Washington, D.C.3:46 a.m. June 22
Jerusalen10:46 a.m. June 22
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Live Updates: Trump Claims Success After Bombing Key Iran Nuclear Sites
After hitting Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation, President Trump warned of more strikes “if peace does not come quickly.” Iranian ballistic missiles wounded at least 10 in Israel, officials said.
American warplanes and submarines attacked three key nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday, bringing the U.S. military directly into Israel’s war and prompting fears that the strikes could lead to more dangerous escalations across the Middle East.
President Trump said the objective was the “destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity. He claimed success, saying in a televised address from the White House that the nuclear facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.”
“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Mr. Trump said. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”
The sites that were attacked include Iran’s two major uranium enrichment centers: the heavily fortified mountain facility at Fordo and a larger enrichment plant at Natanz that Israel had struck several days ago with smaller weapons.
Iranian officials acknowledged the attacks, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increases in radiation outside the sites. Mehdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said on social media that Fordo had been evacuated beforehand and that damage there was “not irreversible.”
It was not immediately clear how Iran would respond diplomatically or militarily. On Sunday, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who is in Turkey for diplomatic talks, said only that Iran “reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
Around the same time, air-raid sirens in Israel were warning of incoming Iranian ballistic missile fire. The Israeli authorities said that at least 16 people had been wounded in the barrage, one of many attacks the two sides have exchanged since the Israeli military launched a surprise assault on Iran on June 13.
Israel later said that it had begun a series of strikes on military targets in western Iran.
Here’s what you need to know:
Reaction in Congress: Top Republicans rallied behind Mr. Trump, calling the strikes a necessary check on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But senior Democrats and some G.O.P. lawmakers condemned the move as an unconstitutional one that could drag the United States into a broader war.
Israel’s role: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday that the U.S. strikes had been carried out “in full coordination” between the American and Israeli militaries.
Strike details: A U.S. official said that six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs on the Fordo nuclear site, which lies deep underground, and Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at Natanz and another nuclear site in Isfahan. One B-2 also dropped two bunker busters on Natanz, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
The lead-up: For a week, Mr. Trump was weighing whether to use the powerful munitions needed to destroy Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment facilities. Only American bombs known as bunker busters are believed up to the job.
What’s next? Now that Mr. Trump has helped Israel, it will most likely initiate a more dangerous phase in the war. Here are some ways that could play out, and a look at how the U.S. military’s powerful bunker-busting bombs work.
David E. Sanger, Robert Jimison, Michael Gold, Megan Mineiro, Jonathan Swan, Aaron Boxerman Yan Zhuang and Talya Minsberg contributed reporting.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that the best interests of Lebanon are in not “being dragged in any form into the ongoing regional confrontation,” on a post on X. His statement comes amid growing concerns that Hezbollah — the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, which has so far refrained from joining Iran in fighting Israel — may now change course and enter the conflict following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning that the country would defend its territory and security “by all force and means” against the U.S. attack, which it called “a grave and unprecedented violation” of international law. “Silence in the face of such blatant aggression would plunge the world into an unprecedented level of danger and chaos,” the foreign ministry said.
American allies and adversaries were scrambling on Sunday to process the U.S. strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran that brought the American military directly into Israel’s war.
As fears grew that the attacks could lead to more dangerous escalations across the Middle East, some leaders and diplomats condemned them as others urged de-escalation.
Here’s what some governments and leaders have said or done so far:
United Nations: Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said on social media that he was “gravely alarmed,” describing the strikes as a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge — and a direct threat to international peace and security.” He warned of “a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”
Britain: “Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on social media. He called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”
Australia: The government called for de-escalation and diplomacy while echoing some of President Trump’s rhetoric about the danger of Iran’s nuclear program. “We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,” it said in a statement provided to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster.
Saudi Arabia: The foreign ministry “condemned and denounced” the violation of Iran’s sovereignty and said it was following with “deep concern” the targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Every effort should be made to de-escalate tensions, the ministry said.
New Zealand: Foreign Minister Winston Peters urged diplomacy, saying in a statement: “Ongoing military action in the Middle East is extremely worrying, and it is critical further escalation is avoided.”
South Korea: The country’s top security officials huddled on Sunday to discuss the potential impact on South Korea’s security and economy, a spokeswoman for President Lee Jae Myung said.
Mexico: The Foreign Ministry called for “diplomatic dialogue and peace” among the parties involved in the conflict. “We reiterate our call to de-escalate tensions in the region,” it added.
Cuba: President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on social media that the strikes were a “dangerous escalation” of the conflict in the Middle East and threatened to draw the world into crisis.
Chile: President Gabriel Boric said the attack was illegal under international law. “We demand and need peace,” he said on social media.
Venezuela: Foreign Minister Yván Gil described the attack as an “illegal, unjustifiable and extremely dangerous act of aggression” in a post on the social media platform Telegram.
A missile struck a quiet neighborhood of family homes in Nes Ziyona, instantly reducing well-kept villas to bare cement shells and piles of broken bricks, dusted with gray powder.
Emergency workers responding to the site of a missile strike in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s allies and his opponents welcomed President Trump’s decision to launch the attack. Trump “wrote his name tonight in golden letters in the history books,” waxed Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition and a committed Netanyahu critic, said in a radio interview: “It was the right and correct thing for Israel, Israeli security and global security. It’s a good moment.” But Lapid also added that Israel should now aim to wrap up the war with Iran, saying that its “main objectives had been achieved.”
Israel has begun a series of strikes on military targets in western Iran, its military said on social media.
Israeli paramedics now say 16 people were wounded in the Iranian missile attack. Israel’s public broadcaster is playing footage from one of the impact sites, showing a multi-story building hollowed out by an explosion on a street full of rubble.
A rescue worker evacuating children from a site in Haifa, Israel, after Iran launched missiles.
Authorities reported several impact sites across Israel during the last Iranian rocket barrage, likely the result of either Iranian missiles evading Israel’s air defenses or falling shrapnel. In images published by Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, buildings and cars wrecked in the attack can be seen amid smoke. The municipality of Haifa, the country’s third-largest city, said officials were heading to an impact site.
At least 10 people were wounded in the most recent Iranian ballistic missile barrage to Israel, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service. Police said officers were responding to multiple impact sites across central Israel.
Following warnings of incoming Iranian ballistic fire, the authorities in Israel said that search and rescue crews were operating in several locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported. The national emergency services agency posted footage of a destroyed apartment block.
Multiple sites being searched across Israel by MDA EMTs and Paramedics
Further casualty updates to follow pic.twitter.com/w27P27ozlr
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) June 22, 2025
The UN nuclear watchdog said it has not detected any increase in off-site radiation levels at the three Iranian nuclear sites following the U.S. attack. The International Atomic Energy Agencysaid it is continuing to assess the situation and will provide further updates.
The Israeli miliatary said on Telegram that it is doing search and rescue operations in several locations where missiles were reported. It did not name where it was working. The nation’s ambulance service said the same in separate statement.
Following the U.S. attack on Iran, South Korea’s top security officials huddled on Sunday to discuss its potential impact on the country’s security and economy, said Kang Yu-jung, a spokeswoman for President Lee Jae Myung. South Korea is an American ally while North Korea last week accused Washington of “fanning up the flames of war” in the Middle East.
Iranians are waking up to news of the strikes, saying on social media that they worry about what will happen to their country and expressing concern about potential radioactive leaks at the three nuclear sites that were bombed. Iranian officials said on Sunday that the attacks posed no risk to public health.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei would typically be expected to issue a statement or address the nation on live television during extraordinary circumstances. But Mr. Khamenei is in a bunker, all his electronic communication has been suspended to protect him against assassinations and communication with him is limited and difficult. Until he speaks, Iran’s definitive response to U.S. strikes on nuclear sites is not clear.
Air-raid sirens are ringing out in northern and central Israel, warning of incoming Iranian ballistic missile fire.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in a post on social media that Iran has a legitimate right to respond to U.S. attacks on its nuclear facilities. “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest and people,” he warned. He accused the U.S. of violating the United Nations charter, international law and the Non-Proliferation Treaty by attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the U.N. must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.
Israelis are waking up to the news that President Trump had decided to launch attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites. Many here hope American involvement brings the war — which has sent Israelis fleeing for reinforced bomb shelters multiple times a day under threat of ballistic missile attacks — to a quick end. But the next steps in the spiraling conflict are far from clear. The Israeli military has ordered schools and most workplaces to remain closed for the immediate future as the country braces for further Iranian retaliation.
Iran’s clerical rulers have a long history of open animosity toward the United States.
From vowing “Death to America” to striking an American base in Iraq after the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general, the Iranian government has repeatedly gone to the brink of direct military confrontation with the United States, only to pull back.
Now, with the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the conflict enters a more dangerous phase.
After the strikes, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said on social media that Iran had a legitimate right to respond to U.S. attacks on its nuclear facilities and warned that “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”
He accused the United States of violating the U.N. charter and international law, adding, “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences.”
Two senior Iranian officials said in text messages that, before the strikes, there had been hope that Mr. Trump could be dissuaded by those around him who opposed another American war in the Middle East. Mr. Araghchi had been in Turkey for meetings, and his diplomatic outreach to European counterparts, to Arab leaders in the region, and to Turkey, was part of an effort to rally support, according to the two officials.
But it failed. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed the U.S. strikes in a statement, saying that around dawn Sunday Iran’s three nuclear sites, Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, “were attacked in a violent act against international laws, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty, by the enemies of Islamic Iran.”
So far throughout the war with Israel, Iran has refrained from direct attacks on U.S. troops and interests in the Middle East. But Iran’s military commanders have warned that American entry into war would bring retaliation.
The former commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, who has a seat at Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned on state television hours before the attack that if Mr. Trump entered the war, Iran would strike at American military bases, blow up naval mines in the Persian Gulf and move to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran can wreak havoc on the global transit of energy. About 20 million barrels of crude oil and oil products move through the Strait of Hormuz daily.
On Friday, Mr. Araghchi told NBC News that “when there is a war, both sides attack each other. That’s quite understandable.” He added that Iran reserved the right to retaliate against a U.S. attack, as it has against Israel’s. “Self-defense is a legitimate right of every country,” he said.
But Iran’s options are grim. And whatever it does will be a turning point for the Islamic Republic’s nearly five-decade rule.
If it retaliates against the United States, it could face a major war that leads to its collapse or to years of instability, a fate like that of Iraq and Afghanistan.
If it retreats, accepting a cease-fire, it would be a shell of its former self, with its nuclear capacities crippled, its military depleted and little leverage to negotiate for relief from debilitating sanctions.
Iran’s stature in the region, where it has long been viewed as an influential power player, would also be diminished.
“If we do not react, the U.S. will not leave us alone right now when it can so easily come and strike us and leave,” Reza Salehi, a conservative political analyst in Tehran, said in a telephone interview after the attacks. “The big challenge that we face this week is that if we go to the negotiating table, the other side will have more and newer demands, such as our defense abilities, and that will make things complicated.”
The American strikes could also prompt retaliation from Iran’s allied militias in the region. But Israel has weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and Iraqi militias have mostly retreated from attacking American bases.
That leaves the Houthi militia of Yemen, a country sitting along a critical international shipping lane. The Houthis had threatened to break their May truce with Mr. Trump and attack U.S. targets if Washington supported the Israeli attacks on Iran.
“In the event that the Americans become involved in the attack and aggression against Iran alongside the Israeli enemy, the armed forces will target their ships and warships in the Red Sea,” their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said earlier Saturday.
Before Israel launched its surprise attack on June 13, Iran and the United States had been holding negotiations, mediated by Oman, to curb Iran’s advancing nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States demanded that Iran dismantle its program and stop enriching uranium. The U.S. had also proposed that Iran enter into a nuclear consortium with Arab countries for access to civilian-grade nuclear fuel.
Iran was preparing a response, but officials had said that giving up enrichment of uranium on Iran’s soil was a red line, and they would not dismantle the program.
Those talks collapsed after the Israeli attack, two days before Iran and the United States were scheduled to meet in Oman.
Saturday’s strikes marked the first time the U.S. Air Force had ever used the 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator in combat.
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said, “This was a massive gamble by President Trump, and nobody knows yet whether it will pay off.” He added: “It’s easier to start wars than end them.”
Both the New York Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C., said they were sending more officers to religious institutions and other sites across each city after the U.S. attacked Iran.
Top Republicans in Congress swiftly rallied behind President Trump on Saturday after he ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, even as senior Democrats and some G.O.P. lawmakers condemned it as an unconstitutional move that could drag the United States into a broader war in the Middle East.
In separate statements, the leading Republicans in Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, commended the military operation, calling it a necessary check on Iran’s ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon. Both men had been briefed on the military action before the strike was carried out, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Thune both argued that the airstrikes were necessary after Iran had rejected diplomatic overtures to curb its nuclear program.
“The regime in Iran, which has committed itself to bringing ‘death to America’ and wiping Israel off the map, has rejected all diplomatic pathways to peace,” Mr. Thune said.
Mr. Johnson argued that the military action was consistent with Mr. Trump’s muscular foreign policy.
“President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated,” he said. “That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision and clarity.”
But top Democrats, who were given only perfunctory notice of the strikes before they occurred, harshly criticized the move.
“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,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said in a statement. He said the president “shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action.”
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, demanded “clear answers” from Mr. Trump on the operation and called for an immediate vote on legislation that would require explicit authorization from Congress for the use of military force.
“The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased,” he said.
Representative Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, condemned the operation as unconstitutional and warned that it could drag the United States into a larger conflict.
“Donald Trump’s decision to launch direct military action against Iran without congressional approval is a clear violation of the Constitution, which grants the power to declare war explicitly to Congress,” he said in a statement. “It is impossible to know at this stage whether this operation accomplished its objectives. We also don’t know if this will lead to further escalation in the region and attacks against our forces, events that could easily pull us even deeper into a war in the Middle East.”
While Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, called Mr. Trump’s move “the right call,” the top Democrat on the panel, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, said he had taken steps that could drag the United States into a war “without consulting Congress, without a clear strategy, without regard to the consistent conclusions of the intelligence community, and without explaining to the American people what’s at stake.”
Leading national security Democrats on Capitol Hill were not informed of the strikes until after Mr. Trump had posted about them on social media, according to three people familiar with the matter who would discuss it only on the condition of anonymity.
And one high-profile Democrat, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called the operation grounds for impeachment.
“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez of New York said in a post on social media.
Democrats widely condemned the surprise attack as unconstitutional. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was the first on Saturday to say it was grounds for Trump’s removal, breaking with party leaders who have avoided talk of impeachment since the president returned to the White House, after two failed attempts to remove him during his first term. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, but in modern times, presidents of both parties have unilaterally carried out attacks on other countries without congressional authorization. It has been decades since Congress voted on whether to authorize military force, and efforts to claw back the legislative branch’s war powers have repeatedly stalled.
Most of the praise immediately following the operation in Iran came from Republicans, many of whom argued that the bombings would not lead to a ground deployment of American forces in the region.
“To those concerned about U.S. involvement — this isn’t a ‘forever war’ in fact, it’s ending one,” Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said on social media.
Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called Mr. Trump’s decision to strike in Iran “deliberate” and “correct.”
“We now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies and stability for the Middle East,” Mr. Wicker said in a statement.
Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, whose unqualified support for Israel has put him at odds with other members of his party, was one of the few Democrats to offer an immediate statement of support. He wrote on social media that the military action “was the correct move.”
“Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities,” Mr. Fetterman added. “I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”
Other lawmakers, many of them Democrats who had already expressed concerns that the Trump administration was considering sidestepping Congress’s constitutional power to declare war, immediately criticized the strikes on the nuclear sites.
Mr. Trump, “did not come to Congress to explain his reasons for bombing a sovereign nation and to seek authorization for these strikes,” Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, said in a statement. “These reckless actions are going to put the lives of American service members and American citizens at risk.”
Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, who earlier this week introduced a bipartisan resolution that would require congressional approval before U.S. troops could engage in offensive attacks against Iran, wrote on social media that the attack was “not Constitutional.”
Carl Hulse and Megan Mineiro contributed reporting.
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