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ABC News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Australia backs US strikes on Iran while urging return to diplomacy
Australia has given its support to US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities but has repeated calls for de-escalation to avoid a wider war. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday Australia was in favour of any action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, after the government had initially adopted a more cautious tone, declining to give its explicit support. "The world has agreed Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, so yes, we support action to prevent that, and that is what this is," she told ABC AM, citing a UN watchdog finding that Iran had acquired enriched uranium at "almost military level". Senator Wong said Australia had not received a request for assistance and had been advised that Pine Gap, a shared military facility, had not been engaged. While she declined to speculate on the response to any such request, she said Australia was "deeply concerned" about the prospect of escalation. "The key question for the international community is what happens next … It's obviously a very precarious, risky and dangerous moment the world faces," she said. "Now is the time for diplomacy. Now is the time for de-escalation and that call is to all parties." The National Security Committee, comprised of key ministers, will meet in Canberra this morning. Australia's explicit expression of support for the strikes goes a step further than allies including the UK, Canada and New Zealand, although all three countries have emphasised the risk of Iran gaining nuclear weapons. The Coalition supported the strikes on Sunday and also says it does not want further war, but has put the onus on Iran to negotiate peace. "We want to see Iran come to the negotiating table to verify where that 400 kilos of enriched uranium is," Andrew Hastie told ABC Radio National. Mr Hastie, who is acting as the opposition's foreign affairs spokesperson, said the Australian government had been "flat-footed" but he was pleased by the condemnation. "I'm glad to see that Penny Wong has essentially endorsed our position and I'm glad we have bipartisanship on this," he said. Dave Sharma, a Liberal senator and former Australian ambassador to Israel, said the government's response was "underwhelming and perplexing" on Sunday and that support for the strikes "should be a straightforward position for Australia to adopt". The Greens are against the strike, with defence spokesperson David Shoebridge calling Donald Trump a "warmonger" and demanding Australia clarify it will not get involved. "You cannot bomb your way to peace … and the people who are always going to pay the price are the ordinary people on the street," he said. Paul Foley, a former Australian ambassador to Iran, said Australia's response was "appropriate" but urged a return to diplomacy "as rapidly as possible". "We're moving into uncharted territory … There's a range of factors to be balanced by the Australian and other governments," he said. Mr Foley speculated there were three categories of response from Iran — to do nothing, to launch a "limited" response, or to attack US assets or facilities in the region. "A deal is still possible if both sides want one badly enough. President Trump came to office promising to be a peacemaker, and Iran also has indicated, in the past, a preference for going down the diplomatic path." Senator Wong said Australian officials were stationed at the land border in Azerbaijan to assist any Australians seeking to depart Iran while airspace remained closed, urging them to leave if possible while acknowledging this was "risky". I understand this is a very difficult time for the Australian-Iranian community," she said. About 2,900 Australians in Iran and 1,300 in Israel have registered their desire to leave, and the minister said Australia would move to assist those in Israel to depart by air now that airspace was reopening.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How effective was the US attack on Iran's nuclear sites? A visual guide
Donald Trump was quick to claim that US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities had 'completely and totally obliterated' them. Still, it remains unclear how much physical damage has been done or what the longer-term impact might be on Iran's nuclear programme. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed that attacks took place on its Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but insisted its nuclear programme would not be stopped. Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the three locations after the strikes. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported no deaths from the US strikes, appearing to confirm Iranian claims they had been largely evacuated in advance. The health ministry said those who were injured showed no evidence of nuclear contamination. In the immediate aftermath, US military officials said the three sites had suffered 'severe damage' after an operation that had been planned for weeks, suggesting it was coordinated with Israel. The Pentagon said a battle damage assessment was still being conducted. Long regarded as the most difficult military target among Iran's nuclear sites, the uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow – the primary target of the operation – are buried beneath the Zagros mountains. Reports have suggested that the site was constructed beneath 45-90 metres of bedrock, largely limestone and dolomite. Some experts have suggested the layering of the sedimentary rocks, including faults, would also make it more difficult to strike the centrifuge array, providing a kind of geological cushioning against a blast wave. The attack – codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer – was carried out by seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers flying from the US, after a deception flight by other B-2s into the Pacific. Tomahawk missiles were fired from US ships in waters south of Iran. The site was hit by a dozen 13,600kg massive ordnance penetrators – known as bunker busters – at approximately 2.10am Iranian time. It was the weapon's first operational use. The number used suggests a lack of confidence that a smaller strike could penetrate through to the target. The result to a large extent depends on the kind of concrete inside the facility. Estimates of the bunker busters' penetration are based largely on reinforced concrete resistant to 5,000psi. Iran is believed to have used more resistant concrete. While video from the site showed evidence of a fire in the immediate aftermath, satellite images published on Sunday were suggestive but far from conclusive. The main support building at the site appeared to be undamaged, but the topography of a prominent area of ridge line appeared to have altered and been flattened out, with some evidence of rock scarring close to two clusters of bomb craters around the ridge. Analysts had suggested that a strike could hit the main entrance tunnel to the site, but the main effort appears to have been in a different location. At odds with Trump's claim of 'complete obliteration', two Israeli officials who spoke to the New York Times described serious damage at Fordow but said the site had not been completely destroyed. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, added: 'As for the assessment of the degree of damage underground, on this we cannot pronounce ourselves. It could be important; it could be significant, but no one … neither us nor anybody else could be able to tell you how much it has been damaged.' Isfahan's nuclear technology centre was struck by Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from an Ohio-class submarine as opposed to bunker busters. Video posted on social media showed a distant detonation from the site on Saturday night. According to the IAEA, in addition to four hit by Israeli strikes, six other buildings had now been attacked, including a fuel rod production facility. It said facilities targeted at Isfahan either contained no nuclear material or small quantities of natural or low-enriched uranium. Natanz had previously been damaged by the first Israeli strikes of the conflict, with assessments then suggesting they had hit the power plant supplying the main centrifuge hall. Uranium had been enriched to up to 60%, short of weapons-grade material. It appears that Natanz's underground enrichment hall was targeted. Enhancement of satellite images from the site on Sunday showed fresh damage to overground buildings and new cratering in the centre of the site. In response to the US strikes, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday, triggering countrywide air raid sirens and injuring 16 people. Iran has claimed that it evacuated the sites several days ago, and satellite imagery from several days ago suggests there was unusual truck traffic at Fordow. That appears to confirm the movement of some material from the site, possibly including the uranium stockpile – or parts of it – which remains unaccounted for. Hassan Abedini, the deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites – Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow – some time ago. 'The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,' he said. Three days before the US attacks, 16 cargo trucks were seen near the Fordow entrance tunnel. Related: What a difference a week makes: Trump falls into the Netanyahu trap The head of the AEOI, Mohammad Eslami, claimed this month that Iran had another enrichment site 'in a secure and invulnerable location' that could house centrifuges. Analysts have long argued that while it is possible to disrupt the physical function of a nuclear facility and limit the scope of a programme through, for example, the killing of scientists, the breadth of technical knowledge acquired during the decades-long programme is impossible to destroy. Ultimately, the question is whether the US-Israeli attacks are seen as sufficient for Iran to capitulate, or whether they instead encourage the regime to accelerate its efforts to produce a viable nuclear weapon.
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
IAEA to convene emergency meeting of board of governors on Monday, agency chief says
The UN nuclear watchdog plans to convene an emergency meeting of its board of governors on Monday, the agency's chief Rafael Grossi said in a post on social media platform X.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Iran-Israel conflict live: Europeans urge Iran to negotiate, Israel signals 'prolonged' conflict
The conflict between Iran and Israel continues into its ninth consecutive day. European foreign ministers urged Iran to return to negotiations with the US on its nuclear programme at a meeting in Geneva. Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint. Follow the latest developments in our live blog. To get updates to your inbox, subscribe to ABC News.
CNN
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Everything you need to know about Iran's nuclear program
After decades of threats, Israel on Friday launched an audacious attack on Iran, targeting its nuclear sites, scientists and military leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation had 'struck at the head of Iran's nuclear weaponization program.' But international assessments, including by the US intelligence community, say that Iran's nuclear program isn't currently weaponized. Tehran has also repeatedly insisted it isn't building a bomb. Still, that doesn't mean it couldn't if it chose to. Iran has spent decades developing its nuclear program and sees it as a source of national pride and sovereignty. It maintains the program is solely for peaceful energy purposes and plans to build additional nuclear power plants to meet domestic energy needs and free up more oil for export. Nuclear plants require a fuel called uranium – and according to the UN nuclear watchdog, no other country has the kind of uranium that Iran currently does without also having a nuclear weapons program. That has fueled suspicions that Iran isn't being fully transparent about its intentions. Tehran has used its stockpile of weapons-grade uranium as a bargaining chip in talks with the United States, repeatedly saying it would get rid of it if US-led sanctions are lifted. So, what exactly is uranium's role in a nuclear weapon, and how far is Iran from weaponizing its program? Here's what you need to know. The US launched a nuclear program with Iran in 1957. Back then, the Western-friendly monarch – the Shah – ruled Iran and the two countries were still friends. With backing from the US, Iran started developing its nuclear power program in the 1970s. But the US pulled its support when the Shah was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since the revolution, which transformed Iran into an Islamic Republic, Western nations have worried the country could use its nuclear program to produce atomic weapons using highly enriched uranium. Iran has maintained that it does not seek to build nuclear weapons. It is a party to the UN's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), under which it has pledged not to develop a bomb. Here's where its nuclear facilities are located. At the heart of the controversy over Iran's nuclear program is its enrichment of uranium – a process used to produce fuel for power plants that, at higher levels, can also be used to make a nuclear bomb. In the early 2000s, international inspectors announced that they had found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian plant in Natanz. Iran temporarily halted enrichment, but resumed it in 2006, insisting it was allowed under its agreement with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It prompted years of international sanctions against Iran. After years of negotiations, Iran and six world powers in 2015 agreed to a nuclear deal that limited Iran's nuclear threat in return for lighter sanctions. The deal required Iran to keep its uranium enrichment levels at no more than 3.67%, down from near 20%, dramatically reduce its uranium stockpile, and phase out its centrifuges, among other measures. Uranium isn't bomb-grade until it's enriched to 90% purity. And nuclear power plants that generate electricity use uranium that is enriched to between 3.5% and 5%. It's unclear how close Iran might be to actually building a nuclear bomb, if at all, but it has made significant progress in producing its key ingredient: highly enriched uranium. In recent years, it has sharply reduced the time needed to reach weapons-grade levels – now requiring just about a week to produce enough for one bomb. In 2018, Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and initiated new sanctions on the regime to cripple its economy. Tehran in turn said it would stop complying with parts of the agreement, and started increasing uranium enrichment and uranium stockpiles, and using advanced centrifuges. It removed all of the IAEA equipment previously installed for surveillance and monitoring activities. The Biden administration then kicked off more than a year of indirect negotiations with Iran aimed at reviving the deal, but those broke down in 2022. In 2023, the IAEA said uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity – close to bomb-grade levels – were found at an Iranian nuclear facility. Its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% had also grown to 128.3 kilograms, the highest level then documented. And last year, the US shortened Iran's so-called 'breakout time' – the amount of time needed to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon – 'to one or two weeks.' An IAEA report sent to member states late last month said Iran's stock of 60% purity enriched uranium had now grown to 408 kilograms. That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. The IAEA has long accused Iran of violating its non-proliferation obligations, but on Thursday – for the first time in almost 20 years – its board passed a resolution officially declaring Iran in breach of those obligations. Iran promised to respond by escalating its nuclear activities. Enrichment is a process that increases the amount of uranium-235, a special type of uranium used to power nuclear reactors or, in much higher amounts, to make nuclear weapons. Natural uranium is mostly uranium‑238 – about 99.3%, which isn't good for power or bombs. Only about 0.7% is uranium‑235, the part needed to release energy. For nuclear energy use, that tiny amount of useful uranium-235 needs to be concentrated. To do this, uranium is first turned into a gas, then spun at high speeds in machines called centrifuges. These machines help separate uranium-235 from the more common uranium-238. That is what enrichment is. Uranium used in nuclear power plants is typically enriched to about 3.67%. To make a nuclear bomb, it needs to be enriched to around 90%. Iran has enriched uranium to 60% – not enough for a bomb, but a major step closer to weapons-grade material. Centrifuges are essential for enriching uranium. The more advanced the centrifuge, the faster and more efficiently it can separate uranium-235 from uranium-238 – shortening the time needed to produce nuclear fuel or, potentially, weapons-grade material. Iran has spent decades improving its centrifuge technology, starting with its first-generation IR-1 model in the late 1980s. Today, it operates thousands of machines, including advanced models like the IR-6 and IR-9. According to the Arms Control Association, Iran's current centrifuge capacity could allow it to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb in less than two weeks. Israel says it's targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure in its attack. Natanz, the facility at the heart of Iran's nuclear ambitions, was engulfed in flames on Friday, according to social media images geolocated by CNN and Iranian state television coverage. The nuclear complex there, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is considered Iran's largest uranium enrichment facility. Analysts say the site is used to develop and assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a key technology that turns uranium into nuclear fuel. The IAEA said three nuclear sites, Fordow, Isfahan and Bushehr, had not been impacted. Six of Iran's nuclear scientists were also killed in Israel's strikes, Iranian state-affiliated Tasnim news agency said. Iran has spent years strengthening its nuclear structures against the threat of military strikes, which will make it difficult to comprehensively destroy them, military experts have told CNN. Some facilities are buried deep underground to put them out of reach of Israel's weapons.
