Trump says Iran nuclear facilities 'completely and totally obliterated' after US strike
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Jun 21) that Iran must now make peace or "we will go after" other targets in Iran, after US strikes that he said "completely and totally obliterated" Iranian nuclear sites.
"There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days," Trump said in a nationally televised speech at the White House.
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US strikes 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear ambitions, Pentagon chief says
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing at the Pentagon, after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities, during the Israel-Iran conflict, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 22, 2025 in this still image taken from handout video. Reuters TV/U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing at the Pentagon, after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities, during the Israel-Iran conflict, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 22, 2025 in this still image taken from handout video. Reuters TV/U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities were an incredible and overwhelming success that have obliterated Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The U.S. strikes included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, in an operation the top U.S. general, General Dan Caine, said was named "Operation Midnight." The operation pushes the Middle East to the brink of a major new conflagration in a region already aflame for more than 20 months with wars in Gaza and Lebanon and a toppled dictator in Syria. "Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated," Hegseth told reporters in a briefing, adding that said the strikes did not target Iranian troops or people. "The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks, the world should listen," Hegseth said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US strikes on Iran nuclear sites are real-life test of hard power's limits
A combination picture shows satellite images over Fordow, before and after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran, June 2, 2025 (L) and June 22, 2025. Planet Labs PBC via REUTERS VIENNA/PARIS - U.S. military strikes overnight in which President Donald Trump said Iran's main nuclear sites were "obliterated" will put to the test the widely held view that such attacks can delay a nuclear programme but not kill a determined push for atom bombs. As Iran's nuclear programme has expanded and become more sophisticated over the past two decades, many officials and nuclear experts have warned: You can destroy or disable a nuclear programme's physical infrastructure but it is very hard or impossible to eliminate the knowledge a country has acquired. Western powers including the United States have publicly suggested as much, complaining of the "irreversible knowledge gain" Iran has made by carrying out activities they object to. "Military strikes alone cannot destroy Iran's extensive nuclear knowledge," the Washington-based Arms Control Association said in a statement after the U.S. strikes with massive bunker-busting bombs on sites including Iran's two main underground enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow. "The strikes will set Iran's programme back, but at the cost of strengthening Tehran's resolve to reconstitute its sensitive nuclear activities, possibly prompting it to consider withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and possibly proceeding to weaponisation." Israel has also said it has killed Iranian nuclear scientists but, while little is known about the personnel side of Iran's nuclear programme, officials have said they are sceptical about that having a serious impact on Iran's nuclear knowledge, even if it might slow progress in the near term. The West says there is no civilian justification for Iran's enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade fissile purity. Iran says its nuclear objectives are solely peaceful and it has the right to enrich as much as it wants. Iran's nuclear programme has made rapid advances since Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that placed strict limits on its atomic activities in exchange for sanctions relief. After the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 and the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions, Iran pushed past and then far beyond the limits imposed by the deal on items like the purity to which it can enrich uranium and how much it can stockpile. URANIUM STOCK At least until Israel's first strikes against its enrichment installations on June 13, Iran was refining uranium to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is bomb-grade, and far higher than the 3.67% cap imposed by the 2015 deal, which Iran respected until the year after Trump pulled out. The last report on May 31 by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog that inspects Iran's nuclear facilities, showed Iran had enough uranium enriched to up to 60%, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. It has more at lower levels like 20% and 5%. The exact impact of Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and materials has yet to be determined. In addition to the enrichment sites, the U.S. struck Isfahan, where officials have said much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium stock was stored underground. One important open question is how much highly enriched uranium Iran still has and whether it is all accounted for. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow, the site producing the bulk of Iran's uranium refined to up to 60%, had been moved to an undisclosed location before the U.S. attack there. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV last weekend Iran would take measures to protect nuclear materials and equipment that would not be reported to the IAEA, and it would no longer cooperate with the IAEA as before. NORTH KOREA LOOMS LARGE The IAEA has not been able to carry out inspections in Iran since the first Israeli strikes nine days ago, but has said it is in contact with the Iranian authorities. What Iran will do next in terms of its nuclear programme is also unclear. Its threat to pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty hints at a race for nuclear weapons, but Iran has maintained it has no intention of doing so. The only other country to announce its withdrawal from the NPT is North Korea in 2003. It expelled IAEA inspectors and went on to test nuclear weapons. "Our biggest concern is that we end up with a North Korea scenario whereby these strikes convince the Iranians that the only way to save the regime is to go for the bomb. Nobody is bombing North Korea now, are they?" a European official said. Even if inspections continue, because of Trump's withdrawal in 2018 Iran had already scrapped extra IAEA oversight provided for by the 2015 deal. That means the agency no longer knows how many centrifuges Iran has at undeclared locations. The IAEA says that while it cannot guarantee Iran's aims are entirely peaceful, it also has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons programme. The Israeli and now U.S. strikes have already raised fears among diplomats and other officials, however, that Iran will use those centrifuges to set up a secret enrichment site, since one could be built inside a relatively small and inconspicuous building like a warehouse. "It is quite possible that there are enrichment sites that we don't know about. Iran is a big country," a Western official said, while adding that Iran could also choose to bide its time. "In two years, if Iran were to start from scratch, they would only need a few months to reconstitute a new programme and to get back to where they were yesterday." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Gulf states on high alert after US strikes Iran's nuclear sites
[DUBAI/RIYADH] Gulf states, home to multiple US military bases, were on high alert on Sunday (Jun 22) after US strikes on Iran raised the possibility of a widening conflict in the region. US forces 'obliterated' Iran's main nuclear sites with massive bunker-busting bombs in the early hours of Sunday in the region, US President Donald Trump said, warning Teheran that it would face more devastating attacks if it does not agree to peace. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, was on a high security alert after the US strikes, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sunday, while Bahrain urged drivers to avoid main roads and Kuwait set up shelters in a ministries complex. Teheran has previously warned that if it was attacked by the United States, it could target American assets in the region, including US military bases. Bahrain is home to the headquarters of the US Navy's 5th Fleet and there are US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as in neighbouring Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Nuclear authorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they had not detected signs of nuclear contamination following the strikes in Iran. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'While the war has so far been contained in direct hostilities between Israel and Iran, direct US involvement is a critical threshold that risks dragging the Gulf states, notably Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, which host large US military facilities, into the conflict,' said Hasan Al Hasan, a senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic studies. He said the risk of an open conflict between the US and Iran could plunge the region into a devastating and potentially protracted conflict. 'In light of recent developments in the regional security situation, we urge citizens and residents to use main roads only when necessary to maintain public safety and to allow the relevant authorities to use the roads efficiently,' Bahrain's interior ministry said in a post on X. Bahrain also told 70 per cent of its government employees to work from home on Sunday until further notice, citing escalating tensions, according the Civil Service Bureau. The country's authorities last week said they had activated a national plan to prepare for emergencies, set up an emergency centre and tested warning sirens. Local media also reported that Bahrain had set up 33 shelters. REUTERS
