Israel-Iran conflict LIVE | Iran to close Hormuz Strait, vows to avenge bombings
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says US has committed a "grave violation" of the UN Charter, adding that these events will have everlasting consequences
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday (June 23) in the wake of US strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
Calling Russia a “friend of Iran,” the foreign minister warned that Iran “reserves all options to defend its security, its interests, its people...All options are on the table.”
Addressing a press conference in Istanbul, Araghchi said with the overnight strikes on Iran, “there is no red line” that the US has not crossed. He said the last red line “and the most dangerous one was what happened only last night when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities.”
Araghchi said Washington is “fully responsible” for what actions the Islamic Republic takes next in retaliation against the US strikes on its various nuclear sites. “The warmongering, a lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression,” he added.
He also made it clear that diplomacy is not an option after a US strike on its nuclear facilities. He said while the “door to diplomacy” should always be open, “this is not the case right now.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday conveyed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian India’s “deep concern” over Iran’s conflict with Israel and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation through “dialogue and diplomacy”.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the American military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to decapitate the country's nuclear programme in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
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- 22 Jun 2025 1:41 PM IST
Israel says it took out 2 of Iran's F-5 jets
Israel says it hit two of Iran’s F-5 fighter jets at the latter’s Dezful airport. The F-5s are part of Iran’s aging fleet of fighters from the era of the Shah. Israel released black-and-white footage showing one of the aircraft being destroyed.
Israel previously hit F-14 Tomcats flown by the Iranian military in the war. However, it isn’t clear if these aircraft were airworthy, as many have been grounded over the years due to a lack of parts.
Israel also said it struck other sites, including around Isfahan’s airport. Iran has not acknowledged losses of aircraft or other materiel in the war so far.
Meanwhile, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched 40 missiles, including its Khorramshahr-4, during the attack on Israel on Sunday morning. Iran has said the Khorramshahr-4 can carry multiple warheads. - 22 Jun 2025 10:12 AM IST
What to know about bunker-buster bombs unleashed on Iran's Fordo nuclear facility
In inserting itself into Israel's war against Iran, Washington unleashed its massive “bunker-buster” bombs on Iran's Fordo fuel enrichment plant.
Those bombs were widely seen as the best chance of damaging or destroying Fordo, built deep into a mountain and untouched during Israel's weeklong offensive. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation before an official briefing, confirmed their use in Sunday's attack.
The US is the only military capable of dropping the weapons, and the movement of B2 stealth bombers toward Asia on Saturday had signalled possible activity by the US Israeli leaders had made no secret of their hopes that President Donald Trump would join their week-old war against Iran, though they had also suggested they had backup plans for destroying the site.
It remained unclear early Sunday how much damage had been inflicted upon Fordo. The mission could have wide-ranging ramifications, including jeopardizing any chance of Iran engaging in Trump's desired talks on its nuclear programme and dragging the US into another Mideast war.
Here's a closer look.
What is the bunker-buster bomb? “Bunker buster” is a broad term used to describe bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding. In this case, it refers to the latest GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in the American arsenal. The roughly 30,000 pound (13,600 kilogramme precision-guided bomb is designed to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels, according to the US Air Force.
It's believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. It was not immediately known how many were used in the Sunday morning strike.
The bomb carries a conventional warhead, but the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. However, Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said. US warplanes also hit Natanz.
How tough a target is Fordo? Fordo is Iran's second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz, its main facility, which already has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. The IAEA says it believes those strikes have had “direct impacts” on the facility's underground centrifuge halls.
Fordo is smaller than Natanz, and is built into the side of a mountain near the city of Qom, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Tehran. Construction is believed to have started around 2006 and it became first operational in 2009 — the same year Tehran publicly acknowledged its existence.
In addition to being an estimated 80 meters (260 feet) under rock and soil, the site is reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems. Those air defenses, however, likely have already been struck in the Israeli campaign, which claims to have knocked out most of Iran's air defences.
Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the goal of attacking Iran was to eliminate its missile and nuclear programme, which he described as an existential threat to Israel, and officials have said Fordo was part of that plan.
"This entire operation ... really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordo,” Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, told Fox News.
Why does the US need to be involved? In theory, the GBU-57 A/B could be dropped by any bomber capable of carrying the weight, but at the moment the US has only configured and programmed its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to deliver the bomb, according to the Air Force.
The B-2 is only flown by the Air Force, and is produced by Northrop Grumman.
According to the manufacturer, the B-2 can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) but the U.S. Air Force has said it has successfully tested the B-2 loaded with two GBU-57 A/B bunker busters — a total weight of some 60,000 pounds (27,200 kilograms).
The strategic long-range heavy bomber has a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) without refuelling and 11,500 miles (18,500 kilometers) with one refuelling, and can reach any point in the world within hours, according to Northrop Grumman.
Trump was noncommittal Whether the US would get involved had been unclear in recent days.
At the G7 meeting in Canada, Trump was asked what it would take for Washington to become involved militarily and he said: “I don't want to talk about that.” Then on Thursday, Trump said he would decide within “two weeks” whether to get involved to give another chance to the possibility of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme. In the end, it took just two days to decide. AP
