Reactions on US attacks on Iran
WASHINGTON: The United States carried out attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran on Sunday, joining Israel's bombing campaign after days of speculation over US involvement in the conflict.
'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,' Trump said in a televised address to the nation from the White House after the strikes.
Here is a roundup of the key reactions:
Iran: 'Everlasting consequences'
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday condemned the US attacks as 'outrageous' and said his country has a right to defend its sovereignty.
'The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,' he posted on X, adding that the attacks were 'lawless and criminal' behavior.
'In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people,' the foreign minister said.
Iran's atomic energy organization also called the US attacks 'a barbaric act that violates international law.'
'The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran assures the great nation of Iran... it will not let the path of development of this national industry (nuclear), which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, be stopped,' it said in a statement published by state media.
Israel: 'Change history'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump, saying the attacks will 'help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace.'
'Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,' Netanyahu said in a video message, adding that the attacks demonstrated 'America has been truly unsurpassed.'
He also told Israelis that his promise to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities had been 'fulfilled.'
Hamas: 'Brutal aggression'
Palestinian militant group Hamas condemned the 'blatant US aggression against the territory and sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
'This brutal aggression is a dangerous escalation,' Hamas said, calling the attack 'a flagrant violation of international law, and a direct threat to international peace and security.'
UN: 'Dangerous escalation'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the strikes a 'dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge.'
'At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos,' Guterres said in a statement. 'There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace.'
Democrats: 'Unilateral military action'
The top Democrat in the US House of Representatives accused Trump of pushing the United States toward war.
'President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,' Congressman Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement.
'Donald Trump shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
33 minutes ago
- The Sun
US, Israel crossed ‘big red line', Iran FM says heads to Moscow
ISTANBUL: The United States and Israel crossed a major red line in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran's top diplomat warned Sunday, saying he was heading to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin. 'They crossed a very big red line by attacking (Iran's) nuclear facilities,' Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul. He was speaking just hours after President Donald Trump said US warplanes struck three Iranian nuclear sites, nine days into an Israeli bombing campaign targeting its nuclear facilities. 'The most dangerous one happened only last night,' Araghchi said, while acknowledging he did not know the full extent of the damage done in the strikes, including one at the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo. 'I still do not have exact information about the level of damages, but I don't think it matters... Last night's attack was a grave crime,' he said. 'Through this action, the United States has dealt a serious blow to international peace and security,' he said, vowing that Iran would defend itself 'by all means necessary against... US military aggression'. Araghchi said he would head to Moscow on Sunday and hold talks with Putin on Monday morning. 'I'm going to Moscow this afternoon' to hold 'serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow', he said. After the strikes, Trump said Iran 'must now agree to end this war'. But Araghchi said any demand to return to negotiations was 'irrelevant'. 'The world must not forget that it was the United States which -- in the midst of a process to forge a diplomatic outcome -- betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime's launch of an illegal war of aggression on the Iranian nation,' he said. 'So we were in diplomacy, but we were attacked... They have proved that they are not men of diplomacy, and they only understand the language of threat and force.' Turkey, which was hosting the weekend OIC summit, warned that the strikes risked escalating the Iran-Israel conflict to a global level that could have 'catastrophic' consequences. 'The ongoing developments could cause the regional conflict to escalate to a global level. We do not want this catastrophic scenario to come to life,' the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Sun
44 minutes ago
- The Sun
Swiss urge restraint, diplomacy after US strikes on Iran
GENEVA: Switzerland on Sunday urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and immediately return to diplomacy, after the United States joined Israel's war with Tehran by striking Iranian nuclear sites. 'Switzerland is deeply alarmed by the dangerous escalation between Israel and Iran since June 13, including today's attacks by the US,' the foreign ministry said on its website. 'Switzerland emphasises the importance of full respect for international law, including the UN Charter and international humanitarian law. 'Switzerland urges all parties to exercise the maximum restraint, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and immediately return to diplomacy.' Talks took place in Geneva on Friday between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union. The European powers had urged Tehran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the stand-off over its nuclear programme. However, Iran said it could only consider diplomacy once Israel halted its bombardment of the Islamic republic. 'Continued hostilities in the region and clashes between Israel and Iran could rapidly escalate and jeopardise the security of the entire region,' the Swiss ministry said. Switzerland on Friday temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran, but said that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran. Renowned for its neutrality, Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.
New Straits Times
44 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Despite clashes with US presidents, Netanyahu usually gets his way
A little over a month ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have been shunted to the shadows by US President Donald Trump, who hopscotched the Middle East without visiting Israel, traditionally Washington's closest regional ally. Worse still, from Netanyahu's perspective, Trump lifted sanctions on neighbouring Syria - something Israel opposed - and talked up the prospects of securing a nuclear deal with Iran, something the prime minister has always cautioned against. Fast forward five weeks and the United States has bombed Iran's main nuclear installations, fulfilling a decades-old dream of Netanyahu to convince Washington to bring its full military might to thwart Teheran's atomic ambitions. The US attack underscores a broader truth that has defined Netanyahu's career: no matter how fraught his relationships with successive presidents, he normally ends up getting what he wants. For over three decades, Netanyahu has clashed - often spectacularly - with American leaders. He has lectured them, defied them, embarrassed them publicly and privately. And yet, across Democratic and Republican administrations, US military aid has flowed largely uninterrupted to Israel. Washington remains Israel's chief arms supplier and diplomatic shield. "He probably has concluded that he always gets away with it," said a senior United Nations official in Jerusalem who declined to be named. "It's hard to argue otherwise." Just one month ago, opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of destroying Israel's relations with the United States. This weekend's action represents the closest US-Israeli military alignment yet against a common adversary. Netanyahu's belief in his ability to advance his agenda, and withstand American pressure when needed, has deep roots. Barely a month after becoming prime minister for the first time in 1996, he met President Bill Clinton in Washington and immediately rubbed him up the wrong way. "Who the f–- does he think he is? Who's the f–-ing superpower here?" Clinton asked his aides afterwards, according to US diplomat Aaron David Miller, who was present. But vital US aid to Israel continued to flow - something that would remain a constant over the years. Netanyahu was voted out of office in a 1999 election and did not return to power until a decade later, by which time Barack Obama, a Democrat like Clinton, was in the White House. Relations between the two turned openly hostile, initially over Israeli settlement building in occupied territory that Palestinians claim for a future stake - a constant thorn in US-Israeli relations. Matters deteriorated further as Obama entered negotiations with Iran to curb its nuclear drive - a project that Israel said is aimed at creating atomic bombs and that Teheran has said is for purely civilian purposes. Netanyahu spoke to Congress in 2015 at the invitation of Republicans to denounce the prospective deal, without informing the White House. "(The accord) doesn't block Iran's path to the bomb; it paves Iran's path to the bomb," he said. Obama was widely reported to have been furious, but still, the following year Washington delivered the largest military aid package to Israel in US history - US$38 billion over 10 years. Political analysts say Netanyahu takes US support as a given, confident that backing from evangelical Christians and the small Jewish-American community will guarantee that Israel remains well-armed, however much he antagonises the White House. When Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, then-President Joe Biden flew to Israel to show his support, authorising a huge flow of weapons to help with the conflict unleashed in Gaza. But relations between Netanyahu, a right-winger, and Biden, a Democrat, deteriorated rapidly, as Washington grew alarmed by the spiralling number of civilian deaths and the burgeoning humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. Biden held back on some heavy munitions deliveries and imposed sanctions on a number of violent Israeli settlers, so his defeat at the hands of Trump in last November's presidential election was celebrated by Netanyahu. Finally, he had a Republican in office at a crucial moment for Israel. However, things did not go smoothly, at least to start with. Like Biden before him, Trump was unhappy at the protracted conflict in Gaza and then he blindsided Netanyahu during a meeting on April 7, when he revealed that he was launching direct talks with Teheran aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the protracted nuclear stand-off with Iran. But while Trump publicly positioned himself as a peacemaker, Netanyahu consistently pushed for military intervention. Although it is unclear if Netanyahu ever got him to say "yes" to Israel's war plans, it was at least not a "no", according to two senior US officials and a senior Israeli source. As soon as Israel launched its aerial war on Iran in the early hours of June 13, Israel pushed the United States to join in, urging Trump to be on the winning side of history, two Israeli officials said last week. The sense of relief when the US bombers struck Iran's most protected nuclear sites on Sunday was palpable. "Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history," Netanyahu said in a brief video address.
