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Iran-Israel war: latest developments
Jerusalem, June 22 (AFP) Jun 22, 2025
US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites "devastated" Iran's nuclear programme, the Pentagon said Sunday, with Washington asserting it was not seeking regime change in the Islamic republic following its intervention alongside Israel.

As the Iran-Israel ground into its 10th day, here are the latest developments:


- US intervention -


US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes ordered by President Donald Trump overnight had "devastated the Iranian nuclear programme", adding the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people".

Trump "seeks peace, and Iran should take that path", Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing. "This mission was not, and has not, been about regime change."

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday the US air strikes had "set the Iranian nuclear programme back substantially last night, whether it's years or beyond".

"We're not at war with Iran -- we're at war with Iran's nuclear programme," he added in an interview with ABC.

Earlier, Trump said the US carried out a "very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran", referring to Isfahan, Natanz and the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo.

"A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site," Fordo, he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Iranian media also said the Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were hit.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said seven B-2 stealth bombers flew 18 hours from mainland America to Iran, with multiple aerial refuellings, to carry out the attack.

"Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission. We retained the element of surprise," the top general said.

Trump said that, after the strikes, Iran "must now agree to end this war", insisting that under no circumstances should Iran possess a nuclear weapon.


- Iran says US decided to 'blow up' diplomacy -


Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, accused the United States of deciding to "blow up" diplomacy with its intervention in the war.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Israel had derailed nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington with its initial strikes on June 13, while the US strikes on Sunday did the same to negotiations with European powers held this week.

Addressing European calls for Iran to return to negotiations, he asked: "How can Iran return to something it never left?"

Later at a news conference in Istanbul, he said the United States and Israel had crossed a "big red line" by attacking Iran's nuclear sites.

"There is no red line that they have not crossed," Araghchi said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the United States, saying the attack revealed it was the "main factor behind" Israel's military campaign in the Islamic republic.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of entering into "fake negotiations" ahead of the strikes in a bid to "play" Trump.

"I think the world today is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago," he told Fox News.


- Iran and Israel trade fire -


Iran's armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel, including Ben Gurion airport, after the US attacks.

The targets also included a "biological research" facility, logistics bases, and various layers of command and control centres, it said.

IRNA news agency said 40 missiles were fired in Iran's "20th wave" of strikes.

At least 23 people were wounded and police said at least three impacts were reported.

"Houses here were hit very, very badly," said Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai. "Fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside.

"Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well. The damage is very, very extensive, but in terms of human life, we are okay."

The Israeli military said it had launched its own fresh waves of strikes in western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran.

It later said its "jets struck dozens of military targets throughout Iran", including a long-range missile site in Yazd in the centre of the country for the first time.

IRNA reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the north of the city.

Iran's Shargh newspaper reported a "massive explosion was heard" Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.


- Watchdog says 'no increase' in radiation -


The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at key nuclear sites in Iran after the US strikes.

"Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran... the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time," the watchdog said on X.

The UN body's head, Rafael Grossi, said the IAEA would hold an "emergency meeting" at the organisation's headquarters in Vienna on Monday in response to the US strikes.


- Red Crescent says no deaths in US strikes -


The head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said there were no fatalities in the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Fortunately, we did not have any martyrs in last night's events of the US aggression against Iran's nuclear facilities," he said according to state television.

burs-csp/smw

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY


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