23/06/2025

MONDAY | JUNE 23, 2025

7

US strikes Iran nuclear sites

UN CHIEF WARNS OF DANGEROUS ESCALATION WASHINGTON: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern after the strikes against Iran, warning about a “dangerous escalation”. “I am alarmed by the use of force by the United States. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge and a direct threat to international peace and security,” Guterres wrote on X. He called on member states to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law. “There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region and the world. The only hope is peace.” There is no military solution and the path forward is diplomacy. – Bernama BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS DROPPED ON FORDOW WASHINGTON: The United States dropped six bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow nuclear facility and carried out dozens of submarine-based cruise missile attacks on two other sites. Each bunker-buster bomb weighing 15 tonnes was dropped from B-2 stealth bombers. In all, 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from submarines at the nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. All US warplanes departed Iranian airspace. The Fordow nuclear facility is an underground uranium enrichment site near Qom – Iran’s deepest and most fortified nuclear installation designed to withstand conventional airstrikes. – Bernama HAMAS CONDEMNS BLATANT AGGRESSION GAZA CITY: Hamas condemned “blatant US aggression” against Iran. “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) condemns in the strongest terms the blatant US aggression against the territory and sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the group said in a statement issued after Trump announced the United States had joined Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran. “This brutal aggression is a dangerous escalation,” the statement added, calling the attack “a flagrant violation of international law, and a direct threat to international peace and security”. – AFP 7 CHARGED WITH ASSAULT OVER EMBASSY PROTEST LONDON: Seven Iranians were charged with grievous bodily harm after a reported fight at a protest near the Iranian embassy last week. London’s Metropolitan Police said they had been alerted to an apparent fight outside the embassy on Friday. Police said eight people were arrested, including one man who was in hospital with serious injuries. Another man was also hospitalised. “Seven of those arrested were charged with causing grievous bodily harm. All are Iranian nationals,” police said. The seven men had been remanded in custody ahead of a court appearance today. The eighth person was still in hospital. – Reuters NIMITZ PASSES THROUGH STRAIT OF MALACCA JAKARTA: Indonesia’s military said US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was transiting the Strait of Malacca in line with international maritime law last week. The vessel was travelling from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Singapore Strait and the Strait of Malacca, the Indonesian Armed Forces Information Centre said. “The ship was exercising its right of transit passage under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said the centre’s head, Major General Kristomei Sianturi. – Bernama

that could be hit by the US military. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.” The US contacted Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported. Reuters had reported the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry the massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried beneath a mountain south of Tehran. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known. An Iranian official confirmed part of the Fordow site was attacked. However, Mohammad Manan Raisi, a lawmaker for Qom, near Fordow, told the Fars news agency the facility had not been seriously damaged. An IRNA news agency reporter said he had arrived near the Fordow site at 3am (7.30am in Malaysia) and saw smoke that “seems to be related to air defences”. He quoted a nearby witness as reporting “six explosions were heard, but they said it wasn’t very loud”. The UN nuclear watchdog said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes. Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran’s state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago. “The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,” he told the channel. – Reuters/AFP

region would be legitimate targets. Israel’s ambulance service said at least 16 people were hurt in the morning barrage. Air raid sirens sounded across most of the country, sending millions of people to safe rooms and bomb shelters as explosions rang out and missile interceptions were seen above Jerusalem and in other parts of the country. It was not immediately clear how many missiles had pierced Israel’s air defence systems, but police confirmed at least three impact sites in central and northern Israel. Video from Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa showed rescuers combing through debris, apartments reduced to rubble, mangled cars along a street filled with debris and medics evacuating injured people. Trump, in a televised address, flanked by Vice-President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, called the strikes a “spectacular military success” that had taken out Iran’s principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He warned Tehran it would face more devastating attacks if it does not agree to peace. After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign against its major rival Iran is the biggest foreign policy gamble of his two presidencies and one fraught with risks and unknowns. The major escalation of armed conflict in the Middle East risks opening a new era of instability in the Middle East. Trump said Iran’s future held “either peace or tragedy”, and there were many other targets

o Retaliatory missile barrage hits Israel

BR I E F S

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said US airstrikes on Saturday had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, and warned of more attacks to come if Tehran does not seek peace. In a televised address to the nation after the United States joined Israel’s air campaign against Tehran, Trump called the US attacks a “spectacular military success”. Trump had earlier stunned the world by announcing on social media that US aircraft had struck Iran’s Fordo nuclear enrichment plant, plus the Natanz and Isfahan facilities. Hours after Trump escalated Middle East tensions by sending B-2 bombers to Iran, the Israeli military warned people to seek cover from a barrage that appeared heavier than the Iranian salvoes fired in the past few days. “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, calling the US strikes a “grave violation” of the UN charter, international law and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest and people,” he said. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said it would not allow development of its “national industry” to be stopped and a commentator said every US citizen or military member in the

Protesters assemble during an anti-war demonstration in Los Angeles on Saturday. – REUTERSPIC

American lawmakers question legality of attacks WASHINGTON: US lawmakers blasted President Donald Trump’s“unilateral”action on Saturday to strike Iran without seeking congressional authorisation. Senator Ed Markey said the attack was “illegal and unconstitutional”. strikes risk drawing US troops and the American people – who are overwhelmingly opposed – into another forever war. Congress must immediately exercise our duty to restrain this president,” she wrote on X.

“This attack was not approved by Congress and holds dangers for all Americans. The American people do not want another endless war in the Middle East,” Markey said, adding a diplomatic solution remains “the best way” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. “Trump’s illegal action raises the risk of escalation into a wider regional war with grave risks for US troops and personnel and civilians in the region,” he said, urging Trump to begin ceasefire talks with Iran and Israel. Representative Pramila Jayapal said the authority to declare war belongs “solely” to Congress. “Trump’s unconstitutional and escalatory

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump “failed to seek congressional authorisation for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East”. Jeffries said Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but he “has failed to deliver on that promise”. “Congress must be fully and immediately briefed in a classified setting,” he said, adding that Trump shoulders “complete and total” responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from “his unilateral military action”.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Trump’s “disastrous decision” to bomb Iran without authorisation is a “grave violation” of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said Trump sending US troops to bomb Iran without the consent of Congress is a “blatant violation” of the Constitution. – Bernama