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A general view of Parliamentary session in Tehran, Iran. [Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency]
The Iranian parliament has approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz to naval traffic following US strikes on three nuclear facilities, a senior lawmaker said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.
“The parliament has reached the conclusion that the Strait of Hormuz should be closed,” Major General Esmaeil Kowsari, a member of the parliament’s National Security Commission, said in statements carried by the state-run Press TV.
The Strait of Hormuz is considered the world’s most important gateway for oil transport.
“The final decision in this regard lies with the Supreme National Security Council,” Kowsari added.
The Supreme National Security Council serves as Iran’s highest security authority.
US President Donald Trump said early Sunday that his forces bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The attacks came as the latest escalation in a US-backed Israeli military assault on Iran since June 13, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.
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.
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
“We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged into another Middle East war based on lies.”
While a number of statements by members of Congress in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities focused largely on the fact that the White House acted without congressional authorization—a constitutional violation—U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed anger over another aspect of the unilateral military action: the “lies” that the Trump administration is telling the public to justify the bombing.
The White House’s act of war against Iran, said the Vermont independent senator, was just the latest in a long line of military boondoggles that followed lies powerful politicians told about the threats posed by foreign countries—before taking action that ultimately killed millions of people while doing nothing to protect U.S. security.
“In the 1960s the United States government lied to the American people and took us into a terrible war in Vietnam,” said Sanders. “The result of that war was that over 58,000 young Americans died and many more came back wounded both in mind and in spirit. Millions of Vietnamese were also killed.”
Decades later, Americans were told by then-President George W. Bush that the U.S. must act quickly to stop Iraq from building “weapons of mass destruction”—with U.S. officials following the guidance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The United States invaded Iraq and became embroiled in a long civil war there. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. That war was based on a lie—a lie which cost us 4,492 young Americans, 32,000 wounded, over half a million Iraqis and trillions of dollars,” said Sanders.
“The American people are being lied to again today,” he added. “We cannot allow history to repeat itself.”
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran is not attempting to build a nuclear weapon with its enriched uranium stockpile, backing up repeated statements from Iranian officials who have said the country’s nuclear program is used only for peaceful civilian purposes.
Sanders’ statement came several hours after he learned while speaking at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma that Trump had bombed Iran, authorizing strikes on three nuclear facilities, which Iranian officials condemned as a violation of international law.
At the rally, supporters erupted in a chant of “No more war!” after Sanders read Trump’s statement on the attack.
I learned about Trump’s unconstitutional attack on Iran at a large rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here is the response: pic.twitter.com/eziVpp3Y54
The spontaneous display of outrage over the latest U.S. attack on the Middle East underscored the reality of the moment, said The Nation writer Jeet Heer, as one poll released Thursday showed that just 8% of Americans favored the U.S. becoming directly involved in Israel’s attacks on Iran that began earlier this month.
“There is only one off-ramp from Trump’s mad rush to war: the quick mobilization of an anti-war opposition,” said Heer. “The people are ready.”
3. In 2003, Bush/Cheney actually had a very sophisticated public relations campaign that won over large segments of the establishment (NY Times, New Yorker published WMD lies) and Dem party (half of congressional Dems, including Biden & Clinton, voted for war). Trump hasn't…
As the Trump administration boasted about the “severe damage” the strikes had done to Iran’s nuclear program, progressive strategist Waleed Shahid called on Democratic lawmakers to tap into voters’ palpable outrage—not about Trump’s failure to seek congressional authorization for the strikes, but about the fact that the U.S. is pursuing a war in Iran at all while repeating Netanyahu’s unsubstantiated claims about the Iranians’ ability to produce a nuclear bomb.
“No one ever won a fight yelling, ‘Congressional authorization.’ Voters need clarity amid the chaos,” said Shahid. “Lead with this: No more blank checks for corrupt and endless foreign wars, we’re here to focus on fighting for working Americans.”
“The U.S. faces enormous problems here at home, which we must address,” said Sanders. “We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged into another Middle East war based on lies.”
