US bombs Iran nuclear sites as Tehran vows to retaliate
DPA
Washington/Tehran
The United States has hailed its overnight launch of bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear sites as 'an incredible and overwhelming success,' amid fears of a wider regional conflict following Iranian threats of severe retaliation.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told journalists at the Pentagon on Sunday that the 'precision strike' on the nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow was carried out to 'destroy or severely degrade Iran's nuclear programme.'
In an attack dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' the US used a total of 14 massive GBU-57 bunker-busting bombs, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said during a press conference with Hegseth, hours after the US intervened in the war between Israel and Iran.
US President Donald Trump said late on Saturday that 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.'
US Vice President JD Vance also emphasized that Iran's nuclear programme was the target. 'We are not at war with Iran, we are at war with Iran's nuclear programme,' he told NBC on Sunday.
Trump, too, called on Iran to resolve the conflict. '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,' the president said. However, Iran stressed that the US only understands the language of threats and violence.
Speaking in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the door to diplomacy should always be kept open. 'But that is not the case now,' he said. Iran must respond based on its 'legitimate right [to] self-defence,' Araghchi stated. He added that the US had betrayed diplomacy. page 5
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
NATO allies agree on 5% defence spending target
BrusselscTypeface:> NATO allies have reached agreement on a new target for defence spending days before a major summit in The Hague, with leaders to pledge raising annual defence-related expenditure to at least 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), DPA learnt on Sunday. The Western defence alliance's members have been under pressure to significantly raise defence spending from US President Donald Trump, who complains that Canada and the European partners have been piggy-backing on the massive US defence budget. Meanwhile the threat of a potential Russian attack on NATO territory has also caused allies to reconsider their defence capabilities. As per the current target, NATO members are to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence annually, a goal that is finally set to be reached by all 32 allies for the first time this year, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Allies were scrambling to come to an agreement ahead of next week's leaders summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, amid last minute opposition voiced by Spain, one of the NATO members lagging behind the most when it comes to defence spending. According to the agreement, at least 3.5% of national GDP is to be spent on conventional defence, DPA learnt following the conclusion of a written decision procedure. An additional 1.5% can be allocated for related expenditure, including for combating terrorism and for infrastructure that can be used for military purposes - such as investments in railway lines and the expansion of ports. NATO allies are set to agree to meet the new defence spending target by 2035 in a planned final declaration at the NATO summit, diplomats told DPA. (DPA)
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Rubio warns Iran not to close Strait of Hormuz
Agencies Washington US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, after Iranian lawmakers backed such a move, which would likely disrupt global oil exports. 'If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake,' Rubio said on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the US launched airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in what marked a major escalation in the war between Israel and Iran. Closing the key shipping route between Iran and Oman, which is around 55 kilometres wide, would amount to 'economic suicide' for Tehran, Rubio told US broadcaster Fox News. 'It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours,' the US secretary of state said. 'It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response, not just by us, but from others.' Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian parliament backed closing the Strait of Hormuz, according to a member of the parliamentary security committee. However, the final decision lies with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all strategic matters. United States Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have said that the US is not seeking to topple the government in Iran via 'regime change' and is not at war with the country in the wake of its unprecedented surprise attack overnight on three of Iran's nuclear sites. The comments on Sunday followed Washington, DC joining Israel's strikes on its arch-foe, which have been met by daily retaliatory strikes from Iran and are now in their 10th day. Vance said on Sunday that the US had successfully set back Iran's nuclear programme, adding that US President Donald Trump now hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution. Speaking on the NBC News show Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, he maintained his country was 'not at war with Iran, we're at war with Iran's nuclear programme'. 'We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it's already been built out. We want to end their nuclear programme,' Vance said, adding: 'We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.' Meanwhile, Hegseth claimed the series of US strikes against Iran 'devastated' its nuclear programme, as he asserted Washington was not seeking 'regime change' in Tehran. There has been no independent confirmation of how heavily the US strikes impacted the sites, or Tehran's nuclear efforts, which it has repeatedly said are for civilian purposes only. The Pentagon chief urged Iran's leaders to find an off-ramp to the conflict after Trump announced the strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordow, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing that the operation 'did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people'. 'I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table,' Hegseth added in the news conference with General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. 'This mission was not, and has not, been about regime change,' he said.
Qatar Tribune
4 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Investors brace for more oil price spikes as United States bombs Iran sites
Agencies AU.S. attack on Iranian nuclear sites could push oil prices even more and trigger an automatic rush to safety, investors said, as they assessed how the latest escalation of tensions would ripple through the global economy. The reaction in Middle East stock markets, which trade on Sunday, suggested investors were assuming a benign scenario, even as Iran intensified its missile attacks on Israel in response to the sudden, deep U.S. involvement in the conflict. Trump called the attack 'a spectacular military success' in a televised address to the nation and said Iran's 'key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.' He said the U.S. military could go after other targets in Iran if the country did not agree to peace. Iran said it reserves all options to defend itself, and warned of 'everlasting consequences.' Investors said they expected the U.S. involvement would cause a sell-off in stock markets and a possible bid for the dollar and other safe-haven assets when major markets reopen, but also said much uncertainty about the course of the conflict remained. 'I think the markets are going to be initially alarmed, and I think oil will open higher,' said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital. 'We don't have any damage assessment and that will take some time. Even though he has described this as 'done', we're engaged. What comes next?' Spindel said. 'I think the uncertainty is going to blanket the markets, as now Americans everywhere are going to be exposed. It's going to raise uncertainty and volatility, particularly in oil,' he added. One indicator of how markets will react in the coming week was the price of ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency and the new gauge of retail investor sentiment after bitcoin, which is now held largely by institutions. Ether was down 5% on Sunday, taking losses since the first Israeli strikes on Iran on June 13 to 13%. Most Gulf stock markets, however, seemed unconcerned by the early morning attacks, with the main indexes in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait up slightly and Israel's Tel Aviv main index at an all-time high. A key concern for markets would center around the potential impact of the developments in the Middle East on oil prices and thus on inflation. A rise in inflation could dampen consumer confidence and lessen the chance of near-term interest rate cuts. Saul Kavonic, a senior energy analyst at equity research firm MST Marquee in Sydney, said the more likely scenario would see Iran respond by targeting American interests in the Middle East, including Gulf oil infrastructure in places such as Iraq or harassing ship passages through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is the primary export route for oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq and Kuwait. 'Much depends on how Iran responds in the coming hours and days, but this could set us on a path towards $100 oil if Iran respond as they have previously threatened to,' Kavonic said. While global benchmark Brent crude futures have risen as much as 18% since June 10, hitting a near five-month high of $79.04 on Thursday, the S&P 500 has been little changed, following an initial drop when Israel launched its attacks on Iran on June 13. In comments after Trump announced the strikes, Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, agreed oil prices would likely spike on the initial news. But Cox said he expected prices to likely level off in a few days as the attacks could lead Iran to seek a peace deal with Israel and the U.S. 'With this demonstration of force and total annihilation of its nuclear capabilities, they've lost all of their leverage and will likely hit the escape button to a peace deal,' Cox said. Economists warn that a dramatic rise in oil prices could damage a global economy already strained by Trump's tariffs. Still, any pullback in equities might be fleeting, history suggests. During past prominent instances of Middle East tensions coming to a boil, including the 2003 Iraq invasion and the 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities, stocks initially languished but soon recovered to trade higher in the months ahead. On average, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% in the three weeks following the start of the conflict, but was 2.3% higher on average two months following the conflict, according to data from Wedbush Securities and CapIQ Pro. An escalation in the conflict could have mixed implications for the U.S. dollar, which has tumbled this year amid worries over diminished U.S. exceptionalism. In the event of U.S. direct engagement in the Iran-Israel war, the dollar could initially benefit from a safety bid, analysts said. 'Do we see a flight to safety? That would signal yields going lower and the dollar getting stronger,' said Steve Sosnick, chief market strategist at IBKR in Greenwich, Connecticut. 'It's hard to imagine stocks not reacting negatively and the question is how much. It will depend on Iranian reaction and whether oil prices spike.'
