Skip next section US must ‘receive a response’ to strikes Iranian president says
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
US must ‘receive a response’ to strikes Iranian president says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States must “receive a response” to its attacks on nuclear sites in Iran.
“The Americans must receive a response to their aggression,” Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.
In a post on X, Macron said that during the conversation with Pezeshkian, he “called for de-escalation and for Iran to exercise the utmost restraint in this dangerous context, to allow a return to diplomatic channels.”
Pezeshkian called on Iranians to unite in the face of the attacks from Israel and the US. He joined a march in Tehran where demonstrators chanted slogans against Israel and the US, the Fars news agency reported.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said earlier Sunday that there would be “everlasting consequences” for the US attacks.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIt3
Skip next section US orders non-essential diplomats to leave Lebanon
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
US orders non-essential diplomats to leave Lebanon
The State Department has ordered all non-essential personnel and the families of staff at the Embassy in Lebanon to leave as concerns mount about Iranian retaliation for US strikes in Iran.
In a notice issued on Sunday, the State Department said it had taken the step “due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”
The notice made no mention of any potential evacuation flights or other assistance for private US citizens wanting to leave Lebanon but said they should try to use existing commercial services to depart.
The US has already organized several evacuations of American citizens from Israel and is advising American citizens in Iran on how to leave the country.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIoa
Skip next section Iran considers closing Strait of Hormuz, Press TV reports
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Iran considers closing Strait of Hormuz, Press TV reports
Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision on whether to close the Strait of Hormuz following US bombing raids, Iran’s Press TV said on Sunday.
Parliament is reported to have backed the measure, with Iran having long used the threat of closing the Strait, through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows, to fend off pressure from the West.
Tensions are at their highest following the overnight US strikes on its nuclear facilities. A decision to close the strait is not yet final.
Esmail Kosari, a member of parliament’s national security commission, was quoted on Iranian media as saying: “For now, [parliament has] come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council.”
Kosari, who is also a Revolutionary Guards Commander, had earlier told the Young Journalist Club that closing the strait was on the agenda and would be done “whenever necessary.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi had dodged the question when he was pressed, replying: “A variety of options are available to Iran.”
The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Mideast Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 21 miles (33 kilometers) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just two miles wide in either direction.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIlA
Skip next section Israel says it carried out ‘dozens of strikes’ in Iran
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Israel says it carried out ‘dozens of strikes’ in Iran
Israel said that it deployed around 30 fighter jets to carry out massive attacks in Iran on Sunday.
With the move, Israel has expanded its offensive launched more than a week ago, a military spokesman said in a statement.
The statement said Israel had “struck dozens of military targets throughout Iran,” including “the ‘Imam Hussein’ Strategic Missile Command Center in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored.”
The Israeli military also confirmed strikes on missile launchers in the Bushehr province, where a “massive explosion” was reported by Iranian media. It also confirmed strikes in Ahvaz in the southwest and central targeted by more than two dozen missiles fired from a US submarine in the Middle East overnight.
Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said there would be no interruption in the offensive against Iran after overnight US strikes.
“We are continuing and are determined to achieve the objectives of the operation: eliminating the existential threat to the state of Israel, damaging Iran’s nuclear programme and destroying its missile systems,” Defrin said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIlB
Skip next section IAEA head says too early to assess damage at Fordo
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
IAEA head says too early to assess damage at Fordo
The nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told CNN on Sunday that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done after strikes hit Iran’s Fordo enrichment site, which is buried in a mountain.
Grossi, the head of the , also called on all sides to return to the “negotiating table as soon as possible.” He added that “inspectors need to be able to return to Iran’s nuclear sites.”
Inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities since the first strikes on them by Israel on June 13.
Grossi added the UN nuclear body would hold an “emergency meeting” at the organization’s headquarters in Vienna on Monday in response to the US strikes.
Meanwhile, the IAEA wrote on the social media platform X that 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.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIki
Skip next section Rubio says Iranian retaliation would be ‘worst mistake’
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Rubio says Iranian retaliation would be ‘worst mistake’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the world was “safer” after the US strikes on Iran. He spoke about the strikes on US broadcaster Fox News’ show “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”
Rubio warned Iran against retaliating against the US, saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
“I think the world today is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago,” he said, warning Iran that it risked further reprisals if it insisted on maintaining a “secret” nuclear program.
Iran has said its nuclear program serves exclusively civilian purposes.
Rubio accused Iran of entering into “fake negotiations” ahead of the strikes in a bid to “play” US President Donald Trump.
Officials from the US and Iran had been scheduled to meet on June 15, but that meeting was canceled after Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIiq
Skip next section Vance calls strikes a chance for ‘reset’ between Iran and US
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Vance calls strikes a chance for ‘reset’ between Iran and US
Vice President said his country was only at war with Iran’s , adding that the program had been pushed back following US airstrikes ordered by President .
“We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” Vance said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”
“I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time,” Vance said. “I think that it’s going to be many, many years before the Iranians are going to be able to develop a nuclear weapon.”
The US had been in diplomatic talks with Iran about Tehran’s nuclear program, but Vance accused Iran of not negotiating in good faith, which he said served as a catalyst for US strikes.
“We don’t want a regime change,” Vance added. “We do not want to protract this… We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.
“I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to a threat to the United States and if they’re willing to do that, the United States is all ears,” Vance said.
Vance explained that Trump made the final decision to strike Iran right before the strikes took place and that Washington has received some “indirect” messages from Tehran since the strikes. He did not elaborate on the content of the messages.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that by bombing nuclear program sites in Iran, the US had “blown up diplomacy.” (See entry below)
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIin
Skip next section Top US general describes ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Top US general describes ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’
America’s top military officer, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, told reporters on Sunday that overnight US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities had included 14 massive ordnance penetrator or “bunker-buster” bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft.
Caine called “Operation Midnight Hammer” the largest B-2 operational strike in US history, explaining that seven B-2 stealth bombers had flown 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran and refueled mid-air several times along the way to carry out the mission.
Despite claims from President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated”, Caine said a battle damage assessment was still ongoing.
He said US troops in the region were given no advanced warning and remain on high alert. The general said initial assessments indicated “extreme damage and destruction” at three Iranian nuclear sites.
Caine said the US troops had used deceptive tactics and completed their mission of delivering some 75 precision-guided weapons to targets inside Iran undetected — maintaining the element of surprise throughout.
Adding that “no other military in the world could have done this,” Caine advised Iran to refrain from striking back against the US, saying that to do so would be “a poor choice.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIfq
Skip next section Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warn US military bases in Middle East
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warn US military bases in Middle East
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a warning to US military bases in the Middle East after overnight US airstrikes on the country’s nuclear sites.
“By attacking the peaceful nuclear facilities, [US forces] have de facto put themselves in direct danger,” the IRGC said, according to the Fars news agency.
Iran, it said, would “use options beyond the understanding… of the agressor front, and the aggressors of this land must expect regrettable responses.”
The overnight US airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump targeted nuclear facilities in three locations in Iran, including the well-fortified uranium enrichment plant at Fordo.
The IRGC also said it would continue to target Israel, which has been hit by multiple waves of missile and drone attacks since Israel struck Iran on June 13.
The United States has many bases around the Persian Gulf, including in Bahrain and Qatar. Some are located relatively close to Iran, which could make them targets of retaliation.
Around 40,000 members of the US military are currently stationed in the region.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIfG
Skip next section US Defense Secretary Hegseth praises Trump for Iran strikes06/22/2025June 22, 2025
US Defense Secretary Hegseth praises Trump for Iran strikes
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday called military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities “an incredible and overwhelming success” that had “obliterated Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
Hegseth said neither Iranian troops nor civilians had been targeted in the US operation.
Just hours after the airstrikes on Iran, Hegseth echoed President Trump, claiming the US “seeks peace.” He went on to say, “We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened.”
Hegseth praised Trump for the operation, which he said had been months in the making: “The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks, the world should listen.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIdE
Skip next section ‘Massive’ blasts reported in Bushehr
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
‘Massive’ blasts reported in Bushehr
Iranian media have reported “massive” blasts in the southern city of Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear reactor.
Iranian authorities have not yet reported any problem at the plant, which is operated with Russian assistance.
The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIam
Skip next section China says US attacks worsen Middle East tensions
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
China says US attacks worsen Middle East tensions
‘s Foreign Ministry has criticized the US attacks on Iran, saying they “escalate tensions in the Middle East” and go against the UN Charter.
Among other things, it said it condemned the targeting of nuclear facilities supervised by the .
“China calls on all parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to cease fire as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIY9
Skip next section WATCH: US attacks Iran with strikes on 3 nuclear sites
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
WATCH: US attacks Iran with strikes on 3 nuclear sites
https://p.dw.com/p/4wIY6
Skip next section Russia’s Foreign Ministry blasts US attacks as ‘irresponsible’
06/22/2025June 22, 2025
Russia’s Foreign Ministry blasts US attacks as ‘irresponsible’
‘s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the US attacks on nuclear sites were the result of an “irresponsible” decision that goes against international law.
“The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, whatever the arguments it may be presented with, flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the and the resolutions of the ,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We call for an end to aggression and for increased efforts to create conditions for returning the situation to a political and diplomatic track,” the ministry said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wINN
The post US must ‘receive a response’ to strikes Iranian leader says appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
