US strikes ‘devastated Iranian nuclear program': US Defense Secretary
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the US devastated the Iranian nuclear program, adding that when US President Donald Trump speaks 'the world should listen.'
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan chaired a meeting on Sunday with officials and security agencies to emphasize national unity in the face of regional developments. King Abdullah urged government institutions to tackle the economic effects of escalating tensions in the Middle East during the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman. He said that Jordan will not permit any party to exploit regional tensions to undermine the country's firm stance on key Arab issues. He said that Amman is committed to achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Petra news agency reported. He called for increased international efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region and to de-escalate tensions through diplomatic dialogue and negotiations, Petra added. The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on three nuclear sites inside Iran on Sunday morning. Tel Aviv and Tehran have exchanged attacks over the past 10 days, risking a full-scale war in the Middle East. The meeting was attended by several key figures, including Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmad Safadi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, General Intelligence Department Director Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni, and Public Security Directorate Director Maj. Gen. Obaidallah Maaytah.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
World awaits Iran's response after Trump says US ‘obliterated' nuclear sites
The world awaited Iran's response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had 'obliterated' Tehran's key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. With the damage visible from space after 30,000-pound 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. But perhaps in an effort to avert all-out war with the US superpower, it had yet to follow through on its main threats of retaliation against the United States itself – either by targeting US bases or trying to choke off global oil supplies. Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would consider all possible responses. There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated, he said. 'The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,' he said. Trump, announcing the strikes in a televised address, called them '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,' he said. Still, his administration stressed that no order had been given for any wider war to overthrow the hardline Shia Muslim clerical establishment that has ruled Iran since 1979. 'This mission was not and has not been about regime change,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. 'The president authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program.' US Vice President JD Vance said Washington was not at war with Iran but with its nuclear program, adding this had been pushed back by a very long time due to the US intervention. In a step towards what is widely seen as Iran's most effective threat to hurt the West, its parliament reportedly approved a move to close the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf where nearly a quarter of the oil shipped around the world passes through narrow waters that Iran shares with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Press TV said closing the strait would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council, a body led by an appointee of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Attempting to choke off Gulf oil by closing the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite almost certain conflict with the US Navy's massive Fifth Fleet, based in the Gulf and tasked with keeping it open. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a Fox News Sunday interview, warned Iran on Sunday against retaliation for the US strikes, saying such action would be 'the worst mistake they've ever made.' Rubio separately told CBS's 'Face the Nation' talk show that the US has 'other targets we can hit, but we achieved our objective.' He later added: 'There are no planned military operations right now against Iran unless – unless they mess around.' The UN Security Council was due to meet later on Sunday, diplomats said, at the request of Iran, which urged the 15-member body 'to address this blatant and unlawful act of (USS) aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.' Bunker busters Israel, which started the war with a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, has long said its aim was to destroy Iran's nuclear program. But only the United States possesses the massive 30,000-pound bombs – and the huge batwing B2 bombers that drop them – designed to destroy subterranean targets like Iran's uranium enrichment plan at Fordow, built beneath a mountain. Satellite images obtained by Reuters following the attack appeared to show damage both to the mountain above the site and to entrances nearby. The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. While it is clear that US airstrikes had hit the Fordow site, it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground there, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told CNN. Much of Tehran, a capital city of 10 million people, has emptied out, with residents fleeing to the countryside to escape Israeli bombardment. Iranian authorities say over 400 people have been killed since Israel's attacks began, mostly civilians. Iran has been launching missiles back at Israel, killing at least 24 people over the past nine days, the first time its projectiles have penetrated Israel's defenses in large numbers. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had fired 40 missiles at Israel in the latest volley overnight. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Israel on Sunday, sending millions of people to safe rooms. During the past nine days of war, Israel killed much of Iran's military leadership with strikes that targeted bases and residential buildings where senior figures slept. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken openly of the possibility of pressing on until the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers are toppled, while denying that was his primary objective. Trump had veered between offering to end the war with diplomacy or to join it, at one point musing publicly about killing Iran's supreme leader. His decision ultimately to join the fight is the biggest foreign policy gamble of his career. Netanyahu congratulated Trump on a 'bold decision.' Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also praised Trump, saying the world was now a safer place.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Rubio's comments on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo' show came after Iran's Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 percent of global oil and gas flows. 'I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,' said Rubio, who also serves as national security advisor. 'If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours.' Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment. US officials said it 'obliterated' Iran's main nuclear sites using 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. The strikes mark an escalation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict. Tehran has vowed to defend itself. Rubio on Sunday warned against retaliation, saying such an action would be 'the worst mistake they've ever made.' He added that the US is prepared to talk with Iran.
