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Maxar Satellite Imagery provides an overhead view of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility in Iran. [Getty Images]
US strikes on Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility “severely damaged” but did not destroy the underground complex, a senior American official told the New York Times on Sunday, Anadolu reports.
The official, speaking anonymously, acknowledged that B-2 stealth bomber attacks using bunker-buster bombs failed to eliminate the “heavily fortified” facility despite causing significant damage.
The US deployed six bunker-buster bombs against Fordo using B-2 bombers, while submarine-launched cruise missiles targeted Natanz and Isfahan facilities, amid escalating regional tensions.
US President Donald Trump announced that American forces conducted “very successful” strikes on the Iranian nuclear sites.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the operations as an “incredible and overwhelming success,” claiming the US has “devastated the Iranian nuclear program.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said over 125 American aircraft participated in the mission, including stealth bombers, fighter jets, refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and surveillance aircraft.
Hostilities broke out on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.
Meanwhile, in Iran, 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a speech in Istanbul, Turkiye, on June 22, 2025. [Elif Öztürk – Anadolu Agency]
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, during a press conference in Istanbul on Sunday, said the US has “crossed every red line” with the latest attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, warning that diplomacy may no longer be possible, Anadolu reports.
The recent US strikes on Iran are an “outrageous, grave, and unprecedented violation of fundamental principles of the Charter of the UN and international law,” Araghchi said.
“Iran condemns in the strongest terms the US’ brutal military aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities,” Araghchi noted.
Araghchi stressed that Iran continues to defend its territory and sovereignty by all means against not just “US military aggression,” but also “Israel’s unlawful actions.”
The Iranian foreign minister underlined that calls for a return to diplomacy are “irrelevant,” as talks were already ongoing when the US attacks happened.
“We were in the middle of talks with the US when Israelis blew it up. And again, we were in the middle of talks, and negotiations with Europeans happened only two days ago in Geneva. This time, Americans decided to blow it up,” he said.
“It’s very unfortunate that Israel is doing — as the German chancellor called — a dirty job. … They supported that dirty job, it’s a shame,” Araghchi noted.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) cannot protect Iran despite its full commitment, Araghchi stressed, asking: “Why countries pursuing peaceful nuclear energy should rely on the treaty?”
Araghchi said he will travel to Moscow Sunday afternoon, and meet with Russian President Putin on Monday to discuss the latest situation after the recent US attacks.
Asked if Tehran will retaliate at US bases or close the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi said: “There are variety of options available to us, and that’s it.”
“The world must not forget that it was the US which, amid a process to forge a diplomatic outcome, betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime’s launch of an illegal war of aggression on the Iranian nation,” he said.
The US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities threatens global peace, the top Iranian diplomat said.
“These strikes have severely undermined the international system and created serious problems in the region,” he added.
“We continue to defend our country in a heroic manner,” he said.
“Our armed forces are ready; our people, with a high level of self-confidence and a high level of motivation, are ready to defend themselves.”
Tensions in the region further escalated after US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that American forces carried out “very successful” airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan, amid growing fears of a broader conflict.
The US targeted Iran’s nuclear sites with six bunker-buster bombs dropped on the Fordo facility with B-2 stealth bombers, along with dozens of submarine-launched cruise missile strikes on the Natanz and Isfahan facilities.
Following the US strikes, Iran called on the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to condemn the attacks and hold accountable those who violate international law.
Hostilities broke out on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since then.
Meanwhile, in Iran, 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
The Earth could be doomed to breach the symbolic 1.5C warming limit in as little as three years at current levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
That’s the stark warning from more than 60 of the world’s leading climate scientists in the most up-to-date assessment of the state of global warming.
Nearly 200 countries agreed to try to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C above levels of the late 1800s in a landmark agreement in 2015, with the aim of avoiding some of the worst impacts of climate change.
But countries have continued to burn record amounts of coal, oil and gas and chop down carbon-rich forests – leaving that international goal in peril.
“Things are all moving in the wrong direction,” said lead author Prof Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds.
“We’re seeing some unprecedented changes and we’re also seeing the heating of the Earth and sea-level rise accelerating as well.”
These changes “have been predicted for some time and we can directly place them back to the very high level of emissions”, he added.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Britain has a key role in the F-35 supply chain. (Montage: Calvin Bone)
[Declassifieduk.org] Exclusive: As Israel uses F-35 fighter jets to bomb Iran and Gaza, we reveal parts for these warplanes were transported via London last month.
Fighter jet components were transported via London Stansted airport to Israel last month, shipping documents seen by Declassified and The Ditch indicate.
The documents show how parts were shipped from the US by Lockheed Martin, an arms giant and the prime contractor in the F-35 fighter jet programme.
They passed through London Stansted Airport between 21 and 27 May before being sent on to “F-35 Israel Site Base 28” in Nevatim airbase, which houses Israel’s squadrons of fighter jets.
…
The UK government suspended direct exports of F-35 parts to Israel last year but claimed it was not able to stop UK-made components being sent to Israel via third countries.
British ministers have said that stopping all F-35 exports would endanger “international peace and security” and suggested that Israel needs the advanced aircraft to “defend” itself against Iran.
Britain’s trade department further claimed it was not possible to track UK-made parts once they had entered global spares pools and stop them from being exported to Israel.
But the documents obtained by Declassified and The Ditch suggest it is possible to track shipments of F-35 components to Israel – including those passing through UK territory.
They further indicate how Britain continues to facilitate the F-35 supply chain to Israel even after the September arms restrictions, a finding which could implicate ministers in war crimes.
Jeremy Corbyn MP told Declassified: “Every day, we learn more and more about the true depths of UK complicity in war crimes.
“We must never lose sight of the fact that human beings are being torn apart and killed by F-35 jets – human beings who deserve to live a full life of happiness and peace like anyone else.
“The government is doing everything it can to avoid a full, independent, public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza. This damning revelation helps to explain why. Momentum is shifting – we will expose the truth, and we will bring about justice for the Palestinian people”.
UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
