Expert confident Iran’s nuclear program is ‘no longer’ after massive US strike
A top expert on the Iran nuclear program believes the regime’s atomic program has been obliterated by Saturday night’s strikes by the United States. “The nuclear program is no longer,” Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a “national security and foreign policy” think tank, told Fox News Digital. “Sources in Israel report with high confidence that this chapter is over. Responsible parties must still remove nuclear materials from the facility in Isfahan. But that appears to be the final page to turn,” he continued. President Donald Trump said during his address on Saturday night that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES Fox News reported earlier on that Isfahan was “the hardest target,” according to a senior U.S. official. “Everyone was talking about and focused on Fordow, but Isfahan was actually the hardest target,” the official said on background. The U.S. used B-2 bombers to carry out the mission. A senior U.S. official also told Fox News that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu communicated after the strikes and that Israel had been informed ahead of time. ISRAEL’S ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN CREATE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY FOR US IN NUCLEAR TALKS, EXPERTS SAY Lisa Daftari, Iran expert and Editor-in-Chief of The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital, “Both Israeli and U.S. officials understand that anything less than total destruction of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will only result in a temporary pause, not a permanent end. But to truly end Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the U.S. and its allies must commit to a campaign—beyond these targeted strikes—backed by sustained pressure, intelligence, and the credible threat of further action if Iran attempts to rebuild. “To ensure the eradication of the regime’s nuclear weapons capability, the U.S. must maintain persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to detect any attempts by Iran’s regime to disperse, hide or rebuild its nuclear infrastructure. This would be coupled with continued diplomatic isolation and strict multilateral sanctions blocking the regime’s access to nuclear technology, materials and financing,” she said. Trump announced that the U.S. had struck nuclear sites in Iran – a major development amid rising tensions in the region, as Israel and Iran continued to launch airstrikes against each other. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday night. “All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he continued. Fox News’ Sean Hannity said on Saturday night that President Donald Trump had given him details on the U.S. strikes in Iran. According to the “Hannity” host, the U.S. used six bunker-buster bombs — each of which weighs 15 tons — in its strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. The bombs were dropped from American B-2 stealth bombers. During a press conference on Sunday morning, the number of bunker busters used was updated to 14 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Caine. ISRAEL SAYS IT KILLED IRANIAN COMMANDER WHO HELPED FUND, ARM HAMAS “President Trump took decisive leadership and action to eliminate the last vestiges of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, after Israel’s sustained strikes, which seriously damaged the atomic weapons supply chain from uranium conversion to enrichment, and all the way to weaponization,” Andrea Stricker, FDD’s Director of Nonproliferation and Biological Weapons told Fox News Digital. “While Tehran’s program is likely set back by years, the United States and Israel need to ensure the regime’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles and all secret advanced centrifuges are fully recovered and destroyed — which means more work ahead,” she added. Fordow had two entrances and one ventilation shaft, which likely served as the entrance points for the Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs). Additionally, 30 Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. submarines were used in the attacks on the Nanatz and Isfahan facilities. There is speculation that the missiles were shot from an Ohio Class Submarine, but there has been no confirmation.
By bombing Iran, the US continues to make the world safe for war
It seems like just yesterday that United States President Donald Trump was pushing a “diplomatic resolution” to the Iranian nuclear issue. Now, the US has joined Israel’s illegal assault on Iran, striking three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday in what Trump has boasted was a “very successful attack”. As CNN dramatically put it, “a midsummer night in June 2025 could come to be remembered as the moment the Middle East changed forever; when the fear of nuclear annihilation was lifted from Israel; when Iran’s power was neutered and America’s soared”. Of course, a “fear of nuclear annihilation” has nothing to do with Israel’s current strikes on Iran, which have been dutifully portrayed in the US media as targeting military and nuclear facilities but have somehow managed to slaughter hundreds of civilians. The victims include 23-year-old poet Parnia Abbasi, killed along with her family as they slept in their Tehran apartment building. As is clear as day to anyone not in the business of defending Israeli depredations, the attacks on Iran are simply a war of convenience for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is killing all sorts of birds with one stone in his campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities. In addition to distracting the world from Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, where starving Palestinians continue to be massacred on a daily basis as they seek food and other aid, Netanyahu has also managed to divert attention from his own embroilment in numerous corruption charges at home. Advertisement Plus, the war on Iran is wildly popular among Israelis, which translates into big points for a prime minister who has faced significant domestic opposition. Trump’s initial insistence on diplomacy with Iran naturally got Netanyahu’s panties into a giant bunch – but the situation has now been rectified by the midsummer night’s bombing, which, according to the president, has “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites. To be sure, Iran has long occupied US crosshairs, with many an establishment figure salivating at the prospect of bombing the country to smithereens. Some have salivated more openly than others, as in the case of John Bolton – a former US ambassador to the United Nations and briefly the national security adviser in the first Trump administration – who in 2015 took to the opinion pages of The New York Times with the following advice: “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran.” That the editors of the US newspaper of record did not bat an eye in publishing such a blatant call for the violation of international law is indicative of the extent to which Iran has been thoroughly demonised in US society and media. Recall that in 2002, then-US President George W Bush appointed the nation to his infamous “axis of evil” along with Iraq and North Korea. And yet, aside from being a persistent thorn in the side of US imperialism, Iran’s behaviour has been rather less apparently, um, “evil” than certain other international actors – like the US itself. For instance, Iran is not the one currently funding a straight-up genocide to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Nor is Iran the one that has spent the past several decades bombing and otherwise antagonising folks in every corner of the world – from backing right-wing state terror in Latin America to conducting mass slaughter in Vietnam. Furthermore, the sole clandestine nuclear weapons power in the Middle East is not Iran but Israel, which has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has never allowed UN safeguards on its facilities. Those who applaud the strikes on Iran citing the “oppressive” nature of the Iranian government would, meanwhile, do well to revisit the US track record of fuelling oppression in the country. In 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup d’etat against Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohammad Mossadegh, which paved the way for the extended reign of the torture-happy shah. Historian Ervand Abrahamian notes in his book A History of Modern Iran: “Arms dealers joked that the shah devoured their manuals in much the same way as other men read Playboy.” Indeed, the shah’s obsessive acquisition of US weaponry did much to enable his rule by terror, which was put to an end by the Iranian Revolution of 1979. And the Iranian nuclear programme that Trump has now bombed? It was started by that very same shah. Advertisement Now, arms dealers are presumably not too upset over the midsummer night’s events and the general escalation of the crisis in the Middle East. For his part, Netanyahu has gone out of his way to thank Trump for his “bold decision” to go after Iran “with the awesome and righteous might of the United States”. In Netanyahu’s words, Trump’s action will “change history” – as though making the world safe for more war is anything new. And as the US media scramble to justify illegal attacks on a sovereign nation, the sinister hypocrisy of two heavily nuclear-armed nations undertaking to police nuclear “threats” cannot be overstated. It is anyone’s guess what Trump, who prides himself on spontaneous and manic behaviour, will do next. But rest assured that, whatever happens, the arms industry won’t be going hungry any time soon. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran condemns US attack on nuclear sites as ‘grave violation’ of UN Charter
NewsFeed Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the US military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling it an ‘outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation’ of international law. He accused the Trump administration of colluding with Israel to breach Iran’s sovereignty, and vowed Tehran would defend its territory ‘by all means necessary.’ Published On 22 Jun 202522 Jun 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Freed Mahmoud Khalil vows to keep speaking up for Palestine after release
NewsFeed See the moment former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was held for 100 days in a US detention centre, was greeted by supporters after his release from custody. Khalil vowed to continue protesting US complicity in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Published On 22 Jun 202522 Jun 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Fetterman backs Trump after Iran strikes: ‘The correct move’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, backed President Donald Trump’s decision to have the United States attack three of Iran’s most fortified underground nuclear sites amid rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East and intensifying Israeli and U.S. military operations against Iranian targets. Fetterman called the move “correct” in a post on X just minutes after Trump shared the news on Truth Social. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” Fetterman said. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.” TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES Trump declared the operation a “very successful attack” targeting Iran’s key nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, incluidng Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump wrote in the announcement. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this.” FAR LEFT, ANTI-ISRAEL VOICES DECRY TRUMP IRAN STRIKE, DISMISS IDEA HE’S ‘ANTIWAR PRESIDENT’ He concluded his statement with a call for de-escalation: “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” The overnight strike against Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility involved six bunker buster bombs, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Saturday night. Additionally, 30 Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. submarines in the attacks on Natanz and Isfahan facilities. The strike, marking a major escalation in an already volatile landscape, comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel to eradicate Iran’s offensive missile capabilities. The extent of the damage caused to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure so far remains unclear. Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Hegseth, military brass describe ‘incredible and overwhelming success’ of US strikes on Iran
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine held a press conference from the Pentagon early Sunday morning to relay details on the U.S. military’s successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “Last night, on President Trump’s orders, U.S. Central Command conducted a precision strike in the middle of the night against three nuclear facilities in Iran Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan in order to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program,” Hegseth said Sunday morning from the Pentagon. “It was an incredible and overwhelming success. The order we received from our commander in chief was focused. It was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But it’s worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people for the entirety of his time in office,” Hegseth continued. The press conference was held following President Donald Trump addressing the nation at 10 pm on Saturday evening, just hours after he announced the successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “The mission demonstrated to the world the level of joint and allied integration that speak to the strength of our alliance and our joint forces. As President Trump has stated, the United States does not seek war, but let me be clear we will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened. Iran should listen to the United States and know that he means it,” Hegseth continued. Caine addressed the media and explained the strikes, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” included the use of submarines, dozens of Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, and the “longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001.” “At approximately 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time last night and just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a U.S. submarine in the Central Command area of responsibility launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets as often as the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace. The US employed several deception tactics,” Caine said. “This was a highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan, I’ll refer you to the graphic on the side as I walk you through some of the operational details. At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States as part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise. Part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy. A deception effort, known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa,” he continued. TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES Trump announced the U.S. had struck a trio of nuclear facilities in Iran via a Truth Social post on Saturday evening, that was not preceded by any media leaks of prior indication such strikes were imminent. The president ordered U.S. B-2 stealth bombers to carry out the strikes against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Five to six bunker-buster bombs struck the Fordow nuclear site, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity shortly after announcing the strikes Saturday night. The Isfahan facility, like Fordow, is believed to be built underground, and required precision targeting and extensive intelligence to successfully strike, Fox News has reported. Meanwhile, thirty Tomahawk missiles were fired against Natanz and Isfahan from U.S. submarines. Trump later addressed the nation from the White House while flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where he announced Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “obliterated” and that the country has been backed into a corner and “must now make peace.” TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” Trump had repeatedly urged Iran to make a deal on its nuclear program before striking its nuclear facilities, but the country pulled out of ongoing talks with the U.S. scheduled for June 15 in Oman and refused to return to the table in the days following. Israel preemptively ordered strikes on Iran June 12 as Israeli intelligence indicated Iran’s nuclear program was rapidly progressing. “A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan,” Trump said during his address. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.” TRUMP PROMISES TO RESPOND WITH ‘FULL STRENGTH AND MIGHT’ OF US MILITARY IF IRAN ATTACKS AMERICA “For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,” Trump continued. “That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular.” The president said that the U.S. worked like a team with Israel in the lead-up to the strikes “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team, like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the
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Watch: Bernie Sanders reacts to Trump’s Iran strikes in real time at ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ rally
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was delivering remarks at a “Fighting Oligarchy” rally in Tusla, Okla., on Saturday night when President Donald Trump announced the United States had successfully attacked three nuclear sites in Iran. An aide interrupted Sanders’ remarks to deliver the message Trump had just blasted off on Truth Social. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in the post. Sanders read the piece of paper with Trump’s Truth Social post to his supporters, shaking his head as the socialist senator processed what the president had just announced. “No more wars!” the crowd chanted. BERNIE SANDERS SAYS ISRAELI PM ‘WRONG’ BOTH IN THE PAST AND NOW: ‘WE MUST NOT GET INVOLVED IN NETANYAHU’S WAR’ Trump added in the post: “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” BERNIE SANDERS SAYS LARGEST ‘FIGHTING OLIGARCHY’ RALLY WITH AOC IS MAKING TRUMP, MUSK ‘VERY NERVOUS’ Sanders nodded along as the crowd continued to chant, “No more wars!” before responding to the news in real time. He said the news was not only “alarming,” but “so grossly unconstitutional.” “All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress. The president does not have the right,” Sanders shouted. Sanders joins the bipartisan coalition in Congress who have called out the “unconstitutionality” of Trump striking Iran without congressional approval. A bipartisan War Powers Resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives this week as strikes between Israel and Iran raged on, and the world stood by to see if Trump would strike. Congress has the sole power to declare war under Article I of the Constitution. The War Powers Resolution seeks to “remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic State of Iran” and directs Trump to “terminate” the deployment of American troops against Iran without an “authorized declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military forces against Iran.” “The American people do not want more war, more death!” Sanders said. “It might be a good idea if we concentrated on the problems that exist in Oklahoma and Vermont rather than getting involved in another war that the American people do not want.” But Sanders told the crowd not to give up on their vision for America’s future. “In this moment in American history, what we have got to do in Vermont and Oklahoma, in Texas, all over this country, is stand up and fight back, and tell them this is our country!” Sanders said. Sanders has been a vocal opponent of the United States joining Israel in its war against Iran as Trump weighed striking its nuclear facilities. “Netanyahu is not the President of the United States,” Sanders said on social media earlier this week. “He should not be determining U.S. foreign and military policy. If the people of Israel support his decision to start a war with Iran, that is their business and their war. The United States must not be a part of it,” he added. The democratic socialist has been a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Gaza since Israel retaliated following Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. After Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities last week, Sanders said it was “just his latest violation of international law,” likening Netanyahu to a “war criminal.” The Vermont senator was speaking at his second rally of the day, part of his southern swing of the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that Sanders started in response to Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Tx., and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Tx., are slated to join the Vermont senator at his rallies in Texas on Sunday. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined Sanders on his Western swing of the tour earlier this year. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The tour targets deep red districts currently held by Republicans, a strategy picked up by Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who hosted town halls in Republican congressional districts, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) through their “People’s Town Halls” across the United States. Sanders also held a rally in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s hometown of Shreveport, La., on Saturday.
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