World is braced for Iran terror backlash
Iran's nuclear ambitions have been 'totally obliterated' by the surprise US strikes, Donald Trump said on Sunday night. The American president said the attack by a squadron of stealth bombers late on Saturday night had 'taken the bomb right out of [Tehran's] hands'.
But there are fears that the US's allies could face a terror backlash from the regime's supporters.
Seven B-2 stealth bombers swept into Iranian airspace undetected, dropping 14 'bunker-buster' bombs on nuclear facilities as the US joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. US vice president JD Vance and US president Donald Trump. Pic: Daniel Torok/The White House via Getty Images
Experts warned of a 'new era of terrorism' and US vice president JD Vance said the FBI and law enforcement were on alert for threats on American soil.
In an address to the nation as the B-2s were flying home, Mr Trump said: 'Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number-one state sponsor of terror.
'Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.' Ayatollah Khamenei. Pic: Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Mr Trump boasted that America had 'taken the bomb right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)', while his secretary of state Marco Rubio claimed the US had offered Iran a civil nuclear programme but 'they rejected it'.
Mr Rubio added: 'They played us. They wouldn't respond to our offers. They disappeared for ten days.
'The president had to take action as a response. We are not declaring war on Iran. We're not looking for war in Iran. But if they attack us, I think we have the capabilities they haven't even seen yet.'
On Sunday night, despite widespread calls to de-escalate, Iran president Masoud Pezeshkian said the US 'must receive a response for their aggression'.
And a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned that 'there will no longer be any place for the presence of the United States and its bases' in the region. US president Donald Trump, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and US secretary of state Marco Rubio. Pic: Daniel Torok/The White House via Getty Images
Abbas Araghaci, Iran's foreign minister, who described the US government as 'lawless and warmongering', is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today to discuss how to respond.
On Sunday night, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran's Natanz enrichment site was 'completely destroyed'. The extent of the damage at the Fordow site, built into a mountainside and reinforced with layers of concrete, is unclear.
Discussing Fordow, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: 'There are clear indications of impacts. But, as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground… no one could tell you how much it has been damaged. One cannot exclude that there is significant damage there.'
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris both called for an 'urgent' de-escalation and a negotiated solution on Iran's nuclear facilities.
They said they are in close contact with their European counterparts before a meeting of EU foreign leaders today and of EU leaders later in the week.
'Diplomacy and dialogue is ultimately the only way to resolve these issues,' Mr Martin said. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris. Pic: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie
UK prime minister Keir Starmer and President Trump discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table in a phone call last night, Downing Street said. A spokesman said: 'The leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and reiterated the grave risk posed by Iran's nuclear programme to international security.
They discussed the actions taken by the United States to reduce the threat and agreed that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. 'They discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. They agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days.'
Speaking after the US strikes, UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News that the risk from Iran in the UK was 'not hypothetical'.
He said: 'There is not a week goes by without some sort of Iranian cyber attack on a key part of the UK's critical national infrastructure. There is Iranian activity on the streets of the UK, which is wholly unacceptable.
'It's already at a significant level. I think it would be naive to say that that wouldn't potentially increase.'
The UK was informed of the mission, codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, but played no part. Mr Reynolds last night warned that Iranian activity in the UK was already substantial, and that it was 'naive' to think it won't escalate.
A statement of the E3 group, with the UK alongside France and Germany, said: 'We call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to an agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear programme.
We stand ready to contribute to that goal in coordination with all parties. 'We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.'
However, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for world trade and oil transit.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
US now in a difficult situation, Michael Bloomberg says
"America has spent the last 70 years trying to build relationships with other countries – and we benefit, and those other countries all benefit, and here we're throwing away a lot of that, which I can't explain,' he said at an event to mark the opening of a new Bloomberg office on Charlemont Street in Dublin. "But that's what the [US] administration is doing, and I was not a supporter of this administration, although I've known Donald Trump for 30-40 years. When I was mayor of New York he was a real estate developer in the city, and only went bankrupt six times.' Mr Bloomberg said he'd had a cordial relationship with the now US President, who he described as a 'pleasant guy'. 'If you sat and had dinner with him, you'd walk away saying 'yeah, I had a good time'. Having said that, I don't agree with his policies at all.' The businessman stressed, however, that he is careful to ensure that Bloomberg news service has the same number of conservatives and liberals on its editorial staff. He has not visited the White House, as he doesn't want anybody to say that 'we're kissing the ring'. Mr Bloomberg said he wanted his news service to stay totally neutral. 'Because I think that's what our customers want, and that's what the world deserves from a news organisation.' Bloomberg is glad to be an investor in Ireland, its founder added. 'We have 150 people in our office here now, and it's growing. We're looking for another 25 people, probably mostly in engineering.' Commenting on Ireland's recent economic success, he said that the country had benefited from Brexit, which he described as 'the single stupidest thing any country has ever done, and it's hard to believe how they did it'. Also speaking at the Bloomberg event, finance minister Paschal Donohoe said there were economic risks arising from the war in the Middle East. 'The first one is what could happen from an energy and trade perspective – the price of energy, and the ability of access for goods moving around the world,' he said. 'Exactly at the moment at which global sentiment with regard to trade is already in a low place, an event like this creates a further risk.' He said that macroeconomic modelling the Department of Finance has done on the impact of tariffs indicated that about 75,000 jobs could be affected in the medium term, with up to 25,000 of those affected next year. 'From a growth perspective, there could be one, to one and a half, points of growth that we can lose across the medium term,' he said. Asked if this autumn's Budget would be his most difficult yet, Mr Donohoe said the most difficult he had ever done was the first during Covid. 'I really feared we were on the precipice of profound change. There was a need to inject demand and confidence into our economy while not knowing what the macroeconomic or funding environment would be like,' he said. 'That was, to date, the hardest set of decision I've ever had to make. 'The next Budget will be difficult, like they all are, but please God we'll never have to confront a set of choices in such an atmosphere of uncertainty.'
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
The Indo Daily Extra: Trump's Gamble – striking Iran, backing Israel and raising the stakes
It's a move that could ignite a regional firestorm and potentially set a worrying precedent in how countries engage in conflict. The world is braced for Iran's response after the US attacked key Iranian nuclear sites, taking a gamble by joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. With the damage visible from space after 30,000lb US bunker-buster bombs crashed into the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site, Tehran vowed to defend itself at all costs. It fired another volley of missiles at Israel that wounded scores of people and flattened buildings in Tel Aviv. The US State Department ordered employees' family members to leave Lebanon and advised citizens elsewhere in the region to keep a low profile or restrict travel. An advisory from the US Department of Homeland Security warned of a 'heightened threat environment in the United States'. Law enforcement in major US cities stepped up patrols and deployed additional resources to religious, cultural and diplomatic sites. Tehran has so far not followed through on its threats of retaliation against the US – either by targeting US bases or trying to choke off global oil supplies – but that may not hold. Today on this Indo Daily Extra, Tabitha Monahan is joined by Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East Correspondent with The Economist to discuss what might come next after a troubling 2 days for international relations.
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
US embassy wants 'every social media username of past five years' on new visa applications
THE US EMBASSY in Dublin is tightening its visa requirements, saying that future applicants looking to visit the country will be required to divulge 'list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years' on their visa application form. The embassy also said that it wants people to set their social media profiles to public, reiterating a move announced last week by the US State Department . Visa applicants will also be required to 'list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years' on their visa application form, according to the statement released by the embassy this morning. Social media handles or usernames are not necessarily the person's real name as they may instead us an alias for their online profile. In the statement, the US Embassy said that a visa 'is a privilege, not a right' for travellers and that every visa decision was a 'national security decision'. The embassy said it will resume scheduling F, M, and J nonimmigrant visa applications soon. 'The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission,' the embassy said in its statement today. Advertisement Omitting social media information could lead to 'visa denial and ineligibility' for future visas, the embassy added. 'The US Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,' the embassy said in a statement. 'We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security. 'Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications. 'To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public.' There had been confusion over the status of J1 applications as Donald Trump's administration spread its new agenda. Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said last month that while it was aware of reports that the US has instructed its diplomatic missions to pause appointments for interviews in certain visa categories, including J1 student visas, it understood that existing appointments in Ireland hadn't been cancelled. Last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin criticised the moves by the US and said there should not be 'any overzealous examinations of people's records' by officials. In an executive order on his first day as president, Donald Trump called for increased vetting of persons entering the United States to ensure they 'do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
