Iran. 'If I may, on a personal level, I've been watching this threat for over 40 years,' he told the nation. 'In 1982, I wrote in one of my books – that's three years, only three years, after the establishment of the regime of the ayatollahs – that the biggest threat faced by humanity and by us, our state, will be the terror regime of the ayatollahs.' On Sunday morning, on the international stage, he was busy praising the American effort ('Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history'). But the Israeli prime minister was bigging up the president safe in the knowledge that, at home, it was his name - not Trump's - that was being mentioned second only to God's. 'This morning, the world is a better and safer world,' said Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's messianic finance minister. 'Thank you to the Lord of the Universe. Thank you to Prime Minister Netanyahu … [oh, and] Thank you to President Trump'. Most Israelis only got the news when air raid sirens sounded at 7.30am and they got to the bomb shelters. In mine in central Tel Aviv, there was no outward celebration but relieved smiles broke across most peoples faces as they lit up their phones. Over the past week, there has been real anxiety here that Trump would chicken out and leave Israel to hang. The two week timeline set a few days ago by the president was widely seen as opening the door to a climb down. That mood has shifted dramatically. 'For me the biggest message this sends is that no one f---s with us,' a young South African Israeli told me after the blast doors opened. Where things go from here is anyone's guess but, make no mistake, Netanyahu, the ultimate political operator, has plans. His generals have been very careful over the last few days to stress in their morning briefings that the existential threat Iran poses to Israel is, not singular, but three pronged: nuclear, ballistic missiles and Oct 7 style terrorism. Yet elections loom in Israel (they must be held by Oct 2026 at the latest) and as the polls stood the day before the strike, Netanyahu was still trailing. He will no doubt aim to exploit the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities to boost his prospects but - as happened to Winston Churchill after the Second World War - Israel may yet choose a different leader to build the peace, if indeed peace comes. How this would be taken by Netanyahu is not clear. Churchill turned to writing, painting and bricklaying but Bibi is a very different animal and has corruption charges against him to contend with, not to mention alleged war crimes. One Israeli commentator recently wrote that he 'he sees himself as a type of white knight fighting against the Iranian monster in order to save humankind'. His father was a famous Israeli historian known for his revisionism and Netanyahu is said to have been shaped by him. If he is remembered for slaying the Iranian beast, one suspects he will ultimately retire satisfied, no matter what else he faces.
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