Russia warns US strikes on Iran opened ‘Pandora's box,' suggests world could be on verge of nuclear disaster
Russia ominously suggested that the US opened a 'Pandora's box' by bombing three nuclear facilities in Iran — warning that 'the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.'
'Through their actions, the U.S. has opened a Pandora's box,' Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said at an emergency meeting on Sunday.
3 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia on June 23, 2025.
via REUTERS
'No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring,' Nebenzia said as Russia offered to mediate a solution to the conflict.
'Unless we stop the escalation,' Nebenzia warned, 'the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large-scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.'
President Trump announced Saturday the military had carried out historic airstrikes against Iran days after Israel initiated extensive attacks on Iran's nuclear infrastructure and military — marking the first-ever US strike on Iranian territory.
3 President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation alongside Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2025
REUTERS
3 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia on June 23, 2025.
via REUTERS
The US attacked Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan facilities with 30 Tomahawk missiles launched by US submarines.
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27 minutes ago
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Trump says Iran's nuclear sites were 'obliterated.' Were they?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his defense chief say American warplanes completely "obliterated" Iran's three major nuclear complexes at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan using bunker-busting bombs that have the ability to penetrate underground targets. While that may be the case, there has so far been no independent assessment of that assertion from nuclear watchdogs, international officials or others with direct information of the situation on the ground. And other U.S. officials have not used such definitive rhetoric. "Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine told reporters a day after the strikes on June 22. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the main agency that assesses the scale and evolution of Iran's nuclear program, said hostilities would need to cease for it to resume inspections. The organization, housed within the United Nations, said it would hold an emergency meeting June 23. It was not entirely clear what evidence or intelligence Trump was relying on when he told the world that Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity had been destroyed. He also disputed twice-disputed intelligence community findings before the strike that Iran was not close to producing a nuclear weapon. "Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a late-night June 21 address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." Hegseth used similar rhetoric at a morning news conference, saying that thanks to Trump's leadership, "Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated." But a battle damage assessment is ongoing, Hegseth acknowledged during in the briefing. He noted it was the Pentagon's "initial assessment" its precision munitions had the desired effect. "Especially in Fordow, which was the primary target here. We believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there," Hegseth told reporters. Caine was more cautious. "It would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there," he said when asked about Iran's remaining nuclear capabilities during the same news conference. Live updates: US warns of 'heightened threat environment' after strikes on Iran nukes It was a "responsible" comment from Caine, said Simone Ledeen, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in Trump's first administration. Whether the Iranian nuclear program was set back a decade or decades and whether there is no more nuclear program period "really needs to be determined by a systematic battle damage assessment," she said. Yet, given what the president and secretary of defense know of the bombs that were dropped and where, Ledeen added, "I don't think it's far-fetched for them to say that these sites were destroyed." Democratic lawmakers on committees that oversee the military, intelligence community and foreign policy apparatus are pushing for classified briefings to help them reach their own conclusions. "There is a lot we still don't know and we need an accurate, factual damage assessment," Senate Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, said in a statement. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jeanne Shaheen also said in a statement, "We are still waiting to understand the extent to which that action has deterred Iran's nuclear threat." "President Trump must now de-escalate tensions with Iran and immediately brief Congress," the New Hampshire Democrat said. Vice President JD Vance did not specify the extent of the damage to Iran's sites as he made a round of television interviews the morning after the strike. "But we know that we've set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night," Vance said on ABC News' "This Week" program. "Whether it's years or beyond that, we know it's going to be a very long time before Iran can even build a nuclear weapon if they want to." Iran's IRIB state broadcaster claimed its stockpiles of enriched uranium were "evacuated" from all threes sites prior to the U.S. strikes, another assertion not independently verified. Russian Security Council deputy chairman of Dmitry Medvedev also said Iran's critical nuclear infrastructure appeared to be unaffected or to have sustained only minor damage. "The enrichment of nuclear material – and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons – will continue," Medvedev said in a social media thread. "A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads." Russia is an ally of Tehran's, and Medvedev is a previous Russian president. Israeli forces could try to enter Iran's nuclear sites in a sensitive operation and make a determination for itself and the United States, said Ledeen, the first-term Trump defense official. But an official assessment will have to be conducted by the IAEA, which says it can not go in until the conflict ends, for the international community to accept it. "I hope it is the end, so IAEA can get their inspectors in there sooner rather than later," Ledeen said. "You also don't want loose material getting into the wrong hands." Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says Iran's nuclear sites were 'obliterated.' Were they?
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says he's open to regime change in Iran; Vance, Rubio say that's not the goal
Just hours after Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States did not want 'regime change' in Iran, President Donald Trump said that might be a desired outcome. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on June 22 as Mideast tensions continued to escalate the day after the U.S. military bombed three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump's post signaling an openness to new leadership in Tehran followed his vice president and secretary of State appearing on the Sunday morning talk shows arguing the U.S. focus was not at launching a war with Iran. "We don't want a regime change," Vance told NBC's Meet the Press. "We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here." During an interview with CBS's Face the Nation, Rubio said the U.S. had a very specific mission in mind to take out Iranian nuclear facilities and that the onus is now on Tehran showing an interest in diplomacy. 'There are a lot of regimes around the world that we don't like, okay?,' Rubio said. 'But in this particular case, what we are focused on is not the changing of the regime.' Five days before ordering the U.S. airstrikes, Trump on June 16 threatened Iran's supreme leader on social media and followed up a short while later with another two-word post: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" In his remarks from the White House announcing the U.S. bombing operation on June 21, Trump said he wanted to 'stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.' 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,' Trump said. 'For 40 years, Iran has been saying, "Death to America, Death to Israel." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he's open to regime change in Iran
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What is Iran's next move? World awaits response to U.S. bombing: Live updates
Tensions heightened Monday over possible payback by Tehran against the U.S. or its allies after strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities amid fears that the Mideast conflict could spiral into a wider war. Israel stepped up airstrikes on Iran on Monday, hitting several locations the Israeli defense minister described as "regime targets" in Tehran, including the notorious Evin Prison and the internal security headquarters of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Israel military said it struck several airports and access routes near Iran's Fordow enrichment site, which the U.S. bombed on Sunday. Across Israel, sirens sounded as people took to shelters amid reports of Iranian missile launches, including one that struck an electrical facility in southern Israel and caused power disruptions, Israeli media reported. The U.S. remained on alert with its 40,000 troops in the region two days after President Donald Trump ordered the bombing of Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility deep inside a remote mountain in Iran, and facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. Many world leaders − including those from the UK, France and Germany − called for restraint and a return to the diplomatic table. And protesters in some U.S. cities such as the nation's capital and New York took to the streets to voice ardent opposition to intervention in Iran. The extent of the damage to the Iran nuclear sites remains a question mark since there has so far been no independent assessment. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the main agency that assesses Iran's nuclear program, was holding an emergency meeting Monday. Developments: ∎ Trump is set to meet with his national security team at 1 p.m., according to his public schedule. The meeting comes after the president raised the prospect of an Iranian "regime change" in a statement on his social media platform Truth Social. ∎ Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Iran's foreign minister in Moscow and told him there was no justification for the U.S. bombing of Iran, which he described as "unprovoked aggression," according to the Kremlin. Putin added that Moscow is making efforts to assist the Iranian people. ∎ Iranian official Ebrahim Zolfaqari warned that the U.S. should expect severe consequences. "Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it," Zolfaqari said in English in a video shared Monday. Trump on Monday urged 'everyone' to 'keep oil prices down' after U.S. airstrikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. 'EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I'M WATCHING! YOU'RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON'T DO IT!' he wrote in a Truth Social post. It wasn't clear who he was referring to in the post. In a follow-up Truth Social post, Trump urged the Department of Energy to 'DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!' − Sudiksha Kochi and Savannah Kuchar When asked about Trump's recent musings on regime change in Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that the administration and the U.S. military posture has not changed from its stated goal of taking out Iran's nuclear capabilities. "The president was just simply raising a question that I think many people around the world are asking," she said, adding that if Iran's government "refuse(s) to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn't the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime?' She also told Fox News that Trump "believes the Iranian people can control their own destiny" − including by potentially topping of the country's leadership. U.S. stocks opened with little change as the world waits to see whether Iran retaliates after a surprise U.S. strike on Iran over the weekend. At 9:33 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow dipped 0.21%; the broad S&P 500 shed 0.13%; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.52%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.342%. Investors are worried how MIdeast turmoil could affect the economy, oil prices, inflation and interest rates. Oil prices initially rose to a five-month high but pared gains. They were last up 0.16% to $73.96 per barrel. − Medora Lee Leavitt said Iran was an 'imminent threat' and that the U.S. strikes "took away Iran's ability to create a nuclear bomb." "They no longer have the capability to build this nuclear weapon and threaten the world," Leavitt said in an interview on ABC News. Her statement comes amid questions around the success of the strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear sites. While Trump and his administration remain adamant that the strikes caused "monumental damage," no independent assessment of the facilities has taken place. The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued an alert on its website warning American citizens to "shelter in place until further notice." It's unclear what exactly triggered the alert, though it comes amid high tensions in the region after the U.S. bombed several nuclear facilities in Iran. On Sunday, the State Department released an advisory urging U.S. citizens worldwide to "exercise increased caution" as the conflict between Israel and Iran continued to escalate. Qatar's foreign ministry in a statement on Monday said recent advisories issued by embassies "do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific threats." The statement added the the security situation in Qatar is "stable." Iran's parliament voted Sunday in support of closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route that carries an estimated 20% of the world's oil and gas. The decision to close the strait ultimately belongs to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which has yet to officially weigh in. Leavitt said the Iranian regime would be 'foolish' to close the strait when asked whether the Trump administration would release more oil to dampen potential price hikes. 'I can assure you the administration is actively and closely monitoring the situation in the Strait of Hormuz,' Leavitt told ABC News. 'The Iranian regime would be foolish to make that decision.' − Savannah Kuchar and Bart Jansen Trump is set to meet with his national security team at 1 p.m., according to his public schedule, as tensions in the Middle East grow after the president ordered a trio of strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday. In a post on his social media platform, Trump raised the prospect of regime change while officials in his administration said they were seeking to resume negotiations talks with Iran. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" Trump wrote. Following the latest round of Israeli missile strikes on Tehran, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said electricity was cut off in several city districts and that the situation at Evin Prison is "under control." The judiciary said on of the strikes in northern Tehran hit one of the main lines supplying the area, resulting in power outages. The notorious Evin Prison was built in 1971 and has housed political prisoners, Westerners and journalists used as bargaining chips by Iran. It has previously been targeted by sanctions, and human rights groups have long condemned the treatment of prisoners there. U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said he expects that U.S. bombing on Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment site caused "very significant damage," but he added that the extent of any damage remains unclear as the International Atomic Energy Agency has not been able to carry out an inspection. "Given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred," Grossi said in a statement Monday to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow that aggression against Iran was groundless. Putin made the comments at the start of Kremlin talks and said Russia, which has condemned the U.S. strikes, was ready to help the Iranian people. Iran and its hard-line supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are almost certainly going to strike back in response to historic U.S. military strikes on three of its suspected nuclear facilities. But if history is any guide, that response could happen at any time − and anywhere, and in any form, former U.S. intelligence officials and diplomatic experts say. 'Missiles, militias and acts of hostage-taking – that's their go-to' range of options, the Biden administration coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, said on CNN June 21. 'I suspect Iran will have to do something.' Read more here. −Josh Meyer The U.S. used more than a dozen multimillion-dollar, 30,000-pound "bunker busters" to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities in the strike, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, marking the weapon's first operational use, according to the Pentagon. U.S. bomber planes dropped 14 of the massive bombs on three of Iran's nuclear facilities, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said. The bombs used in the strikes, called Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, weigh 30,000 pounds each and cost millions to produce. MOPs, also known as the Guided Bomb Unit, or GBU-57, are GPS-guided weapons designed to burrow deep into underground targets, such as fortified tunnels or bunkers. The bombs are about 20 feet long and span 6 feet at their widest point. Read more here. − Cybele Mayes-Osterman Some lawmakers, including hard-line conservatives and key progressives, are calling the U.S. strikes a breach of the Constitution,. "The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, posted on X. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, responded to Trump's social media assessment of the attack with the statement: "This is not Constitutional." The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action. The law also limits the deployment of armed forces beyond 90 days in the absence of a formal declaration of war. − Savannah Kuchar Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it began bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. Israel said it helped the U.S. coordinate and plan the strikes. Trump said all three sites were "totally obliterated." But an independent assessment has not yet been carried out. The International Atomic Energy Agency − the United Nation's nuclear watchdog − released a statement saying that so far it had not detected an increase in "off-site radiation levels," one of the feared consequences of the strikes. Vice President JD Vance insisted Sunday that the U.S. is not entering an open-ended conflict in the Middle East. 'We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program.' Vance said on NBC. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran-US live updates: What is Iran's next move after US bombing?
