Senior Trump officials say US attacks on Iran ‘not about regime change'
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.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier that the US strikes on his country have blown up any possibility of diplomacy and strongly intimated a response was in gestation.
During an address to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Sunday, Araghchi said the US crossed 'a very big red line' by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities.
Trump's intervention – despite his past pledges to avoid another 'forever war' – threatens to dramatically widen the conflict after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last week, with Tehran vowing to retaliate if Washington joined in.
The US and Iran had been engaged in multiple rounds of nuclear talks brokered by Oman before Israel launched a strike on Iran, unconditionally supported by the US, earlier this month.
'Bombers took off from US'
Standing alongside Hegseth, Caine said that an assessment of the destruction sustained at Iran's nuclear facilities will take time to confirm.
'I think PDA [preliminary damage assessment] is still pending and it would be way too early for me to comment on what or what may not still be there,' he said. He confirmed B-2 bombers were launched from the US on Friday for an 18-hour flight to their targets for the 'strike package'.
'Operation Midnight Hammer' included several 'deception and decoy' manoeuvres. High-speed suppression fire was used to protect the B-2s, and Caine said there's no indication 'any shots were fired' by Iranian defences.
'Iran's fighters did not fly and it appears Iran's missile systems did not see us,' Caine said.
He declined to comment on specific moves taken to protect US troops based in the Middle East from potential Iranian retaliation.
'Our joint force remains ready to defend the United States – our troops and our interests in the region,' said Caine.
Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said Hegseth gave a very clear message on behalf of the US that this is not an open-ended operation, although there was a warning that while it is intentionally limited, the capabilities of the US military are not.
'What is clear is this was a well-coordinated operation,' Fisher said.
'But as we heard from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they obviously still have to get full intelligence from the site, and this will take some time,' Fisher said. 'So they don't know whether it has been a huge success. But what it does do is send a real message.'
Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS there were no planned military operations against Iran at the moment.
'No fatalities' in Iranian sites
Trump announced that the US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a 'very successful attack' overnight into Sunday.
'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,' Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against Iran has escalated an already intensive conflict and threatens a potential all-out regional war.
The head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said there were no fatalities in the US strikes on the nuclear facilities, according to Iranian state television.
On Saturday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country's right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme 'cannot be taken away… by threats or war'. Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb.
Trump has stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck Iran on June 13, repeating his insistence that it could never have nuclear weapons. He seemed to be uncertain of whether to move militarily, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have been one of the key voices he was attuned to.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Scott Lucas, a professor of US and international politics at University College Dublin, said the reason Trump decided to strike Iran after appearing to opt for diplomacy until recently was 'Because Donald Trump got played by the Israelis; some might say manipulated.'
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Israel-Iran conflict: List of key events, June 22, 2025
Here's where things stand on Sunday, June 22: Fighting United States President Donald Trump told the world that strikes had been launched by his country's military against three key Iranian nuclear sites. Trump claimed in a post that the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility was 'gone'. The US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that the US strikes were an 'incredible and overwhelming success', without providing any evidence or details. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a further threat against Iran, saying any retaliation would be 'the worst mistake they've ever made.' During an address to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkiye, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US crossed 'a very big red line' by attacking Iran's three nuclear facilities. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan were 'attacked by enemies of [Iran] in a barbaric act that violated international law, especially the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on a 'bold decision' to attack Iran. Israeli emergency services say Iranian rockets and falling shrapnel hit 10 locations. The latest Iranian retaliation followed the US strikes. Israel's military said it carried out more attacks on western Iran against what it claimed are 'military targets'. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Iran's most recent missile strikes targeted Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, along with research facilities. The IRGC is now deploying one of its most advanced missiles, the Kheibar Shekan, as part of its retaliatory measures. Unveiled in 2022, the missile also known as Khorramshahr-4 is believed to have the heaviest payload of Iran's ballistic missile arsenal. Casualties and disruptions The head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said that there have been no fatalities in the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. An adviser to Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Iran had been anticipating the US attack on Fordow. 'The site has long been evacuated and has not suffered any irreversible damage in the attack,' the adviser said. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has said that radiation system data and field surveys do not show signs of contamination or danger to residents near the sites of Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. The Israel Airports Authority says it has closed its airspace until further notice 'due to recent developments', referring to the US attack on Iran. Airline carriers have continued to steer clear of significant areas of the Middle East following the US strikes, according to Flightradar24. A man convicted of spying for Israel has been executed, the Iranian judicial news outlet Mizan Online reports. At least 27 people have been wounded in Israel after Iran launched 40 missiles shortly after the US attacks. One of the targets hit was Ramat Aviv in Tel Aviv, with missiles tearing holes in the facades of apartment blocks. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Israel bombed the city of Tabriz, targeting the IRGC's Martyr Madani camp, wounding at least two. Iranian authorities said nine security personnel were killed after Israeli forces struck two military sites in the central province of Yazd, Iran's Fars News Agency reported. Gulf states, home to multiple US military bases, are on high alert after the bombardment of Iran raised the possibility of a widening war in the region. Bahrain has told 70 percent of government employees to work from home until further notice. US opposition to attacks In one of the first responses to the attack by a Democratic member of the US Congress, Sara Jacobs said: 'Trump's strikes against Iran are not only unconstitutional, but an escalation that risks bringing the US into another endless and deadly war.' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Trump did not seek congressional authorisation for the strikes and will bear full responsibility for 'any adverse consequences'. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman, said Trump's ordering of strikes on Iran without the approval of lawmakers is a 'blatant violation' of the US Constitution. Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has been leading a legislative effort to curb Trump's ability to attack Iran without the approval of Congress, said the strikes violate the US Constitution, which gives lawmakers the authority over war decisions. US Senator Chris Murphy joined the Democratic chorus of criticism. 'I was briefed on the intelligence last week,' he said. 'Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States.' Global reactions, politics and diplomacy The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Sunday following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed 'grave alarm', describing the assault as a 'dangerous escalation', warning that the conflict in the Middle East could quickly get 'out of control'. The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said international law isn't a choice but an obligation. China 'strongly condemned' the US attack, noting its nuclear facilities were under the safeguards of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said the 'absolute majority' of nations are against 'the actions of Israel and the United States'. Lebanon's Hezbollah, Palestinian group Hamas and Yemen's Houthis, all allies of Iran, condemned what Hezbollah called the 'barbaric and treacherous' US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Saudi Arabia said that it's 'following with deep concern the developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States of America.' Gulf nations Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates all also expressed concern over what the attacks could portend for the region. Turkiye's Foreign Ministry warned that the US strikes have made the risk of escalation more likely. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the US military action, saying the attacks 'alleviate' the 'threat' posed by Tehran's nuclear programme. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, is calling for a return to dialogue. 'Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,' she said, 'as it would be a threat to international security.'
