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.'
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Amid Israel's ongoing attacks in Gaza and Iran, US President Donald Trump's unprecedented decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites has deepened fears of a regional conflict in the Middle East. Over the weekend, the United States military carried out its first known strikes against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled pro-Western Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Tehran has vowed to respond, prompting fears of escalation. During an address to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkiye on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US crossed 'a very big red line' by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. One way Iran could retaliate is to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route where one-fifth of the world's oil supply – roughly 20 million barrels – and much of its liquified gas, is shipped each day. That would lead to a surge in energy prices. So, what do we know about the strategic passage, and can Iran afford to block it in response to the US and Israeli aggression? What is the Strait of Hormuz? The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and the United Arab Emirates on one side and Iran on the other. It links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 33km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 3km (2 miles) wide in either direction, making it vulnerable to attack. Energy traders have been on high alert since Israel launched a wave of surprise attacks across Iran on June 13, fearing disruptions to oil and gas flows through the strait. While the US and Israel have targeted key parts of Iran's energy infrastructure, there has been no direct disruption to maritime activity in the region so far. Still, even before the US strikes on Saturday, the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran had sparked ocean freight rates to surge in recent weeks. Freight intelligence firm Xeneta said average spot rates have increased 55 percent month-over-month, through to last Friday. Who would need to approve the closure? Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, but has never followed through on the threat. Iran's Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision to close the strait, Iran's Press TV said on Sunday, after parliament was reported to have backed the measure. However, the decision to close the strait is not yet final, as parliament has not ratified a bill to that effect. Instead, a member of parliament's National Security Commission, Esmail Kosari, was quoted in Iranian media as saying: 'For now, [parliament has] come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council.' Asked about whether Tehran would close the waterway, FM Araghchi dodged the question on Sunday and replied: 'A variety of options are available to Iran.' In his first comments since the US strikes, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel has made a 'grave mistake' and 'must be punished', but did not make any specific reference to either Washington or the Strait of Hormuz. How would the closure work in practice? Iran could attempt to lay mines across the Strait of Hormuz. The country's army or the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may also try to strike or seize vessels in the Gulf, a method they have used on several occasions in the past. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, the two sides engaged in the so-called 'Tanker Wars' in the Persian Gulf. Iraq targeted Iranian ships, and Iran attacked commercial ships, including Saudi and Kuwaiti oil tankers and even US Navy ships. Tensions in the strait flared up again at the end of 2007 in a series of skirmishes between the Iranian and US navies. This included one incident where Iranian speedboats approached US warships, though no shots were fired. In April 2023, Iranian troops seized the Advantage Sweet crude tanker, which was chartered by Chevron, in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel was released more than a year later. What would it mean for the global economy? 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. Speaking to Fox News, Rubio said: 'It's economic suicide for them if they do it [close the strait]. 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.' For starters, shutting Hormuz risks bringing Gulf Arab states – which have been highly critical of the Israeli attack – into the war to safeguard their own commercial interests. Closing the strait would also hit China. The world's second-largest economy buys almost 90 percent of Iran's oil exports (roughly 1.6 million barrels per day), which are subject to international sanctions. According to Goldman Sachs, a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could push oil prices above $100 per barrel. That would push the cost of production up, eventually affecting consumer prices – especially for energy-intensive goods like food, clothing and chemicals. Oil-importing countries around the world could experience higher inflation and slower economic growth if the conflict persists, which could prompt central banks to push back the timing of future rate cuts. But history has shown that severe disruptions to global oil supplies have tended to be short-lived. Before the start of the second Gulf War, between March and May 2003, crude oil surged by a whopping 46 percent at the end of 2002. But prices quickly unwound in the days preceding the start of the US-led military campaign. Similarly, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a sharp rally in oil prices to $130 a barrel, but prices returned to their pre-invasion levels of $95 by mid-August. These relatively quick reversals of oil price spikes were largely due to global spare production capacity available at the time, and the fact that the rapid oil price increase curbed demand.
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As Israel-Iran war escalates, Ukraine fears ‘more losses' to Russia
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The flow of military technologies usually went the other way as Moscow supplied advanced air defence systems, missiles and warplanes to Tehran, keeping Israel worried. In 2009, then-Israeli President Shimon Peres told this reporter in Moscow that his visit was aimed at convincing the Kremlin to 'reconsider' the sale of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Tehran. Russia's advanced Su-35 jets were supposed to be delivered to Tehran earlier this year, but were not seen in the Iranian sky. Washington's arms supplies to Israel have already affected Kyiv's ability to withstand Russia's air raids and slow advance on the ground. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on June 9 that the White House decided to divert 20,000 anti-drone missiles earmarked for Kyiv. 'Without the help of the United States, we'll have more losses,' Zelenskyy said in televised remarks. More Ukraine-bound military aid may now be diverted to Israel, and the Kremlin 'counts on this scenario', analyst Smagin said. 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UN nuclear chief estimates damage to Iran's facilities ‘very significant'
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