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US on alert after nuke site strikes
US on alert after nuke site strikes
The world is watching to see whether Tehran responds to the U.S. military strikes as leaders urge Iran to negotiate.
Trump addresses the nation after US bombs nuclear sites in Iran
After a U.S. attack on three nuclear sites in Iran that President Trump called “very successful,” he addressed the nation from the Oval Office.
The United States went on high alert on June 22 over concerns of retaliation from Tehran after the bombing of three Iran nuclear sites a day earlier.
Major U.S. cities from New York to Los Angeles stepped up their security as the weekend came to a close. Government agencies issued warnings to U.S. citizens at home and abroad. And with Mideast tensions heightened, all eyes stayed glued to Iran and its response.
From the Department of Homeland Security came notice in the U.S. of a “heightened threat environment.” Hours later, the State Department blasted out a “worldwide caution security alert” advising U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased vigilance amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war.
U.S. officials have heaped praise on the military operation conducted June 21, saying U.S. bombers shattered Iran’s nuclear program in precision strikes − ones planned for weeks that involved 125 warplanes.
While Israel hailed the strikes, many world leaders urged speedy de-escalation over fears of a widening Mideast conflict. Some lawmakers in the U.S. − including key progressives and rigid conservatives − questioned President Donald Trump’s authority to launch the attack.
For his part, Trump wrote on social media that “regime change” may be needed in Iran just hours after Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was not aiming for a change in leadership in Tehran.
Japan called on June 23 for de-escalation of the conflict in Iran and said U.S. strikes demonstrated Washington’s determination to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Japan also said it was “extremely regrettable” the situation between Israel and Iran had escalated into a cycle of retaliation, according to Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
“Japan continues to strongly hope that the path to dialogue will be reopened by efforts toward a resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue through talks between the U.S. and Iran,” Iwaya said in a statement.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier this month condemned Israel’s military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, saying deployment for military use “cannot be absolutely condemned.”
When asked about the U.S. strike during a regular press conference, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the situation was different from Israel’s action against Iran on June 13.
“The U.S. government has been seriously pursuing dialogue, and that even after the exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran began, the U.S. has continued to call for dialogue with Iran,” Hayashi said.
Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and denies it intends to build nuclear weapons. – Reuters
Trump to meet with his national security team
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with his national security team in the Oval Office at 1 p.m. on June 23, according to the White House. The huddle will come two days after the U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear sites.
The president is set to travel on June 24 to The Hague for the annual NATO summit. – Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
‘Bullseye!!!’: Trump again says Iran’s nuclear sites have been ‘obliterated’
President Donald Trump doubled down on his assertion that Iranian nuclear sites had been obliterated by U.S. bombardments a day after the attacks amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war.
“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on June 22. “Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame.”
Experts have raised questions about the extent to which recent Israeli and U.S. strikes have thwarted Iran’s nuclear program. But that hasn’t given pause to Trump’s assessment of the damage.
“The biggest damage took place far below ground level,” wrote Trump. “Bullseye!!!” – Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Oil prices jumped on June 23, local time, to their highest since January as Washington’s weekend move to join Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities stoked supply worries.
Brent crude futures rose $1.88 or 2.44% at $78.89 a barrel as of 11:22 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced $1.87 or 2.53% at $75.71.
Both contracts jumped by more than 3% earlier in the session to $81.40 and $78.40, respectively, five-month highs, before giving up some gains.
The rise in prices came after President Donald Trump said he had “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites in strikes over the weekend, joining an Israeli assault in an escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself. – Reuters
State Department issues worldwide caution alert and travel advisory
The State Department issued a “worldwide caution security alert” advising U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased vigilance on June 22, amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war.
The department cited periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East and the potential for “demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.”
Travel advisories with threat levels ranging from levels 1 (exercise normal precautions) to 4 (do not travel) by country are listed in a searchable database online on the department’s website: Worldwide Caution – United States Department of State.
Portugal, for example, has been designated Level 1; France is Level 2 (exercise increased caution) and Lebanon is Level 4. – Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on June 23 that Canberra supported the United States strike on Iran and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.
“We support action that the U.S. has taken to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Wong said in a television interview.
In a series of interviews, Wong said the strike was a unilateral action by its security ally the United States, and Australia was joining calls from Britain and other countries for Iran to return to the negotiating table.
“We do not want to see escalation,” she told reporters in Canberra.
There are around 2,900 Australians in Iran and 1,300 in Iraq who are seeking to leave.
Australia closed its embassy in Tehran on June 20, after Wong spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Australia has suspended bus evacuations from Israel after the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but is making preparations for potential evacuations if air space in Israel re-opens, Wong said.
Australia said it has sent two defence planes to the Middle East in non-combat roles to assist civilian evacuations.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on June 22 he was examining the evidence surrounding Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called for a return to dialogue, Radio New Zealand reported. – Reuters
Several law enforcement agencies across the United States are deploying additional forces to protect potential targets from retaliatory attacks.
The New York Police Department, the nation’s largest police department, said it issued an advisory and deployed more resources hours after the June 21 attack.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across NYC and coordinating with our federal partners. We’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC,” the police department said.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass echoed a similar message regarding the city’s police department.
“There are no known credible threats at this time and out of an abundance of caution, LAPD is stepping up patrols near places of worship, community gathering spaces and other sensitive sites,” Bass said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant in protecting our communities.” – Terry Collins
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.
Trump congratulates B-2 pilots upon landing in Missouri
President Trump congratulated the group of B-2 Spirit stealth bomber pilots who returned to the U.S. after conducting airstrikes against three nuclear sites in Iran.
The B-2s departed from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri early on the morning of June 21 for the flight to Iran and returned in the early evening on June 22.
“The GREAT B-2 pilots have just landed, safely, in Missouri,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you for a job well done!!! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!”In an earlier version of the same post, Trump misspelled his own name, calling himself “Donakd.” as he congratulated the pilots.
– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
U.S. leaders said earlier on June 22 that they remain ready to defend the country from any retaliatory actions from Iran.
“Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice. We will defend ourselves. The safety of our service members and civilians remains our highest priority,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at a Pentagon briefing.
Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, has elevated force protection measures in the region, Caine said, “especially in Iraq, Syria and the Gulf.” There are about 40,000 U.S. troops in the region.
Investors are bracing for higher oil prices after the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend. Brent crude oil, which is the global benchmark, closed at $77 a barrel on June 20, up about 10% over the previous week as Iran and Israel traded attacks. That’s the highest since January.
Oil trading begins at 11 p.m. UK time on June 22, and prices are likely to jump at the open, but then stabilize relatively quickly until it becomes more clear that there is a sustained supply shock, said oil analyst Rachel Ziemba in an interview.
Iran produces less than 5% of the world’s oil supply, and almost all of that is exported to China illicitly, said Ziemba, who runs Ziemba Insights. Analysts are more concerned about the country’s ability to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, a possibility Ziemba calls “low probability, high risk.”
Still, energy investors will struggle to price in that risk, which could make oil prices more volatile over the coming days and weeks, she said.
− Andrea Riquier
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.
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 on June 23.
The IAEA did say June 22 that craters were visible at the Fordow site, Iran’s main location for enriching uranium But said: “At this time, no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordow.” Read more here.
− Francesca Chambers
The leaders of the UK, France and Germany said in a joint statement June 22 that they would continue their diplomatic efforts to try and defuse tensions and ensure conflict does not spread further. They urged Iran not to take any actions that would further destabilize the region and called for the country to negotiate to address concerns with the nuclear program.
“We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security,” the government heads of the three countries said.
The U.S. used more than a dozen multi-million-dollar, 30,000-pound “bunker busters” to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities in the strike, 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 told reporters.
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, like fortified tunnels or bunkers. The bombs are about 20 feet long and span 6 feet at their widest point.
While Israel has bunker-busters a fraction of its weight, only the MOP has the capability to destroy or severely damage Iran’s nuclear facilities, experts previously told USA TODAY.
The Iranian parliament backed a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S. strikes on the country, but the final decision will rest with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s Press TV reported June 22.
About 20% of global oil and gas flow through the strait, which lies between Oman and Iran, and its closure could mean rising fuel prices for American consumers. The strait is 21 miles at its narrowest point, and the shipping lane is 2 miles wide in either direction.
Asked whether Tehran would close Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi didn’t give a straight answer, saying: “A variety of options are available to Iran.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized any decision to block the narrow channel between Iran and Oman.
“That would be a suicidal move on their part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that,” Rubio said in an interview with CBS.
− Savannah Kuchar and Reuters
Trump’s ordered airstrikes have attracted criticism from both sides of the political aisle, and some lawmakers are charging that the president did not have the authority to call for the attack.
“Our framers did not believe in the old way that a king could order a nation to war,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “Instead, the framers gave the power to Congress so we would have a debate in front of all the American public whose sons’ and daughters’ lives could potentially be at risk.”
The Constitution puts the power to declare war in Congress’ hands, and the War Powers Resolution of 1973 mandates that the president notifies 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.
US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities met with mixed reactions
Lawmakers and world leaders are reacting to U.S. strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Kaine has introduced a resolution in the Senate seeking to block Trump’s actions in Iran. In the House, Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, have filed a similar measure based on the War Powers Act.
− Savannah Kuchar
Vice President JD Vance argued in interviews on June 22 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 told NBC’s Kristen Welker.
“We do not want war with Iran,” Vance added while on Meet The Press. “We actually want peace. But we want peace in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons program.”
Separately, on ABC, Vance described the strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran as “targeted.” The Pentagon’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facility employed its most powerful bunker-buster bomb as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from submarines, according to Pentagon officials.
Pentagon planners coordinated the attack with Israel to enter Iran’s airspace, said the official who had been briefed on the mission but was not authorized to speak publicly. B-2 bombers dropped GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, the first time they have been used in combat.
− Savannah Kuchar and Francesca Chambers
The U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, called Operation Midnight Hammer, differs in character, scope and destructive power from those that Trump ordered in his first administration.
Those missions included a missile attack in Syria to punish Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons, the raid to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the drone that killed Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian who led its Quds force.
The Iranian attacks on Saturday involved some of the most sophisticated weapons in the Pentagon’s arsenal and tapped into its commands overseeing operations from the Middle East to outer space, Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Sunday.
It took weeks to plan the Saturday attack, which involved 125 warplanes − including nearly one-third of its most sophisticated stealth bomber fleet – and submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The goal of the U.S. strikes on Iran was not to prompt a regime change, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during the news briefing on the morning of June 22.
“This mission was not, has not been about regime change,” Hegseth said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t denied that an Iran regime change is part of Israel’s military objectives, however.
“It could certainly be the result because the Iran regime is very weak,” Netanyahu said in an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report With Bret Baier” a week ago. “I think it’s basically left with two things. Its plans to have atomic bombs and ballistic missiles. That’s basically what Iran has. They certainly don’t have the people. Eighty percent of the people would throw these theological thugs out.”
The head of an international agency that encourages the peaceful use of nuclear technology said June 22 that the U.S. decision to bomb Iran has completely reset what was once slowly simmering tensions between Iran and Israel.
“This changes the whole dynamic,” Rafel Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview on CNN.
Grossi said Iran’s current governmental regime, which has been in place since 1979, has been one of the few stabilizing forces in an otherwise “very very unstable” international scene.”
“I think the unraveling of the nonproliferation regime would be a tremendously serious consequence,” he said. “I think that now we need to try to go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
− Erin Mansfield
The president of Israel said on June 22 that the United States is acting in its own interests and declined to say whether Israel would need additional resources.
“We are not dragging America into a war, and we are leaving aid to the decision of the president of the United States and to the team,” Isaac Herzog said in an interview on CNN.
Herzog said the U.S. decision to bomb Iran was made “because the Iranian nuclear program was (a) clear and present danger to the security interests of the free world, and the United States is the leader of the free world.”
− Erin Mansfield
Trump and his top defense official, Hegseth, say U.S. bombers completely “obliterated” Iran’s three major nuclear complexes at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
That may turn out to be the case, though 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. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the main window for how the world assesses the scale and evolution of Iran’s nuclear program, has not commented.
All wars are information wars, as well as ones fought with conventional weapons. One example: Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster claimed that its stockpiles of enriched uranium were “evacuated” from all threes sites prior to the U.S. strikes, another assertion that has not been independently verified.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lauded the U.S. strikes on Iran as an “incredible and overwhelming success.”
The strikes did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people, Hegseth said. Trump “seeks peace, and Iran should take that path,” Hegseth said.
He noted that fighter pilots and sailors aboard ships and submarines joined the attack.
Caine said the U.S. was “currently unaware of any shots fired at the U.S. strike package on the way in.”
The three nuclear targets were struck from 6:40 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. ET, Caine said. He said the U.S. was also unaware of any shots fired on the way out of Iran.
All three nuclear sites “sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” initial assessments indicate, Caine said.
In a weekly prayer on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first pope from the United States, called for diplomacy and peace efforts, not “violence and bloody conflicts,” shortly after the U.S.’ military action against Iran.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Leo said.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” he said.
Iranians have been intermittently cut off from the world since the start of Israel’s air war on its military and nuclear sites more than a week ago, now joined by the United States.
Iran’s government has imposed a near countrywide internet blackout in recent days, saying it was necessary to prevent Israeli cyberattacks and for unspecified security reasons, though some residents have reported the shutdown’s efficacy has varied and sometimes they were able to get online. There have also been reported disruptions to cellphone text messages in Iran.
On June 22, NetBlocks, an organization that monitors global Internet access, reported that connectivity in Iran “again collapsed” in the hours before the U.S. strikes. NetBlocks also reported that Trump’s Truth Social platform was “experiencing international outages for many users,” a scenario it said was not related to “country-level Internet disruptions or filtering.”
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna on Monday following the U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, created in 1957 amid growing concern over nuclear weapons, called for an end to “hostilities” so that it can continue inspections in Iran.
“In view of the increasingly serious situation in terms of nuclear safety and security, the Board of Governors will meet in an extraordinary session tomorrow, which I will address,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The sites targeted by the U.S. strikes contained nuclear material in the form of uranium enriched to different levels, the IAEA said, according to its most recent information before Israel’s strikes on Iran on June 13. The material “may cause radioactive and chemical contamination within the facilities that were hit,” the IAEA said. Grossi said no health impacts outside the targeted sites are expected after the U.S. strikes.
“I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities should never be attacked,” Grossi said.
Israel hailed the United States’ decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites as an action that would “deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
Elsewhere around the world the reaction was far more constrained. The United Nations and some leaders from Britain to Mexico called for swift de-escalation while other longtime U.S. adversaries such as Cuba and Venezuela were deeply critical of the attacks.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control − with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region and the world,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the use of U.S. force on Iran.
Russia and China on Sunday condemned the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, the countries’ foreign ministries said.
“The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, whatever the arguments it may be presented with, flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” the Russian foreign ministry said in its statement. “We call for an end to aggression and for increased efforts to create conditions for returning the situation to a political and diplomatic track.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, launching a drawn-out conflict that is ongoing over three years later. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, recently suggested that the “whole of Ukraine” belongs to his country, even though Russia only controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
China’s foreign ministry said the move violates the United Nations Charter and would worsen tensions in the Middle East. The ministry urged an end to attacks for all parties to the conflict, particularly Israel.
Trump ordered the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it started bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. One of the U.S. targets was Fordow, a uranium enrichment facility hidden deep inside a remote mountain in the desert.
Nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan were also struck. 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.
Iran’s next move is being closely watched. The country has already ramped up its rhetoric.
“Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. Ahead of the U.S. strikes, Tehran signaled that if the Pentagon were to join Israel’s war U.S. military bases and Navy ships in the region could be attacked.
Iran has a large arsenal of drones and ballistic missiles. It has been using these on Israel for days. It launched a fresh wave of missiles toward Israel hours after the U.S. bombing started. Iran might even opt for a diplomatic route, which Trump was encouraging prior to authorizing the U.S. attack.
Contributing: Reuters
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